Recently, I soloed my way through the fun adventure Delusions of Grandeur OSE (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG, 16 pages). There is also a Fifth Edition version. This OSE version is a fantasy adventure for Old-School Essentials, but I used OS&R: Oubliettes, Sorcery, & Reavers (132 pages at DriveThruRPG). For the solo engine, I used Castle Oldskull Dungeon Generator (same place) along with a yes/no/maybe oracle. I created five characters: a ranger with a cave lion pet, a war mage, a dwarf, an elf, and a halfling. The PCs heard about a village in trouble. When they get there, they explore three locations. The village leader offers them a reward if they solve the problem. They grab a map and off the go. They travel for three days and manage to avoid combat.

When they reach the mine, they attack the goblins who really do not want to fight. They don’t put up much of a defense and they run from the lion. The PCs loot the place as they slowly chase the goblins. The defenders that do fight to the death are the kobolds who are protecting their eggs. They die and the lion eats the eggs. My war mage saw the goblin wizard escape down a chute. He mentions it to the others and slides down it. As soon as the mage sees the wizard he starts a wizard duel. Another victory for the PCs. On this level they manage to rescue a human fighter, rescue an archaeologist, kill a monster, and kill the goblin king and his guards. They do find some nice loot. The way back to the village is quiet (a deity is involved). They claim the reward even though seven goblins did escape. They keep that secret to themselves. Give this a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through the fun adventure Delusions of Grandeur OSE (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG, 16 pages). There is also a Fifth Edition version. This OSE version is a fantasy adventure for Old-School Essentials, but I used OS&R: Oubliettes, Sorcery, & Reavers (132 pages at DriveThruRPG). For the solo engine, I used Castle Oldskull Dungeon Generator (same place) along with a yes/no/maybe oracle. I created five characters: a ranger with a cave lion pet, a war mage, a dwarf, an elf, and a halfling. The PCs heard about a village in trouble. When they get there, they explore three locations. The village leader offers them a reward if they solve the problem. They grab a map and off the go. They travel for three days and manage to avoid combat. When they reach the mine, they attack the goblins who really do not want to fight. They don’t put up much of a defense and they run from the lion. The PCs loot the place as they slowly chase the goblins. The defenders that do fight to the death are the kobolds who are protecting their eggs. They die and the lion eats the eggs. My war mage saw the goblin wizard escape down a chute. He mentions it to the others and slides down it. As soon as the mage sees the wizard he starts a wizard duel. Another victory for the PCs. On this level they manage to rescue a human fighter, rescue an archaeologist, kill a monster, and kill the goblin king and his guards. They do find some nice loot. The way back to the village is quiet (a deity is involved). They claim the reward even though seven goblins did escape. They keep that secret to themselves. Give this a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through The Manor of Asmodine. It is an adventure for Advanced HeroQuest. This adventure can be found free on the internet. The RPG system that I used to play it is was Echoes of the Labyrinth (inspired by Tunnels & Trolls). It can be found at DriveThruRPG (23 pages, on sale now for $2). For the solo engine, I used The FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit (which also created the manor basement). I created three fighters, Cassandra the thief, and Levus the pixie wizard as my player characters.

The quest was to explore a mysterious manor. In the manor they killed 34 monsters. The bedroom was small and had two surprises. Fighting in there was a pain in the butt. In the basement, the ghost of a wizard looked over their loot and told Levus how to charm the bloodthirster. They were able to charm the monster, but did not know what to do with it. They marched it back to town and tricked it into falling into the well. It started screaming and shaking the nearby dwellings. The tavern owner, a retired wizard, showed up to kill it. The local authorities rounded up the PCs, questioned them, and fined them for the breaking of several ordinances. Well, at least they still had some loot left over. Give this a try!

Fallout the Roleplaying Game Quickstart is a PDF with 63 pages (free at DriveThruRPG). This includes 33 pages of rules, one encounter table, 6 characters, a 16 page adventure, and 4 stat blocks. There are no stat blocks for radroaches or eyebot scouts. There is not a decent list for stuff to be found or bought. I soloed this with the Umerican Survival Guide (also at DriveThru) and a yes/no/maybe oracle. I did use five of the six characters that are provided.

