Nothing in this log that develops the Bronzebound supplement for use with the Ironsworn  TTRPG. This is just me explaining why I wanted to write the Bronzebound for Ironsworn. Think of this as Session 0 - setting the scene. As time allows I'll add more on planned development. Comments are welcome.

Why  make Bronzebound?

I have three motives to start this project. My 'truths' as it were. These are:

1: To promote the Ironsworn system, by Shawn Tomkin: Because it's just a brilliant game. In particular for me Ironsworn is:

• It's driven by the narrative created by players rather than the game mechanics written by the designer.

• It supports both solo and co-operative play. 

• It avoids having to have one of a group of friends set apart as the Game Manager, with all the pressure and tension that can produce.

• The attitudes and language used by Shawn and the treatment of players is inclusive and non-discriminatory,

• I honestly think playing Ironsworn promotes a healthy and positive attitude towards your own life and towards others, which I think is why the Discord community for Ironsworn works so well.

2.: To get some game design experience: For me as a novice game designer, creating a supplement to an existing game has been a good excercise in the craft. In particular:

The generous Creative Commons licensing that Shawn has adopted for Ironsworn provides a great opportunity to experiment in game design. 

Working with existing mechanics means not having to design a whole system from scratch. But it also pushes you to think how the new features you are developing can fit into an existing game's norms and canon without 'breaking' it.

Also, as an established game, Ironsworn has the benefit of a hugely supportive online community of players to learn from, and to share ideas and inspiration.

3:  To explore the educational use of TTRPG game settings. I've been fortunate enough to study archaeology and the cultures of the ancient Mediterranean, and to be now working in the heritage sector. I believe in the value of an understanding of the distant past as a source of inspiration and insight into our lives today, and that shapes what I want to do as a game designer. 

In the same way that core Ironsworn uses a 'Viking-adjacent' background , I wanted to explore how the game could be adapted to introduce players to the life and the mythology of an earlier culture, the Bronze Age of the East Mediterranean . I have been inspired in this by the Flavour packs, produced by Eric Bright.

Like writing a historical novel (I guess, I've never tried) it's been interesting to work around the issues of historical accuracy versus what will make a fun game to play. I've gone back and forth for example on whether to use real placenames, like The Aegean sea, or the familiar pantheon of the Greek gods, Zeus, Athena, etc. I've settled on a principle of 'fiction first, then education'. I hope that works.

Principles

Other design principles I've settled on for this project are:

Stick to free: Bronzebound will only ever require free resources to play.

Accessibility/ green printing: I'll issue a text only version to reduce printing costs and environmental impact for those who want to print, and will work better for screen readers.

AI art in free versions only: I'm intrigued by the potential for using generative AI to create content, but I'm also aware of the disruption to the livelihood of talented creatives that is already happening. How I'm squaring this is I'll include AI generated images in free to download Bronzebound products to provide inspiration. But if this ever gets to be something I might expect to get paid for, I would budget for an original artist / or use of paid for images from museum collections.

Next post I'll look at how I'm developing the setting for Bronzebound.