This week I soloed my way through Orbital Vampire Tower: A Dungeon Age Adventure (5e and OSR versions). It is free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG . It is for a Game Master and several players. It is a wild and crazy adventure that teleports the characters to a vampire space station. It has 26 pages which include two maps, 17 stat blocks, 17 magic items, and 17 rooms. This is listed as a third level adventure, so I did use six third level 5e characters. If you want the adventure to be more “fair”, you can use level five characters. I soloed it with a solo engine that I have been testing out.

So, my characters had a chance to do some exploring, but they ended up having to deal with two vampire mercenaries. The first big battle happened in an illusionary beach location (it was malfunctioning a bit). Three of my characters died there. One of the vampires had to retreat because of the turn undead ability. The other was frustrated with having to fight my characters, followed by an octopus, and then a shark. He exited the area. After a short rest, my party found a one way portal back to the glass hatch. They saw those darn two vampires again and ran away from them into the mercenary space ship. They ended up in the control room and started pushing all of the buttons. My three remaining characters and the two vampires could now hear, “destruct sequence initiated”. The vampires beat my team up for a turn and then used two of the escape pods. My characters then used two of the escape pods. The pods landed on the planet below, and once again they were in combat with the vampires (in the dark). Sager ran, jumped into a river, and used his Ring of Gills that he had found in the space station. So, he survived. Barak and Jag were killed by the vampires. Maybe you will have better luck. Give this fun adventure a try!

During the last few days I have soloed my way through Realm of Goblin: Beware the Dark Sisterhood (free at DriveThruRPG). It is for D&D 5TH Edition (for several players and one game master). This fun adventure has you making a four day trip to a dungeon. I used the Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox to solo this module. I did use the six characters that are included. I wanted the dungeon to be bigger, so I used a Dyson Logos map. During the first three days, the characters did not have any problems. Once they arrived at the dungeon, things started to go wrong. In the Great Hall, seated behind a goblet at the head of a table, was a skeletal form dressed in heavy black robes and a veil. It appeared to be lifeless. Both of its hands lay on the tabletop, palm up. In the left, the seeds of a flower. Eira used a puff of her breath to move the seeds to the table. The skeleton grabbed her throat with one hand and tried to stab her with the other one. Later, they found a basilisk in a trap. Eira still had to make a save attempt. She was successful and they simply left the basilisk in the trap. Down lower in the dungeon they ran into Baroog. He smacked them with some psychic damage. Ouch. At this point they gave up on the quest and ran out of the dungeon as quickly as they could. Maybe you will have better luck. The team was able to find eight of the nine special items. Great loot!

This module is 27 pages and includes 3 maps, 12 stat blocks for the NPCs, and 3 handouts.

During the last few days I have soloed my way through Spiders! Ew! a fun D&D 5TH Edition third level sewer adventure (for several players and one game master). It was written by DM Dave. I used TRICUBE TALES: SOLO RULES as the solo engine (50 cents at DriveThruRPG). The RPG system I used was Sun & Steel, a rules-lite fantasy roleplaying Game (also at DriveThru). I did this with five first level cleric characters.

Day 1 - The first combat encounter started when the cleric in the front triggered a trap in a tomb. His armor saved him from damage, but a sound was triggered to the temple above. Several acolytes and a priest (temple of death) came down to punish my team. Not a problem, more bodies for the tomb. Two rooms later, my team found the bones of several children and one ghost child. They talked to the ghost, loaded up the bones, and started to make their way out of the sewers. They had to kill several venom crawler hatchlings before they could get out of there. They spent the night in a rented room in the tavern, but their sleep was interrupted by combat with four fighters hired by the temple of death. They were able to sleep after that disturbance and in the morning, Mandolin discovered that she now had a new pet ( see the attached image).

Day 2 – Next, they went to go learn the burial ceremony. That night they performed it at the funeral which was at the community graveyard (for the boy who could now rest in peace).

Day 3 – This put them back in the sewers where they fought more hatchlings and a fully grown venom crawler. They rescued one captive who was all webbed up. He had been screaming. After finding some treasure they had another run in with fighters hired by the temple of death. -Sigh-. They left the sewers, sold the stuff they found, and quickly got out of town.

