TEXT:  
   
   
  Rules and tables needed to play OSR/0D&D/D&D B/X 
  games without a Dungeon Master 
  
  Contents 
  Introduction ................................................................. 1 
  No DM? .................................................................... 2 
  Tools of the Trade .................................................... 3 
  Likelihood ............................................................. 3 
  Plot Twists ................................................................ 3 
  First Die ................................................................ 3 
  Second Die ........................................................... 3 
  An NPC ................................................................. 3 
  Your PC ................................................................. 3 
  An Organisation ................................................... 3 
  A Physical Event ................................................... 3 
  An Emotional Event .............................................. 3 
  An Item ................................................................. 3 
  Appears ................................................................ 3 
  Alters the location ................................................ 3 
  Helps the hero ...................................................... 4 
  Hinders the hero .................................................. 4 
  Changes the goal .................................................. 4 
  Ends the scene ..................................................... 4 
  Playing out Twists .................................................... 4 
  Scenes ...................................................................... 4 
  Complex Questions .................................................. 4 
  First Die ................................................................ 5 
  Second Die ........................................................... 5 
  NPCs, Friend or Foe? ................................................ 5 
  Record Keeping ........................................................ 5 
  NPC List ................................................................ 5 
  Scene List .............................................................. 5 
  Loose Ends List ..................................................... 5 
  Solo Play Hints and Tips ........................................... 5 
  Random Dice Tables ................................................. 6 
  Tip ......................................................................... 6 
  Random D6 Table ..................................................... 7 
   
  Credits 
  Written By: Peter Rudin-Burgess 
  Cover Art: Image by Valgerd Kossmann 
  Interior Art: Enrique Meseguer, Stefan Keller 
  Creative Commons License: Attribution 4.0 
  International (CC BY 4.0) 
  You are free to: 
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  Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the material 
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  Introduction 
  These rules are intended to allow you to play an OSR, in 
  this case meaning 0D&D, B/X style games, without a 
  Dungeon Master. 
  The game you will get using these rules will be a sandbox 
  style adventure, you will not need to do any Dungeon 
  Master [DM] style preparation although having a few 
  stock NPCs or appropriate level would be helpful. 
  No DM?  
  The normal cycle of play is that the DM describes the 
  scene and asks what do you do? The players describe their 
  actions. The DM describes the effects of those actions and 
  the cycle repeats. 
  In solo play there is just the single character and no DM. 
  You start by imagining your character in the game setting 
  and play them through all the social interactions, all the 
  NPCs and events that would normally come up. At some 
  point you will reach a point where you would normally ask 
  your DM for more information. Are there any guards? Are 
  there any ways out? What can you hear? At this point the 
  solo rules come into play. You pitch your question in a 
  Yes/No format. The solo rules will then return an answer 
  to your question much like a Magic 8 Ball toy. It is then 
  down to you and your improv. skills to decide what does 
  this answer mean right now? Often the first thing that 
  comes into your head is the answer to go with. 
  If you just got yes and no answers things would get boring 
  quite quickly. These rules are designed to throw up twists 
  and turns into your character’s story. 
   
   
  
  Tools of the Trade 
  You are going to need just 2d6. It is helpful if they are 
  different colours or sizes. In some respects, if you have 
  been a DM before you should be used to random dice 
  rolls changing the narrative of your games. When you roll 
  for wandering monsters and bad fight can completely 
  change the characters chances of success or failure. 
  Rolling for surprise can completely change the outcome 
  of a fight. All these rolls are just 1d6 and these rules 
  continue that tradition. The d20 may get all the glory in a 
  battle but it is the humble d6 that runs the world! 
  There are several parts to these rules. The most commonly 
  used part will be the Oracle. The Oracle answers your 
  questions.  
  Likelihood 
  Before you roll any dice you need to decide if the answer 
  is more likely to be a yes, a no or whether it is a 50/50 
  chance. If you are in an orc hold and you are asking if 
  there are any guards on the exit the answer is more likely 
  to be yes than no. Glancing up and down a street to see if 
  there is an unattended horse you can steal is more likely 
  to be a no (most of the time). 
  A likely result gives a +1 to your roll. An unlikely result 
  gives -1 and a pure 50/50 question has no modifier. 
  1 or less 
  No, and… 
  2 
  No 
  3 
  Complication 
  4 
  Yes, but… 
  5 
  Yes 
  6 or more 
  Yes, and… 
    
