Party of One: The Rise of Solo-TTRPG

From Vampyric to cosy, solo TTRPGs everyone should try at least once

RPGs have always been celebrated for their collaborative feel, with groups of players coming together to weave intricate narratives and embark on thrilling adventures. However, in recent years, a new trend has emerged — the rise of solo TTRPGs. These games offer solo players the opportunity to delve into the realms of imagination and embark on epic quests without the need for a party

Appeal

Solo role-playing offers a distinct pull for those seeking a more intimate and personal adventure. Providing players with the freedom to explore their narratives at their own pace, without the need for scheduling or coordinating with others. Allowing for deep immersion, introspection, and the opportunity to truly shape the story according to individual preferences and playstyles. Whether it’s a desire for introspective storytelling or the need for a more flexible gaming experience.

Everything is playing

If you are sat down with an RPG rule set in any way, you are playing. Creating a character but never using it in a session is still delving into an RPG world. Acting out combat scenarios using pre-generated characters is playing. Choosing random trinkets for a character and creating a spell is playing, even if that’s all you have time for.

Words, not die-rolling

The mechanics of these games enable players to engage in the game world and drive the narrative forward in a way that suits their individual preferences. One common mechanic is the use of Oracle systems or solo engines, which provide prompts, and random elements, to simulate the unpredictability of a roleplaying group.

Play emotions, not mechanics

The story hangs on emotion. The more emotion, the more story. Focusing on thefeelingof a situation or place (rather than the game mechanics) will guide narrative direction because feelings are what make you want to know what happens next. The best thing about Solo TTRPGs is that you can be in charge of your own experience! You just pick up an interesting game, follow the prompts, and away you go! Into a cozy or chaotic place of your own making. Solo games require very little set-up, and a vast majority of them are journalling games, meaning you will be spending most of the gameplay documenting your experience! I found a good majority of my recommendations on itch.io if you were after a rabbit hole to get lost in!

Thousand Year Old Vampire

“A creaking hunter among dust and cobwebs, you prowl the night places, seeking the souls on which you feed. You have done this since time immemorial, or so you believe; you have no memories of living as a man-thing like those you catch and eat. But human traces linger; your fingers trace clever arabesques in the dirt of your grave-place and with the flourishes come whispered songs in a language you've forgotten. Far away, in a museum, hang your portrait in oil by a master five hundred years dead--you might have been lovers but the diary you kept then is long lost.”

Fox Curio’s Floating Bookshop

“On this River, you are a bookseller, paddling your floating bookshop up and downstream to various towns along the Riverbank. How did you come across the bookshop? Was it gifted to you or did you happen to chance upon it? Your days are filled with customers, leaks, and the irritating nook beetles that bury into the pages of your books.Make friends with regular customers at the bookshop, experience the River as she moves through the different seasons, visit and explore various towns, and go fishing in the River's rich waters. Throughout the year, the seasons change and holidays give the chance for you to join in celebrations and festivities with the animal folk.”

Conclusion

So pick up your pen & see where your imagination takes you, you can even re-popularise the art of letter writing with a friend in Dead Letter Society. I personally; love Fox Curio’s Floating Bookshop, it’s a super cozy escape to life on the river, take your time with the potential of daily journaling lasting well into the year.

Honorable Mention because I want to play it:

Notorious & Outsiders – “Play to tell stories of the Nomads; notorious bounty hunters who strike fear among the scum & villainy of the universe & follow the dubious code of the Nomad's Guild. In the midst of an intergalactic war, you'll take on a lucrative contract from one of six factions. The job is simple: bring the target back, dead or alive—no disintegrations. But your presence won’t go unnoticed.”