Definitely one of my favorite Achtung! Cthulhu adventures, this begins the characters explorations into the Dreamlands. A very trippy and surreal adventure ensues and the private player hallucination handouts seems especially fun and evocative. As usual the details of the adventure are well thought out, potentially open ended for adventurous DMs and certainly having the option of leading to further sessions.

This game is wonderful. I have spent time playing a Mandlorian solo adventure. I am also using the base rules with some dice adjustments to play a superhero variation (by adjusting base dice and difficulty dice from d6 to d8-d12 etc for stats for supers and supernaturals). I love the PBTA influences. I love the tables and use most of them when I play up on Roll20. I am letting all my ttrpg peeps know about this game and love the fact that I can use the same system not just for solo play but also as a base system for groups. Thank you so much for this one.

From the setting oracles to the game mechanics, Starforged drips personality and possibility. If I had to choose only one RPG to play for the rest of my life, this would be it.

This game system is the gold-standard for solo RPGs and GM-ing with improv. I can't recommend it enough. The rules are low crunch and drive the story forward with twists and turns and complications. The oracle/random tables are delicious and well-organized.

The setting is cool, but far too "perilous". The oracle tables and world-generation procedures create a space sector that I have a hard time suspending my disbelief about. The scarce resources, low populations, limited trade, and hostile environments all make for a world that would quickly extinguish human life.

Luckily, the game system is perfectly capable of driving a campaign in a homebrew Sci Fi world (or a world of fantasy or other genres, for that matter). The oracle tables are still great in a more hospitable and thriving Sci Fi universe, but you will need paint the broad brushstrokes of that universe yourself.

If you can't find a group to play with consistently, if you're a forever-GM who wants to play a character, or if you want a low-crunch system that always drives the story forward, this is the game for you.

Starfoged is a very special contribution to the world of RPGs. I'll be playing it for years to come.

I tried Ironsworn, Loved it, found out that a sci-fi version was coming out soon, waited impatiently (Missed the kickstarter) finally played Sci-fi version... damn, I'm new to solo RPGs, but this series is phenomenal.

Love the story focus, I've found that crunchier games played solo take ages to accomplish anything. I also like the addition of more moves, and the new rulebook. Something about this one feels much better than Ironsworn's rulebook.

This is an incredible system. Elegant in design, robust in function, exciting in play. This game can spark the imagination of even the least creative solo roleplayers.

Five Parsecs is the game I never knew I always wanted.

Disclosure: I was involved with the playtest of this game.

It has been a real treat to watch this game evolve through the playtest to the polished final product available today. However, I've got to say I've been having an absolute BLAST with this game from day one. Even the rough early versions of this game had immense playability and huge potential. Now though? With the incredible art, the refinements to usability and gameplay, the additional oracles? Solid gold. Do not sleep on this one.

The game plays great as a solo experience, but its equally as smooth running a GM-less, zero-prep game with a small group. Grab this game, get some friends together, and head out into the Forge for some sci-fi adventure.

I backed the KS on day 1, I can say it has been the best experience on the crowdfunding platform so far. Timely updates of the progress, complete transparency about the choices made, frequent updates of the developer edition PDF. The game was immediately and fully playable at the end of the campaign, refined release after release over the last year. I cannot wait to have the physical copy in my hands to see in print the wonderful art. This game has a strong community on Reddit and Discord, look for one of the many actual plays on YT or listen to a podcast to have a taste of it. I strongly suggest you to grab one of the few copy left of the Deluxe Edition if you can.

Starforged pulled me out of a years-long creativity drought and helped me fall in love with TTRPGs and writing again. I haven't shut up about this game since the Kickstarter dropped and I don't plan to now that the official release is here. The rules are easy to understand, the Oracle tables are inspiring, and the amount of freedom with regards to character building and problem solving is a welcome change from many other systems that are often restrictive or punish "sub-optimal" character ideas. The art is fantastic as well and the reference materials are extremely useful. If you like space adventures you should definitely pick this game up. This is my Game of the Year and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have, if not more!

Where Ironsworn blazed a trail for a distinct type of narrative driven solo-roleplaying game full of streamlined tools, neat mechanics and player agency, Starforged takes all of it, refines it, distills it and brews up a magical concoction that raises the bar for what an RPG system should be like. Lessons learned from Ironsworn are implemented in ways that add another layer of depth to the game, making it feel like a complete end-to-end package that can provide you with hundreds of hours of material to play through. Its baked-in focus on solo play make it the perfect system for a lone player to explore a retro sci-fi universe at their leisure and guarantee that it'll never get boring.

Starforged is a beautifully designed, beautifully rendered update to the core Ironsworn system.

Lots of small, incremental improvements for clarity, usability, and fun added in Starforged.

The assumed setting is great, and the guided prompts for making it your own world are fun and compelling. But even if you don't want to use the assumed setting, the amount of work to drop in Star Wars, Firefly, The Expanse, Dune, or any other sci-fi setting is trivial.

My experience with both Ironsworn and Starforged have all been universally positive, with fun, dynamic, engaging roleplaying, both in solo, co-op without a GM, and guided play (with a GM, where I was the GM).

