Game Setup

I've spent some time in the first session to setup the setting and build the necessary amount of the world and NPCs to make it play better. The worldbuilding will always be constant, and anything created during sessions will be written as a wiki when I have time to do so.

World Truths

As an Ironsworn game, I've spent some time answering about the main World Truths to flesh it out a bit before starting playing in it. The main theme is about post-apocalypse mixed with magic, fantasy, and science fiction. Inspired by Shannara Chronicles, Degenesis: Rebirth, and Tales from the Loop/Things from the Flood. There are many other influences, but these are the main three.

Old World: The Old World was destroyed in the burning light, killing all in its path, and distorting everything that could not be killed. Those few who could escape, did so by taking refuge in immense vaults buried beneath the earth. The air and ground became poisonous to humans, and we could not live anymore in the surface. Until many years passed, somehow it was possible to live above again, but everything changed. We began rebuilding what we can to survive, and to explore the New World.

Iron: Inscrutable metal pillars are found throughout the land. They are iron gray, and smooth as river stone. No one knows their purpose. Also, there are many remains of the Old World, buildings and things built from iron and metal that can be used, things that defies our imagination. Also, the people must be like iron to survive the surface.

Legacies: We are descendants from the Ancients, but different people now live here, feral and savage people that roam the lands and wastes. Is their fate to become our own?

Communities: We are few in number in this strange land. Most rarely have contact with anyone outside our own small steading or village, and strangers are viewed with deep suspicion.

Mysticism: Magic is dangerous and is everywhere, but only a few can truly master it. Most magic come from strange itens that give people different powers, but sometimes, people are changed by mysterious storms that give them magical powers.

Defense: Here in the Zone, supplies are too precious, and the lands are too sparsely populated, to support organized fighting forces. When a community is threatened, the people stand together to protect their own.

Religion: The people still make signs or mumble prayers to old and new gods, but there are some people that believes they are dead or have abandoned us long ago. Other people believes that the gods are the Wolves of the Maelstrom.

Beasts: Beasts of all sorts roam the Zone. They dwell primarily in wild areas, but range into settled lands to hunt. There, they often prey on cattle, but attack travelers, caravans, or even settlements are not uncommon.

Horrors: There are even stranger and deadlier creatures than beasts, the Horrors. They are few, but are not to be messed with.

Broad Strokes

I'm using the Legacy: Among the Ruins 2nd Edition RPG for inspirations to create the world, and trying to integrate some of its rules into this Ironsworn campaign. These next questions are the ones in Legacy, and answering them will give me a clearer view about the setting.

What was the World Before?

• The World Before was Earth, but with some advanced technology similar to Tales from the Loop & Things from the Flood. There were other advanced technologies, but they were not the ones like what we usually see in cyberpunk and far science fiction stories. There were better energy technologies, automated robots, some prosthetic that helped disabled people (not the advanced ones from cyberpunk, but maybe some people had it), some advanced air vehicles, and the like. It is similar to how we see the retro-future from Fallout, but more like our 21st century perspective and aesthetics in mind.

What technology defined it?

• It is somewhat explained in the first question, but I will expand in the technology in After the Fall. Nowadays the technology is a mix between the style we see in medieval fantasy stories and the modern retro-futuristic from Before the Fall. There are swords and shields, but made with modern materials. There are a mix of medieval style clothing with modern fabrics, and the like. Not only this, but because of the events that caused The Fall, there are even weirder and fantastical technologies, even the ones that look like magic or defies the laws of physics, something similar to Numenéra or Final Fantasy X, for example. These are not common, although.

What caused the Fall?

• We don't really know exactly what happened. What we can understand is that there was a world war between the nations of the world, and something went terribly wrong. Somehow, our reality shattered and many different realities merged or invaded our own. This made the planet very difficult for human life to thrive, even having toxic air that killed our people. Monsters and horrors from legends and myth now are real, mysticism and the supernatural are the new natural. Crazed machines are rampant in the wastes. And new and strange tech, maybe from other people (or even aliens?), dot the new Earth's landscape.

The Aironkru and Metro

The Aironkru people are the children of iron, stone, and metal. They are the ones that rose up from the depths of the earth in iron shelters named Metro, a complex of metal tunnels. They are hardened people that still cling to some traditions of the Ancients, but the young are now trying to create their own, and change how Aironkru people lives. They have a few settlements in the Zone that are usually connected with subterranean passages by the Metro. Some of the passages have collapsed, some are infested with hostile creatures, and others are simply abandonned, making it harder for them to trade goods with each other.

