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31 Days of RPG Solo Tools (March 2023) - Updated With all Posts
Solo RPGs Generators Community Month of RPG Generators

31 Days of RPG Solo Tools (March 2023) - Updated With all Posts

Duncan Thomson

Over at the rpg_generators subreddit I'm writing 30 days of RPG Solo Gens (link to list of posts).

Here all the days are gathered in one article.

Day 1 - GM's Apprentice

For March I'm posting daily with random generators and tables for Solo RPGs. Following on from 30 Days of Visual Gens, Maps in 31 Days of Map Gens. And lots of gens in 31 Days of RPG Gens. Leave a comment with your favourite generators for solo.

So I'm starting with GM's Apprentice website, an inspiration aid that packs a lot into one place.

It has dice rolls, events for Mythic, runes, a sound, sight, feeling, smell and more details for quests, traps, npcs, encounters and other tabs. There's also a number in the top left (between two masks) I'm not sure what it's for.

There are several decks of these, the GameMaster's Apprentice series (link to DriveThru RPG - fantasy deck). With variations including sci-fi, weird horror and lots more.

Day 2 - Eigengrau's Generator

There are many great random generators out them, but for solo it's great to have connected and persistent tools.

Eigengrau's Generator will create you a fantasy settlement with streets, establishments, NPCs and more. You can add more elements to it and edit the existing ones. You can also roll a new town if you want a new one.

The detailed settlement description has a full list of buildings, NPCs, factions and demographics.

The changes you make are saved (there is an option to save and load from disk too)

There is also a toolbox that can create stand alone NPCs, scenarios, factions, items, rumours and various other items.

Day 3 - Visual Generators for RPG Solo Play

There are many ways to play solo games, and visual tools can lend something different to your games. (Visual AI another day)

  • RPG Story Constructor gives 6 visual prompts for Story (Location, Goal, Obstacle, Risk, Treat, BAM!) or Character (Profession, Goal, Love, Fear, Schtick, Secret). Genres of fantasy, sci-fi, moden and horror covered.
  • ESL Story Dice Gives 5 or 9 Images similar to Rory's Story Dice.
  • Watabou's Tarot Generator creates tarot-like cards with Text Prompts. Roll for Fantasy does more fantasy tarot cards.
  • Deep-Fold's Book of Monsters will give a monster image and desciption from a list of 2000.
  • Anvl has a Miniature Generator with a "Generate a random character" button, which will build up all the elements of the miniature in layers
  • DM Heroes does Portraits (and NPC Description) using D&D ancestries.
  • Dice Tray at DM Tools will throw the selected dice across your screen

And there is also a full list of visual generators from 30 Days of Visual Gens you might find useful for your solo games!

Day 4 - Mythic GM Emulator and Supporting Tools

It's hard to do a list of solo tools without mentioning Mythic GM Emulator. It's a system that replicates a Games Master for a solo-play experience (or for a GM-less group game). It contains guidelines, systems and random tables for supporting your rpg games.

The Mythic GM Emulator 2nd Edition is out less than a month, revised after 15+ years. The 1st Edition is still available (and much cheaper) (DriveThru links).

Some online oracles help support play using Mythic GM Emulator

  • Mythic GM at pbegames has a simple tool supporting questions, events and scenes with chaos factor and Odds.
  • GM's Apprentice has a Mythic Event Generator in each card.
  • Soloist has a section for Mythic Dice rolls as well as other tools to assist solo play.
  • Black Magic is a tool supporting Mythic, tracking Chaos Factor and Favour Points, with rolls, events and scenes.

Day 5 - Tools for Making Your Own Random Tables

Some solo gamers like to make random tables for their own adventures. Some online tools to help include...

  • Use Perchance to make and share random generators. Using simple text lists, with more in depth options for styling and complex generators.
  • Chartopia allows you to make random charts and more complex gens. Tables can be private or public and there is a library of charts to search. Notable solo tools include a M.U.N.E. adaption and collection of Ironsworn Aids.
  • Alex Schroeder has an article about making Your own random generator app. It involves downloading an html page and using a text editor such as Notepad++ or Emacs.
  • Role Generator (a generators site) has a fairly new place for building and using tables. Including a fair number of tables in Spanish

You can also build your own simple tables using pen and paper (I use d10 index cards)

Day 6 - 7Tools Generator Site

Of the many generator sites out there, one to highlight is 7Tools. It's generator collection is split into Simple Gens and Complex Gens (mostly made up of the simple ones. They include some unusual tools such as the Fantasy Language Translator (inc Draconic, Elven, Gnomish), Voice Generator, Mundane Event Generator, Secret Generator and detailed Building Generator.

