solottrpgs | Entries tagged with community help

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An interesting topic of discussion has been brought up by another member, so I thought I'd give it a dedicated place to discuss and give a general overview - the great variety of game styles and mechanics present in solo TTRPGs. From the limited non-solo TTRPGs I've played (White Wolf games, Pathfinder, D&D) most of those seem to follow very similar stat, dice, & procedure mechanics. The same can't be said for solo TTRPGs. Some don't use dice at all. Part of the fun of solo ttrpgs, at least for me, is discovering a new way to play.

Below, I'll list some of the ones I'm familiar with. I hoping others will add to the discussion so we can keep building this list. Also, please correct anything I get wrong, and point out parts that need clarification or additions. I still consider myself very new to this hobby.

Common game mechanic styles include: (click to expand)

(listed in alphabetical order)

Carta / Card Mapping: First introduced with Into The Glacier, this system uses facedown playing cards laid out in a grid or other formation to create a map. You choose a card to start on, flip it over, then reference a provided list of prompts corresponding to the card face value and/or suit, such as a Q of Hearts. These prompts may be a piece of the story, an event that needs to be resolved, a location, etc, and may require further action such as rolling dice, writing a journal entry, or drawing part of a map. Once the card prompt is resolved, you choose an adjacent card, flip it over, and resolve, repeating this until your story is complete or a new map needs to be created. Example Games: Into The Glacier, The World We Left Behind

Dice Crawl : This is usually a fast-paced, event focused RPG where you roll dice to trigger and resolve events, draw tiles on a map, defeat enemies, hunt for treasure, and build your character stats. Example Games: Descend,

Gamebook: In this format, the book itself is the game. It can be as simple as making choices that lead to a certain page (choose your own adventure), to books that include a character sheet with stats like dexterity and events in the story that require you to not only make decisions, but also roll dice for ability checks and combat. Example Games: Adventurer,

Hex Crawl: These games have either a pre-set map or one your draw / create as you go. Each area is a six-sided hex, allowing you to move on the map in any of the six directions to explore a new area. Most often, there is a set series of things you can do on a hex, such as 'explore', 'hunt for resources', 'visit a town', 'rest', etc. You will often roll dice to see what happens when you make your choice. Example Games: Barbarian Prince,

Journaling: This style focuses on storytelling. Typically played using dice or cards to get prompts for events, keywords, story clues, etc, for which you write a journal entry. These entries can be as long or short as you wish. You can write as the character, or an observer following the character(s) along. This may include other style mechanics, like the Carta or Hex Crawl, but the primary focus is on telling a story through a series of journal entry prompts. Example Games: Into The Glacier, Sanctuary & Sentinel.

Map-Making/Drawing: Games in which the primary focus is drawing a map as part of telling the story or playing the game. The map can be a small grid of tiles, to a large piece of blank paper. Typically, you pick a direction or tile, move into the space, then roll dice to see what you discover. You may also roll dice or follow prompts to do things such as build fortification or mine for resources. Example Games: Cartograph, Delve,

Oracles / Prompt Lists: This a mechanic used by many game styles, and can also be used as stand-alone tools to make non-solo games playable solo. These are often lists or tables with corresponding card face and suit values (ex Queen of Hearts) or dice values (ex, roll a 1d6). These can provide very basic and open-ended responses like a coin flip for a yes/no answer to a question you ask, or highly detailed and specific prompts for an event that occurs. In example, you may send your adventurer into a forest and come to a river. Do they make it across? In a simple oracle, you could flip a coin for a yes/no answer. In a keyword oracle, you may draw a Jack of Diamonds and that gives you the keywords 'cold, hard, perseverance', and you can interpret that to mean you made it across but it was difficult and perhaps cost you health or a resource. In a game-specific oracle, you may roll a 1d20 to determine what monster you face or treasure you find. Example Oracles: Kobayashi's Travel Oracle, Wayfarer's Deck, Map-A-Plot, 1d20 Oracle Bookmark,

Real-Life (IRL) Activities: This game style has you complete real-world activities or tasks as part of the gameplay, or a real life event determines what happens. This can include things like going on a walk, or to the library, or doing the laundry. These tasks often become part of the prompt-system, end game goal, or story building process for the game. This style also includes games that use real-world factors as determinants (ie, real-world weather or what you had for dinner) Example Games: Liubao's Laundry Days, Garden of Memories, Waiting For The Bus

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