Solo RPG?

Solo Role Playing Games, are they possible?

For a while me and Chris have been talking about RPG games and Skirmish games in general.

About a month back he picked up a joblot box from one of his friends, and linked me through to his friends Blog on a post about a "Solo RPG".

In the course of that post he lays out a ruleset he made using a few blank D6 dice and some generic rules and then just goes with writing.

I wanted a little more structure when I tried it, and seeming perfect, I dug out my Test of Honour 1st edition cards (having bought the full set for 2nd edition at the start of the summer) and adapted it slightly.

Here's my version:

Like all the rules stated in the other blog (Mythic, FU and 9 Questions) this set works on a similar principal:

Describe the Scene
Ask Yes/No questions and roll the story dice.
Logically decide upon the outcome, depending on the results shown.
Sometimes there will be a random event.

This is much more like creating an ongoing story where you don't know what will happen.

So, including the changes I made to use the cards as well, here are my version of the Solo RPG rules:

Create your Hero and Setting:
In my case this was as easy as laying the corresponding character card out in front of me, I'm not using any of the stats from the ToH cards (yet), just the general outline of the character to work from.
Again the setting was easy, I just took something which felt very "Sengoku Jidai" in scope and adapted it for my own uses.
If you were using fantasy, you could drop into your favoured world, or even if you were using other historical periods, as long as the general setting "feels" appropriate, then it will work I think.
Here are a few of my notes:

Add the card decks:
As I said before, I wanted a little more structure.
I came up with a basic idea for various scenario's:

I then logically imagined which troops might be present at the location and which I HAD to include through the scenario.
Eg: A Monastery would obviously include a fair amount of Sohei Monks, so they would all be included, but you might find some visiting Soldiers being healed, pilgrims, maybe a Ronin seeking spiritual aid, so they could all go in.
I also kept a few cards aside as "Story Cards", and would draw one of those whenever it felt like an important NPC was either rolled on the dice, or logically would appear (as you'll see).
I also included the injury cards (for when fighting happens) and the dishonour cards, not sure how these will work yet, but I am just spitballing with ideas at the moment.

Obviously, I also included my Dice Tray so I wasn't making as much noise rolling the bones.

Just to prove how little room this needs, everything apart from my scratch pad is set out on a basic dinner tray (one I use for painting miniatures on) this is perfect for if I am away anywhere and want to do some gaming, as it even all breaks down to fit inside the dice tray itself.
(Just need a smaller scratch pad and no dining tray).

Onto the game, once your fundamentals are prepared, you can set your first scene:
Basically create a short description of what is happening and where the Hero is.
The Goal, is how the scene will end and you should have a rough idea to jot down at this point.

After this, start asking Yes/No questions, that's it.

I made some custom D6's using stickers and blank D6 I bought off eBay for this purpose.

You have the "Answer Dice" with the results:

• "No, And..."
• "No"
• "No, But..."
• "Yes, But..."
• "Yes"
• "Yes, And..."

The "No, But..." and "Yes, But..." answers mean that there is a minor drawback to your action this turn.

The "No, And..." means that you draw a skill card and have to put it to use right away.
The "Yes, And..." result means that you have to draw a skill card, but can hold onto it to use at a more suitable time if you don't want to use it right away.

Next, there is the "Twist Dice", this is the Random Event generator. It is rolled after each answer dice.

• Five sides have the result "NO" on them.
• The sixth side has the result "TWIST" on it, and you move onto the next step if that is rolled.

If a "TWIST" is rolled in the previous step, then you roll the two "Event Dice"

The first has the results:

• NPC
• PC
• Organisation
• Physical Event
• Emotional Event
• Item

The second has the results:

• Appears
• Alters the Location
• Helps the Hero
• Hinders the Hero
• Changes the Goal
• Ends the Scene.

The sentence which is created from these two dice is yours to determine exactly what happens with.

Lastly, when the scene ends, you roll the "Scene Dice" to determine the next scene if you are carrying on that session, otherwise roll it before each session after the first.

This has the results:

• Three sides are "Dramatic Scene"
• Two sides are "Quiet Scene"
• The last side is "Meanwhile..."

These are self explanatory, a dramatic scene continues the action without let up, the location and goal might change, but the hero carries on charging forwards towards his goals.
A quiet scene lends to more interrogation and reflective scenes.
A Meanwhile, is something which dose not involve the main protagonist and should be short and punchy, maybe involving the main villain if you have one for your particular setting?

I'll make a second post detailing my first game using this system, this is just the rules notes and my own modifications laid out in the place where I can easily find them.

Until the next post...


 - Lewis