This is a very nice ruleset, with a fresh approach to soloing. The only other Cthulhu solo ruleset is Paul Bimler's Solo Investigator Handbook, and I have to say that it is not only nice to have choice, but also a different approach to gameplay, or to story building with this Cthulhu Solo Adventure Generator. Because the two are very different, but both in a good way.
Bilmer's Solo Investigator Handbook is very good (he is a veteran of solo systems) but it uses journaling and an oracle system, which can be a bit daunting due to the need for building a story from yes/no answers and keywords (even if it provides also tables with some beginnings and events). Even if it is a solid approach, some people have a hard time finding inspiration or may feel they "cheat", or lose interest in not finding closure.
What is nice with Kent-Ove Lindström's approach is the absence of oracle and journaling. Here the central system is the Adventure Sheet, which you build with scenes (called Stages), which you roll on the numerous tables that are available (they take two thirds of the document, so there is plenty of replayability). The stages have various flavours: you start with a Beginning (obviously), but enrich the story with a mix of Mystery, Investigation and Turning Point, and then an Ending. So here closure is provided (a problem sometimes with journaling). The clever thing is that the stages are interconnected to make a mind map, and define the events that happen, including combat, the skill tests to perform, and the clues you gain from successes, which allow you to give bonus to skill checks. Then after an adventure you have a similar way to process downtime. So in a way, it is like an adventure you are the hero, but built dynamically with tables. Very, very clever. This gameplay in stages reminds me a bit of Ironsworn/Starforged manoeuvres, defining the tests you need to do to progress (even if Ironsworn is an oracle/journaling system, it is possible to be very minimal with journaling and focus on tests).
Here narration is mostly contained in those tables (which I did read only a few entries, to avoid spoilers), but as I already wrote, there is a lot of variety. And the player is also invited to "fill the blanks" to connect the stages. So on a day with little inspiration or when you want a quick play, I see it being easy to scale to avoid story paralysis.
I thoroughly enjoy this, and also see a lot of potential in creating new tables and entries to the existing ones.
Also, to finish, I would like to give my appreciation to the presentation and typesetting. The fonts are beautiful and the layout is perfect.
|