For the last few days I have soloed my way through 3 Dice Dungeon Master (DriveThruRPG, 5 pages). I would describe it as an inexpensive version of Four Against Darkness using one character. I could have played it as it is, but I wanted to “spice it up”. So, I used the thief rules found in Dungeon Crawl Classics, and I used OSR Solo as the solo engine. This PDF does include a link to 3 Dice Dungeon and I recommend that you take a look at that too. So, my thief Char found a dungeon, explored three rooms, found a Tome of Clear Thought, a magic wizard hat, and a small dragon. He killed the small dragon, grabbed the gold pieces, and got the heck out of there. In town, he attempted to pick pocket a businessman, but he was caught by the thieves guild. They forced him to join their guild. Well, they did have a nice place where you could sleep. So, he slept there, got up, searched out of town, and found another dungeon. This one was bigger and had traps and locked doors. He explored eight rooms and found three potions, 12 monsters (he killed them), and more gold pieces. He used the secret tunnel to exit the dungeon. He now is second level and he can use magic. He’s trying to decide how much money to give to the guild. Give this a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through the OpenQuest Quick -Start: The Lost Outpost (free at DriveThruRPG, 73 pages). I used The Solo Wilderness Crawler (1$ at DriveThruRPG) as the solo engine. For OpenQuest, I did use the adventure and the six P.C. characters that are included.

On the first day, they picked up the quest early in the morning. They had a quiet day of travel and came to an Inn surrounded by a clearing. Inside the P.C.s questioned the locals and discovered that an Imperial Patrol was in there also doing the same thing. The next morning, the P.C.s watched the patrol leave and traveled in the same general direction at a different angle. They travel for a few hours and then find a dungeon (they were not looking for a dungeon). Of course, they had to explore it. It had six rooms and they had to deal with a trap, a hag, a small maze, a magical locked door, and two prisoners. The hag did turn two of the characters into mice. They went back to their normal form after she was killed. They did find a magic ring (not impressive). The male prisoner gave them a lead for their quest – missing nobles.

They continued their travels, found the outpost, and discovered a trail and secret tunnel which led down and under the outpost. They explored an old barracks, a shrine, and then ran into a bunch of barbarians. After two rounds of combat a translator appears, and a discussion starts. Terrisa the P.C. wasn’t talking, she was unconscious. After some healing, they explore the tower and are attacked by zombies. Two P.C.s go down and the zombies are killed. They decide to stop exploring, they rescue Morgan the Noble, they cast healing spells, and head back to the closest Imperial Temple to get their reward. Great fun! Give this a try!

• • • OpenQuest Quick -Start: The Lost Outpost, 73 pages. It includes RPG rules, 2 maps, 6 P.C. characters, 8 stat blocks for enemies, and an 18 page adventure. There are a few editing/typo problems.

Recently, I soloed my way through the OpenQuest Quick -Start: The Lost Outpost (free at DriveThruRPG, 73 pages). I used The Solo Wilderness Crawler (1$ at DriveThruRPG) as the solo engine. For OpenQuest, I did use the adventure and the six P.C. characters that are included.

On the first day, they picked up the quest early in the morning. They had a quiet day of travel and came to an Inn surrounded by a clearing. Inside the P.C.s questioned the locals and discovered that an Imperial Patrol was in there also doing the same thing. The next morning, the P.C.s watched the patrol leave and traveled in the same general direction at a different angle. They travel for a few hours and then find a dungeon (they were not looking for a dungeon). Of course, they had to explore it. It had six rooms and they had to deal with a trap, a hag, a small maze, a magical locked door, and two prisoners. The hag did turn two of the characters into mice. They went back to their normal form after she was killed. They did find a magic ring (not impressive). The male prisoner gave them a lead for their quest – missing nobles.

