Really engaging gamebook romp through a future dystopia where nothing is sacred. Humorous and satirical on its face but with serious messages about where today's society is going without being overly preachy. Basic mechanics that aren't overly complicated with a standard keyword system in place to help remembering what you did and where you've been.

Rulers of NOW is brilliant, deeply disturbing piece of interactive dystopian fiction that has the ambience of hidden depths and a rich back story, parts of which are only hinted at, but are there nonetheless.

Set in a near future, which given current events, isn’t too hard to imagine, Rulers of NOW throws you into the deep of end of a dysfunctional bureaucratic society staffed by incompetents.

I like the style, a lot. Even though I took the ultra compliant route and tried to play by the rules, I felt thst what I was really doing was taking part in a warped game of charades that cared nowt for truth or honour and wanted to do little more than herd me through the aforementioned dysfunctional bureaucracy.

Rulers of NOW disturbed me (in a good way!) on some deep level. Maybe the author reflected our own world too well!

I’ll be playing Rulers of NOW again for sure. Next time though as a rebel raging against the machine!

I highly recommend Rulers of Now to anyone who enjoys dystopian (interactive) fiction and doesn’t mind viewing our own society reflected in a dark mirror.

For the last few days, I have continued to solo my way through a hexcrawl using the Prophetess Shinseng. She was having trouble with the mountainous terrain even though she had ropes and climbing gear. When she ran out of provisions, she had to magically blast a Dall mountain sheep for food. Two days later she ran into a group of human miners. She travelled with them back to their village (Amsden). Once there, she stayed with the healer Scentar. This village has a monastery which is dedicated to Argentahl, the god of balance. She discovered that some of the monks were going to travel to other monasteries to trade books. So, she joined this group so that she could get to a town (she has never been to one). They did run into an air elemental, and later the air elementalist. The team won the battles and are continuing their travels towards a town.

I am using the Scrawl revised rules (170 pages). Madness on the Mountain can be found in this document - Scrawl Ultimate Edition (both are free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG). Give this a try!

For the last few days, I soloed my way through Madness of the Mountain (a fun hexcrawl) available at DriveThruRPG (free/pay what you want). It is for one character and a dungeon master is not needed. The document is 55 pages and 26 pages of it are the rules on how to play. I played the Prophetess Shinseng. She adventured for six days and encountered a hermit, outlaw, giant fly, and some rocs (young and old). She found some coal in a cave and a total of 75 gold pieces. It takes 100 of them to buy a house, so that is what she wants to do. She could have headed back to her home village, but there are some bad memories there. She is now hoping to find a village or town after she gets out of this wilderness area.

This document contains 1 hex map, 32 hexes to explore, 36 abilities, 6 classes, 6 races, 12 spells, and crafting rules. The system runs on one six-sided die. Give this a try!

Impressively done to say the least. An unassuming looking product that is chalk full of everything you could possibly desire to run a solo campaign. When COVID-19 began shutting down everything, I turned back to solo roleplaying, and I have reacquired much of my know-how of what makes a fantastic solo game tick.
Underneath the plain product cover is a powerful solo system that is indepth, yet super simple. There are 36 abilities present and multiple classes/races to choose from. This means you can highly customize your character. The toolkits in the book for building your dungeons/world are thorough. With the world generation and the menagerie of characters to select, you can play SCRAWL indefinitely. Listed as a PWYW, this system should be a no-brainer purchase.

Another creative Tunnels and Trolls solo adventure for low level characters from Stuart Lloyd. As others have said this one has a lot of good humour. It also emphasizes Saving Roll checks over combat, and it's written to incorporate talent/ skill bonuses. I've got a few quibbles with this one andwhile I enjoyed it, I had more fun with some of his other adventures, e.g. Trailblazers.

