Play It Solo

This is very interesting! Has anyone tried it? Quoting The Lone Crusader:
The instructions are for existing WOTC -published adventures to be used as-is, but the site also offers this adventure which they converted for soloing. In addition, the author has published several solo adventures available for online purchase via RPGNow.

I've never done that before, but have solo'd with Mythic GM Emulator and the Gm's Apprentice cards. I'll have to check that out, thanks!

So I finally tried this today, and here's the result. I must say, it was fun! I'm absolutely going to go back (spoiler alert: my character died) and try it again!

I've used the GM Emulator with various random generators to play both by myself and with a small gmless group before. Pretty fun!

That looks totally awesome!

Oh, so this is why you barely have time to play other people's games. You're playing with yourself! :P

Haha! No, just had a free day yesterday. Am still on a reduced-RPG diet. And it's not just about lack of time either.

Are you familiar with Scarlet Heroes? A great overlay for old school D&D type games so they can be played one on one or solo. The author produces genius work consistently, it's a cool concept.

Scarlet Heroes is most excellent for solo play. I cut my teeth on that puppy. Wonderful. As is or as an overlay.

Those links are dead now :-(

well, do you have an active link? I'm curious and want to try now

One system I think works really well for solo play is Ironsworn - it's become one of my favorite systems.

I have Ironsworn, started it, got distracted and never went back. I really need to.
I am curious also about the solo adventures too though.
I have been learning about Cypher and Numenera using the Cypher Chaos emulator that lets you play Cypher system games solo. It works pretty well.

what is the difference between these games and Choose our own adventure books?

For the one's I mentioned, they are not adventure books. For Scarlet Heroes it enables one player with a single character to get the strength needed to overlay conventional D&D like adventures which normally require parties to deal with. It manages this with some mechanics which are really rather brilliant, and allow you to port published module material into the world of solo character play with very little tweaking. And it really does work. There are also settings in the book you can use. I've played in a wilderness, dungeon and urban setting. It has tables to enrich your world and help with it's building.

The Mythic and Chaos emulators allow you to ask questions and based on your die rolls an unexpected event can occur, an alteration to your current scene or nothing changes. Also very clever systems. Chaos is more for Cypher rule systems and Mythic can be used for anything. Mythic is quite complex and has a steepish learning curve but it's amazing. There is a pretty sizable solo RPG community using these and other methods successfully.

Scarlet Heroes has two primary mechanisms to allow solo play: 1) the use of a"Fray Die" and, 2) when attacking monsters, heroes affect their hit dice versus their hit points. The Fray Die is an extra attack against foes there are of a level equal to or less than you -- incidental flourishes with the blade or sparks of wizardry that take down surrounding enemies. Like Windyridge said, it's quite clever. It's designed for either solo play or 1 DM and 1 player. I'm actually attempting a game with a buddy of mine here to see how it translates to PbP. We'll use the dice tables for nearly everything. If it's successful (or not) I'll share our experiences.

The book contains dozens or rollable tables that are quite inventive. The setting is pretty cool, too, although you don't need to use it. The system is designed to be modified and inserted into whatever system you're playing.

Four against Darkness is the OMG of the solo world!

Scarlet Heroes and 4AD are both really cool! I'd love to play Scarlet Heroes in a regular group setting (just eliminate the Fray die for everyone but Mages). Two others that are worthy of mention for quick and dirty solo fun are Chronicles of Arax by Crystal Star and Dungeons by Adventure Games Guild.

There is also Elminster's Guide to Solo Adventuring that lets you play regular D&D adventures solo.

My criteria for using a system is if I can fit it all into my head. That means all the rules, the whole system, can fit in my thoughts without looking at a rule book. I can play it without reference. When I was 15 or 16 I could fit the entire AD&D tome in my head. Time has passed my friends, so now Risus, maze rats, or FU are the only things that can fit in my tiny cranium.

For me the go-to system, when I want to solo play, is miso RPG. I use it when I don’t want to think or can’t fit a system into my head.

I recognize the immense potential of Ironsworn. But I still have not been able to fit it into my head. It is a glorious thing, and maybe the best interpretation of Powered by the Apocalypse, I have seen. I include Dungeon World in that. I even give it the hallowed honor of being one of the few systems I own in physical form. In our pdf rpg world that means a lot. But this helps Ironwriterand Winsometo play as a game aid/manager.

4AD rocks, and with the small booklets and a really great web app I Foundit is a cinch to play. Still sometimes my crypt of a mind loses some stat or rule. So I usually wind up cheating and saving the day!

I rediscovered D100 Dungeon .Great stuff, but there is no way my skull can put that horde of tables in my head. Thus I am on the hunt for an excel sheet or a handy online thingamadoodle for it.

If anyone is interested there is an unbelievablely active solo rpg group called Lone Wolf Gaming. I would give a link, but we have so many manifestations that all you got do is google-fu.

Finally there is the solo omni-list that dieheart posted Here.

Yeah, I’m a soloist alright. All I could do here in New Orleans.