They continued their travels, found the outpost, and discovered a trail and secret tunnel which led down and under the outpost. They explored an old barracks, a shrine, and then ran into a bunch of barbarians. After two rounds of combat a translator appears, and a discussion starts. Terrisa the P.C. wasn’t talking, she was unconscious. After some healing, they explore the tower and are attacked by zombies. Two P.C.s go down and the zombies are killed. They decide to stop exploring, they rescue Morgan the Noble, they cast healing spells, and head back to the closest Imperial Temple to get their reward. Great fun! Give this a try! - - the attached image is of a zombie rabbit at the bottom of a well. This is where the zombies came from. The undead rabbit could not get out of there. - - OpenQuest Quick -Start: The Lost Outpost, 73 pages. It includes RPG rules, 2 maps, 6 P.C. characters, 8 stat blocks for enemies, and an 18 page adventure.

So, this is the first time I have had my characters in a surreal world. I have done dream worlds, which are a bit different. During the last few days I have soloed my way through The Real World A Rules Lite Surrealist RPG. (72 pages, DriveThruRPG, pay what you want). If you don’t like the setting, you could use this for a dream world or a cartoon world. This RPG is unique because you start with zero skills and that you can not die. However, you can be hit with so much damage that you aren’t capable of doing anything. The good news is that you heal faster than D&D 5th edition. The bad news is that the bad guys/monsters heal that quickly too. I created two characters: an accountant (John) and a security guard. I soloed this with the Mythic Game Master Emulator.

I started this adventure at an amusement park in the province of B.C. Canada. The accountant was there with his wife and young (fussy) child. He decided that he would go into the Maze of Mirrors. He did not come out. The park sent in a security guard to find the man. The guard did not come out. The two men exit from the back of an office building which is mostly made of reflective glass. They find themselves in a parking lot with The Supermarket on the other side. As they walk through this lot, the ground tilts, they get a bit smaller, and the shopping carts get a bit bigger. Burt the guard takes damage from a cart. Burt’s weakness is that he gets the urges to dumpster dive. So, he went digging through the trash can in front of the store. No luck, nothing of value. They then enter the store and it is bizarre. This “place” is described in the rules along with 99 other strange places. The other places they explored were a cave mining complex, an air ship of ribbons (they were victims of mind control), and a tower. At the end of the adventure, John had picked up the skills fly (lvl 3), digging (lvl 4), and resist mind control (lvl 2). Burt picked up seven different skills and a bag of holding, a pickaxe, a shovel, an origami boat, a yellow crystal (this was powering the tower, but not any more), a lime colored crystal, and a gutter limp (described in the rules). This was great fun! Give this a try! -

For the last few days, I have been using the Origin Core Rule Book Black and White edition (117 pages available at DriveThruRPG). This fantasy system is a 1d12 system. I used the Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox as the solo engine. I created four characters from this Origin system. I took the adventure from the Rupture Quick Start Guide (10 pages, same place). All four characters did survive the quest. My favorite character was my “Keeper of Secrets”/Cleo the magic user. She has a crafting skill of one, and she was wading through the ocean waves looking for crafting ingredients. This led to a skeleton attack and later, an octopus attack. Throughout this adventure, she took the most damage. Her Substantia magic came in handy. Against two skeletons, she fused the two thigh bones to the pelvis so that they could not walk. Cool! Theresa the healer was a big help (P.C.), and she got to keep the plus one magic dagger that they found. Give this unique system a try!

• • • Origin Core has five character classes, forty abilities, eighteen monsters, five different kinds of magic, a formula for creating spells, and several spell examples.

For the last few days, I have soloed my way through The Solo Dungeon Crawler (1$, 2 pages available at DriveThruRPG). One way to use this is to print it off and laminate it. I left it in the computer and drew on it with Adobe Acrobat (highlighter and sticky notes). I used the Solo Crawler to generate my fantasy dungeon. The game system I used was Rupture RPG: Quick Start Guide (10 pages, free at the same place, a 1d12 system). It includes four characters and I did use them. To generate my treasure, I used my Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure book. I did use the solo engine which is included with the Solo Crawler. So, the good thing about the first day of adventuring was the group recruited a human female thief down in the dungeon. The bad thing was the rust monster which ruined a set of chainmail and several weapons. The adventurers went back to town, sold their loot, and replaced their ruined stuff. The second day went better until they ran into a ghoul. Luckily, Steadfast the warrior made his strength saves when he was wounded. So, they did make a profit and enjoyed a long evening at the tavern to celebrate.