One of my PCs was Tallman the mutant. During the first day of adventuring he fell through part of an old bridge and did take falling damage. Later during a chaotic combat he did get shot by another party member (he is a big target). During this same day, Hazel triggered a grenade trap. She did take damage and lost hearing in her right ear. She also broke the only lock pick in a lock (she was having a bad day). There was a total of three combats and they did complete the first quest (rescue). They went back to Listening Post for healing. The PCs did a lot of walking during the second day. They encountered the clerics of Theszolo, a wandering trader caravan, and a mutant eating larvas. On the third day they entered the town of Bleakford. They killed a monster, completed the second quest, watched a big battle, and killed the Big Bad (a robot with a human brain). They now had complete control of the enemy base (the third quest). They turned it over to the knights when they arrived. The craziest item found during those three days was a foldable pool for a large dog. They do not have a dog. Give this free quickstart a try! -

The Bloody Viscount’s Return (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG) is a 51 page adventure for Call of Cthulhu, but I used Let’s Be Magical (also at DriveThruRPG, 11 pages). To solo this, I used Betrayal at House on the Hill along with a yes/no/maybe oracle. At the moment, this adventure is not available at DriveThru. Maybe it will make a return at this same site or another one.

I created six magic school graduates to take on this adventure. This adventure starts in Boston, 1924. The next location was a lodging house in Vienna, Austria. The PCs did not start exploring (Day 2) until the professor finished translating some important documents that pertained to the Viscount’s castle. That evening, in the woods, Trina the PC was wounded by a tracker monster which they did kill. In the castle, Eloise did experience some sanity loss. Clarine failed a spell and then they were attacked by another tracker. They killed it but Trina was down. So, they went back to the lodging house for two days of rest. On Day 5, they were back in the castle exploring. They killed a gargoyle on the second floor and then they had a problem with a locked metal door down in the pantry. Clarine cast a spell on two of her ribbons. She placed the two ribbons on the door from top to bottom with a small gap in between. A Magic zipper appeared between the ribbons and she unzipped the door. The metal was now more like a fabric and she could push the fabric to the sides to create an opening. This led them to stairs leading down, a Boss Battle, and a successful rescue. Success! Give this RPG system a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through the fun adventure The Secrets of Arikana (13 pages, free at DriveThruRPG) for the RPG system Blood in Space. The RPG system that I used to play it was Hyperlanes (189 pages, same place). If you have played any recent editions of D&D, you already know how to play this Sci Fi RPG system. I used The Star Dogs Referee’s Handbook as the solo engine.

The adventure started with my five characters in a shuttle. They have been sent down to a planet to explore it (it has already been probed). They land at the Hilltop and explore down to The Ruins. Thel the soldier finds a staff relic and pushes the square button. There is a blinding flash and he is blinded. The others continue to search and then Thel hears a voice in his mind, “Danger. Death.” He tells the others and they all leave the ruins. Thel does not know that he has been infected with Brain Plague. Next, they fly the shuttle to The Marshes and explore a Giant Tree. At the base they find steps leading down to The Ancient Vault. They explore it for a bit, push some levers, and then run into an aggressive alien creature. It hums a hypnotic song and three of the PCs are charmed. Thel warns the others and then uses his staff relic. The melee is a chaotic mess. Thel shoots Gotu the healer (oops), the creature misses, Gotu heals himself, and then Thel kills it with a head shot. They then wait for the charmed PCs to get their sight back. After this they pull the third lever and parts of the floor disappear into the empty space below. They are forced to jump to avoid the pits. Thel, who is not feeling well, makes a bad jump and falls to his death taking the staff relic with him (never to be seen again). Konom the fighter messed up the jump too and also falls to his death. The remaining three PCs continue searching the vault and find The Book of Shuvai. They now head back to the shuttle and fly it to the mother ship. They are forced to stay on the shuttle (quarantine) and when the ship arrives at the starport, they get the bioremediation treatment.

So, my team scored a 15 which is a “B”. Give this a try and maybe you will get a higher score.

Recently, I soloed my way through The Wolves of Ferverax and the Valley of Gleam for T&T (10 pages, free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG). The RPG system that I used to play it is was Tunnels & Trolls 7th edition (122pages, same place). For the solo engine, I used What Are Those Creatures Doing? (2 pages, free, same place) and a yes/maybe/no oracle. I created three angels, a fighter and a knight as my player characters. The quest was to kill a wizard who was using his flying invisible castle to cause problems.