Metro is the main hub of the Aironkru people. It is a fortified building inside the Zone where there is a passage to belowground. This building is in constantly repair and optimization. The tunnels below still have housings and storaging, but after the Red Days, the people prefer to avoid the tunnels. Many tunnels have collapsed and some monsters and horrors roams in them. This community has three main bosses (Monarks) that run the place. These three people are the faces of their respective clans. Clans in Metro are not bound by blood or family, but by affiliation and creed.

The Three Monarks

I've decided to guide the creation of the Monarks by using the Oracle and random generators. The result of the oracle, and random generators are inside the code text, and in the end there is a summary to what I've come up after the oracle and generators.

First Monark

Random generation

Are they male? Oracle [50/50] = 43. No.
What type of Monark is she? Mutant Year Zero RPG Boss types (1d9) = 6. The Bureaucrat.
What is their name? Random name generator = Alba.
Does she know something about the Protagonist? Oracle [unlikely] = 87. Yes.
Age? PunkApocalyptic RPG Age table (3d6) = 8. Young adult.
Looks? PunkApocalyptic RPG Looks table (3d6) = 10. Normal looking.
Height? PunkApocalyptic RPG Height table (3d6) = 11. Average.
Weight? PunkApocalyptic RPG Weight table (3d6) = 9. Average.
Distinguish Features? PunkApocalyptic RPG Distinguish Features table (1d20) = 15. Piercings.
Main Feature? Oracle [Description] = 35. Dangerous.

Alba Royale

• Age: Young adult, around 22 years old.

• Looks: She is of normal looking, nothing that attracts too much attention.

• Height: Average height (around 165cm).

• Weight: About average for her height.

• Distinguish Features: She has piercings in her ears.

• Main Feature: She is dangerous.

Alba is the new sucessor as the main Lawmaker of Metro. She is young and passionate about her work, but sometimes it causes not only trouble to her, but other Aironkrus. She is very proficient in fighting, and is very cunning. It is very dangerous to cross her, expect to be harmed in some way or another.

Second Monark

Are they male? Oracle [50/50] = 32. No
What type of Monark is she? Mutant Year Zero RPG Boss types (1d9) = 8. The Collector.
What is their name? Random name generator = Amiette.
Does she know something about the Protagonist? Oracle [50/50] = 90. Yes.
Age? PunkApocalyptic RPG Age table (3d6) = 15. Getting on in years.
Looks? PunkApocalyptic RPG Looks table (3d6) = 15. A looker.
Height? PunkApocalyptic RPG Height table (3d6) = 9. Average.
Weight? PunkApocalyptic RPG Weight table (3d6) = 10. Average.
Distinguish Features? PunkApocalyptic RPG Distinguish Features table (1d20) = 20. A twitch or tell.
Main Feature? Oracle [Description] = 74. Friendly.

Amiette "Amie" Waltz

• Age: Getting on the years, probably after 40. Beginning to have grey hair.

• Looks:  She is a looker for her age.

• Height: Average height (around 165cm).

• Weight: About average for her height.

• Distinguish Features:  She has a twitch that is always grooming or curling her hair.

• Main Feature: She is a very friendly person.

Amiette is the leader of the Chroniclers, the people responsible to maintain the Ancient's traditions and to help maintain our community. She knows about a lot of stuff from the Ancients, and is usually very friendly with everyone. She always prefer to maintain neutral in conflicts between the Monarks.

Third Monark

Are they male? Oracle [50/50] = 36. No
What type of Monark is she? Mutant Year Zero RPG Boss types (1d9) = 1. The Despot.
What is their name? Random name generator = Ocean.
Does she know something about the Protagonist? Oracle [unlikely] = 36. No.
Age? PunkApocalyptic RPG Age table (3d6) = 13. Adult.
Looks? PunkApocalyptic RPG Looks table (3d6) = 13. A looker.
Height? PunkApocalyptic RPG Height table (3d6) = 13. Little taller than average.
Weight? PunkApocalyptic RPG Weight table (3d6) = 12. Average.
Distinguish Features? PunkApocalyptic RPG Distinguish Features table (1d20) = 18. A twitch or tell.
Main Feature? Oracle [Description] = 80. Vengeful.

Ocean Smit

• Age: Adult, around 25 to 30 years old.

• Looks: She is a looker for her age, attracting attention to her looks.

• Height: She is a little taller than average (around 170cm or more).

• Weight: About average for her height.

• Distinguish Features:  She has a twitch of crackling her knuckles all the time.

• Main Feature: She is vengeful. Always be careful around her and what you say. It will come to you later.

