Solo RPGs as a creative practice
Overcoming my inhibition to storytelling
July 30, 2023 (updated September 1, 2024) · Felipe Vogel ·- How I discovered solo TTRPGs
- The TTRPG that I’m starting with
- Honorable mentions
- Solo role-playing tools
- Did it work? We shall see…
Today, a very different topic: solo tabletop role-playing games (a.k.a. TTRPGs). Normally I write about programming here, but recently with the arrival of my first baby, this blog is suddenly unfocused eclectic and fun. But seriously, I wanted to write about solo RPGs because they’re helping me become more creative and less paralyzed by perfectionism.
How I discovered solo TTRPGs
I enjoy reading fiction, but I feel like I’m terrible at making it. And since making up silly stories on the fly is a handy skill for a parent, I thought it was a perfect time to confront my creative inhibitions.
But how should I start, if it’s those very inhibitions that make any kind of practice routine impossible? It only takes a minute of staring at a blank page (or, worse, the beginning of a story I’ve written) for me to lose my enthusiasm and run to a more familiar pastime, by which I mean coding.
And yet… once you’ve realized your #1 hobby is the same thing that you do all day at work, and you contemplate the fact that your kid might not end up sharing that interest (at least in the next, let’s say, ten years), you become highly motivated to put your eggs in more baskets.
So, how to make creative writing more approachable? I wondered if making it into a game might help.
I recalled the handful of Dungeons & Dragons sessions that I played a few years ago. That was a story-making game, sort of. There was too much standing around trading blows with trolls for my taste, but I enjoyed other moments when I was working together with my friends to improvise a story within a game.
Questions flooded into my brain:
- Is there a more narrative-focused TTRPG?
- All the TTRPG groups in my area are for D&D… could I instead play a TTRPG solo, just for the storytelling practice?
- Am I crazy for wanting to try this?
As it turns out, yes and yes and probably not!
After an epic journey of discovery, which started at /r/Solo_Roleplaying, I now present to you my findings on solo TTRPGs.
Note that the titles I mention here are not the most popular TTRPGs, just the ones that I myself find most interesting. A few minutes perusing the subreddit will show you which ones are most popular. (Or I could just tell you that it’s Ironsworn.)
And if you want a high-level overview, watch “A Beginner’s Guide to Solo Role Playing (solo RPGs)”.
The TTRPG that I’m starting with
My favorite find is ALONe with The GameMaster’s Apprentice (GMA) (online or physical cards) and GMA Adventure Guide Pack.
I like ALONe for several reasons:
- It’s focused on narrative rather than the minutiae of combat.
- It’s freeform. It works for any setting, rather than being limited by a particular system of stats and skills.
- It’s simple.
- It’s all-in-one thanks to the GMA cards. Solo role-playing can be a bit cumbersome to a newcomer, in that it involves referencing tables to generate or inspire content. Not so with this one!
Other freeform, narrative-focused TTRPGs that I found interesting are Freeform Universal (especially the 2nd edition beta), and Risus plus the Risusverse.
But neither of these is designed for solo play, so you’d have to supplement them with solo resources (more on that below). For me, ALONe is a good starting point because it’s a complete and elegant package.
Honorable mentions
Here are some other TTRPGs that I’ll be exploring.
For kids, and the kid in me
- Dungeon Hero (Vol. 1, Vol. 2, Vol. 3) and its successor Welcome Aboard, Captain
- The Storymaster’s Tales
- Space Aces: Voyages in Infinite Space (plus supplements)
Space-themed
- For Small Creatures Such As We
- Cepheus
- Retro Sci-Fi Rules is just an updated Traveller. It’s a simple and minimalist starting point.
- Travelling Alone
- Cepheus Universal for all the options.
- Solo
- An explanation of the various versions
Going medieval
These are a lot more crunchy (as the more numbers-heavy games are described) than I would normally go for, but I just can’t resist their medieval literary-historical settings.
- Pendragon
- Paladin
- Aquelarre
- Chronica Feudalis
- Wolves of God
- 1366
- [Maelstrom](https://drivethrurpg.com/publisher/
World-building games
These could be useful for building out the setting of a game or story.
- Microscope. Solo resources for it:
- Mappa Imperium
- Foundations
- Cartograph
- Artefact (try it alongside The Kleptogoblicon)
- DELVE / UMBRA
- Stars without Number has a world-building element.667/arion-games/category/4422/maelstrom), especially Domesday and Rome
Solo role-playing tools
A lot of the games I listed above are actually designed for group play. But with the right tools, most TTRPGs can be played solo.
Oracles
These are what help move the story along in solo play, in the absence of a GM (game master).
- Mythic GME
- CRGE/UNE/BOLD
- Motif
- JeansenVaars Unfolding Machine tools
These are more minimalist:
- watchout4snakes (random word generator)
- One Page Solo Engine and the online version or the mobile app
- MUNE and the mobile app
- Recluse
- Diedream
- These Meagre Entrails
- You Sure?
- Juice Oracle
Playing TTRPGs on the computer
I may avoid these in favor of a more portable setup, but here they are just in case.
- RPG Solo
- Solo roleplaying toolkit (but the website linked in the GitHub repo is currently down)
- Several others
Random content generation
- Many lists of tools
- Chaos Gen (fantasy RPG generators)
- “Guide to Free and PWYW Random Table PDFs for Fantasy” (and its counterpart for sci-fi and other non-fantasy)
- Adventuresmith has generators from various TTRPGs
- Plot generators: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Story inspiration
- TaleWeaver cards and accompanying book
- Zero Dice
- Rory’s Story Cubes are especially good for kids.
- Story Engine Deck
- The Wildwood Tarot
- StoryWorld cards
- The Adventure Crafter
- Big List of RPG Plots
Mapmaking guides and tools
- Fantasy Mapping: Drawing Worlds
- More mapmaking books
- Azgaar’s Fantasy Map Generator
- Nortantis Fantasy Map Generator
- watabou’s map generators
- Wonderdraft
Did it work? We shall see…
I’ll add an update here or write a sequel post in the future, when I’ve had a chance to see whether solo TTRPGs really do help me in my quest for creative freedom. The worst-case scenario is that they’ll become yet another form of practice that didn’t stick, but at least I’ll have given it a try. And who knows? Maybe you, dear reader, will be inspired to give it a try too.