Logistics can be one of the greatest enemies of any Dungeons & Dragons campaigns. Finding the time to play games with friends can be a challenge greater than slaying a dragon or besting a rival in a game of riddles.Even more so during the holiday season with the addition of social events, family obligations and wintery weather.
One solution that’s grown in popularity over the past few years is solo roleplaying. These experiences often use some kind of writing prompts that put the player in the dual role of Dungeon Master and main character. They can be short side journeys in a regular campaign, a compleye solo adventure or even a short campaign played within a few hours.
I’ve covered a few solo experiences in previous articles. The ones discussed here are more recent, but I encourage anyone that finds these interesting to dig around for any genres that they love. The solo game experience can surprise just as much as a role playing game with friends, though in much different ways.
Call of Cthulhu Alone
Horror makes an excellent choice for a genre that supports horror gaming. Going into that creepy house by yourself is a staple of many scary stories. The thrill of investigation and the terror of horrible creatures are two great tastes that go great together.
Call of Cthulhu has been a pillar of horror gaming for over four decades. The game offers an excellent boxed set to get started, which can be used with a series of solo adventures such as Alone Against The Tide, Alone Against The Frost and Alone Against The Dark. Players that own the Keeper’s Rulebook can use original characters though these books provide pre-generated options as well.
These adventures take an old-school approach to solo play with a structure similar to Choose Your Own Adventure books. Player action and dice rolls determine which numbered section continues the story. Multiple endings offer different experie ces depending on the choices made.
Star Trek Adventures Captain’s Log
Millions of people have wondered what it would be like to sit in the command chair of a Starfleet vessel. Star Trek Adventures offers fans a chance to tell their own tales in any era of the franchise. Captain’s Log allows players a way to tell solo stories rather than ones focused on a crew.
This style of game uses oracle charts, which act as writing prompts for the player to create their story. The rules are based on the full RPG, though players can go back and forth between them with relative ease. Though the title implied being the leader of a starship, the game offers opportunities to play crewmen, non-Starfleet personnel and even members of the Klingon Empire.
Twisted Blessings
Magic academies have become one of the more popular fantasy settings in recent years. The combination of high magic and high school drama has fired the imaginations of an entire generation. To play Twisted Blessings, all a player needs is the book, a tarot deck and a rival in mind to best before graduation.
Designer Cassi Mothwin frames this game as a magic school prodigy taking tstock of their j0urney before the final exam. Draws from the tarot deck establish the events that took place during the player’s time at school. It also builds a rivalry with another brilliant student; the one the player must defeat in their final exams.
Solo Roleplaying Humble Bundle
Many multiplayer tabletop games come with solo rules these days. It can be a little sad when a new game excites one member of the play group but can’t get anyone else to play with them. Humble Bundle has a solution for this situation runnings until December 16th, 2023.
Solo RPG Library includes solo rules for dozens of role playing games. It includes popular games like Blades In The Dark and Dungeon Crawl Classics as well as cult hits like Stars Without Number and Lancer. The bundle benefits buildOn, a nonprofit education organization.
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