r/Solo_Roleplaying

The map, as it unfolded during play

Log trip 1

===========

Day 1, location: Oppidum Agricolae (Center of western flower)

Oxecart, 2 wheels (1T) and an Oxe

10 Gold

They know the NW road leads to city, the N road via swamps to exotic town

Dawn watch

-----------------

Buying 1T of Common goods (7G) at 32% discount (4G 8S)

5G 2S

Morning watch

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Travel north to farming village. EC 1, no event

Afternoon watch

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Sell common goods (9G), buy foodstuffs (2G).

+10% sell. 9G 9S, -10% Sell (1G 8S)

The village is now out of money, but still has plenty of food

They spend the night in the village (4S).

12G 9S

Day 2, location: Farming village outside of Oppidum Agricolae.

Dawn watch

-----------------

They prepare for the journey. Ikaros has 1 re-roll, Severus has 2.

Morning watch

---------------------

They follow local roads to the NW road, and travel that way. EC1, no event

Afternooon watch

--------------------------

They enter a new area, number 13 (rolled up).

They travel NW along the road. W-check to keep going

(Octavia rolls, succeeds). EC 2, no event.

Dusk watch

----------------

They're in the clear, making camp (Ikaros rolls 1, so a campsite, but

not a great one). EC3, no event.

Severus tells stories around the campfire (C-roll), lowering EC by 2 to 1.

Evening and night watches

-------------------------------------

EC2 and 3: A 1 for the Night: Ambience - Sudden shift

in the weather (Re-roll weather):Warm, Gusty, Torrential rain.

Roll Survival to get into cover.: failure. +1 EC to 4.

Day 3

Dawn watch EC4: No event

-----------------

Breaking camp.

Morning watch EC5: 1: Ambience - Ominous natural sign.

--------------------

As the rain pours down, thunder strikes all around.

Travel, they arrive in the fortified village. They could keep going, or stay

for the rest of the watch and gather intel about the roads ahead.

They do the latter. Streetwise, success.

The road NE forks, along a lake and towards the desert, or north

towards the hills and Exotic town. The road SE continues in the clear,

before hitting the forest on it's way to the city. Beware of roaming

nomad tribes.

Afternoon watch EC5: 5, Hazard (Poisonous flora).

-----------------------

W-check: Failure. They cannot go on, instead stopping halfway

through the watch, along the south shores of a lake. The rain and

thunder continues, and they're soaked. They find shelter under some

shrubberies. (poisonous). R-test to realise (failure). The leaves rub onto

their skins, everyone must make an S test or be poisoned. Severus is fine,

everyone else feels poorly. Now, a Healing roll from Severus, or EC+1 and no travel the following watch: Failure.

Dusk EC7: Exhaustion, that checks out. They now have to spend all day tomorrow here.

-------

Find camp: 4, a good site.

Evening and night EC5*2: Spoilt supplies + ambience

--------------------------

The rain ruins their food. They have to forage or turn back.

Weather: No change. The rain continues.

Strange animal sounds echo across the lake.

Day 4

Dawn EC5: Tracks.

----------

They have to Hunt or go hungry. Octavia manages to find 1 days food.

Grum comes upon strange markings on the trees near the water. Left

by the nomads?

Morning and Afternoon EC 5*2. More tracks

--------------------------------

They attempt to forage, and find 6 days worth of food. They discover

more strange markings on the trees, and an uneasy feeling sets in.

Dusk EC5: No event

-------

They again attempt to hunt, as the rashes start to go down.

Ikaros and Grum fell a deer, gaining 8 rations, for a total of 12 now.

Severus gets lost during the hunt, ending up on a mud patch.

S-test to get out: Failure. Luck roll, or take a wound. No luck,

a Wound before the others find him and drag him out. EC+1

Evening and night EC6: Scattered supplies

--------------------------

As they finally manage to settle down, the camp is in disarray.

R-check or +1 EC: Success.

Day 5

Weather: Less rainy: Warm, Gusty, Rainy.

Dawn EC6: Fresh humanoid footprints.

--------

They awaken, and find fresh footprints all around the outskirts

of the camp. They quickly pack up their camp and eat. 8 rations left.

Morning EC7: Exhaustion.

------------

They finally keep going, but only get one hex, before they are again

forced to stop, exhausted. They've entered area 18 (rolling up).

