Alternate Stat Arrays for Ironsworn

When creating your character to play Ironsworn (or Starforged or various other spin-offs), you have a simple yet difficult choice to make: how do you distribute your stats? Your answer will majorly influence your story as it determines how likely you are to succeed or fail at the many different Moves available to you.

By default, Ironsworn offers you an array of the numbers 3, 2, 2, 1, and 1 to distribute across your five attributes (Edge, Heart, Iron, Shadow, and Wits). This lets you pick one stat to be your strongest, two to have a solid score in, and two to be slightly deficient in (though not too bad - an action roll at +1 still has a 55% chance of rolling a hit). That works out to 30 different ways to arrange your stats.

But what if you wanted more options? Higher stats, lower stats, or just a different distribution? Below, I will examine some possibilities and discuss how they might affect your game of Ironsworn (or Starforged or other spin-off).

(If you want to delve into the math behind how stats determine your odds on a roll, check out this blog post on Basic Probability in Ironsworn by Marx Shepherd.)

Official Alternatives from Lodestar

Ironsworn: Lodestar is primarily a quick reference guide for the rules, moves, and oracles of Ironsworn. However, it also includes one significant new optional rule: alternative arrays for your starting attributes. Lodestar presents three suggestions:

• Challenging: 4, 3, 3, 2, 2
• Perilous (default): 3, 2, 2, 1, 1
• Grim: 3, 2, 1, 1, 0

Compared to the default, the Challenging array is simply the result of adding +1 to all your stats. This will tend to make the game significantly easier, as your best stat is even better, and your worst stats are as good as the default array's middle stats. Your actual odds on each roll aren't hugely different. In fact, the number of weak hits will be almost the same (still around 40%). However, misses tend to trigger the need to make additional moves (especially if you choose big narrative complications), which can lead to more misses. So, the cumulative effect of having fewer misses in the first place really adds up.

On the flip side, the Grim array subtracts a point from two of your stats (compared to the default). Your best attribute will still be at 3, but you only get a single 2, and your worst attribute will be all the way down at 0, where your chance of a hit is only 41%. This isn't as big of a difference from the default as the Challenging array is in the other direction, but it can still make your game quite difficult if you dare to try it. A lot will also depend on which stat you put your 0 in and how often you actually need to roll it. A very honest, straightforward character with 0 Shadow probably won't mind the low stat nearly as much as a character with 0 Heart who finds themselves struggling to swear iron vows or recover their resources via sojourning.

The Challenging array may be a good choice if you want an overall lighter and more heroic tone for your campaign, with fewer complications and less risk. The Grim array may be worth trying if you really want to test your mastery of the system or play a darker campaign where your character struggles to survive in the face of overwhelming odds.

However, as Lodestar hints, those are not the only options available to you...

Cooking Up Homebrew Alternatives

If we want to invent our own stat arrays, it's worth doing a little analysis on the suggested ones first. How many total stat points do you get, and how evenly are they distributed? Here's the breakdown: 

• Challenging: 14 total points, one best stat, difference of 2 between best and worst
• Perilous (default): 9 total points, one best stat, difference of 2 between best and worst
• Grim: 7 total points, one best stat, difference of 3 between best and worst

That gives a general idea of what Ironsworn is designed around and considers "balanced" (though as with any TTRPG, "balance" is hard to define and shouldn't be clung to too tightly). It's also worth noting that a few assets and the optional rules in Ironsworn for increasing attributes with XP reference a cap of 4 on any given stat. Given those parameters, here are some other arrays worth considering (though feel free to make your own as well):

• Jack of all Trades: 2, 2, 2, 2, 1. Total points: 9. With this spread, you have few weaknesses, but no real strength to differentiate your character. They might end up feeling bland.
• Wide Spread: 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Total points: 10. This is almost like a compromise between the Challenging and Grim arrays, with higher highs and lower lows than the default array. This will probably feel easier than the default overall, especially if you find ways to avoid rolling your weakest stat.
• Over-specialized: 4, 4, 1, 0, 0. Total points: 9. Be awesome in two areas and lacking everywhere else. I don't really recommend this one, but it's interesting to think about how far you can take these ideas.
• Broader Competence: 3, 3, 2, 2, 1. Total points: 11. Good for when you just can't decide which stat should be your highest.  This isn't as strong as the Challenging array, because you don't get a 4, and you still have a weak stat, but it's still noticablely stronger than Perilous.
• Extra Grim: 2, 1, 1, 0, 0. Total points: 4. This is the default array minus 1 from each stat. I would never use this solo or even in a small group. However, for a large enough group of players who like to min-max, this could bring back some of the challenge that is lost compared to smaller games.

Of course, you could also make even more extreme or silly arrays, such as a 9 and four 0s, or just 3s across the board, but I'd bet most of those are more fun to think about than to actually play.

Stat Arrays and Assets

Whichever spread of attributes you go with, you've still got to consider your Asset choices. For the most part, this part doesn't change much - you still want to think about whether to specialize in your best stats or compensate for your worst - but there are few small considerations:

• The bigger the difference between your best stat and your worst, the more value you can get out of assets that let you substitute one stat for another on certain rolls. With the default array, these assets are never better than a +2 bonus, but with a wider spread, they could be effectively a +3 or even +4 difference.
• Some Assets let you roll with a set number that isn't an attribute, such as a Companion's health value. These also may seem more or less attractive depending on how high the stat is you'd normally roll for that kind of Move.
• Some Assets, such as Oathbreaker, let you permanently raise a stat or shift points from one stat to another. Many of these have a cap of +4. It can be worth considering if you're expecting to get any of these at some point and whether you'll hit the cap given your starting array.

What Doesn't Change

Remember that no matter what your stats are, progress Moves don't use them. That means your odds on Moves like Reach Your Destination, End The Fight, and Fulfill Your Vow will be exactly the same regardless of your chosen attributes. Choosing the right time to make those moves can have just as big of an impact on the twists and turns of your story as your attributes will.

Also remember that you still get to choose for yourself what success and failure mean in your story, regardless of how frequently they each happen. How you choose to Pay the Price  especially has a large effect on the tone and difficulty of the game. If you want an easier or harder game, or a lighter or darker tone, shifting your approach to the narrative can do as much or more than shifting your stats.

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you think about what stats you might want to give your next PC. There are a lot of options to choose from, and no right or wrong answer except what works for you. Just remember that the further you stray from the default, the more your experience will differ from what Ironsworn normally expects.