Over the last few years, I've bought a ton of TTRPG books, only to let them kind of just...collect dust, whether literally on my bookshelf or metaphorically in my downloads. Every few months I found myself backing another crowdfunding campaign, anxiously awaiting the arrival of my new shiny, only to go through it for a couple of days and then never again.

That's got to change.

This year, I'm going to dust off some of these books. What good are they to me if I don't ever use them?

Goals

This is what I hope to accomplish with this little series I'm starting.

1. Create a character or two. This is normally something I did anyway, learning the system bit by bit, but it's normally where I stop. I think now I want to post those, give someone else some inspiration or guidance on doing so.
2. A quick little campaign. Maybe a one-shot, maybe something a bit more. But I want to have that character do something. I want to be able to say, "Yeah, I played that game solo. It was fun." This will also give me some confidence to potentially run the game for some friends, introduce them to their new obsession.

My handy dandy GME: Mythic 2e

This is my bread and butter, what I've (attempted) to use for almost every solo game. Mythic is my Oracle of choice, though occasionally I do mix in various Ironsworn/Starforged/Sundered Isles Oracles—especially the names and character details (such good tables).

The Adventure Crafter helps me flesh out scenes, and control how much Mystery vs Action vs Personal or Social or Tension I want in my campaign.

I also frequently pull in the Mystery Matrix from Mythic Magazine Compilation #1. There's something about mysteries and detectives that just gets me super excited, to the point where in every TTRPG I try solo, that's the genre/tropes/etc. I gravitate towards first. In fact, in every system here, that's what I'm aiming for.

Grab Mythic 2e from DTRPG

The Systems

I've got four systems that are at the top of my mind right now (though two are practically fraternal twins). I always find myself coming back to these in those moments where I want to run a little something solo.

Cypher

I have such a love/hate relationship with Cypher. It's so easy to build characters. Amazingly simple to run solo because of how the enemies and challenges are constructed. But, once again, my chosen supernatural ability of choice has thrown unnecessary wrenches. Do my Illusions grant Edges? Do they allow this? Can I do that? Even when I switch up the ability—"Perhaps Necromancy will be more my thing this time."—I typically run into some rules issue that isn't entirely clear to me.

Making a detective with abilities is also hard as I could either choose Solves Mysteries or Crafts Illusions, but not both. I think when I try again, I will simply pick both and count that as my way of compensating for being a solo character. Depending on how I flavor the world, I pull in some rules from Claim the Sky, one of their setting-/rulebooks which gives the world a very Marvel/DC-esque vibe of superpowered beings.

When Cypher 2e is released, I will revisit this system. I've already backed it, and gotten my early edition of the rules, but I want to want until everything is fleshed out (plus it's hard to read through that early edition copy lol).

Grab the Cypher System from DTRPG

Outgunned: Superheroes

This system seems to be all about action. I had originally grabbed a copy of the original system, and a few of the "Action Flicks" (quick and easy genre modifications), and really liked what I saw, but when I couldn't really make an illusion-wielding detective work, I dropped it.

When I heard about their Superhero-focused genre book (not just one of the Action Flicks anymore), I decided to back that and try this again. My same issues persists, sadly, buuuuut I've resigned myself to 1) not force Illusions, and 2) learn a new system.

I'm actually in the process of building a Teleporter Detective, and I'll try to go through a few solo sessions to learn the system and see if this is something I could do occasionally when I want some high-stakes action.

Grab Outgunned from DTRPG

Otherscape and Legend in the Mist

Based off of City of Mist (CoM) (the system I used for Merx), Otherscape (OS) updates the rules from its predecessor and becomes something so much better, in my opinion at least. OS is a cyberpunky-yet-mythical world, full of Gods, monsters, tech, drones—everything. Corporations use mythical power or advanced tech—or a horrifying combination of the two—to rule the world, and we're playing the little people in it.

Furthermore, Legend in the Mist (LitM) improves even more on what OS improved on, and focuses on fantasy. There's a wonderful conversion guide for D&D characters, enabling more people to jump in quickly. A popular touchstone used is Lord of the Rings, and this systems enables those kinds of adventures and so many more.

These two systems are where I've spent most of my brain power, trying to get a character that feels right. One of the boons of the system is the flexibility to create pretty much any character you want. There's no stats; it's all words.

My issue has always been reconciling the supernatural ability I want with the world. In both settings, the illusion powers I want clash with the setting in my brain. In OS, I struggled with figuring out how illusions interact in a world of advanced tech. In LitM, I struggled with a decent Magic system where I'm not just bypassing every Challenge with an illusion.

This struggle is definitely just a me thing, and once I hammer out some details, one of these settings—or both—where be where I live primarily.

Grab Metro:Otherscape from DTRPG

Grab Legend in the Mist from DTRPG

I have a few more systems I want to try out, but I'll touch on those in another blog post. ❤️

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