Afternoon EC7: No event. Resting

--------------

They enter a barren wasteland. Wind sweeps

across low grass and dry earth. There are hills

in the distance. They rest.

Dusk EC7: Encounter (Ambush!)

-------

They search for a campsite: 6, a very good one.

However, as they climb towards the small

cavern they are ambushed by 4 Rock

baboons!

Combat played out. Result:

Surprise round: Severus takes a heavy hit to

the head, and is dazed and blinded.

One ape scratches Ikaros.

R1: Octavia slashes one ape for 7. One ape engages Grum, and hits

for 2.

R2: Octavia fires her pistol, but misses. The apes will have to roll

morale on their turn.

Apes fail morale, they flee.

Aftermath: Severus attempts to bandage himself, so as to not have

blood in his eyes: Yes. He is now Bruised.

Severus tells stories around the campfire. -1EC

Evening and night. EC6: Ambience: Sacred place

---------------------------

At first they thought it was the apes cavern, but inside they find

a small shrine dedicated to the road spirit. They pray and offer

food (-1EC).

Day6

Weather: Less rain: Warm, Gusty, Rain flurries

Dawn, EC5: No event. Food left 4.

--------

They pack up and travel on.

Morning EC6: No event

-----------

Travel. Foraging. Only Grum can forage, as the terrain is hostile,

however he does find some food (1 ration).

Afternoon EC7: Tracks

--------------

As they round the central barren hills, crowned with ancient burial

mounds, they find the old skin of a snake. It is very large.

Day 5

Dusk EC7: No event (Herders)

----------

Finding camp and hunting (they'll run out of food tomorrow). An ok camp. Grum fells

a few hares, 3 days worth (4 total).

As they eat, 9 herders and their animals join their camp. Will they sell them a

sheep? 6 Civil. They may be persuaded. 1, barely successful. They won't, it's

not their herd. But they can part with some food for 2s a day. They buy 4 rations.

11G 9S. Severus entertains with stories (-1EC)

Evening and Night. EC6: Encounter

--------------------------

The night proceeds. The watch feels watched. The sheep bleets, unrestful.

Perception! A pack of wolves are circulating the camp, no doubt looking for

easy prey.

Day 7

Weather: Warm, Gusty, Rain flurries

Dawn EC 6: No event

-------

Pack up camp, hunt. Grum kills more rabbits (2 days). Total food 6 days.

Octavia scares the sheep, and one might get taken by the wolves. Animal

handling (W) to avoid: yes.

Morning EC7: Encounter

-----------

The road winds among the grassy hills. They spot a deer. Ranged to fell it.

Ikaros does so with his sling! 9 rations (15 total).

They enter a new area, 23 (rolling up).

Afternoon EC8: Camp or caravan

---------------

The hill give way to plains crossed by many streams. They come

upon a caravan - merchants, whos wagon has broken down.

Reaction: Threatening. The merchants, with 3 guards, threaten the

party, wanting their wagon instead. C-roll to talk it over, otherwise

+1EC and pot. combat. 5 vs 4, q1 success. They aren't happy, but

yield. The party scampers away.

Dusk EC8: Hostile sentients

-------

Set camp 5 a great camp.

As they set camp 4 Thiraks attempt an ambush. Spotted by Grum.

Octavia fires her gun. Moral check. Fail. They flee.

Severus tells stories. -1 EC

Evening and night EC 7: Exhaustion, must rest next watch (they are anyway)

--------------------------

Day 8

Dawn EC7: Territorial hunters/scouts

--------

As they pack up their camp, a group of nomads (12) approach. They want toll.

Negotiation ensues: 3 vs 1, a 2 quality success. They wanted a gold, they agree

to 6 silver. 11G 3S.

Morning EC8: Travellers in need

-------------------

As they make their way across streams throughout the watch. Towards the end

they see a cart in bright colours stuck in one of them. It's a troupe of

entertainers. S to get it out. Yes. Grateful, the entertainers give a rumour.

"In the forest ahead, there is a fortified inn at a crossroads. It's a safe haven."

Afternoon EC9: Ambush!

---------------

W-test: 4, ok. They keep going, leaving the streams and entering more forested

areas. New area, 27, generating.

In these dark, hilly woods, they are set upon by brigands! The party hears them

coming. Can they hide or avoid? No, the wagon must remain on the road. They

prepare for combat. There's 6 bandits, a part of a scouting party of 12, in turn a

part of a camp of 30.

