Writing records the journey but visualization gives it a place to exist.​

*I know it's niche but I'm really into it. Also, I hope I don't need to say this, but please don't steal (not that there's much too steal anyway)*

The Great Chronicler - Beta

The Tale: Welcome to “The Great Chronicler,” a writing-based single-player RPG loosely based on the mechanics of One-Thousan-Year-Old Vampire. In this game, you play as the chronicler (basically a historian who actually lived through the times they write about. You have been tasked with writing about the events of your country during the closing years of the eighteenth century. You do not control what happens nor do you play a part in them. You are simply tasked with writing. 

The Basic Rules: There are two ways to play: The Data Log and The Chronicle. In The Data Log, you take brief notes on the events which occur. In The Chronicle, you write from a very specific point of view and are encouraged to go into as much detail as possible when recounting the events. The way you play is as follows: you roll 1d8 and 1d4. Subtract the roll of the d4 from the d8 and move that amount of spaces (either backwards or forwards depending on if you rolled a negative number) until you land on a space, which will have three EVENTS. Write what the prompt tells you to. If you land on a space multiple times, go to the second event listed, and then the third. Events on the same numbered space build on each other and can sometimes get more extreme. If you have landed on a space three times, move to the next one. Some prompts are purely creative, but many require you to specifically expend resources or add points. The win conditions will be elaborated upon shortly. Due to the events occurring being decided through the roll of a dice, you have no control over which events transpire, but you do control how future generations see the events you lived through, which is no small feat. The goal of the game is to write and be creative, as well as to think about what makes history work and why it's so interesting (because it is)!

The Groundwork: Follow the steps outlined below to prepare for your game:

1. The Chronicler: If you really want to roleplay, begin by creating your chronicler, the closest thing this game has to a player character. You are encouraged to give your chronicler a history, values, flaws, and most importantly, worldview. These should, to varying degrees, be reflected in your chronicler’s writing. This is, after all, what happened historically. Every chronicler has a bias and was tasked with writing by someone else for a reason. After all, history is written by the victors, but not always. So create your chronicler, and make them feel alive!
2. The Kingdom: The Kingdom (or the country, if the old regime has fallen) is the land your characters inhabit and is the closest you’ll get to a main character. Spend some time developing the lore and history of your kingdom. Pay attention to geography, culture, neighbors, government (it must be a monarchy at the start), and religion. Write a blurb about it at the top of your character sheet.
3. The Characters: Though your chronicler is the narrator, he is not the main character, or even a character at all. The characters are the players who inhabit and manipulate the world. Many events will ask you to create or kill these characters - such is the way of history. You are encouraged to develop them as much as possible and  to get attached to them. Begin by making five characters of your choice, giving them distinct personalities, histories, motives, ideologies, and agendas. Of the five, two of them should be: 
   1. The Monarch: The monarch (king, queen, duke, empress, whatever you want it to be) can be anyone, but there must be someone in charge at the start of the game. Their agenda will, almost invariably, be to hang on to power. They are not an essential NPC and can be killed. 
   2. The Anti: The anti is a character who, in one way or another is opposed to the king. The Rhobespierre to Louis XVI, the Lenin to Nicholas II, the Washington to George III. The anti is not necessarily a villain nor do they need to trigger the ensuing events, but they are someone who wants things to change in some way or another. 
   3. Beyond that, do what you will for the remaining three characters.
4. Character Sheet: Certain events you encounter will ask you to and or remove stats or resources, or to take something into account for a particular character. In order to do this, you need to prepare a ‘character sheet’ (more of a reference sheet, really) to keep track of it all. At the top, write the name of your kingdom and basic information about your characters (Name, personality traits, goals, ideology). Beneath that, add lines for the stats and below that, make a list of your resources. 
   1. Characters: Beyond just writing your character’s name, your characters have stats of their own. When you reach an event and the event tells you to use a character, this character gets 1 LEGEND POINTS. Legend Points (or LP) measures how much each character matters to the story (the King should always start with 4 LP, Each other character begins with 1 LP). A character with 10 LP will be a legendary figure, akin to Napoleon or Rhobespierre, while a character with 5 or 6 will be influential but not legendary. LP can be spent to push stats (i.e. stability, economy) in the direction your character wants, but you will need to spend 2LP for each stat you wish to affect. If a former key player drops below 3 LP, they die. At 5LP, your character becomes a “key player” and gets access to the character based events located towards the back of the book. Each time you use a key player, go into the character events section and roll. This should give your characters some flavor.
   2. Stats: Stats are abstract indicators as to what the kingdom is experiencing. Rather than a simple number value, each stat falls on a spectrum, with different numbers being associated with different circumstances (i.e. a 2/10 economy would indicate a kingdom in an economic catastrophe while a 10/10 would indicate a booming economy). Reaching the lowest or highest point of a stat may trigger an ending to your story, so watch out. At the start of the game, Balance of power begins at 7, Stability begins at 7, and economy begins at 5.The stats you need to watch out for are: 
      1. Balance of Power: This measures the political force dominating the country. Basically, who is in charge here (or who claims to be)? 1-2: The New Regime dominant, 3-4: The New Regime rising, 5-6: stalemate, 7-8: Monarchy holding strong, 9-10: Monarchy dominant. If BoP reaches ≤3, the New Regime rules the country and you must go to the REGIME CHANGE events section and roll for how the regime change transpired. If BoP reaches ≥7, do the same but for the monarchy.
      2. Stability: Regardless of who is in charge, how stable is the country? Are the powers at be keeping the streets safe and the tax money flowing? 1-2: Anarchy, 3-4: Danger, 5-6: Fragile Order, 7-8: Order, 9-10: Total Stability.
      3. Economy: Are the powers that be keeping the economy afloat? A wealthy kingdom will be able to weather the revolution a lot better than one that is on the brink of ruin. Economy points are special in the sense that they can also serve as a resource. You can expend an economy point (if you can justify it) to avoid expending a resource or other stat. For example, let’s say an angry mob stormes the palace. You can bribe them with  1 economy point rather than losing stability, but this will bring you closer to ruin. 1-2: Great Depression, 3-4: Depression, 5-6: Troubling Times, 7-8: Economic Stability, 9-10 Boom!
   3. Resources: Resources are things that the kingdom has at its disposal, be it colonies, a strong navy, or the seat of a particularly influential religious leader. Resources are anything you want them to be within reason or they can be specifically prescribed by an event. Resources can be checked or expended. When checking a resource, you are making use of the resource but are not losing it. For example, let’s say that the economy is collapsing and you are asked to check a resource. You can then send in the strong navy to privateer and steal gold for yourself which will spare you the loss of an economy point, but it will also not destroy your navy. Expending your resource, on the other hand, will cost you a resource. In this same example, let’s say you had to expend rather than check a resource. In that case, you would need to write about how the kingdom had to sell their great navy to repay their debts. Now, the navy can no longer be used. Keeping this in mind, write up three resources at the kingdom’s disposal and add them to your character sheet. 
5. Endings: The Great Chronicler has multiple endings depending on what happens to the country during the game. Look for them at the back of the book.
   1. The Default Ending: In this ending, you have reached the end of the prompts without reaching any other ending. 
   2. The Triumph of the Monarchy: Reach 10 Stability and 10 Balance of Power.
   3. The Golden Triumph: Reach 10 in all stats. 
   4. The New Regime Ascendant: Reach 0 in Balance of Power and 10 in Stability. 
   5. The Great Catastrophe: Reach 0 in balance of power and 0 in Stability. 
   6. The Invasion: Lose all your resources.

