This is a great review. Delve is definitely an excellent addition to Ironsworn, and in my opinion a lot of it transfers to other games as well. Whether it is oracles and themes, actual mechanics, or even just the way Delve changes how you think about approaching “dungeons,” it has definitely made its way into multiple other games I’ve played.
As I only play solo games, I think just about any game can benefit from Delve. Not porting it into another game directly unless perhaps it is another PBTA-type game, but bringing the essence of it. It carries a lot of similarities of the dungeon-as-point-crawl style and I think that works great in more narrative focused games, but even in some crunchier games. Corridors and hallways often don’t bring much to the table in standard dungeon crawls (not to say they can’t, just that they usually don’t). Focusing on the dungeon rooms, and using things like the themes from Delve can add a lot of flavor. That’s just my opinion of course and due to life, I’ve not played TTRPGs in a group in over a decade, so take anything I say with a giant bag of salt.
Great great review. Really. The comparisons with vanilla Ironsworn are what every Ironsworn player wants to read. Would you say that Ironsworn is all the walking and fighting in Skyrim, but with Delve, all of the sudden all of the caves, tombs and ruins are opened to you?
That’s the high-level addition, yes. But it adds a couple of new mechanics i.e “Threat” and “Learning from failure” that can be mixed into “overland” Ironsworn - plus a bunch of new monsters, domains and random tables as well.
Great review. Thanks for the insight on Delve. I'm going to have to take a look at it when I get a chance.
The other thing I should have mentioned is that since Ironsworn itself is free, buting Delve is a good way to support the creators
This is a great review. Delve is definitely an excellent addition to Ironsworn, and in my opinion a lot of it transfers to other games as well. Whether it is oracles and themes, actual mechanics, or even just the way Delve changes how you think about approaching “dungeons,” it has definitely made its way into multiple other games I’ve played.
Interesting. Which other games can benefit from the Delve mechanics, Johnny?
As I only play solo games, I think just about any game can benefit from Delve. Not porting it into another game directly unless perhaps it is another PBTA-type game, but bringing the essence of it. It carries a lot of similarities of the dungeon-as-point-crawl style and I think that works great in more narrative focused games, but even in some crunchier games. Corridors and hallways often don’t bring much to the table in standard dungeon crawls (not to say they can’t, just that they usually don’t). Focusing on the dungeon rooms, and using things like the themes from Delve can add a lot of flavor. That’s just my opinion of course and due to life, I’ve not played TTRPGs in a group in over a decade, so take anything I say with a giant bag of salt.
Thanks, Johnny, that's helpful
Great great review. Really. The comparisons with vanilla Ironsworn are what every Ironsworn player wants to read. Would you say that Ironsworn is all the walking and fighting in Skyrim, but with Delve, all of the sudden all of the caves, tombs and ruins are opened to you?
That’s the high-level addition, yes. But it adds a couple of new mechanics i.e “Threat” and “Learning from failure” that can be mixed into “overland” Ironsworn - plus a bunch of new monsters, domains and random tables as well.