Review – This RPG system (Sun & Steel) is 28 pages long. It uses a 2d10 dice system. Characters have eight ability scores. Five spells are listed (an example). There is no list of creatures/monsters. I can see how this system would work well in a sci fi setting. In my opinion, I believe the RPG rules for opposed actions/combat are messed up (Sun & Steel). I used the D&D fifth edition opposed action logic (skill) to fix this problem. I belive a detailed combat example added to the rules would solve this problem. Give this RPG a try!

This Micro RPG is two pages long. This includes rules for 5 stats, 4 classes, 4 skills, and an equipment list of 10 items. The game system is powered by one six-sided die. I rolled up a technician. I put him through the two page adventure. He managed to fix two doors and kill eight monsters. He was so damaged that he had to teleport out. He went back to HQ and reported that the facility had infected scientists. He recommended that a biosafety team go in and clean the place out. At this point, I used the Game Master Emulator so that I could solo the next adventure. For his second adventure, he was sent to fix a ship floating in space. It had been discovered because of a distress call. As soon as the ship was powered up, he was attacked by a blade drone. My technician was sliced and diced. Game over. Maybe you will have better luck. Give this a try!

Recently, I soloed my way through The Romanian Contract (free/pay what you want at DriveThruRPG). It is an open-ended 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. In this adventure, the five characters (which are included in the module) are part of a survey team in Romania in the 1920s. The plan is to build an expensive hotel up in the valley. On the very first day, their transportation does not show up and they have to make some decisions. They decide to buy a wagon and a horse to haul their load of dynamite. On day 4 they find The Cave which is filled with monsters. They blow up the cave entrance on day 5. They get to the castle on day 6. During the next few days they set up explosive traps which kill five monsters. On day 9 they hear noises in the secret corridors and Barnett kills one monster with his handgun. On day 10 the butler warns them of the danger that they are in and that the Count’s daughter is imprisoned in the dungeon. That evening they free her. They then leave the country with her (six characters total). When they get back to the company they list all of the reasons why building the hotel is a bad idea. The company goes ahead and builds the hotel. It is successful. It is seized by the communist regime in 1948. – Give this challenging adventure a try!

This kit contains a 33 page adventure, 4 characters sheets (18 pages total), the quick-start rules, and some maps. If you have played D&D 5E, you already know how to play this. I used a solo engine to play this solo. I added a first level minotaur fighter and also used the four characters that were included. Well, I did enjoy the adventure. However, after the second battle, all five of my characters were dead (Total Party Kill). My dice hate me. Maybe you will have better luck. Give this a try!

During the last few days I have soloed my way through Candlekeep Mysteries- The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces D&D 5TH Edition (for several players and one game master). To make it easier to solo, I used The Joy of Extradimensional Spaces Solo Conversion Guide (DriveThruRPG). The RPG system I used was Survive This!! Fantasy rules and six first level characters (two humans and four ghouls). So, this plays as a gamebook. However, Aelwyn the Assassin has the divination skill, and when she saw the crystal orb, she just had to try out her skill. Her vision showed a map of the sword coast on the floor of a cave. A woman in purple robes pushes a dragon figurine to the spot where it says Greenest. Across from the woman is a blue dragon (the Mythic Game Master Emulator generated this scene). All six characters did survive, but Chatterbox did have her hit points reduced to negative one, and Aelwyn was poisoned (they both were healed). I did enjoy this conversion guide and I am now tempted to do the next Candlekeep mystery adventure. - - - - Give this a try and good luck!