R1: Octavia shoots one as he rushes her, 9 damage(!) - Dislocated shoulder.

Morale: Ok. One brigand slashes Octavias mail, but fails to penetrate.

R2: One pirate slashes Grum for 4 wounds and knocks him out, unconcious.

R3: Octavia devastates one for 16 wounds with her sword! She breaks his neck.

Severus hits (!) for 3 wounds.

A bandit pierces Ikaros for 6 wounds. Blow to shin or calf, stunned for 6 r.

R4: Octavia slashes one across the chest, it bleeds and takes 9 wounds.

Severus hits again (!) for 3 wounds. A leg breaks with a nasty crack!

Morale: fail. The remaining brigands flee.

Severus tends to Grum, who will have a nasty bulge on his head.

Dusk EC9: Stalked

--------

Set camp 2, an on camp, tell stories 6, -2EC, Perception 3 - Grum spots something in the

woods, but it takes off.

Evening and night EC7: Ambience

--------------------------

They slumber. The forest is unnaturally silent.

Day 9

Dawn EC7: Hostile sentient

------------

They break the fast and pack up. As they get ready to go, a large horrid creature, part

giant, part seemingly made out of the forest, come crashing through the undergrowth.

It roars as it rushes towards them.

R1: Octavia fires, doing 9 damage. It hardly dents it, but it must make a moral check.

Morale: It flees.

Scared now, worn and in need of rest, they quickly pack up and continue.

Morning EC8: Tracks

----------

They follow the winding path deeper into the woods. After about two

hours they come upon a fortified tower with colourful banners hanging

from it's sides. Severus, who can read, exclaims 'Crossroads Inn'!

They spend the day eating, drinking and sleeping, recovering wounds

and heart. 8S. 10G 5S.

They ask about the roads. N leads to the desert, NE leads to the mining

town and SE leads to the city.

Day 10

Morning EC 1

-----------

As they take the southern road they encounter a group of hunters. The

road twists and turns amongst forested hills.

Afternoon EC2: Herders

--------------

They continue, entering a new area, 32. Generating.

A lowland, rather dry in places, spreads before them.

They pass a group of pig herderes who wave at them.

Dusk EC2: No encounters.

-------

Set camp 3, ok. Tell stories 4, -2EC

Evening and night EC1: No encounters

-------------------

Day 11

Dawn EC1: No encounter

--------

Morning EC2: Wretches

-----------

They follow the road, now flag stoned, to a grand old bridge across a

meandering river. On the bridge is a gaggle of wretches, begging for alms.

They give a silver. 10G 4S.

They come to a town, and eat in an inn. Across the bridge, some km

ahead, is a town. They pass through, eating a meal at a tavern (4s). 10G.

Afternoon EC3: Tracks

--------------

As they continue, river to the right, farmsteads and small villages are

plentiful. In the late afternoon they arrive at the coastal city.

Dusk EC1: No event

-------

Toll 10% of base price, or 5S

They sell their goods. Base price 6G/T of foodstuffs. 2% above is 6G 1S.

New total 16G.

They take rooms at an inn, 8s. 15G 2S.

Profit! 5G of it anyway.

Next step is probably to purchase 1T of common goods and go to

Mining town. Then ore, and go Farming town or something like that.

The fountain pen subreddit brought me here, and I am so excited! I’d love to find a game that uses days in a planner (like Hobonichi) and dice. I have lots of sets of pretty dice, and lots of journals and planners. Are there several of these solo RPGs that use both?

Hi. I just got one of the brother printers. Since now I am able to print plenty of pages I was wondering some good titles that are less than 100 pages (or close if over) to print. Also any print and play suggestions are welcomed. I have never played one of those.

So I mean the title says a lot. My idea is for me to create 4-5 characters as a group i want to "mainly" have in the story. And then play my own campaign as those characters and parallel as DM. My question is if theres any tips? Rules? I dont know I am really inexperienced with DnD myself honestly but I would love to try this lol. I even thought of using a roll20 server or sth just for myself so i can even simulate the maps and stuff lol

The Skinny: Let me know what genres you're into, and I'll post some o'dem breakdowns for ya.

