For the past few days, I have soloed my way through The Burrows of Blemmyae (27 pages, free at DriveThruRPG). This adventure is for Dungeon Crawl Classics, but I used Rovers & Riches (33 pages). I used Magic the Gathering cards as my solo engine. I created twelve 0th-level characters to take on this funnel adventure. Here are the highlights of the adventure.

The adventure started with the PCs looking for fame and fortune on the other side of the ocean. Unfortunately, they were press-ganged by captain Serenus. A storm destroyed the ship. The PCs woke up on a beach. They looted drowned pirate bodies for weapons which they then used to kill two giant crabs and an enormous crab. A few Blemms helped them. One PC died during this battle. The PCs followed the Blemms back to their village (holes in the ground). They enjoyed cooked crab and gained information. At this point, four Blemms joined the PCs. This new group then started heading to the ruins of a temple. On the way, they battled five Sciapods. The PCs won, but one of the PCs died. At the temple, four pirates were doing a ritual for Serenus. The pirates finished the ritual and were then forced into combat. Two Blemms died during this battle. The PCs then did what Serenus had done: went into the portal. This put the group in THE HEAD OF SAR-SHAMUR.

In the mouth, they fought and killed Serenus and The Tongue. Two Blemms died in this battle. Ajax and Allen could not get up the Mucous Slope, so they explored a bit and then just waited for something to happen. In THE HEMISPHERE OF VISION, Jelly lost the game and died. Agatha won and had two stats get an increase. In THE CHAMBER OF INNER THOUGHT, the PCs encountered the almost God-like Sar-Shamur. They followed his request and used the magic (cursed) sword that they had found earlier, to cut off his head. This put the nine surviving PCs in the middle of a halfling prairie (teleport). This means that they are all now first level.

Give this fun RPG a try!

This RPG is such a tight package. It won't be for everyone but it really marries together narrative/theme and mechanics to make a short sandbox campaign experience.

It is the first RPG I've seen that explicitly lays out the mechanics that drive sandbox exploration. Spoiler alert, the PCs can all see how well-positioned they are to "win" the game--winning defined as getting narrative control over the epilogue of the campaign--and can improve their position by doing normal sandbox RPG things (e.g., exploring dangerous areas and looting them, forging alliances with NPCs, etc.).

Even though people put too much emphasis on dice math over the context of the rolls themselves, just know that htis game has some fun dice rolling. It's a 3d6 roll at-or-under system with a really unique resolution for combat and technology (this game's version of magic). I'll condense it here to just say that--in combat for example--rolling to hit, rolling for damage, and rolling for special effects are all condensed into one die roll. I haven't gotten to play it yet but I imagine this would prevent bloated and slow combat while keeping things fun and swingy.

Anyway, this game is perfect for making a short sandbox campaign with perfectly tailored play procedures. I say that it won't be for everyone because this game simply would not work with a more linear style of game.