The thing to highlight for solo play (as well as solid generators) is that the Complex generators create lots of linked content and details that can be expanded on (in popup). The Group generator includes NPCs associated with the group, plus possible Locations, Buildings and Settlements.

These result in some intricate generated content such as the Quest Generator and Settlement Generator (includes maps, buildings, npcs)

Day 7 - Solo RPG Actual Play Podcasts

Possibly an odd inclusion for random generators, but I've learned so much about using random tables and tools (and solo rpgs in general) from these podcasts.

  • Me, Myself and Die with Trevor Devall - also a YouTube Channel. Probably the best known actual play solo show, the action on this one moves fast. Season 1 uses Savage Worlds and Mythic Emulator. Season 2 uses Ironsworn and Season 3 uses Dominion Rules.
  • Errant Adventures with Steve Morrison - Season one uses Starforged, with solid storytelling and explanations of what's going on. Second season goes into fantasy.
  • Sub-class Act with James Sral - James switches around systems, oracles and genres frequently, with frequent input from listeners. Season 3 has been using classic Traveller.
  • The Lone Adventurer with Carl White is a British production using D&D 5E & Mythic. Different in that pieces of well-told narrative are split apart from the sections that explain what is going on.
  • Die Alone has playthroughs of a different solo game in each episode (none since Feb 2022). Including Long Haul, the Wretched and Delve.
  • Tale of the Manticore uses old school D&D, is dark fantasy and heavy on the narrative. On my list to come back to and try again.

Day 8 - Lightweight Solo RPG Emulators - MUNE, 1-Page, Tilt

There are many emulators outside of Mythic, some light-weight ones include...

  • M.U.N.E. is a free 5 page document (although several versions exist) using d6 tables for oracles and interventions. It goes from basics of solo, into mechanics and ways to optimise the system.
  • One Page Solo Engine (drivethru link, free) has a page of simple tables, a page of notes and a page of extra generators. It's my current oracle for offline solo play. As mentioned in comments, One Page Solo Engine has apps for Android and iOS.
  • Tilt (link to paid drivethru pdf. Is also on itch) is an oracle with a different take. It has a simple yes/no system with fairly static odds, and ways to interact with the setting and game system to shift those odds. The last method is an ideas system using fiction related to the genre of your game (a summary in blog post reviewing Tilt)
  • Solo Titles of Parts Per Million (link to drivethru publisher). This publisher has solo oracles/systems for many rpgs/settings, most of which are light-weight. Including 13th Age, Tales from the Loop, Fate, Blades in the Dark and Maze Rats. As mentioned in ocmments, these titles use the mechanics of the target system and dice (fate/fudge dice for FATE)

Day 9 - RPGs Specifically Written for Solo Play

Any RPG can be played solo, but some are written specifically for Solo Play.

  • Ironsworn (free pdf on drivethru link) is a solo game (playable in co-op or GM mode) of low fantasy where plot and character progression revolves around iron vows. A PbtA (powered by the apocalypse) game. Ironsworn Delve (drivethru link) deals with dungeon delving for Ironsworn
  • The Wretched (drivethru link) is a solo journaling rpg where you are the last survivor on the star-ship Nostromo. And you have problems to deal with. Loot the Room has several other solo rpgs (itch link) such as the Assassin and One Endless Night
  • Scarlet Heroes (drivethru link) is an OSR built for one-to-one play (so solo too) from the author of Stars without Number and Worlds without Number. It is also built to take those solo games into any published adventure.
  • Marching Order (company site link) is a dungeon delve for solo/co-op with 112 page rulebook.
  • Starforged (drivethru link) is a sci-fi based solo (co-op/GM) game, building on Ironsworn (so also a PbtA game).
  • Rangers of Shadow Deep (drivethru link) is a solo (and co-op) minis game where you are a ranger holding back the evils engulfing a fantasy kingdom. The same publishers also have Five Parsecs from Home (galactic trailblazers wargame)

Day 10 - Solo Tools Specific to D&D 5E

For many D&D 5e is their game of choice, or the only RPG they know. And therefore the easy choice for a solo game.