_

The Fat: I've collected over 400 pages of plots and villains in three big genres. After The End covers everything post-apocalyptic, Conan Edition covers everything Conan, and Crime Edition is for modern crime from both the law enforcement and criminal perspectives.

How did I get into this mess? It started when I wanted to write stories plotted like Howard's Conan fiction, and expanded to other genres I write in rather quickly. Nowadays, it seems I can't stop taking notes on most everything I watch, read or listen to. Books, comics, movies, TV shows, RPG actual plays, you name it. I really hate plot holes nowadays!

How I use them. I figure out what genre I'd like to write in, I choose a rules-lite RPG game like 24XX, Cairn, Ironsworn, and I go through my lists as I imagine what my characters will story through. This, plus what I've already put together, like characters and setting, is enough to get me started. If I start getting stuck, or the story starts to slog, I'll use the game mechanics or random tables to prod things along, or go read a few more plots and villains descriptions, and take a short time to ruminate on what happens next. Taking these steps keeps me away from the dreaded Writer's Block... usually.

What's in it for you? Maybe you have a starting idea of how your game or story will go. You might have a character, or you just watched a cool movie, or you'd like to re-live a favorite story, but you don't have a strong starting point, or your setting needs work, or you can't think of a good villain or monster. The story breakdowns will help you add pieces to this puzzle, that you can tighten up as you go along to create a more complete story.

One of the coolest things for me, is when I take in a story, watch a documentary, or browse through world-building forums, and I think, wow, that idea sounds really cool. It would be awesome if I added that idea to my story! That is what I'm hoping to do here, for people that solo like I do, where you might be playing / journaling / writing in one of these genres, and you come across one of these story breakdowns here, and discover an idea or twist you hadn't thought of before.

If this sounds helpful, let me know which genres you'd like to read.

I built Loreium because I wanted my video-game runs to feel like a character's story, not a session log — the thing solo RP nails and most games don't. It's not here to replace your hand-journaling; that's the craft. It's for the runs you never write up, and for carrying one character — scars, vows, relics — across every world they enter.

You report what happened; it writes the scene, and remembers. The one hard rule: the real game owns reality. It never invents a fact you didn't report.

Here's what it did with one of my own VRising runs:
——
I wrote:
“I cleared another camp. Octavian killed me twice. I’m going back for him again.”
——
Loreium wrote:
“Octavian’s still standing. Twice now he’s put you down—and twice you’ve risen and walked back toward him.

The old soldier doesn’t gloat. He simply waits, greatsword resting on his shoulder, certain of what he is. The militia trusts him because he’s earned it across a hundred battles. He’s seen vampires before. He expects this one to fall like the rest.

But the walk back happens anyway. It always does. Whatever the cost was—and twice it was everything—it hasn’t been enough to turn you away.

The camp lies cleared behind you. Third time toward the same man.”
——

Free, open beta, and it's mine. Would love this crowd's eyes on it — especially where the prose feels off or oversteps. [loreium.dev]

I’ll be taking a long train journey with my partner in a couple of weeks, and I’m wondering whether there’s a way we could play starforged “on the go”.

Anyone have tips on how to play without carrying much? I don’t really want to carry all the paperwork, books (rules, oracle), cards, etc if we can avoid it. We won’t necessarily have a table seat on the train.

Was deep in an Ironsworn session last week and the Oracle gave me a no at probably the worst possible moment. I have been building up to this scene for a few entries and everything was kind of pointing in that direction. Then I rolled and the Oracle said "Nope, screw you. The door stays shut". I sat there for quite some time and ... chose to ignore it. Just wrote the yes instead.

But I still think the scene worked better because of it.

I know that the whole point of solo play is letting the game surprise you, even when it goes somewhere you don't want and if you only keep the rolls you like, what's even the point? But sometimes the oracle just seems ... wrong.

Curious how you guys handle it. Do you stick with every result no matter what, or do you occasionally throw one out if it completely kills the momentum? And if you do that, where's the line?

Anybody else do this? My favorite instance is the Stargate Spycraft powered game by AEG. I've played several campaigns using Adventure Crafter and the fate charts and stuff in Mythic Game Master Emulator 2nd Edition. I haven't had to adapt much, though the game is quite crunchy especially in terms of combat. I mostly play theater of the mind, but this is one game where I wouldn't mind having battle maps to play with. At the moment, I just use acrylic grids & hexcrawl maps depending on what type of campaign I'm running.

