Ragnarok is here! The Dwarven Destroyers bear down on your holdfast. A cult dedicated to Loki foments deadly mischief within your walls. The local seer envisions young warriors throwing off clan ties, merging with the spirits of giants to save their holdfast. Fight, bleed, sacrifice, and save your people for as long as you can. Welcome to Iron Edda Accelerated!
Iron Edda Accelerated is a game of brave warriors fighting to keep their homes, lives, and freedom. It is a game of magic and intrigue. It is the story of ordinary people who fight alongside the towering skeletons of long-dead giants. It is the story of those who embrace an unknown afterlife to bond themselves to those giant bones. It is the story of those who cling to tradition and to the power that their roles in society gives them, even though all crumbles around them. It is the story of a world irrevocably changed. It is the story of Ragnarok, Fimbulwinter, the end of time itself. If there is to be a future at all, it will be because of you and what you do. Ultimately, this world is your world.
Fate is designed for the players to have an impact on the world around them. Iron Edda Accelerated is no different. You and the people around you will shape the future, for your holdfast and the world at large. Warrior, thrall, seer, Jarl... All have the chance to feat in Valhalla. All could dine with the fallen in Hel. Your fate is yours to decide.
Iron Edda Accelerated is a roleplaying game about the heroes of a Viking holdfast during Ragnarok. They battle threats from outside and within for honor, glory, and clan. The game draws strongly from Norse mythology — although its focus on holdfasts allows for telling a variety of stories:
* Epic Norse Action. Pick up your axe and shield to fight the metallic hordes of the Dwarves as they come to raze the world. Look through the roots of the World Tree to the Lands of the Gods and find the most opportune place to strike. Bring together your people and lead them against threats both outside and within your holdfast. Be the blazing heart of a dead giant fighting the metal monstrosities. Stand against the Dwarves who come from below to reclaim what was once theirs...or so Loki tells them.
* Heroes of the Holdfast. You’re the heroes of this age, dealing with the chaos and glory of Ragnarok: a time for legends to be born. Fight hordes of Dwarven spiders, convince fractured factions to fight together, travel the planes to bring aid in the form of magical artifacts to save clan and loved ones. Ragnarok seeks to end everything, but you have the power to keep it from destroying your holdfast for a little while longer.
* Internal Holdfast Politics. While external threats are daunting, insidious ones from within are equally deadly. People look for opportunities to gain power, even as Armageddon approaches. Convince your Jarl to make peace with the other holdfasts instead of war. Rally your warriors and keep their spirits high in the face of terror. Root out dissidents seeking to unbalance the power structure of your holdfast. Stabilize your own homes if your Jarl loses control. Keep your community strong or the Dwarves easily overrun your holdfast.
Setting
The Dwarves of Svartalfheim invade the surface with metal machines, monstrous and terrible. The gods fight against the end of existence. Holdfasts burn. The seers foretell the coming of the Bonebonded: young folk who’ve thrown clan aside to merge with the spirits of deceased giants, providing the power to retaliate against the Dwarves in the form of skeletal giants. The Runescribed use their terrible powers to keep everyone alive a little longer. Other holdfasts seek any advantage in these desperate times. The world hurtles toward a chaotic ending, while a smiling Loki sits in the shadows watching Yggdrasil burn. What will your story be during the end times?
Iron Edda Accelerated invites a wide variety of stories against the backdrop of Ragnarok. The Holdfast Creation system lets you take the elements presented, ask questions about the holdfast, and uncover the rest through play. While answering those questions you also draw a map of your holdfast, providing a visual representation of your experiences. The map functions as a play aid and reminder of your holdfast’s environs, the problems arrayed against you, and the places you’ve decided are important.
System
Iron Edda Accelerated explores the problems of an oncoming apocalypse against a backdrop of mythic storytelling and Norse culture where clan is thicker than blood. The heroes of the holdfast feel pressure from everywhere as they solve the problems assaulting the holdfast.
To make that happen, Iron Edda Accelerated uses a variation of the Fate Accelerated system, by Evil Hat Productions. Fate Accelerated makes the characters instantly competent and dramatic through approaches and aspects. In addition, story stress tracks help the GM weigh and present various problems assaulting the holdfast.
Other mechanisms help promote the kind of play Iron Edda promises:
* Scale - Giant metal monstrosities, heroes larger than life, magical runes usable against enemies, and weapons of legend. Rules are provided to determine the weight of these elements in play.
* Destinies - A number of mythic Norse-inspired destinies, including the Bonebonded, Runescribed, Seer, and even the Farmer, help players make characters fit into the setting.
* Holdfast Creation - This system creates your holdfast through a series of questions and a hand-drawn map. When completed, the players have a series of problems that assail the holdfast and the characters’ paths are clear — and legendary stories unfold quickly.
Iron Edda Accelerated is a Fate Accelerated RPG designed to be played by 2-6 players.