Free Resources

  • Donjon has a 5e Random Dungeon Generator with map and basic encounters. As well as many other 5e specific generators
  • Nerzugal's Dungeon Master Toolkit (dm's guild) is a pay-what-you-want resource of 100+ pages of magic items, dungeons, puzzles, one-shots and dungeon maps. Not specific to solo but still useful.
  • The Lone Adventurer is a podcast using D&D 5E & Mythic. Useful for seeing how someone else does solo using 5e.
  • First Blush (dm's guild) is a pay-what-you-want adventure meant for 1 player and 1 DM, so is also suited for solo play. Part of a series of 3
  • Dungeons and Djinn (dm's guild) has a series of pay-what-you-want random tables, including encounters, npcs and random insults.
  • The Monsters Know What they Are Doing is a blog giving optimal monster combat tactics for 5e. This is useful for solo play to give guidelines to monster actions. Available as a paid book called the Monsters Know What They Are Doing.
  • DM Heroes has an npc / character generator with a portrait using dnd 5e races (except dragonborn)
  • Codex Nomina has a Character Name Generator for D&D with many D&D races
  • A Guide on Random Generators for D&D I wrote at Rand Roll including sections for characters, dungeons, treasure, npcs and encounters.

Paid Resources

Day 11 - Generator Sites with Narrative Tools

There are lots of generator sites (such as donjon and role generator) out there, but today's are focused on narrative tools, often targeted towards writers as much as gamers.

Day 12 - UNE Npc Emulator, Conjecture GM Emulator and BOLD Deeds Gen

Grouped together as they are from the same publisher are...

  • UNE, the Universal NPC Emulator (drivethru pwyw link) is system neutral, creating npcs with their own motivations, and gives directions to adding them into the story.
  • CRGE (drivethru pay-what-you-want link), Conjectural Roleplaying GM Emulator is 32 page an oracle system that works on three levels others (at 32 pages). The basic one answers yes/no question while bringing in the unexpected. The second level bright together story threads to focus each scene on a specific narrative. The third level is the entire framework, aiding in the creation for full stories.
  • BOLD (drivethru pwyw link) creates character histories, deeds and story events. Also system-neutral.

Day 13 - Solo Tools for Dungeon Delving

Dungeoneering is the the original form of the first RPG, Dungeons and Dragons. Helping with solo dungeons is

Day 14 - RanDM Solo App

A tool which supports several emulators / systems, randm solo has a bare-bones UI with text lists for PCs, NPCs, and Threads.

You can enter a question into Ask and get an answer for several engines. These include Mythic, CRGE, Scarlet Heroes, Tiny Universal and several others.

There are also buttons for other information including New Scene, Event Focus and Event Meaning. Plus a help area.

Lastly it's open source on github so you could create your own version. (looks like it hasn't been active for a few years)

Day 15 - RPGs with Useful Extra Random Tables

Some RPGs aren't specifically for solo, but have many random tables which are useful even if you don't play the RPG itself.

Day 16 - Motif Story Engine - Solo RPG Kit

Another emulator / solo system, Motif Story Engine (drivethru link) is one that always pops up when people ask for recommendations.

It is fast to use, using 3d6, with one being the main Yes/No, the second being the degree of the answer. The last d6 is a flavour die, used for danger/weirdness/rarity or another factor depending on the question being asked.

It also has several modules which can be added on to customise the system as you want it. Including "twists and turns", escalating tension, more chaos, a momentum mechanic, mission clocks and additional subsystems including NPC and world events. There's a lot in there.

For online tools, it's supported on Motif Story Engine v4 on Perchance and Solo Roleplaying Toolkit (choose MOTIF in filter), ,

Day 17 - Rory's Story Dice and Similar Online Versions

A set of dice with icons, Rory's Story Cubes (company link) give an alternative to tables or cards for interpreting open ended question (what is the danger?, who is the NPC?). They can also be used offline/analogue (which I use them for)