Fantastic Adventures and the Disgruntled Gong Farmer is a fantasy adventure for Dungeon Crawl Classics (70 pages/free). It actually includes three adventures, but so far, I have only done the first one (25 pages). This is a funnel adventure, so I used 11 zero level characters and one first level grave robber character that had an Orb of Time. All 12 characters were ghouls. This is a race choice for player characters in the game system Survive This !! Fantasy (I did use this RPG system). To solo this I used the Motif Story Engine. All three items are available at DriveThruRPG. This dungeon has 33 “rooms”. In the second room, my first level character was pulled into a painting never to be seen again. The painting burped, the Orb of Time popped out, and rolled on the floor. The characters had heard that this was a “lucky” item, but how exactly? Chatterbox picked it up and put it in her stash. Later this same character found a dead body. It was an exact duplicate of her and all of her stuff. She took the Orb of time off of this body and gave it to Cork. Oh, and then they ate the body (they are ghouls, remember?). So, they started this adventure with just some clubs and no armor or equipment. Four of them died during this fun adventure and 8 of them survived. Chatterbox was not talking much at the end, she only had one hit point left. They did find lots of weapons, some armor, and some stuff to sell too. They are now level one and ready to take on the world! Give this adventure a try!

Last week, I soloed my way through The Old Road – Adventure for Zweihander RPG. The RPG system I used was Legend Core from Mongoose ($1 at DriveThruRPG – 242 pages). I used the Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox as the solo engine. – My six characters were escorting a caravan. It was a relaxing start with interesting people to talk to and beautiful scenery to look at. During this time they found rare mushrooms and a plain gold wedding band. But things got serious when the Cult of the Mind’s Eye attacked. My group was able to kill four acolytes and a cultist priest. However, Jon was captured and taken away. The adventuring party took the time to heal each other, and then they started to follow this new trail. They avoided the one trap and found the grotto. Here, they were able to kill four more cultists and their leader. This time a trap was triggered, but the effect was cancelled by a successful saving throw. They cast more healing spells, explored the rest of the grotto, and found a ruby ring with a strange seal. All six characters survived and the quest was completed. - - I need to point out that this Legend rulebook does not include any monsters. So, I took out the “monsters” in the module, replaced them with cultists, and changed the “theme” of the “dungeon”. - -Try out this fun adventure!

Recently I soloed my way through Star Trek Adventures Quickstart (for several players and one game master). I did use the six characters that are in this module. To solo this I used The Mythic Game Master Emulator. So, the adventure started with the shuttle trip to the planet and then ambush #1. Soon after this the characters found the two federation combadges they were looking for. The next thing that they found was a crashed Romulan shuttle. Inside it, they were surprised to find a traumatized dog in a cage (Fluffy looked like a mastiff, but with more hair). T’Prel, the female half-Vulcan, calmed the dog down and rescued it from the shuttle. It followed her everywhere after that. Ambush #2 allowed diplomacy (Yay! It worked). They were led to the source of the mysterious alien signal and they were able to figure out the process on how to disable it. They were rudely interrupted by a group of Romulans. The Romulans were subdued and tied up. So, now they attempted the signal shut down. Strange things started to happen and the first officer demanded a translation of these new developments/signals. The translation was “self destruct sequence engaged”. They ran for their lives. There was no time to free the tied up Romulans. At a four-way intersection, the terrified dog ran the wrong way. T’Prel ran after it. The explosion happened and most of the mining complex was destroyed along with T’Prel and Fluffy. The settlers and miners were outraged. The first officer promised food and supplies. The characters escaped from the planet and later they did deliver the supplies. This was followed by T’Prel’s funeral and the first officer was written up for the mission failure. Maybe you will have better luck. - - This fun 31 page module is free on DriveThruRPG. It contains 16 pages of rules for the 2d20 system, 6 PC characters, 7 pages for the adventure, 4 stat blocks for enemies, and 1 map. Give this exciting adventure a try! – The attached image is of a place where they were getting some rest and relaxation (at the end of the episode).