This is such a tremendous system for fiction-first, narrative-style gaming. Ironsworn / Starforged takes inspiration from Apocalypse World / Dungeon World / Powered by the Apocalypse, and mixes in some Blades in the Dark / Forged in the Dark, but is very much its own thing.

In case you didn't catch my drift earlier, this game (and its predecessor) are GREAT. Not good, GREAT roleplaying systems and really should be in every gamer's library.

The secrets of the Secret War - a Mephisto review

The Achtung! Cthulhu Gamemaster's Guide represents the second half of the rulebook for the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Edition. It focuses on gamemaster topics and thus on the mythos background and the opponents of the player characters. Thus, the various power groups – Section M, Majestic, Black Sun, Nachtwölfe, Deep Ones, and Mi-Go – are presented in detail, whereas in the Player's Guide, there were only a few snippets of text about these power groups. The descriptions are not only very detailed and give a good impression, but also the story arc throughout the war, and thus the complete metaplot is outlined. Not only are existing adventures referenced, but upcoming events are also touched upon so that the game already presents its larger plot as an overview in this basic rulebook. The entanglements of the power groups, their secrets, development, and connections provide a lot of potential for exciting stories. After all, this background chapter already makes up the book's first quarter.

The second chapter is about the secret weapons used in the Secret War. Here, the developments of Section M and Majestic are found side by side with the occult artifacts of the Black Sun, the Atlantean technology of the Nachtwölfe, and the bizarre devices of Deep Ones and Mi-Go. Even though the primary focus lies on weapons – from swords cane to the Pufferfish grenade to the sniper rifle – one can find other practical items. But, of course, most items are difficult at best for the player characters to acquire – and much of it comes from the arsenal of their enemies. The next chapter explains the subject of magic. While the magical traditions of the Allies are touched upon once again, the focus here is on Mythos magic, which is organized according to three Great Old Ones – Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, and Yog-Sothoth. Then, again, there is the division into combat spells, which are quick to cast and are indeed primarily geared toward combat, and rituals, which allow for broader applications but are also significantly more difficult. Inevitably, the usual Mythos books are also showcased, which can serve as a source for combat spells and rituals.

The game master chapter addresses not only beginners because here, in addition to the basic concepts of game management, the game mechanics of Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 and their possibilities are demonstrated. There are tips on how to design a scene, as well as a summary of the most important rules and ideas and examples of rule concepts like Truths or the use of Threat. A little less than the second half of the book is devoted to the heroes, villains, and monsters of the Secret War. Here, you will find typical character profiles for soldiers of different units and key characters' backgrounds and game stats, from Badger and Ariane Dubois to Exarch Reinhardt Weissler and Mina Wolff. Thereafter, the book dives into a number of Mythos creatures. While Deep Ones and Mi-Go are presented in particular detail, the usual suspects like Ghouls, Serpent People or Sheehad are not missing. In the end, some of the Great Old Ones, Elder Gods, and Outer Gods are presented. Their statistics are not missing either – some of which are less impressive than one would expect, as the game system simply has hard limits regarding statistics. The question whether you really need game stats for the Great Old Ones is about as old as the different Cthulhu roleplaying games.

Like the Player's Guide, the Gamemaster's Guide offers a very well-done rulebook that provides the gamemaster with everything about the Mythos that is deliberately withheld from players in the Player's Guide. Particularly, the presentation of the power groups, their history, and also their development within the scenario is convincingly presented. Equipment and spells are coherent, and the chapter on gameplay provides good, concrete tips that are not only aimed at beginners. Whether you require the sheer amount of character profiles of various allies and enemies is something everyone must decide for themselves. However, the various Mythos creatures and gods provide a valuable cross-section, even outside the primary opponents in Secret War.

It is also noticeable in this book that Achtung! Cthulhu has ramped up the pulp factor and toned down the horror to make up for it. Here the heroes are better equipped to withstand the horrors of the Mythos. Contact with its creatures and magic spreads less madness and corruption. Compared to the previous editions, the real World War II takes a bit of a back seat, and with its archetypal characters, the game shows itself more as a pulp story or action movie. Thus, the officers of Section M showcase bravery and integrity; the scientists are somewhat cerebral and unworldly, while their opponents are either brutally repulsive occultists or sexy, cold-blooded schemers.

From my point of view, this new direction fits perfectly with Achtung! Cthulhu. On the one hand, the game distances itself somewhat from World War II and thus does not trivialize the actual horrors but provides a background against which fictional pulp heroes and villains can engage in action-packed confrontations with the Cthulhu mythos.

(Björn Lippold)

Whether playing solo, co-op, or guided, Starforged is jam packed with evocative prompts. The oracle system has been refined and even more expansive than Ironsworn. I've been playing the preview for about a year now in guided and still look forward to finding out what happens - and I'm the GM! To be surprised at 'your own' story is so refreshing.

Ironsworn changed my understanding of what an RPG could be. Starforged is the next level. It is an immaculate product with an earthshaking core capable of generating exciting, and and times heartbreaking narratives. This is my system of choice for solo and group play.