There are also a number of sites which do something similar

Day 18 - Tools for Space and Sci-Fi Solo

Todays is a mix of Space solo rpgs and solo tools

  • Starforged RPG (drivethru link) is a sci-fi based solo (co-op/GM) game, building on Ironsworn (so also a PbtA game). Errant Adventures is a solo actual play podcast that used Starforged for it's season 1
  • The Random Spaceship Generator from Role Generator creates a detailed spaceship with deck maps / plans and filters to customise it. And Shapewright is a generator that gives a random model spaceship.
  • GamesMaster's Apprentice: Sci Fi (drivethru link) is a set of oracle cards specific to Sci-fi settings
  • D100 Space RPG (drivethru link) is a solo system from the same writer as d100 Dungeon. You captain a starship through the galaxy "in search of fame and fortune"
  • Sectors Without Numbers creates a star system popluated with planets and other items of interest. It uses tables from Stars Without Number (drivethru link), a free sci-fi rpg with masses of random tables.
  • The Wretched (drivethru link) is a solo journaling rpg where you are the last survivor on the star-ship Nostromo
  • The Random Story Idea Generator has lots of descriptions for a short story plot (or solo adventure premise). It's from SciFi Ideas, a site with many other sci-fi themed tools for sci-fi writers (and rpgers!)
  • For more options I've written Guides to Sci-Fi Generators (characters / spaceships / aliens / the stars / planets / plots / tech & robots) and also Sci-fi PDFs at Rand Roll
  • Sub-Class Act Podcast, season 3 with James Sral is doing Traveller for it's rpg for another actual play sci-fi option.

Day 19 - Physical Solo Tools - Cards, Dice etc

Tools for playing offline / screenless. (not inc books of tables and rpgs!)

  • Side Quest Decks (drivethru link) from Inkwell Ideas are 50+ sets of cards with maps and short adventures. Several fantasy decks are available plus other genres including sci-fi, horror and modern.
  • Axebane's Deck of Many Dungeons (company link) (drivethru link) is a set of 54 cards with interlinking dungeon maps and random tables. There is also a pdf version (drivethru link)
  • GameMaster's Apprentice (drivethru link, base deck) is a deck of cards with dice rolls, yes /no results, scene info, names and more info useful for a solo game. Decks specific to Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Sea, Steampunk and Demon Hunters.
  • DungeonMorphs (link to product on company site) Dice from Inkwell Ideas. The dice are sets of 5 6-sided dice with dungeons on them. Also available are Villages, Cities, Ruined Cities and 90-card sets of dungeons or settlements sets.
  • Solo Gaming Sheets (itch link, PWYW) from Perplexing Ruins which are 4 pages of compact tables and maps perfect to print out for analogue solo.
  • Rory's Story Cubes (company link) which are 6-sided dice give visual prompts
  • Concept Cards (drivethru link) from Artemis Games are decks of cards with ideas split into four parts with numbered ratings. 15+ Decks for characters, locations, plot hooks, treasures, inc 3 scifi decks. These were my first solo tool.
  • The Dungeon Builder Deck (drivethru link) from AAW Games has 114 dungeon maps in colour that link to each other.
  • Delve (drivethru link) is a solo map drawing dungeon game so also fits here

Day 20 - AI Dungeon

This tool is very different to the generators, emulators and other tools so far. AI Dungeon will be your games master, although there is no dice rolling for you.

(I also found a list of AI Dungeon Alternatives that looks quite comprehensive)

Choose a setting, choose a type of character, give a name and you're off. AI Dungeon will give you a starting situation, you can type in your actions and it will describe what happens. There is also a list of the World Information.

You might find this is how you want to solo play, or try for something different.

The tool can also be used to give a starting situation (or enough to get started). Maybe a background for an NPC. The text can also be edited if you don't like what happens.

There's a subreddit for it at r/AIDungeon

Day 21 - 12 More Rpgs Specific to Solo - Paid and Free/PWYW

More RPGs written specifically for solo, adding to the first batch on Day 9. Free and PWYW in second section.