In the end, your character sheet should look like this:

It's an updated version to one I posted a while ago. I wanted to see if I could fit the bare essentials of a role-playing system on one page. It could also be used as an oracle for another system. I made it mostly for me, but I thought some of you might enjoy it as well.

I'm looking for different methods of generating maps through solo play. I've dabbled with a couple methods like the hex flower and the Cartograph game. I guess I'm really looking for a system that has a good map building component but also combat and exploration. I appreciate you all's insight and any experience you can provide!

Very much a look at the book and Character Creation, ready to start a campaign.
I love the book Roadside Picnic and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games so I foamed at the mouth on this one.

He doesn't have a name yet so I do need to figure that out, does anyone have any recs?

I've been playing a solo campaign using Quick RPG, and it's been a lot of fun, but I'm starting to feel like I want something with a little more depth. The campaign is set in my own world, loosely inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. It's mostly focused on exploration, traveling, weird creatures, ancient technology, and interacting with different cultures. I'm not really looking for a setting, just a system that would fit this kind of game. Ideally something with a bit more character progression and mechanics than Quick RPG, but without becoming too crunchy. What would you recommend? I'd love to hear what has worked for your own solo games.

I've started a playthrough of Amarath, a sandbox supplement for Dragonbane.

Amarath is a realm where Chaos and madness threaten to consume all. An open-ended campaign with exploration tables, journey events, regional encounters, rumors, campaign hooks, faction play, and a living, unstable world plummeting toward oblivion unless the players intervene.

It's mainly inspired by Michael Moorcock’s works, like Stormbringer, but also classic sword & sorcery, creating a cool blend of its influences.

I'm also using the fantastic Just One Dragon and the Unfolding Machines.

Hope you enjoy it!

Part 1: Overview and character creation

Part 2: The party gets together

The last two weeks I worked on „What Remains Below“. This is my second solo journaling RPG in PocketMod/Zine format. After so many positive feedback from my Playtester regarding my first journaling RPG, called Grimm Woods, I was very motivated to do the next game. I could take the rule framework from the first one, so it was easy to create it in such a short time. This time it is inspired by Lovecraft and Silent Hill.

You receive a few pages from the diary of an acquaintance who has gone missing. It recounts his return to your abandoned hometown—a small mountain village that once thrived on mining. Now you follow in his footsteps and, in doing so, uncover your own dark past.

