Futuristic, Horror and Modern PDFs and Books for Solo RPGs

Here we are looking at paid or free pdf and book titles for non-fantasy solo gaming, including science fiction, horror, cyberpunk, post-apocalypse, modern and science-fantasy.

Disclaimer: Rand Roll is an affiliate for DriveThru RPG and DM's Guild.

Starting Points

Solo RPGs is the art of playing a tabletop roleplaying game on your own. You are player, gamesmaster, worldbuilder, narrator and audience.

Some people like to journal, some like to play their favourite RPG, some try out new RPGs. Others play RPGs specific to solo play, adventure gamebooks or a lightweight RPG. I'm currently working my way through various British RPGs, old and new.

Other guides with Solo sections include Sci-Fi Solo Titles, Fantasy Basics, Horror Solo, Fantasy Dungeon Solo Titles, Fantasy Wilderness and Hexcrawls and Fantasy Sea Solo PDFs.

Many of the titles were included in 31 Days of Solo RPGs, which I did for March 2023 listing resources for solo rpgs each day on reddit.

For resources and advice for solo rpgs, check out The Soloist blog on Substack.

Jun 2024: new titles and gamebook section. Nov 2023: alt solo section added. Aug 2023: Cards section added. Free & pwyw split into rpgs & tools. .

Major Futuristic Titles

Some PDFs are much larger and comprehensive.

Ironsworn: Starforged from Mophidius is the sci-fi cousin of Ironsworn, also written by Shawn Tomkin. Make powerful vows and explore the workings of your part of the galaxy.
For an oracle, gm helper and random generator in one, The GameMaster's Apprentice: Sci Fi from Larcenous Designs is a deck of cards for your solo game.
From Candlenaut is Entity, a solo game taking on the roal of a synthetic AI explorer, stranded in an expanse filled with alien ruins.
Another RPG is D100 Space from Martin Knight, which is a solo adventure game captaining a starship thorugh the galaxy, with supplements to support it.
In a solo game, to captain a Star Trek ship Mophidius has STA Captain's Log Solo Roleplaying Game (TNG Edition) PDF. There are 3 other versions for other eras, the same except for the covers.

Free and PWyW Solo Tools & RPGs

If you like free (or pay-what-you-want) pdfs and random tables then there are some options. And where you find one you might find more...

Stars Without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing is a free RPG, which also has many pages or random tables. And a cyberpunk version in Cities ithout Number.
To enhance Starforged, Eric Bright has Starsmith: Expanded Oracles, a huge pay-what-you-want supplement expanding tables from the original game.
For a free solo adventure using Call of Cthulu, Chaosium has Alone Against the Flames, set in the 1920s.
JV Random Tables: Cyberpunk and Modern from JeansenVaars has two pages of d20 tables for locations and characters.

Solo Emulators and Aids

Solo tools that aren't fantasy but are excellent for solo and all genres.

Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition from Word Mill is the most the most recent version of the most known emulator. The Mythic GM Emulator 1st edition is also still available, but older, shorter and cheaper. There is also a One-Page Mythic Game Master Emulator, condensing the essentials on a one-page sheet, plus several pages of notes.
Motif Story Engine from Thought Punks is a modular solo oracle, toolkit and emulator.
The Solo Games Masters's Guide from Mophidius has advice on how to play RPGs solo, from reading oracle results to examples and random tables.
From JeansenVaars is Plot Unfolding Machine (PUM), a lightweight GM Emulator that gives you several different types of adventure to simulate.
Tilt: An oracle for solo roleplaying from Little Dreamer is a short (15-page) pdf using pieces of fiction for inspiration.
CRGE, Conjecture Roleplaying GM Emulator from Conjecture Games is an emulator with a few different modes / levels. Then, UNE, the Universal NPC Emulator also from Conjecture Games creates NPCs for you! There is also Bold, Universal PC Stories and Deeds Generator.

Cards

Decks of cards are useful for random choices and playing screenless / offline .

The Sidequest Decks from Inkwell Ideas provide quest ideas and a map. They cover a number of genres, including Horror/Lovecraft and Sci-fi (depicted) among many.
The Galaxy Builder Decks: Planets from Journey Mountain Studios is a deck of double sided cards with unique planets and planet traits. Its part of a series including Systems, Asteroids and Spooky Plasnets, all together in a Galaxy Builder Decks Bundle.
Sci-Fi Locations - Concept Cards from Artemis Games is a deck of 56 cards detailing unique worlds. Others exist for Sci-Fi Characters and Sci-Fi Planets.
From Zadmar Games is a solo system and deck of cards called Tricube Tales. The cards are used to drive the narrative and tricube tales can be paired with most rpgs.

Horror

If you want to play a vampire, then journalling game Thousand Year Old Vampire from The Hutchingsonian Presents-PlaGMaDA is the game for you!
For system-neutral group or solo goodness, Larcenous Designs has The GamesMaster's Apprentice: Horror Deck. A deck of 60 cards with prompts, dice rolls, npc traits, names and more for solo inspiration. There is also the GameMaster's Apprentice: Weird Horror.
For something a little different, Escape from Pumpkin World the PocketMod RPG from Doppelganger Publishing
Alone Against Fear from Ganesha Games sees you plying a variation of Four Against Darkness, exploring a town invaded by monsters, trying to close Severn Gates of Hell on Earth.
A bit different is Sidequest Decks: Lovecraftian/Paranormal from Inkwell Ideas, 55 cards with maps and adventure ideas.
Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Carcosa from Chaosium, by Heinrich D. Moor is a horror gamebook or solo adventure. It's a replayable campaign where you can investigate Dim Carcosa.

Alternative Solo Games

Some solo games that aren't rpgs or just have some rpg elements.

For something with miniatures, Osprey Publishing has Stargrave: Science Fiction Wargames in the Ravaged Galaxy. Send your crew of soldiers, mechanics, hackers and aliens in missions for an ongoing campaign.
An adventure wargame, as opposed to an RPG, Five Parsecs from Home from Mophidius is designed for solo, assembling ragtag crew of galactic trailblazers.
The Wretched from Loot the Room is set in a spaceship where you are the last survivor. But a hostile lifeform is onboard with you. Others in the series include Go Alone.
The Quiet Year from Buried Without Ceremony is a map game, detailing the struggles of a community in a post-apocalyptic setting, as they attempt to build something in a quiet year before trouble arrives.
From Lame Mage Productions, Microscope by Ben Robbins lets you explore the history of a collapsed empire, a galactic civilisation or an ancient line of sorcerers. Or a backwater town!
Gamebooks are an alternative to solo rpgs with oracle or journals. From PenguinComics is Random Solo Adventure: Post Apocalypse - Solo Gamebook, taking a romp through a wasteland of the world that was.

Other Solo Titles

Then there are a few other titles for solo that don't fit in other categories

From AlwaysCheckers Publishing, Notorious lets you play a bounty hunter hunting down fugitives and attracting trouble.
T-Rex Games has Space Aces: TNG (The New Guidebook), a lightweight adventure game with rules for solo and lots of random tables.
Glide from Sleepy Sasquatch Games is a solo game about desert wastes on a planet, hoping to restore it's past splendor.
Barbarians of the Ruined Earth from DIY RPG Productions is a rpg inspired by Thudarr the Barbarian, mixing in Mad Max and Pirates of Dark Water. With support from some random tables
By Cassi Mothwin is Tangled Blessings: 1-2 Player Magic Academy Horror, where you can play as either a solo journalling or 2-player rpg in a spooky magical acadamy. Powered by tarot cards.
For a solo rpg in modern era, MDO Design has Elegy, where you try to survive the big city nights as a vampire.