  • Apothecaria (itch link) is a solo journalling rpg where you play a village potion maker, using a deck of 54 playing cards. (it's also currently in a massive itch bundle, Solo But Not Alone 3 for $10)
  • Coloste (publisher link) is set in a castle large enough to contain oceans and cities in its rooms. 64 page rulebook, played with playing cards and a journal. Discord channel and lots of supporting titles.
  • BURST (itch link) is genre and settings agnostic, narration focused, with the main emphasis on speed. With tables for world, npcs gen and other bits. There's a discord linked in the text.
  • In D100 Dungeon you steer an adventurer through multiple dungeons, with training dungeon missions. Lots of high ratings and there is a D100 Space too.
  • Thousand Year Old Vampire (drivethru link) is a hefty (188 pages) journaling game where you play an ancient vampire!
  • Artefact (itch link) is a solo game where you follow the story of a single magic item, which passes through the hands of many keepers. Follow it's histoy until its's broken or left in a dark place, waiting to be found...
  • Four Against Darkness (drivethru link) is a solitaire dungeon-delving game with an OSR feel. " All you need is the book, a pencil, two six sided dice, and grid paper"
  • Five Parsecs From Home (drivethru link) is an "rpg-lite solo adventure wargame" where you take a rag-tag crew to explore the galaxy, take on jobs and maybe engage in action-packed combat. Includes a solo narrative campaign.

And now for the Pay What You Want / Free solo rpgs (split for convenience)

  • Micro Chapbook (PWYW drivethru link) is a straight-forward fantasy system with lots of random generators included. Uses d6s and has more rulebooks available.
  • Black Strems: Solo Heroes (drivethru link) is a free, 7-page earlier version of what would become Scarlet Heroes.
  • G.A.S.P. rpg (PWYW itch link) fits on a single A4 page and from same publisher as BURST (mentioned above)
  • Rocket Dungeons (drivethru link, PWYW) is a 1-page dungeon crawler rpg with a system to quickly generate a random dungeon

Day 22 - RPG Solo Web Tool

RPG Solo is a basic looking rpg tool with lots of functionality.

It's got buttons for lots of things. Answers to likelyhood (from Almost Impossible to Sure Thing), dice rolling, cards, fudge dice.

Plus support for Mythic, starting situation, setting, UNE and custom buttons (if you're logged in you can set custom lists for them). I

If you're logged in you can choose a setting, getting quests, npcs, places, things and opposition. Plus save and load stories.

Day 23 - AI Tools for Solo RPGs

Today is AI Tools to help your Solo RPG games. Split into GMs / Oracles, AI NPCs and AI Art.

AIs Games Masters / Oracles

  • To start with there is a AI Dungeon ( covered Day 20), and more importantly, a comprehensive list of AI Dungeon Alternatives with lots of other tools
  • Dreamily is a simple web-based tool. Type in your situation, journal entry, character desc or setting and Dreamily will try to complete a sentence or two. My ratcatcher found a cavern of glowing green stone with many tunnels branching off. There's a mobile version (link on day of mobile apps!)
  • KoboldAI Lite is a free web-based version of an AI client that can be run locally, Kobold AI (github link)
  • LitRPG Adventures is a paid site (with some free tools) on the list above. It has lots of AI Tools to generate ideas for RPGs such (the creator is a regular in the subreddit)

AI NPCs

  • character.ai offers AI characters as NPCs interact with. There are archtypes, fictional characters and a few real-world ones. I asked Tony Stark a few Questions. Use them as allies, rivals, sages and fellow party members.
  • rolepl.ai also offers AI-powered NPCs, but these are fantasy characters with descriptions of their personalities. Such as Elaia (Guardian of the Forest), Grubnub the Tall (Master Potion Maker), or Galen the Merchant (Lord of Coin). You have the option of rolling a new character (if logged in)

AI Art (no doubt there are newer/better ones out since I last looked)

  • Artflow is an AI art creator where you can create images and portraits from text prompts and apply a variety of styles
  • Artbreeder is an AI art a place where you can make art for your solo game. Landscapes, characters, portraits, sci-fi, buildings and "general" among others. Upload images and create parents and customise the generation parameters as you want for your games.
  • Nightcafe AI Art Generator allows you to create many kinds of images in many styles using a text prompt, and gives a few credits to try it out for free.
  • The Free AI Art Generator at neural.love has a few styles including Fantasy, Cyberpunk, Steampunk and Creepy and a text prompt. It has 5 credits for free
  • Midjourney is one of the most mentioned AI art platforms . You can get 25 free credits when signing up.
  • This X Does Not Exist is a list of gens for People, Memes, Vessels, Snacks and other items that have been created by GANs (generative adversarial networks).

Day 24 - More Lightweight Solo RPG Emulators

More lightweight solo emulators (inc 2 variations of mythic), following form the first batch mentioned.

