The Worst Rule in Ironsworn

"Make the most obvious negative outcome happen."

(Disclaimer: I wouldn't be writing this if I didn't love Ironsworn. I have very few complaints about the game, but I found one I couldn't resist writing about. Thus, the clickbait title, which I half-apologize for.)

The "obvious negative outcome" rule comes from page 105 of the Ironsworn core rulebook, as part of the Move Pay the Price (often shortened to "PtP"). It's in Starforged as well, so this all applies there too. From what I've seen in play reports and discussed in the Ironsworn community, no other rule has caused as much confusion and frustration for players and guides. I strongly suspect this rule is responsible for a significant portion of Ironsworn's undeserved reputation as a grim, gritty, and deadly game where you should fully expect your character to be killed off at any time. The reality is, adventures in Ironsworn are only as dangerous as you choose to make them, though it takes some system mastery to tune the experience to your tastes.

Before we dive into my reasoning for why the "obvious negative outcome" rule is the worst in Ironsworn and what can be done about it, let's back up and establish some context. If you're already pretty familiar with Ironsworn's rules and Pay the Price, feel free to skip ahead to "What's so bad about this rule anyway?"

What is Pay the Price (or PtP for short)? It is the Move you make in Ironsworn when you suffer a negative outcome from another Move. That usually means you rolled a Miss on something else, though it can also trigger off a weak hit on certain moves like Clash. PtP tells you how to decide what consequences you suffer. It's similar to the GM Moves from other Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) games, but designed to support GM-less play by being a bit more concrete and allowing the player(s) to choose a consequence for themselves.

Here is the text of Pay the Price:

"When you suffer the outcome of a move, choose one.

• Make the most obvious negative outcome happen.
• Envision two negative outcomes. Rate one as ‘likely’, and Ask the Oracle using the yes/no table. On a ‘yes’, make that outcome happen. Otherwise, make it the other.
• Roll on the following table. If you have difficulty interpreting the result to fit the current situation, roll again."

This is followed by an oracle table of possible outcomes, such as "Something of value is lost or destroyed" or "It is harmful." Depending on the result you choose or roll, PtP may lead to a narrative consequence (such as angering an NPC), a mechanical consequence (such as losing Health), or both. Those consequences can then trigger other Moves, such as Endure Harm or Face Danger. Over the course of a campaign, you'll be dealing with Pay the Price a lot, so the results will heavily shape your story and the difficulty you face.

What's so bad about this rule anyway?

In short, because it implicitly encourages players to choose simple, direct consequences most of the time, and especially ones that cost Health. This problem is usually most noticable and severe in combat, but it happens in other contexts too.

Here's how it commonly goes:

• "I need to roll Face Danger to (climb a cliff / swim across a river / evade an enemy's attack)."
• "Oops, I rolled a Miss. Time to Pay The Price."
• "Hmm, it says to make the most obvious negative outcome happen. Well, what's most obvious here would be to (fall off the cliff / start drowning / get stabbed)."
• "Guess it's time to Endure Harm and then try again."

Now, there's nothing terribly wrong with that sequence of events, if it happens occasionally, but it shouldn't be the default. Choosing mechanical hits instead of narrative complications too often can make your story uninteresting and lead to your character suffering excessively or even dying, leaving you unsatisfied and frustrated.

Yet time after time I see conversations like this:

• New player: "This game is so hard! I did just one Dangerous rank combat and nearly died!"
• Experienced players: "Well, did you make yourself lose Health on every Miss?"
• New player: "Of course, because the game says to make the most obvious negative result happen. In combat, that means losing Health, right?"

Why do so many players fall into this trap? I think there are several factors. The biggest one is probably that many players are used to other RPGs, board games, and video games where losing hit points is the primary or only consequence for failure, and where combat often boils down to taking turns trading blows until somebody dies. But also...

• "Obvious negative outcome" is the first option listed in PtP. Studies show that most people are slightly biased toward choosing the first option from a list. Additionally, players may assume that the first option must be the default or most recommended, or that the other two options are only for when there isn't an "obvious" result.
• It's easier and faster to just choose an outcome, compared to rolling on the full table and interpreting the result, or coming up with two options and rolling to see which one happens.
• Some players may only read the rules and moves once, then rely on their memory, or merely skim for a quick reminder, rather than referencing the full text of the move. It's easier to remember the simple "obvious negative outcome" rule than the rest of PtP.