So, it took the PCs nine days to find a magical fountain. It was a luck fountain and it enabled two of the characters to reach level two. They found the castle on the next day hovering four feet above the ground. At this same time they were surprised to see a group of goblins causing a disturbance on the north side. The PCs entered by lifting the portcullis (STR check). They explored several rooms, the castle started moving up, and Denise the knight did get hit with a swinging pendulum blade. The PCs did kill the lizard-griffin, but a scorpion warrior killed Denise with its poisonous tail. They found the troublesome wizard and he led them (a chase scene) into two more battles. He saved himself with a wall of ice and he made an important speech. My characters could not hear a word of it because of the ice wall. However, this room was the wizard’s lab. They grabbed some potions labeled A through E and some jugs of acid. They used one of the jugs to get themselves down one move level of the castle. The hallway led to a storage area (body parts) and then to the engine room. Arch the angel dropped Denise’s sword and pauldron down where the cogs were and they instantly heard a bunch of grinding noises. The wizard shows up again and Arch makes another hole in the floor with the acid. The wizard hit Asmal the angel ranger with a magic missile. Asmal killed the wizard with an arrow. The castle is now falling and the characters jump through the hole. Gimor the fighter drank his potion only to discover it was a potion of Call Water. He died when he smashed into the ground below and was crushed by the castle. The three angels were able to fly away from the falling castle. Quest completed. Three surviving party members out of the five. Give this fun adventure a try!

A few days ago I soloed my way through Mysterium Weird Fiction Roleplaying Beta. This d100 system is free/pay what you want. I used Star Dogs Referee’s Handbook as the solo engine (DriveThruRPG). The adventure (included with the game) starts in 1971 with the six adventurers living in the same house. The government owns the house and installed a mysterious device. The PCs can live there free, but there are possible dangers and they had to sign a fifty page document (small print). So sure enough, one day a new door mysteriously appeared in the living room in one of the walls. The PCs knew it was there job to explore it. So, it ends up this door leads to a kind of craft that can open up doorways to different worlds of the multiverse. The crew are in cryo sleep and their drones are the ones in charge of keeping the prisoners fed. The drones are obsessed with this task.

The PCs entered the ship and killed an aggressive drone. Later, when the second combat encounter started, the drones stopped being aggressive and headed north (this was triggered by a psychic mind attack on a drone, which triggered a memory of procedures. So, the PCs had the chance to explore seven rooms. They found an odd knife and freed the one alien prisoner, Hamilcar, who was still alive (see the attached image by Boban Savic GETO). During this time, the drones woke up the crew, and received their new instructions, “Kill the invaders”. The PCs heard noises from the north, so they tried to escape south. They were forced into combat with three drones. The PCs won, but the psychic/doctor did take damage. They dragged the three drone bodies with them and the scared rescued prisoner back into their house. They barricaded the door, and fortunately, the door vanished. They turned the three bodies into the government and Hamilcar was taken away for tests (fifty). If he survives the testing, he will be allowed to live in that same house (the spare bedroom). Give this easy to play system a try! I am sure your adventure playthrough will be different.

For the past few days, I have soloed my way through The Complete Quest : The Poisonous Library (115 pages, found it at the library). The fantasy RPG system that I used was Anyworld Quickstart (26 pages). I did use the four characters that are included in the quickstart. The solo engine that I used was The Dungeon Oracle (Bimler).

So, on the first day the adventurers went to the caves to seek fame and fortune (and they did find a magic mace). It was there that they ran into their first group of goblins. The PCs won the battle but Wyndis the wizard was severely wounded. They tried to do a long rest and were forced into battle two more time with goblins. They finally were able to get some much needed rest. The second day was a long one. They killed a Dreadgarden, found a purple pearl (the freshwater oysters were yummy), found a dwarf, recruited the dwarf, encountered a lava giant (paid the price, goodbye pearl), talked to mermaidens, suffered an injury (Wyndis sprained his ankle), and entered the royal city. It was there that they discovered that the queen was suffering from a panic disorder. Wyndis was able to heal the queen using his scroll of tranquility. She was very grateful and made them guests of honor for a dinner banquet.