  • Plot Unfolding Machine (itch link), or PUM, is a pwyw one-page GM Emulator with a couple pages of notes. It can be used alone of with other systems like Mythic. There are a couple links to online community tools to use PUM.
  • Mythic has a one page version as part of Mythic Magazine Volume 25 (drive-thru link)
  • The Storyteller's Automator (itch link) is a pwyw one-page oracle ruleset using d100 (or two d10s). Using random tables and a couple of flowdcharts.
  • Morning Coffee Solo Variations (pdfcoffee link) uses Mythic, but is a simplified version with a few pages of notes abd tables. [I could only find a version on PDF coffee. Let me know if it should be a different version]

Day 25 - 5 Solo RPG Video Channels and Podcasts

Adding to the first batch of actual play podcasts, are more podcasts and video options for Solo RPGs.

  • Geek Gamers with host Deborah goes through various Solo books, tools and advice. There's card decks, mainstream rpgs, indie rpgs, adventures, random generators, dice tools and more.
  • The Peoplz and Dragons is a solo rpg YouTube channel with actual play campaigns and separate solo advice videos, often using AI tools.
  • Science Fantasy Awesome with Royce is a fairly new You Tube channel with solo actual plays, so far going through GeneSys and Troika!
  • Lonely TTRPG with John Stum is a podcast playing and reviewing (many) solo TTRPGs, with 41 episodes so far.
  • The Bad Spot (YouTube link) with Matt Risby is a Podcast (also on YouTube) actual play going through Ironsworn: Starforged, and more recently Ironsworn.

Day 26 - What is Your RPG Solo Setup or Favourite Solo Tools

Getting on towards the end of the month, it's time to ask what are YOUR favourite solo tools/recommendations?

Or what does your current solo setup look like?

Random tables, solo rpgs, solo gamebooks, emulators, card decks, phone apps, generators, podcasts, advice columns, solo rpg blogs....

Day 27 - Mobile App Tools for Solo RPGs

Here are some mobile apps for use with Solo RPGs (no app links as iOS / Android / varies by country).

  • One Page Solo Engine by Inflatable Studios has a mobile version of the One Page Solo Engine.
  • Adventuresmith allows for random generation of names, characters, monsters, allien worlds... depending on what tables are sourced. It's an open source project (github link).
  • d20 Calculator - by Lion's Den is a complex die roller (wasn't showing for me)
  • RPG Simple Dice by ToolboxDev lets you choose die type and number to roll, giving the total
  • Story Dice - Tell A Story by Sandclock Games will roll 1-10 story dice with mostly modern icons
  • Story Dice by Cachucha Developer can show 4, 6, 9 or 16 dice. (couldn't test as wasn't showing in store for me)
  • Dreamily AI (link to website) helps create stories and world building and has a mobile app version

Day 28 - Parts Per Million - Solo Kits for Many RPGs

oday's is unusual in that it's a publisher called Parts Per Million (drivethru link).

They have many solo kits made for RPGs to adapt them for solo play. These titles are written in the manner of the game, supporting such systems as Blades in the Dark, Cepheus, Mothership, Maze Rats, Dungeon World, GURPS, 13th Age, Fate and more.

Plus themes such as Strange, Dungeon Crawl, Sci-fi and OSR.

Day 29 - More Physical Solo Tools / Decks / Dice

In addition to the Physical Tools first mentioned, here are another batch!

  • Fate Mill d20 v2 (Etsy Link) is an twenty-sided oracle with results such as "Yes. And", "Maybe", "No. But". As well as numbers 1-20.
  • Encounter Building Oracle Deck (drivethru link) is a 100 card deck with die rolls, objects, npc traits, answers to Yes/No questions at 5 likelihoods and more info. The same publisher has other decks (covered below)
  • Pocket Lands - Kingdoms (drivethru link) are 70 cards (or pdf) with geomorph maps (and a d6 result) for a kingdom. Plus other card decks for seas (70), marshes (32) and deserts (32). In addition there are a number of decks by the same author supporting the solo dungeon delving game Four Against Darkness.
  • PocketFold version of Juice Oracle (itch link). Juice Oracle is a lightweight oracle inspired by Mythic. It's included here because it has a Pocketfold (link to concept on itch) version which is designed to fold down to a tiny size. Useful for solo on the go!
  • Encounter Building Locations (drivethru link) is a deck of 60 cards (physical deck includes the pdf), each containing 4 possible locations, plus room details and possible secret doors. Similar decks exist for Traps, Combat and Decisions. Same publisher has an oracle deck (covered above)

