Ironsworn vs Low Fantasy Gaming
Compare Ironsworn and Low Fantasy Gaming side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Ironsworn | Low Fantasy Gaming | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Fantasy | Fantasy |
| Tags | Narrative, Solo-Friendly, Fiction-First, Character-Driven, Sandbox, Low-Fantasy, Exploration, Theater of the Mind, CC-Licensed Rules, Random Tables | Low-Fantasy, Gritty, Deadly, Sword & Sorcery, Corruption, Sandbox, Dungeon Crawl, Random Tables, Strong GM Support, Hackable |
| Core Mechanic | Roll an action die (d6) plus a stat and any adds, then compare the total to two d10 challenge dice. Beat both for a strong hit, beat one for a weak hit, and beat neither for a miss; ties go to the challenge dice. Positive momentum can be burned to cancel challenge dice below its value. Long-term challenges use a progress roll, which compares filled progress boxes to the challenge dice without an action die. | Combat uses standard d20 + class attack bonus + ability modifier vs. Armour Class. Out of combat, attribute checks roll equal-or-under (1d20 ≤ attribute, with degrees of success), and skills add +1 and grant access to a level-based Reroll Pool that smooths the d20 swing. Dropping to zero hit points triggers an All Dead vs. Mostly Dead check and a roll on the Injuries & Setbacks table (lost eyes and limbs, broken ribs, madness, permanent scars). Spell casting is uncertain: every cast carries a cumulative 1-in-20 chance of triggering the Dark & Dangerous Magic d100 table, which can mutate the caster, sap Luck, or summon hostile aberrations. The Luck attribute itself is a depleting meta-resource that fuels saves, Major Exploits, and Rescue Exploits. |
| Dice | d6 + 2d10 | d20 |
| Complexity | Low | Medium |
| Availability | Free core rules | Free core rules |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 | OGL 1.0a |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Ironsworn System Reference Document under CC BY 4.0 | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Shawn Tomkin | Pickpocket Press |
| Year | 2018 | 2020 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Spanish | English |
| Best For | Groups who want dark fantasy questing for one to four players, with fiction-first moves, oracle tables, and little or no GM preparation. | Groups who want gritty low-magic fantasy where every combat carries real consequences (broken bones, lost limbs, madness) and where casting a spell is a calculated gamble that can corrupt the caster or summon something worse. |
| Highlights | Vows tie advancement to the story: fulfilling a sworn quest earns the experience that buys new assets. Momentum gives every action roll a second layer: a strong position can cancel an unlucky challenge die, while a negative track can remove the action die entirely. The oracle tables turn open questions into prompts, giving solo and co-op groups enough procedural input to play without a GM. | Dark & Dangerous Magic puts every spell at risk of triggering a d100 corruption table (mutations, summoned aberrations, Luck loss, madness) with the chance climbing by 1 in 20 each cast until it fires, making sorcery a calculated gamble rather than reliable utility. Martial Exploits layer creative combat moves (Minor, Major, and Rescue) on top of a successful hit, such as disarms, decapitations, or throwing an ally clear of a fireball, fueled by depleting Luck checks rather than a fixed action menu, so combats are improvisation-driven rather than rotation-driven. Every PC designs a Unique Feature at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th level in conversation with the GM, working off 36 worked examples (Awakened Host, Faustian Pact, Skill Prodigy, Slippery Bastard) that each scale through low, moderate, and high power tiers the table can cherry-pick. |
| Considerations | Progress tracks convert ticks and boxes at five ranks into a progress score, which takes a few rolls to internalize. Oracle results are prompts rather than answers, so a solo player must interpret them and can stall when a result seems contradictory. Combat and movement use no grid or positioning rules, so groups that want tactical placement must supply it themselves. | Magic Users are deliberately weaker than other classes: no at-will spells, no teleport, no mind reading, no resurrection, and every cast risks a corruption effect, so spell-focused players have to accept playing a high-risk role that can lose its toolkit mid-adventure. The 12th-level cap shortens the campaign arc: the book trades long-haul progression for keeping monsters threatening and magic spectacular, but groups expecting decades-long advancement curves will hit the ceiling. Permanent injuries from the Injuries & Setbacks table are a regular outcome of going to zero hit points, and short of rare in-setting healing magic those disabilities stay, which can frustrate groups attached to keeping their characters physically whole. |