After dinner, a party started and the queen sent Wyndis up to the royal healer’s room to get his ankle taken care of. His ankle was healed, the healer started talking about a past adventure he had gone on, and Wyndis looked around the room. He found a blemish on the wall, poked it, and a wall pivoted revealing a wizard’s lab of black magic. Wyndis initiated a wizard duel, and killed the evil wizard. He went back and told the queen what had happened. She had mixed feelings. She now knew the source of her problems, but she is a firm believer in the court system. So, she had the four heroes escorted out of the castle and they were allowed to stay at the best inn in the city for one night because it was late (the queen paid for it). They next day the PCs left the city to put some distance between themselves and the queen. Give this RPG system a try!

There is Something Wrong With the Rats is a fun adventure for One-Shot RPG. It is an investigative adventure that takes place in Germany in the year 2009. The RPG system I used was Wicked Pacts a Modern-Day Game of Magic (DriveThruRPG/248 pages). I did use The Solo Investigator’s Handbook to solo this 43 page adventure. The adventure includes a map of the manor (28 rooms to explore), 8 NPCs (and a dog), and several items and clues to find. I used the six first level characters that are included in Wicked Pacts (warlock, demon hunter, grunt, shadow, seer, and scribe).

The adventure started with Simone discovering that she is a very distant relative of Otto Richter. She was entitled to an inheritance and invited to a reading of the will. She was warned in a dream by a talking dog. For this reason, she invited her other five team mates. Soon after they got there, there was a dinner. Her team mates ordered dinner from the same caterer and ate later. There was a lot exploring going on and Audrey was able to use her Unlock spell to open a locked secret door and a metal safe. When it was time for sleeping, several people had to share rooms. Jerome (PC) and Gwen (NPC) shared a room and they had their own nighttime adventure. For my playthrough there was only one major battle and it was of a spiritual/magical/psychic nature (the second day). For the battle, Rod conjured up his Fire Lash but was reluctant to use it. He was afraid he would hit one of his team members. So, when the Big Bad died, and the rats were still a problem, he used it on the walls. The manor did catch on fire and all six of the PCs were able to escape. The bad news = Simone did not receive her inheritance money. The good news = the dog survived. Give this a try!

Departed and Forsaken (free at DriveThruRPG) is an 11 page adventure for any fantasy system. I decided to use Wizards! (same place), and I used my fifth level wizard Melloncart. To solo this, I used Ultimate Toolbox. I need to mention that this two hour adventure, as written, is entirely investigative with lots of social encounters (talking). Also, it is timed, so time is precious.

So, this quest came from a king. He had survived an assassination attempt, but his personal guard (Rogel) died. The king wanted the assassin to be caught. The king’s wizard had determined that Rogel had seen the assassin’s face and that he was now in limbo (Rogel). The quest would be dangerous, which meant Melloncart was the perfect choice. When Melloncart arrived at the Station to Nowhere, he immediately got to work talking to those who were stranded there, along with Rogel. He was able to help them with their memories and get them on the train. He also noticed an odd door inside the station. He cast Detect Magic and it was magical. He unlocked it with Open Door. When he went through he ended up in a deserted roadhouse. First he had to deal with a cursed staff which caused confusion to those in its vicinity (Dispell Magic). He explored the empty place and eventually found the skeletal remains of a human in a cabinet. He decided it was time to leave. Now, how to get back to the king?

The adventure does include a map which is the best one I have seen this year (in my opinion).

Good luck!

Invasion of the Tuber Dudes (24 pages) is a fun adventure for OSR RPGs. I used Dungeon Crawl Classics as the RPG, but I did change the magic system. I used my six (now level one) characters that are cult members (Athax). I used the FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit to solo this adventure. So, the cult sent them on a quest to get a magic ring that is owned by Khale. He usually keeps it in his bedroom at his fortress.