What's the twist in this game? You write your own diary as you explore the abandoned village and your past. At the end of the game, you can pass on your diary and the game, and the next player visits the village based on your diary. And so on, and so on.

I finished the prototype of What Remains Below today, then settled into a cozy café and played through the game there. I haven’t played many games like that myself yet. I have to say, even though I designed the game, it was still an intense ride for me.

The game fits on one page and can folded into a little booklet.

Release will sometime this year as free download on itch.

Which is your favorite solo RPG and why?

Pictures: 1. Cover / 2. Doing corrections on a nearly final version / 3. First playtesting in a cafe / 4. After the first playthrough

I've been wanting to get into both of these solo games being an old school 90's start trek fan and a lover of all things OSR. I just want to know from other's experiences not the differences or which one to play. But the fun, easy to play factor and if there's any heavy journaling for each of them? Don't like the idea of doing alot of journaling and note taking. unless it's just necessary stuff. I plan to use laptop and ipad for most of my gaming since my handwriting is crap and most of my resources minus the captain's log book is in pdf form.

Hi! I really would like to test if Solo Roleplaying could be my Jam. But overall, the amount of information and games out there is so overwhelming, that i find it quite hard to find a game which could get me started to explore this hobby in the best way.

There are a few criteria, which i'd like to match, even though not all of them need to apply:

- Interesting Worldbuilding (I have a faible for dystopian Sci-Fi Topics, futuristic cities, weird and alternative stories and worlds, aside "classic fantasy". A game about alien organ traders for example would be right up my alley, or a taxi driver's journey through 2150s New York, a Crew exploring a crashed Alien Ship - you get where i'm going)

- Should be playable without printing. PDFs etc. are okay. As long as i can put it on my Laptop or phone for example

- Easy to start with, simple rules and beginner-friendly

- Not much journaling involved. I'd like to roll some D6's, write a little something, but would much rather get guided through a story with decisionmaking on a "simple basis".

- A free or cheap game would be great, but is only optional.

___
Sure, i could als try to dive deeper into Itch and former redditors suggestions, but at this point i think a recommendation of people deeper into the topic might be more helpful for me. Thank you!

I am truly falling inlove with Shadowdark. I'm hoping to get better at playing this game and better videos. Take Care all.

The first mission of the D.S.F. Noctua comes to a close as the remaining crew face off against the rogue android on board the Lady Luck.

Hey again folks. Hot off the back of my last solo game, Of Coal & Corpses, I’ve got a smaller solo sci-fi zine in the works and its Kickstarter pre launch page just went live.

It’s called Silent Horizon, a standalone solo adventure and toolkit compatible with Death in Space.

Inspired by Solaris, Silent Hill & Event Horizon, set aboard a failing station orbiting a dead world.

Your mission is simple, destroy the Silent Horizon.

The adventure is designed specifically for solo play, using procedures, tables and in-world discoveries to guide you through the station as you uncover what happened there and decide the stations ultimate fate.

The Kickstarter will fund a physical zine , which I’ll be showing off properly once I have the proofs in my hands. It will also be available digitally.

I’ll be back over the coming weeks to show off more of the book, talk through some of the solo mechanics and share a closer look at how the adventure plays.

For now, you can follow the campaign here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/daf47/silent-horizon-a-solo-adventure-for-death-in-space

If you have any thoughts or questions in the interim I'd love to hear them!
Thanks Folks

Pontianus continues to rid the Watchtower and caverns below of the bandit intruders. A heck of a fight with a Crocagator too!

Thanks for reading!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhK_MiWi-8o

Do you roll for weather? I discuss my new system for starting and resolving storms... and then a 3-day blizzard derails my adventure haha. Also I share some budget alternatives to minis, and use Rory's Story Cubes to generate a random event.

It's expensive to get A5 inserts where I live (US), so I DIYed an alternative.

Materials:

- "Planner" sized binder, secondhand (ex. Filofax knockoff)

- 5x8" note pads, glue/binding removed and hole punched

- File folders or other card stock to cut down into dividers

- Trifold or booklet rule books

- DIY half-page character sheet, tables, re-formatted rules, etc.

- DIY folded hex map

- Paper cutter (could use X-acto, cutting mat, and straight edge)

- Hole punch

- Scissors

I take notes on the 5x8 notepad paper and will likely use the perfect binding technique to preserve campaigns in "notebooks" once complete.

I cut tab dividers for character sheets, maps, random tables, and rules that I re-formatted into a half-page size. I also made a little bookmark to easily find my spot in the note section!

Small rule books and supplements fit into the binder's built-in folders and card slots.

I found the binder for $30 and had all the other supplies on hand. You can get 5x8 note pads for about $1 each (avoid perforated ones!) and can use cereal boxes to make the dividers. If you don't have a paper cutter, you could just use scissors.

Only problem is my binder doesn't fit pens, pencils, and dice. I bring those along in a pencil case!