This week I soloed my way through Star Trek Adventures The Klingon Empire Quickstart rules (for several players and one game master). I did use the six characters that are in this module. To solo this I used The Mythic Game Master Emulator. So, the adventure started with a rough landing near a moon outpost. They needed to infiltrate the outpost and they did have a plan. It was not the best plan. Karvara, the female engineer, attempted to break in the back of the building. She was successful, but it did take her too long. The rest of the team attacked the force field from the front. The force field went down and a huge gun battle started between six Jem’Hadar soldiers and my attacking team. The six defenders were killed, but three of my attackers died. Ouch! Karvara was able to infect the computer system of the building with a computer virus. It shut the place down. But then she triggered an experimental trap. The trap device gave her suicidal thoughts. She was able to overcome this with her “reason” attribute. She was then able to repair a messed up shuttle. Next, the team blew up the tachyon emitter with a non-Klingon disruptor. They completed their quest and escaped with the shuttle. How will your team do? - - This exciting 35 page module is free on DriveThruRPG. It contains 20 pages of rules for this d20 system, 6 PC characters, 7 pages for the adventure, 2 stat blocks for enemies, and 1 map. Give this exciting adventure a try!

During the last few days I have soloed my way through ANNALS OF FLINT’S DETECTIVE AGENCY THE CASE OF THE STOLEN GOLF CLUBS AN ADVENTURE FOR CALL OF CTHULHU 7TH Edition (for several players and one game master). I used the Call of Cthulhu 5th edition rules and six characters. To solo this I used the Solo Investigator’s Handbook. So, the adventure started on the Burleigh estate. Two hours later, they were in combat with a monster (a lesser sending). The monster was successful with a grapple and guns were blazing. The monster died along with the character it was attached to (Sally the clairvoyant). The characters did not know that Sally was now infected. They left her body in the garage, questioned staff at the estate, found a lead, and took off, leaving the estate owner to deal with the body. Mr. Burleigh contacted the police about the dead body in this garage. When they arrived, he gave them his version of what happened. The police checked out the garage and then they asked the owner to check out the garage. Mr. Burleigh said, “and my car is missing too!” The officer said, “Let me get this straight. A dead body stole your golf clubs, took your car, and drove away?” When the characters got to the house of the cultist, he shot himself (another dead body) and then they were attacked by the new version of Sally the clairvoyant and killed it (uh, it is a dead body again). They left the two bodies there to continue on. Once again the police had to examine a crime scene and get confused. In Egypt, the characters succeeded with their mission, only the one PC casualty. - - This exciting 36 page adventure is free! It contains, 7 maps, 8 spells, 1 timeline, 2 pages of player handouts, 7 stat blocks for monsters, and 4 stat blocks for NPCs. Give this a try!

I just completed this adventure. I used different rules to play it (Planck by Norton Glover Games). There are some nice magic items to find. My goblin is now the leader of the clan. He wants to bring peace to this land. He also wants to have a cat as a pet . . .Good times!

Yes, this is two pages of rules which could fit on both sides of an index card. I would have preferred some more rules. If you want more rules to add to this, simply look at Traveller, Cepheus Engine, or Sword of Cepheus. This ruleset was designed for science fiction, but if you change six words, it can be for a fantasy RPG. This system does work. I used it to play the solo gamebook Midnight Goblin by Josh Bixler.

Full Light, Full Steam is a steam punk roleplaying game (216 pages) which does include space ships (just this solar system).

So, I soloed this using the Solo Investigator’s Handbook. I knew that I wanted a mystery which starts with a dead body. The Handbook created the adventure. The adventure starts with a dead body and a ghost of the deceased which can be seen by some people. The location is the smoky East End of London. Six characters are given the job of solving the mystery. They all belong to the Astronomical Navy. Susan was born and raised in this area and Sidney can sometimes see ghosts. The others were picked because of their skills. When they get to the crime scene, they check out the dead body and Sidney sees the ghost. She follows it to a clue : a button. Before she even picks it up she gets a vision of the Thistle hotel. They go there and get two clues which lead to a boy in another alley. It is here where Sidney becomes afflicted. She can see what her future self sees in nine hours, but for the here and now, she is blind. This new “vision” leads them to Hannah. Adam (the deceased) was in love with Hannah, but she did not love him and she broke his heart. So, in summary, a doppelganger is involved. It killed Adam, and then Adam’s parents. It ended up killing two PCs before Tay was able to kill it with a pistol. It then turned into a pile of slime. Give this interesting d6 system a try!

This RPG has no lists of weapons, armor, equipment, or monsters. It does contain six characters, rules for ship battles, 19 NPCs, 4 adventures, and 72 pages of setting.