The PCs arrived at the town of Sun Radive. Soon they met with the Three Sisters who gave them a quest to kill Khale. To help them, the Sisters gave each one of the characters a magic item, but they would have to return it or suffer the consequences. The adventurers then traveled through various types of terrain before they were ambushed by carrot folk (warriors). The halfling used his new spellbook, charmed the leader, and this enabled them to make their escape. Later, they ran into mandrakes (wizards). Five of the characters became charmed. Rey the nature wizard resisted the charm, turned herself into an eagle, and flew to Khale’s fortress. She flew into his bedroom (using an open window), found the ring, took it back to the cultists, returned her borrowed item back to The Sisters, and went home. The other five characters were taken to the fortress and locked in a cell. They did manage to overcome the human guard. On this same dungeon level they found a secret door and started climbing the stairs up. Next, they encountered a thief who gave them directions on escaping the fortress. On the way back to The Sisters they set up a camp, but were attacked by celery folk (berserkers). The PCs won that battle. The next morning they continued back to Sun Radive. There they discovered that the town was under attack by Khale and his forces. The PCs sat back and watched. The Sisters and the town were defeated. This enabled the PCs to keep the items that they had borrowed. Yay! So now the six characters need to get together and exchange stories over a meal of celery soup. - -

Gathering of the Marked (adventure 24 pages, extras 26 pages) is a fun adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics. It is a funnel adventure. The rules suggest that you use 16 zero level characters or 8 first level characters. I used 8 zero level characters and 4 first level characters. I did change the magic system. I used the FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit to make the adventure longer and to solo it. So, the woodcutter was killed by a shambling horror. My thief was killed by an acolyte. My blacksmith had his left hand chopped off earlier in the adventure and got killed by a swamp ogre later in the adventure. My barber and potato farmer both got killed by a steel hook. My sage got spit on by a Boneflenser and the ranged acid attack took him out. The adventure is a bit dark and when my characters got to the last scene, my nature wizard had no spells left, my cleric had one spell left, two of the characters were wounded, and they all were exhausted (it is a long adventure, more than four hours for the players). So, at the end, they did have an opportunity to fight off evil and be good guys, but at this point they did not feel like it. They accepted their fate and became official members of the cult (my six surviving characters). Maybe you will have better luck. Give it a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through EQ1 The Cursed Ring (8 pages, free at DriveThruRPG). The RPG system that I used to play it was Fifth Edition D&D. I used The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox to make the adventure longer and as the solo engine. I used my six barghest characters which are level three. Their friend who owns the Manticore’s Maw (an inn) asked them to do this quest.

The entered the Ringed Fortress and did not have any major problems until they encountered their first lever. They took a vote and decided not to pull it and they continued to explore the fortress. Later they discovered an area they could not get to because of two gates. So, they went back and pulled the lever. This did raise one gate and they did have another monster to kill. So now they were having trouble finding the second lever. They decided to go back to the room of sand even though they had problems in there before. Sure enough, Gad the Berserker was pulled down under the sand even though he had a rope connecting to the others. They had to cut the rope to save themselves. Gad was never heard from again. The new plan was to do a thorough search for secret doors. They did find one which led them to the necromancer. Elkan attacked him but he went down. The other P.C.s took the necromancer out. They searched this new room and found some gold pieces and the lever. This lever did raise the second gate. So, they found the cursed ring, solved a puzzle, fought another monster, and took the ring out of the fortress. So, the next thing that they need to figure out is how to destroy the ring. It is nothing but trouble. Give this exciting adventure a try.

For the last few days, I have soloed my way through All Hallow’s Eve from BAM! Basic Action Magazine #1 (25 pages, free at DriveThruRPG). The system that I used to play it was Bash! Basic Action Super Heroes (Original Edition). I used SoloCutz (same place) as the solo engine. I did use the six characters that are included in the RPG rules.

So, the first scene was investigation (crime scene). The second scene was combat. Things really got interesting with the third scene. The P.C.s were up against a litch-lord. My White Witch cast a magical duel arena spell. The litch cast wizard tower. The end result – both teams ended up in the White Mausoleum. The White Witch was still with Baby Face, but all of the other characters were on their own. This could have ended badly if they ran into the lich too soon. They did have a chance to explore 21 rooms full of challenges, tests, and a combat. They did find the lich’s weakness (a coin from a sorority house). They used it to incapacitate the lich, they tossed him through the black portal, they found the exit, and arrived back to their home city. The final scene is where the sorority girls find their lives getting back to normal after the coin disappeared from the necklace around the sorority president’s neck. The White Witch took the most damage, so she is ready for some R&R to recover from her wounds.

Give this exciting game a try!