I've also played the Buffy game the same way, which also died in like 2004? idk I wasn't part of the community back then. Supernatural's Cortex Game also looks incredibly fun and I'm really excited to dig into it.

The best part about playing these games solo is you can totally go with your own OCs or go the "Fan Fiction The TTRPG" route, which can be a lot of fun and is incredibly indulgent.

So far my favorite is the Stargate SG1 AEG game. Spycraft 2.0 is an amazing system. I really enjoy the Unisystem, though it's harder to convert the Drama Points (usually I just convert them to Plot Points via Adventure Crafter).

I'm fairly new to TTRPG overall, though I've been playing for like two years? I came over from JRPGs in Video Games when I decided the video game industry was too same-y to justify spending $80 on a digital thing you don't actually own and I honestly haven't looked back. TTRPG has unlocked so much creativity for me~

Anyway, what dead games do you guys play?

From their Bluesky post announcing the nominations earlier:

"We are incredibly excited to debut the new category for Best Solo Game! Solo gaming has exploded with creativity, and we can’t wait to highlight the nominees!"

The nominations this year are:

Odyssey of the Giant

Pirouette

Song of the Scryptwyrm

SPINE

The Bonsai Diary

Really fun, weird stuff :)

https://ennie-awards.com/2026-nominees/

I am new to this hobby and really excited to try it out! I am looking for something I can purchase digitally as its really hard to find them in person. I would also like something that doesn't involve much drawing. I really enjoy playing DnD and adventure games.

I'm enjoying everything else (except maybe the vows) about ironsworn but absolutely hate the combat system. It's overly convoluted and just makes no sense to me coming from a dnd background. I want combat rolls to be quick, crunchy, simple.

hey guys, i've just found out about this genre of journaling and it looks super cool. i want to know if there are any solo journaling games for absolute beginners, as i literally have had no introduction to this genre whatsoever, so i'm kind of clueless. i'd appreciate if they were games that only required a notebook and a pen, as that's basically all i have. thanks !!!

edit: thank you so much everyone who recommended me a game i really appreciate it ! i've got loads of recommendations, so i'm gonna make a list and choose one to start with :)))

I think I have a bit of a weird approach to solo roleplaying. I believe it comes from two things.

One is that writing anything down while playing makes me completely unable to actually play. Like I lose all will to do so immediately. So my preferred way to play is freeform, by simply talking to myself and rolling dice in a phone app as either d6 Yes/No + but/and Oracle, beating made up target number, or high good / low bad.

The other thing is that for me, the idea of fully "open world" is pretty overwhelming. Like, being able to do anything, go anywhere, and so on just fills me with dread and prevents from playing.

Sooo, what I managed to come up with is a system where I find a videogame walkthrough. Like recently Elden Ring for example. Then watch one section of gameplay. Like, the starting tutorial cave, or other dungeon, or an open world boss. Then I will pause the video, and solo roleplay the section. Of course I don't do that 1:1. I mostly keep the start and end point the same, but expand and change the rest as I (and dice) see fit. Then when I feel like I am starting to have enough, I just stop making new "content" and get to the end point, roleplay the boss fight, and finish that part. After that I can continue with the same game, or switch to a completely different one for a section or two before getting back. Having self-contained play sections like that makes it way easier for me, and it's honestly more fun than actually playing these videogames for me.

Honestly just wanted to share with the community, cause maybe this post will be useful for someone who has similar issues with standard play to me. And it's always nice to discuss playstyles with others.

I've been tracking dice rolls in my journal and recently asked myself "why?"

I'm unlikely to ever need the numbers. When have you ever asked "What did I roll 3 sessions ago?"

I primarily play Ironsworn family games so "Strong Hit - Weak Hit - Miss" is usually sufficient.

I've been using Lonelog so I think to a degree I only do it because it's in the system.

I'm thinking it might be more useful for more "crunchy" games.

To people who do track that in their journals and records, is there a benefit? Do you find it useful to write all the numbers down?

This game is currently set in a period similar to ancient Egypt and Babylon. There is no defined system, only my interpretations of reality, random data, and turns that change depending on the context.

I'm Brazilian, so the drive is entirely in Portuguese, but I wanted to share it because I don't have anyone I could discuss this hobby with.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qiYcAVuji7666q8SuvCzXdnQbOjd8HqF