It's time to begin my second (and final) week of choosing Truths for a solo Ironsworn: Starforged game! Rolling for one a night is letting me stew on each of these truths without feeling like I'm getting too mired in the details. It feels like a little treat to look forward to each night instead of a big homework assignment to slog through (in my experience, doing all 14 all in one go can feel like a lot).

I think this extended approach could work at least as well in a group setting. Scheduling, like, 14 half-hour sessions 14 nights in a row would be next to impossible for many groups, but it would be very play-by-post friendly; you pick a set time each day to roll the next Truth on your Discord server or whatever, then it serves as a focal point for discussion and ideation until the next one drops.

Speaking of discussion, let's roll on the table!

Communication and Data Roll: 71

"In settled domains, a network of data hubs called the Weave allow near-instantaneous communication and data-sharing between ships and outposts."

I'm tired tonight. But I just won't be able to sleep until I know what Medicine is like in the Forge.

Medicine Roll: 61

"To help offset a scarcity of medical supplies and knowledge, the resourceful technicians we call riggers create basic organ and limb replacements."

Had a good session of Girl By Moonlight with my group tonight so I'm gonna try to motor on through this Truth. I'm a little nervous to see if things keep meshing so well!

Artificial Intelligence Roll: 32

"We no longer have access to advanced computer systems. Instead, we must rely on the seers we call Adepts."

This is something I haven't thought about much so far, since I've been picturing conflict between members of the Covenant as backbiting and boardroom dealings. But more open warfare could totally work too. Let's see!

War Roll: 51

"Professional soldiers defend or expand the holdings of those who are able to pay. The rest of us are on our own."

I have a stomach ache :(

But the Truths of this strange galaxy still call to me. The rolls must go on!

Lifeforms Roll: 33

"This is a perilous and often inhospitable galaxy, but life finds a way."

The second Truth can set up this idea of a far-reaching alien civilization (somebody put all these gates here), as it did for my setting. Then it mostly drops that idea until the second to last Truth. This lets your Forge develop with that idea of an ancient civilization still lodged in the back of your head --- not overbearing, but ever present.

I just think that's neat.

Precursors Roll: 78

"The biomechanical lifeforms we call the Remnants, engineered by civilizations as weapons in a cataclysmic war, survived the death of their creators."

At first I thought this answer didn't reveal much about the Precursors, but it really does:

• We know there were civilizations, plural, in the Forge.
• We know they fought in a big, horrible war.
• We know they created weird biomechanical entities to fight in that war, and those entities ended up outliving them.

We also know (via the flavor text) that these Remnants tend to be found on "scarred planets" and in ancient places where they guard secrets and fight unending wars. This Truth also establishes the origin and nature of the weird-yet-lucrative Precursor Vaults that are a constant of Ironsworn: Starforged.

Is the lingering chaos in the Forge a result of an old war? Maybe the black iron pillar on the Earth's moon was part of some far-reaching, fail-deadly system that humanity accidentally triggered? But then why the map to portals that pointed from our galaxy to theirs? Just for weapon crews to get home after an all-clear that never came?

The great news is that I don't need to answer these questions right now! Love an unanswered question in a setting. There's only one more Truth to uncover before The Forge is fully baked and ready to set on the windowsill: what kind of Horrors lurk therein.