For better or worse, I’ve always been very interested in putting together little self-contained capsules of materials or supplies for the various activities in my life. Not to say that the setups were particularly extravagant or expensive, just that they were focused and dedicated.
Gaming is no different. I have a small but not-often-used box specifically for group games like Pathfinder or D&D. The various games of Ironsworn (and a few of the cyberpunk re-skins) have each had dedicated notebook setups with things like colored pencils, fountain pens, special dice, etc. Part of the fun of getting into a new game with Sundered Isles was the prospect of putting together a tidy little pack of the materials I would need, given that I wanted to:
- Focus much more on art in this game journal than I had in the past
- Include a small watercolor palette with a limited color selection that’s specific to the game
- Play test some homebrewed apothecary/herbalism rules
- Try out the Ludic Pen tarot: Deck of Many Fortunes
- Experiment with a few different fountain pens and possibly calligraphy
- Still try to make the setup as portable as possible, even though I’ll be using more materials than my past setups
To that end, I took advantage of the fact that I have incredibly generous parents who still insist on buying me birthday presents. I spent several days with them at Thanksgiving and my birthday (early December), and I had several kit-related Amazon packages shipped to them.
Here is my workspace at their kitchen table…staged for making book covers, creating tabbed dividers, trimming oracle pages, and binding it all together!
Understandably, my folks weren’t too sure about this kitchen takeover and made sure I had adequately protected their table.
At the end of the day, they were impressed with the final result, even if they struggled a little bit to understand how the game was played or exactly how the materials would be used.
Fundamentally, the kit consists of three major parts:
- A wire-bound book, approximately A5 size, that contains the official “playkit” (summary of moves and game play rules), a section for my development of supplemental apothecary rules, and a vast array of oracle tables.
- A game journal, which in this case is a 7”x9” book of somewhat rough, hand-made paper from Amazon seller E-Tailor. The paper can be a little tricky to work with, but I had used their notebooks before so I knew what to expect.
- Other miscellaneous supplies in a zippered case.
I just grab these three and I’m set. (Unless I also want to do some watercolor painting, in which case I also need some water)
Here is the case. It is a Haco-Biz from Kokuyo. I’ve been extremely happy with it. It contains:
- Dice and washi tape in the zippered pouch
- Reading glasses
- Extra assets that my character may take in the future as I advance
- The full set of Ironsworn: Delve cards in case I want to do something like a dungeon dive. They are printed on both sides so they take up less space.
- Watercolor palette, small travel brush, larger wash brush, collapsible water cup and spray bottle
- A variety of pens, including two fountain pens, a wet erase one for making changes to my character sheet, and a few for working on the journal artwork
- The tarot-like cards in the Deck of Many Blessings
- A small case with ingredient cards I’m testing for my alchemy rules
- Various post-its and paper pieces that play a role in the game record-keeping from time to time
As functional and enjoyable as it is to play the game with this setup, I have slightly mixed feelings about it because it is quite a bit larger than any solo RPG kit I’ve assembled in the past. If I want to take it with me on a walk, there isn’t much room to fit anything else in my daypack. But then again, with all of these resources it is hard to imagine I would need anything else!
So I am embracing it’s slightly larger footprint and leaning into the enjoyment of the game itself.