The Rupture document does include a two page adventure, but I did not try it. The stats for one monster are included. There is a chart for generic monster A and generic monster B.

For the last few days, I have soloed my way through The Solo Dungeon Crawler (1$, 2 pages available at DriveThruRPG). One way to use this is to print it off and laminate it. I left it in the computer and drew on it with Adobe Acrobat (highlighter and sticky notes). I used the Solo Crawler to generate my fantasy dungeon. The game system I used was Rupture RPG: Quick Start Guide (10 pages, free at the same place). It includes four characters and I did use them. To generate my treasure, I used my Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure book. I did use the solo engine which is included with the Solo Crawler. So, the good thing about the first day of adventuring was the group recruited a human female thief (Kara, see the attached image) down in the dungeon. The bad thing was the rust monster which ruined a set of chainmail and several weapons. The adventurers went back to town, sold their loot, and replaced their ruined stuff. The second day went better until they ran into a ghoul. Luckily, Steadfast the warrior made his strength saves when he was wounded. So, they did make a profit and enjoyed a long evening at the tavern to celebrate. Give this a try! Easy to carry!

Note: Some of the words are "fuzzy", put Paul said that he is going to fix this issue.

Recently, I soloed my way through a unique funnel adventure for zero level characters called THE SHANNAVALE CONFLAGRATION (17 pages) for Dungeon Crawl Classics. I did use twelve zero level characters, but I used Castles & Crusades as the game system. If you want to use C&C, google Troll Lord Games Forum, Zero Level Characters. I used The CRG Emulator as the solo engine. All four of these items are available at DriveThruRPG.

The quest is to travel and pick up a shipment of ale and spirits for a hobbit festival, and bring it back. The 12 characters have one stagecoach, two chuckwagons, and a premium pony (I rolled the pony up on the occupation chart). Things went smoothly until they got to Wallbridge. The elven guards were being difficult. So, the adventuring group set up a camp outside of town. The next day they met some interesting people in the town, did some recruiting, and picked up the shipment. Once the chaos plan was set in motion, they started to head back to Shannavale. They were in a hurry because they made a bunch of enemies back in Wallbridge.

So, there were some accidents (the zero-level wizard was decapitated by a low tree branch). There were some protestors (half of them were friendly). There were some raiders (they were a problem). Just outside of Shannavale things really did get crazy. My newbie characters just stood there and watched (they are not suicidal). They did complete the quest and seven of them survived. This is not the usual funnel adventure. You should check it out. Good times! The attached image is of the lead horse of the stagecoach.

This document includes campaign information, an occupation chart, a chase mishap chart, stat blocks for 6 mounts, 4 enemies, and 7 other NPCs, mounted combat rules, and one map.

Recently I soloed my way through Inferno Quickstart (for several players and one game master, free at DriveThruRPG). I did use the four characters that are in this module of Victorian fiction. I also added one more character, Sheila the Hedge Fey. To solo this I used the CRGE Emulator.

In the first scene, the four main characters are able to calm the crowd and discover the source of the problem (bomb). In the second scene, there is a ballroom dance at the Prussian Embassy. They invite Sheila to this. The Sky Pirate Robur (secondary villain) wants to dance with Jemima, but he ends up dancing with Sheila. She manages to get him alone and kill him. She tries to escape the embassy, gets captured, and the authorities take her downtown for questioning. The third scene is the Crystal Tower. The four characters are sneaky and get on board the sky ship at the top. The fourth scene is where the characters sabotage the air ship. It crashes. No one is killed or hurt. At this point, the main villain, Hans von Spark is arrested. Game over. A win! The attached image is of Sheila (artist – C. J. Beazley).

This quickstart is 84 pages. It has a unique system that uses decks of regular playing cards. An adventure is set up in scenes and players have to solve challenges. So, this system is good for rebels VS the empire. If you were going to do a dungeon crawl, the DM would have to set it up with challenges, traps, and puzzles, not lots of rooms filled with monsters. Give this a try!