Ocean is one of the Monarks of Metro. She is very rich in comparison with other Monarks, and very popular. She is always trying to acquire more power, and takes out anyone that gets in her way. She doesn't like to blood her hands, so she uses her minions to do the messy work for her.

The Protagonist

The main character will be Starlim Vance, a Ranger from Metro that has some knowledge about the Ancients and how the tech from Before works. He is accompanied by his loyal friend, Boy, a Mabari dog so smart that its a shame he doesn't speak.

Character Sheet

Stats: Edge 2 / Heart 1 / Iron 1 / Shadow 2 / Wits 3.

Assets

• Hound (Companion): Dog. Loyal: When you Endure Stress in the company of your hound, add +1.
• Wayfinder (Path): When you Undertake a Journey and burn momentum to improve your result, envision how you reorient yourself. Then, take +2 momentum after you reset.
• Scavenger (Path): When you Resupply in the wild, add +1 and take +1 momentum on a hit. This asset is a customization of Prospector from Ironsworn Badlands.

Initial Bonds

• Metro (Community): This is my community, my people. I grew up here, and belong to a family of Rangers, people that travel in the Zone to protect the Aironkru lands. My father has died in battle in the Zone, never to return and nobody has ever found his remains. My mother has died because of a disease that has plagued our people years ago.
• Amie (Person): She has became quite fondly of me because of my scavenger skills when I'm on the Zone. Often she has some activity or mission for me to do involving recovering artifacts or helping with fixing something.

There is still one Bond left for me to take.

Vows

• I have to find The Eden (Background, Epic): There is a legend between our fellow Aironkru that there is a place where the soil is very fertile, there aren't monsters or horrors, the water is the cleanest of the world, and the climate is perfect for humans. This place is called Eden.
• Discover what happened with Uncle Krin (Inciting Incident, Troublesome): I need to find out what has happened to uncle Krin, a legend among the Rangers. He traveled to Krocvil to do an expedition but never came back. I need to find him, whatever the cost.

Backstory

I grew up in Metro, the main community of the Aironkru. My parents were both Rangers, and they trained me to be one of them. This world is harsh, and cruel, my whole family has died, and now its only me. Father has vanished when on a mission, his remains never to be find. Mother, and brother both died because of the last disease outbreak between our people.

Uncle Krin took me under his wing as a promise to my family, and pushed hard my training, teaching me all his secrets and what he know about the world. I'm not a badass like him, but I can get by myself.

Now, I'm a Ranger that has ventured in the Zone two times in the company of my fellow Rangers. But something is wrong, I feel a storm is coming.

Other Things

I will generate some other things randomly about the protagonist, like appearance, height, etc. This will be modified or not randomly generated if necessary to make it consistent with the character's idea of a young lone ranger.

Age: Young adult (around 20 years).

Looks? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Appearance table (3d6) = 17. You are comely. Your appearance is exceptional, and you are considered a great beauty.
Build? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Build table (3d6) = 9. You are of average height and weight. Average height for men are 170 cm and for women are 160 cm.
Does Starlim have a Distinguish Feature? Oracle (unlikely) = 97. Yes.
Distinguish Feature: PunkApocalyptic RPG Distinguish Features table (1d20) = 7. Scar or Tatoo.
Scar or Tatoo location? PunkApocalyptic RPG Scar and Tatoo table (1d20) = 14. Upper arm.
Is it a Scar? Oracle (50/50) = No. Then, it is a tatoo.
What is the size of the tatoo? PunkApocalyptic RPG Scar or Tatoo Size table (1d6) = 6. Large enough to cover the entire area.
The tatoo is on the left side? Oracle [50/50] = 66. Yes.
The tatoo is complicated and elaborated? Oracle [50/50] = 59. Yes.
What is your personality? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Personality table (3d6) = 6. You are quiet and withdrawn. You are most comfortable when you’re alone.
How do you view relationships? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Relationships table (3d6) = 12. You get on well with people close to you and are neutral about others.
How do you deal with your obligations? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Obligations table (3d6) = 12. You try to do what you say you will do, but you don’t always succeed.
How is your morality? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Morality table (3d6) = 13. You try to do good in most things, though you occasionally slip up and do something you know to be wrong.
What is your main fear? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Desire table (1d6) = 2. Failure.
What is your main desire? Shadow of the Demon Lord - Only Human, Desire table (1d6) = 4. Glory.
Eye color? Warhammer Fantasy RPG 4E - Reiklander Eye Color table (2d10) = 20. Black.
Hair color? Warhammer Fantasy RPG 4E - Reiklander Hair Color table (2d10) = 11. Light brown.