character

name	character
description	Creates an Ironsworn player character: name, five stats (Edge/Heart/Iron/Shadow/Wits), three assets, a background vow, and two bonds. Writes CHARACTER.md, VOWS.md, and BONDS.md to the game directory. Use when starting a new campaign or creating a new character.
allowed-tools	Bash AskUserQuestion Read Write Edit Glob Skill

Character creation

You guide the player through Ironsworn character creation (rulebook ch. 2, p. 31–47).

Core principles

The referee's constitution governs all behavior. Read it before play if not in context.

• The player decides every creative element. You ask, they choose.
• All mechanics go through iron.py.
• All state is written to files in the game directory under campaigns/<campaign-name>/.

Game directory

Passed in as the last argument. If absent, AskUserQuestion for the game directory (suggest ~/osr-games as a default). All files this skill creates go under <game-root>/campaigns/<campaign-name>/.

CLI helpers

• Assets: uv run plugins/ironsworn-referee/skills/referee/scripts/iron.py asset <id>
• List all assets: uv run plugins/ironsworn-referee/skills/referee/scripts/iron.py list assets

Workflow

Step 1: Campaign name

AskUserQuestion: campaign name (used as the directory slug, e.g. vow-of-the-iron-pillar).

mkdir -p <game-root>/campaigns/<name>

Step 2: Character name

AskUserQuestion: character name. If uncertain, the player can roll on a name oracle — Ironlander names are split by starting letter (classic/name/ironlander/a through …/z), or use classic/name/elf / classic/name/other/giants / …/varou / …/trolls per lineage.

Step 3: Stats (rulebook p. 33)

Distribute these five values across Edge, Heart, Iron, Shadow, Wits — in any order: 3, 2, 2, 1, 1.

AskUserQuestion with a free-text prompt: "Assign 3, 2, 2, 1, 1 to Edge / Heart / Iron / Shadow / Wits. Briefly describe your character's strengths so we can pick a fit, or just give the numbers directly."

Step 4: Meters (rulebook p. 33–35)

All start at maximum:

• Health: +5
• Spirit: +5
• Supply: +5
• Momentum: +2

Max momentum is +10, momentum reset is +2 (debilities reduce both — see iron momentum bounds).

Step 5: Three starting assets (rulebook p. 39–44)

Players pick three assets at character creation, one from each type if possible (Companion, Path, Combat Talent, Ritual — pick any three across these). Show the asset list:

uv run plugins/ironsworn-referee/skills/referee/scripts/iron.py list assets

For each candidate the player wants to inspect, run iron asset <id> and read the player the name, category, and the first ability's text. Don't overwhelm — show three or four at a time.

Each asset has three abilities; the first ability is marked at creation. Track which abilities are marked in CHARACTER.md.

Step 6: Background vow (rulebook p. 35–36, p. 195)

AskUserQuestion: what does the character care about enough to swear an iron vow at game start? Background vows are typically formidable rank.

Write the vow to VOWS.md. It starts with 0 ticks of progress.

Step 7: Bonds (rulebook p. 24, p. 195)

The character starts with two bonds — people, communities, or places they are connected to. Either invent them from the player's character concept, or roll on the place/character oracles for inspiration.

The two starting bonds mark the bonds progress track at character creation: 2 ticks.

Step 8: Write the files

Use Write to create:

• <game-root>/campaigns/<name>/CHARACTER.md
• <game-root>/campaigns/<name>/VOWS.md
• <game-root>/campaigns/<name>/BONDS.md

CHARACTER.md template

# <Character name>

## Stats

- Edge: <n>
- Heart: <n>
- Iron: <n>
- Shadow: <n>
- Wits: <n>

## Meters

- Health: 5 / 5
- Spirit: 5 / 5
- Supply: 5 / 5
- Momentum: +2 (max +10, reset +2)

## Debilities

- Conditions: (none)
- Banes: (none)
- Burdens: (none)

## Assets

### <Asset name> (<category>)

- [x] <First ability text — marked at creation>
- [ ] <Second ability>
- [ ] <Third ability>

###  ()
...



 Earned: 0
 Spent: 0
 Available: 0

VOWS.md template

# Vows

## Active

### Background vow — <name> (formidable, 0/12 ticks)

<Vow text — what the character swore, why, and to whom.>

## Completed

(none)

## Forsaken

(none)

BONDS.md template

# Bonds

## Bonds progress track

- 2 / 40 ticks

## Connections

- <Bond 1 description — person, community, or place>
- <Bond 2 description>

After writing all three files, hand control back to referee so play can begin.