For the last few days, I have soloed my way through Love at the Rose Fair (Micro RPG, 80 pages available at DriveThruRPG). This fantasy game is based on a one d6 system. I used the Mythic Game Master Emulator to give me more options. So, I created a male wizard Rose Elf. I then had to roll up a random female who would be his date. I was surprised that it was another wizard Rose Elf (she had a shaved head). The fair had an organized dating event. The first event was the magical wheel. They both got sick. The second event was the food both. They both did not like the food. Next was the kissing booth. It was awkward. During the fortune reading the couple started bickering. They were tested by the love tester. His kiss was a fail. Her kiss was a pass. This was followed by the tunnel of love. What could go wrong? Well, I will tell you. The first room was small and it forced a melee combat between my two characters in a swan shaped boat and a wooden raft that had three ghouls. The two Rose Elves were killed. Well, I have to say that this is the worst first date one of my characters has ever had. And it was his first and last.

This was the second Micro RPG that I have tried. This one had a better story, rules on how to play two characters in a relationship, and even set up the next two or three adventures. Maybe you will have better luck with this one. Give this a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through Tales of the Casket Girls (1$ at DriveThruRPG). It is an investigative adventure for Call of Cthulhu 7E, but I used the older 5th edition ruleset. I used the Solo Investigator’s Handbook as the solo engine. I did use the six characters which are included in the module. They are on a quest to find a missing person in the French Quarter of New Orleans in the 1920s.

I was planning on following the module, but the solo engine took things in a different direction when a secret door was found at the very first location (a home with a study). So, it turns out that the villain has the power to turn an ordinary hardback book into a Portal Tome. In the study, Elijah touched an odd book that had a smeared title name on the spine of the book. He did not make his saving throw. He opened it up, looked at the moving symbols, and then he knew there was a secret door nearby. He found it, walked through it, and then discovered a portal. The others could not follow him through the portal. It was a bizarre place, The Dimension of Portals. He did lose some sanity, he did get “infected”, and he did find a portal to bring him back. The bookstore was their second location. They found another portal book and they did not touch it. It was at the third location that all hell broke lose and yes Elijah eventually attacked the party. He was no longer human. So, they completed the mission, but only three characters survived, and they became members of The Order of the Daughters of the Temple Knights. Maybe you will have better luck. Great fun! Enjoy!

Recently, I soloed my way through the adventure The Laughing Horror (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG, 28 pages). It is for NowUltraRPG Roleplaying Game (same place and price). It is forty pages and it is what you get when you combine Microlite20 and d20 Modern Roleplaying Game (print edition 2002). I used Zathrum as the solo engine.

For this modern (year 1992) adventure, I did use the athlete, doctor (physics), student, and criminal characters that are included in the adventure. I did roll up one additional character, Lila the psychic investigator. So, Ryan the criminal took control of this investigation. He has no patience and hates when there is too much talking and no action. The characters went to the city hospital to check on Alan’s father. He had been “infected” with dozens of others. They had a chat with the friendly nurse and soon discovered that Dr. Craxhyd was up to no good. Ryan had the four other PCs hide in a cleaning closet that night while he checked out Dr. Craxhyd’s office on the tenth floor. He discovered an IBM Thinkpad 300. He was able to get past the screen saver, but couldn’t navigate into the documents. So, he just grabbed the computer, some discs, all of the serums, and some mail that was lying around. Later that night he took Max to his place (Ryan’s) where they could get into the computer files (Ryan is turning Max into a criminal). The next day, Ryan calls everyone and tells them that he is going to the police with all the evidence. He lied. Again. He takes all of the evidence and most of the serums to a newspaper guy he knows for cash. The media exposes the deranged doctor and the police raid the hospital. The serum is given to all of the victims, but Alan’s father ends up suffering from a side effect of the serum – altered personality. Oops, so I did not get a perfect “score”. Oh, I almost forgot. Ryan does a raid on the doctor’s house before he contacts the press. He steals easy-to-carry valuables totaling $3,500.00. What a guy. What will happen when you solo this?

This document includes 1 map, 4 stat blocks for the opposition, and 175 bad jokes (I am not kidding). Give this fun adventure a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through the adventure The Laughing Horror (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG, 28 pages). It is for NowUltraRPG Roleplaying Game (same place and price). It is forty pages and it is what you get when you combine Microlite20 and d20 Modern Roleplaying Game (print edition 2002). I used Zathrum as the solo engine.