Day 30 - Solo Adventure Gamebooks

Today is choose your own adventure books / games, some of the original solo rpg games and still available today. (Gamebooks wikipedia link)

  • Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks (company site link) were massive in the UK in the 80s and early 90s. Using Skill, Stamina, Luck and 2d6 you fought and died your way through many paths in an adventure. Self-indulgent as this was my first solo (and rpg) experience.
  • Lone Wolf Books (download page link) were gamebooks that connected together in a mega-arc. And here they are all available to download (from 9 years ago in something called Project Aon)
  • The Solo Dungeons (drivethru link) line from Doppelganger Publishing are more modern solo adventures (dungeons and gamebooks) in a bounded environment.
  • Tunnels and Trolls Adventure Game Books. More solo books using the 2nd ever published rpg. Couldn't find any places to get these (so any comments welcome)

Day 31 - A Myriad Selection of Solo Tools

These are rpgs and tools that haven't been covered yet. Split into sections for Advice, Tables & Gens, Games & Publishers; and Storytelling Tools. (in no particular order within those).

[Full list of 31 Days of RPG Solo Gens]

ADVICE

  • Solo Game Master's Guide (drivethru link) from Mophidius is a guide on how to make Solo RPGs work for you. With advice and examples for oracles, game flow and how to be your own GM. Plus pages of random tables.
  • DM Yourself (drivethru link) is a 64-page title on how to solo rpg with existing D&D adventures and campaigns. When to read, how to prepare and how to play the adventure.

TABLES AND GENERATORS

  • Instant Game (pdf link) is a method of creating a setting for an RPG game (like a solo story)
  • The Story Games Names Project was a 2007 project to collect fantasy names. There is a Story Games Names pdf available from Fictioneers.net Resources page (which has many other rpg tables and rpg links)
  • Zero Dice - A useful site rolling multipe icons, cards, d6s, d10s and runes.
  • Space Aces: TNG (drivethru link) is a toolbox for sci-fi games with tables/generators for missions, wrecks, ships, ruins and more.
  • Between the Skies (itch link) is a free rpg with 200 pages of random tables and gens for "endless, strange worlds, their inhabitants, and their goings-on". Might try for solo Troika.
  • Icons Oracle Generator - at Lunchbox RPG, showing some icons and dice rolls.
  • The Location Crafter (drivethru link) - an easy way to generate locations (along with encounters) from maker of Mythic GM.
  • DND Speak - A treasure trove of crowd-sourced (via r/d100) random tables.
  • Ruins of the Undercity (drivethru link) is a set of generators for creating an underground adventure (locations, monsters, traps), with rules and notes for solo play. OSR vibe.

GAMES AND PUBLISHERS

  • Grismund Games (itch link) has free and pwyw solo resources incluing a book generator, a forest map-making/solo rpg (I Am The Forest) and d6 random tables for primal locations
  • Any Planet is Earth (itch link) is a 6-page sandbox generator and rpg in the vein of Traveller and into the odd. Paid with community copies available.
  • Castle Oldskull (drivethru link) is a publisher with several old-school generators for worlds, dungeons and adventures (currently has a large sale)
  • The Shrike Deck (itch link) from Sad Press lets you draw dreamy-like cards with a prompt on them. They are designed for the solo / journaling game the Shrike where you fly a skyship (community copies available)
  • Visor RPG (publisher link) is a free solo rpg designed to emulate video games.
  • Sayeth (itch link) has free solo gamebook-style titles using D&D 5E that can be played in the browser.

STORYTELLING TOOLS

  • Ink (github link to docs) is a scripting language for text, designed for complex dialogues (or choose your own adventure). It has an editor, examples and a community around it
  • Twine is an open source tool for "interactive, non-linear stories" (like solo rpgs). Use it in the browser or download it and hack around with it yourself
  • Sudowrite is an AI tool with interactive storytelling that can be tried for free

And that's 31 Days of RPG Solo Gens/Tools done. I had meant to highlight more generator sites and random table titles but there are so many solo-specific resources out there.

Future Months of Gens

I'll be doing more of these in the future. Still deciding what the next one will be.

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