I've played the Trailblazers T&T solo by Stuart LLoyd a few times now with a Level 1 character. Each time I've had a great time and perhaps equally importantly I've been encouarged to reflect on how differently T&T can be played. As others have noted there is a good section on skills and combat maneauvers in the introduction (not to mention a description of spells and interesting some magical items for sale). The writing style is clear and keeps the reader engaged (and raises ideas for how Trollworld might be settled/ populated). I'm going to give it another go as soon as I finish typing. Worth far more than the small recomended amount and well worth your time.

Quest to stop a blight spreading across a region. Some spoilers follow. Ample clues regarding what to do, although the vital role of herbs to enable the druid to brew potions is not apparent at first. The corrupted creature is tough to defeat without magical aid. Satisfying mechanic for time elapsed during travel and other activities. Definite replay value as certain encounters are only triggered by random rolls; it will take a couple of plays to work out an optimal strategy.

Some possible improvements: entry 44 should direct to 40 after resolution; on reaching 58, gain the codeword Offering; in 84, it would be better if a codeword is given if the shrine is repaired (so you cannot benefit from repeatedly restoring it).

An enjoyable solo; recommended. In play, succeeded at the second attempt.

Solo treasure hunt inspired by the dungeons at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the end of Last Crusade. Many traps to avoid, and much ancient lore to translate; a magic item which helps with the hieroglyphs is easily found. Some tactical decisions to make; many ability checks required. Several nods to the movies, for example having just enough time to pick up your hat before a doorway is blocked. A linear gauntlet, but some replay value as you can retreat from the entrance, walk around and find Satipo: he is an interesting ally. Links seem to work. I would replace the last line in entry 79 with "If you look elsewhere, turn to 81", to avoid repeating an action already taken. Recommended.

Simple but effective solo adventure, saving a farm from demonic possession. More forgiving than some in this series, with plenty of aid and second chances available. Success can be achieved very quickly; some of the more interesting paragraphs are only reached by those that flee or attempt to cast spells from a grimoire.

Recommended.

Refreshingly different and fun solo adventure. A hunt for stolen items in a city, where one of the tasks is to determine exactly what you are seeking. Success will be measured in items found and returned, and monies gained. There are many opportunities for financial gain, and some financial loss traps for the unwary. More martial characters will have opportunities for combat, but it can be (largely) avoided.

Possible improvements: (i) for consistency, entry 25 should refer to a ring rather than a necklace; (ii) you might decide the jewelled broadsword is one of the royal heirlooms you are seeking (and amend entry 50 accordingly).

Recommended.

This book has a wealth of resources and is a great way to pass the time. I am reminded of the old DOS based games of my childhood and I had such a rush of nostaliga while playing this game that I had a smile on my face the whole time. Heck this book can even be used (with some modifications) for other fantasy games as the random terrain charts, sites/dungeons, and other tables in this book are a god send if you need a quick plot! The only thing I would like to see is an option for less sites/dungeons per hexes. I myself prefer a more empty world but that's just me. I made a house rule that you roll a fate die (1-2) there is a settlements, (3-4) there is a dungeon, and (5-6) this is an empty hex.

It's free but I highly recommend to purchase it! It has more value than most books published these days! Get it and you won't be disappointed!

Solo dungeon crawl. Mainly combats, but there is navigation of the maps, and a puzzle to solve to unlock the main treasure room. You can choose a route to the orc boss that minimises encounters, or explore and potentially gain clues to the puzzle. Simple but fun, some replay value.

Worth a play.

Treasure hunt in a mountain range. Good variety in opponent type and physical obstacles. Simple but effective travel mechanics; random encounters (some harsh weather) at night. Reasonably enough, there are a limited number of mountain passes, and the PC is somewhat funnelled, but there are opportunities to pick and choose fights and areas to explore.

Recommended.

Hello, I just picked up SCRAWL last night, and I am loving what I've read so far! There is an utter plethora of tools and tables for single player world building.

If you ever need art for a future edition, I am always available.

https://sites.google.com/site/mc87epidemic/gallery

Cheers!