Is this really the worst rule, though? It's not like the rule is logically or mathematically broken. In fact, when applied correctly and judiciously, the "obvious negative outcome" rule is a time-saver that helps keep the story flowing. It also lets players know it's okay to just pick something instead of always rolling for a random result. The main reason I dislike this rule so strongly is because it can cause new players to bounce off Ironsworn (due to its perceived difficulty) before they've had a chance to learn how to handle it and experience how awesome Ironsworn can be. The secondary reason is because I believe it would only take two tiny changes to fix most of the problem.

So, what's the solution?

Oddly enough, the main fix is already there in the Ironsworn rulebook, on page 104, where it discusses how to use the two Fate Moves (Ask The Oracle and Pay the Price). Specifically, it suggests...

"If an answer to a question or the result of a situation is obvious, interesting and dramatic, make it happen." (Emphasis added)

Those three extra words make all the difference. They prompt players to choose an outcome that is fun and engaging, not just one that follows logically from the setup. Unfortunately, that text is easily overlooked during play, because it isn't in the Move itself. I would love to see Pay The Price amended to say...

"Make the most obvious, interesting, and/or dramatic negative outcome happen."

Additionally or alternatively, I think it could be helpful to move this line down so it is presented as the second or third option in PtP. That might make it feel less like the default approach and more like an option on par with the other two.

Ok, but how do I come up with better ideas for consequences?

Even once you realize that getting hurt doesn't have to be so common, it can still be hard to come up with alternatives that don't feel like a stretch. Rolling on the Pay The Price table is one option, but some players may dislike that randomness or struggle to interpret the results. Below are some suggestions for how to spark your creativity. With practice, you will find yourself coming up with consequences that feel interesting, dramatic, and obvious.

• Read through the Oracle table in PtP again from time to time. Notice how most of the results are not directly harmful or stressful. Even if you aren't rolling on it, the table can be very useful for sparking ideas for consequences.
• Go re-watch some of your favorite action or adventure movies. Think about each story beat and whether it feels like a strong hit, weak hit, or miss for the protagonist. Pay attention to the action scenes and notice what else happens to the heroes besides getting hurt. Usually, a lot of narrative complications get introduced before anyone takes a serious wound. Mine your favorite media for examples.
• Try to think of at least one possible negative outcome before making a Move. If you can't think of anything interesting, that might mean this isn't a dramatic or high-stakes enough moment to bother rolling.
• Sometimes use success-at-a-cost or "yes, but..." outcomes to "fail forward" on a Miss. For example, instead of falling down from the cliff you were climbing, you get to the top only to find a nest of angry harpies in your way.
• Break down a big consequence into smaller steps. This lets you ratchet up the stakes and tension across multiple rolls. For example, on a Journey or Expedition, one Miss could mean simply "the weather is starting to look bad", and the second Miss is where you say,  "now the thunderstorm is rolling in, time to find shelter." Or for a combat example, instead of getting knocked off a cliff due to one bad roll, you can have stages like "oh no, I've been pushed closer to the cliff", "oh no, I'm teetering on the edge of the cliff", and "oh no, I'm clinging to the top of the cliff for dear life."
• Try to have stakes and goals in combat other than "let's see who dies first." For example, if you are fighting to protect an NPC, a threat of injury to them is a great "obvious" consequence.
• Think about your enemy's fighting style and approach to combat (or other forms of conflict). Use the combat action Oracle for inspiration as well. Then, when you lose initiative or are in a bad spot, don't just say, "they attack me." Choose an action or tactic like "they try to disarm me," "they try to intimidate me," or "they try to lure me into terrain that favors them." Then, if you fail your next roll, the "obvious" outcome will be the result of whatever your opponent was trying to do.
• Add some detail to the environment in combat. A fight should rarely take place on a flat, open plain or in an empty arena. Trees, cliffs, mud, stairs, walls, fences, boulders, pits, traps, and so on all provide opportunities for you and your opponent to fight in more interesting ways, which can then generate more options for consequences.
• If you feel that a particular failure deserves a mechanical hit, or you don't feel like coming up with a narrative complication, remember that Health, Spirit, Supply, and Momentum are all valid ways to pay that cost. Maybe instead of getting hurt, you had a close call that frightened you, or you lost or wasted valuable supplies, or you were delayed or put at a minor disadvantage.

Conclusion

I hope this post was helpful. If you have other ideas for how to generate fun Pay the Price results, or you disagree with me about what deserves the title of "worst rule in Ironsworn", leave a comment, or find me on the Ironsworn discord server and let me know!