Ironsworn or Starforged: Choosing Your First Solo RPG

To choose your first solo RPG, think about the story you want to discover during play: who deserves your promise in a dangerous land, what lies beyond the next space route, or how far your crew will go for freedom?

The Ironsworn family offers ways to explore those stories. In Brazil, Tria Editora launched crowdfunding for Portuguese editions of Ironsworn, Starforged and Sundered Isles on October 27, 2026. Check formats, digital access and delivery estimates on the official Catarse campaign, reviewed on October 28.

This guide helps you choose an entry point and prepare your first scene. If the format itself is new to you, start with how to play tabletop RPGs on your own.

Which book fits the story you want to play?

| Option | Starting point | What to start with | | --- | --- | --- | | Ironsworn | Dark fantasy, journeys and difficult promises | A complete game. Its creator offers the original English digital edition for free. | | Starforged | Science fiction, discoveries and relationships on a space frontier | A standalone game: you can start here without learning Ironsworn first. | | Sundered Isles | Sailing, crews and seafaring adventures | An expansion for Starforged, rather than a third standalone core rulebook. |

You can check the descriptions and requirements on the Tomkin Press pages for Ironsworn, Starforged and Sundered Isles.

My suggestion is to choose the setting in which you can imagine making a decision right now. If you already want to rescue a drifting ship, begin in space. Learning one game only to reach another can postpone your first session without adding anything your story needs.

Solo, cooperative or guided?

Ironsworn and Starforged support three approaches: solo, portraying your character yourself; cooperative, sharing the adventure without a dedicated GM; and guided, with someone running the session. These modes are described in the official Starforged introduction.

For cooperative play, agree on how to handle different interpretations before starting. One simple approach is for each person to suggest a consequence, then choose the one that best fits the established facts. Avoid leaving all description to the most talkative player: sharing questions about places, people and dangers gives everyone a way to contribute.

Playing without a GM still involves rules and decisions. Oracles help answer questions; someone must interpret those answers in context. Our discussion of lighter rules and narrative play helps distinguish an accessible starting point from a lack of structure.

Prepare a situation, not the adventure's ending

Follow the campaign and character creation procedures in your chosen book. Beside your character sheet, keep a short note with four items:

1. Immediate objective: what does your character want to do this session?
2. Someone involved: who cares about the outcome?
3. Visible obstacle: what problem is already in front of them?
4. Open question: what do you still not know about the situation?

Choose a comfortable time limit too. A first session of forty minutes can be enough to try a scene; it does not need to resolve an entire vow. If you prefer a story with a defined length, read about the difference between a campaign and a one-shot.

Keep the move reference and oracles within reach. Look up the rule when the situation calls for it, instead of trying to memorize the whole book before making your first decision.

An original example: the lighthouse signal

The following is a preparation exercise written for this guide, not an official adventure or a reproduction of results from the games' tables.

Mara is carrying a part that can repair a community's lighthouse. She promised to deliver it before a boat arrives. When she reaches the coast, the lighthouse is already shining, although the residents said the light could not work without the part.

Record what is known: someone requested the part, Mara agreed to bring it, and there is now a light. Keep the question open: who lit the lighthouse, and why? You could turn the location into a space station in Starforged or a navigation tower in Sundered Isles.

Declare a concrete action, such as watching for signals from a window. Consult the appropriate move in your book. When you need a detail that neither the rules nor established facts resolve, use a suitable oracle. Interpret its result and describe what changed before asking another question.

The preparation gives you something to investigate without deciding in advance that there must be a traitor, a fight or one mandatory solution.

Keep a journal that helps you return

Record decisions and consequences in short sentences. A session note could read:

I meant to deliver the part to the lighthouse. The light was already on. I decided to wait for the boat out of sight. Next session, I need to find out who is signaling from the tower.

That note preserves continuity without requiring a chapter of prose. Keep events separate from suspicions so that you do not accidentally turn a theory into a fact. Our guide to letters and journals for RPGs offers ways to give these records a distinctive voice.

The dice roller can support manual rolls; consult and apply the results according to your system. To name someone who has just appeared in a scene, try the name generator. These tools complement your rulebook, character sheet and notes.

Where to start today

If you read English, find the free digital edition of Ironsworn and supporting materials in the official downloads collection. This offer does not make every book in the family, or every translation, free. For the Brazilian edition, check Tria's current terms.

Choose one version, create a character using its rules, and put a question into a scene. When you finish, write down the next decision. That point of return is what turns an experiment with solo RPGs into a story you want to continue.