For this modern (year 1992) adventure, I did use the athlete, doctor (physics), student, and criminal characters that are included in the adventure. I did roll up one additional character, Lila the psychic investigator. So, Ryan the criminal took control of this investigation. He has no patience and hates when there is too much talking and no action. The characters went to the city hospital to check on Alan’s father. He had been “infected” with dozens of others. They had a chat with the friendly nurse and soon discovered that Dr. Craxhyd was up to no good. Ryan had the four other PCs hide in a cleaning closet that night while he checked out Dr. Craxhyd’s office on the tenth floor. He discovered an IBM Thinkpad 300. He was able to get past the screen saver, but couldn’t navigate into the documents. So, he just grabbed the computer, some discs, all of the serums, and some mail that was lying around. Later that night he took Max to his place (Ryan’s) where they could get into the computer files (Ryan is turning Max into a criminal). The next day, Ryan calls everyone and tells them that he is going to the police with all the evidence. He lied. Again. He takes all of the evidence and most of the serums to a newspaper guy he knows for cash. The media exposes the deranged doctor and the police raid the hospital. The serum is given to all of the victims, but Alan’s father ends up suffering from a side effect of the serum – altered personality. Oops, so I did not get a perfect “score”. Oh, I almost forgot. Ryan does a raid on the doctor’s house before he contacts the press. He steals easy-to-carry valuables totaling $3,500.00. What a guy.

Give this fun game a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through the adventure Tales and Tomes from the Forbidden Library (DriveThruRPG). It is a D&D 5E fantasy adventure (actually, three adventures), but the RPG system I used was Marvellous Magic A Magical School Roleplaying Game (at DriveThruRPG – free/pay what you want). I used Loner as the solo engine (same place and free). So, this RPG is like Harry Potter, so I used it in a fantasy medieval setting.

My four second year characters were given a quest from the assistant to the head of the magic school (Vernon Rachard). They are allowed to enter a section of the library which has been closed for years (two teachers died in there). My characters survived the adventure, and they were able to reveal the problem and the truth.

One year later, the characters attend the trial and are thrown into another adventure (time travel!) They had problems with this one. One of the problems was not being able to translate most of the books. They were “tested” and at one point failed. They were revived and when they went back to figure out the books, Chelsea was contacted by a dead druid through her crystal ball. He was a great help. The climax scene at the end had Bolt throwing his smoke bomb and Ben riding his broomstick. Great fun. A win! - -

• -This document is 100 pages. It includes 3 adventures, 3 maps, 22 stat blocks, and individual book descriptions (too many to count). I give this product 10 out of 10 stars.

Recently, I soloed my way through The Cradle of Madness. It is an interesting D & D adventure for characters of levels 3 to 8. I turned it into a level one adventure. It can be found in Dungeon Magazine issue # 87 (archived on the internet). The two systems I used to play it were #1 Deathtrap Light Preview (24 pages). It is not a complete game (for example, there are no rules for combat). So, I combined it with #2 Ordure Fantasy a six-sided die system (19 pages). The solo engine that I used was Loner (12 pages and free). The three documents (not the magazine) are available at DriveThruRPG.

My five characters picked up the quest on the first day. Owen wanted his daughter to be rescued from the Nightmare Syndicate. A ransom needed to be paid. Owen and the characters went to the designated spot on the second day and the fight was on. The characters let one fighter live and gave the ransom money back to Owen. They then followed the wounded fighter through the wilderness. After a giant beetle encounter they arrived at the ruined keep. They had some problems getting in there. So, they decided to “lay siege” and force them out when they needed supplies. On the sixth day three fighters came out using a “new” bridge. The PCs killed them, entered the keep, and then went down the stairs. They had to get past three traps, four guard dogs, and more bad guys (cultists). After some looting, they ran into the daughter Lyza who was obviously pregnant and in love with some cleric guy. Well, my characters were not going to interfere with that. So, they headed back to town (a quiet trip) and gave Owen the bad news. Will this play out differently when you give it a try?