  You can see immediately that there are more than yes and 
  no answer. 
  The ‘and…’ modifier means that the result is more than 
  you expected. If you wanted to know if the guards were 
  alert and you get a ‘No, and…’ maybe and officer has just 
  demanded that the guards follow him and marches off. If 
  you got a ‘Yes, and…’ maybe not only are they alert but 
  one of them thinks he heard something in your direction. 
  The ‘but…’ is the opposite of the ‘and’ modifier. The 
  answer is a yes but it isn’t as good as you had hoped. Think 
  of it as adding some kind of drawback. 
  There is also a complication. A complication should stand 
  between the character and the subject of the question. The 
  Complication is the first way in which the solo engine can 
  take your game in an unexpected direction. For example, 
  you look down the street and ask “Is there a horse I can 
  steal?” The result is Complication and the first thing that 
  comes into your mind is that looking down the street you 
  see your arch nemesis riding into town with half a dozen 
  of his mercenary followers. 
  Plot Twists 
  At the same time as rolling the oracle d6 you also you roll 
  a second d6. On a 1 result there is a plot twist. Roll both 
  dice again and consult the following table. 
  First Die 
  Second Die 
  1  An NPC 
  1  appears. 
  2  Your PC 
  2  alters the location. 
  3  An organisation 
  3  helps the hero. 
  4  A physical event 
  4  hinders the hero. 
  5  An emotional event 
  5  changes the goal. 
  6  An item 
  6  ends the scene. 
   
  With your two results put them together to make a short 
  sentence such as “A physical event changes the goal.” 
  Most of these results need some explanation. 
  An NPC. You should be familiar with what an NPC is. 
  You can either introduce a new NPC or reuse an existing 
  NPC in your story (See record keeping below). 
  Your PC. Somehow the root cause of the even comes 
  from your characters actions, intentionally or otherwise. 
  Have you ever seen a scene in a movie where a character 
  leans against a bookcase only for it to shift and reveal a 
  secret passage? That is the PC driving a twist. 
  An Organisation. An organisation can be anything 
  from a village council to an entire army or just a single 
  representative of the organisation. Most fantasy settings 
  have guilds and secret orders that easily fit into this 
  category. 
  A Physical Event. This is a external physical event, it 
  could be a door opening somewhere in a house that is 
  supposed to be deserted or a caving in a dungeon. A 
  barroom brawl would just as easily fit under this heading. 
  An Emotional Event. Emotional events are those that 
  force or play on your characters emotions. It could be a 
  random act of kindness or something that plays on your 
  characters back story. 
  An Item. Characters are surrounded by items and simple 
  machines. You have their own equipment, objects around 
  them as well as traps and unique items in the world. 
  Appears. This does not have to mean “as if my magic X 
  appears”. This twist introduces something into the current 
  scene. 
  Alters the location. Some thing happens that should 
  drive the story to change the location of the action. It 
  could be as simple as learning that the wizard you are 
  looking for is in a different city or a pit that drops you into 
  a cavern below the temple. 
  
  Helps the hero. The help could be a simple as a farmer 
  allowing the hero to sleep in their barn to a sage giving up 
  valuable information or a key NPC offering aid. 
  Hinders the hero. Is the gate guard being 
  cantankerous? The sage refusing to see anyone? Has a 
  roof collapse blocked the way out? 
  Changes the goal. This twist can really change your 
  story.  Changing a goal may be a piece of information that 
  changes what you were planning to do next. It could be 
  that someone else completed the quest before you and 
  now you need to find them? 
  Ends the scene. You should see Scenes below for more 
  on scenes. In short a scene ends whenever a director 
  would shout cut, when the DM would hand wave away a 
  period of time or the action changes location. When this 
  twist comes up something will happen to bring about an 
  end of scene. 
  Playing out Twists 
  A twist does not have to happen instantly, the second you 
  roll it. You should rather see it as a note pinned to your 
  character or storyboard. Once you have decided what the 
  twist would mean for your character you should then try 
  to work it into your character’s adventure. Sometimes they 
  will be instant. Frequently, the best solution will create so 
  many unanswered questions that they will drive some 
  amazing role playing and challenge your improvisation 
  skills. If you are five levels down in an undead infested 
  catacomb and the dice say an NPC helps the hero. Where 
  did this NPC come from? How did they get here? You 
  just need to let your imagination provide and answer. 
  Scenes 
  These rules have mentioned scenes. A scene ends when 
  you could imagine a director shouting Cut! or you feel like 
  skipping a block of time. More importantly is your ability 
  to think in scenes. You do not need to play every scene. 
  If you were sat around a gaming table with friends you 
  would not role play every minute of a mundane journey 
  into town. As you are the only player and the game is for 
  your benefit only you can pick the scenes you want to play. 
  There is no reason not to skip great swathes of a dungeon 
  crawl and just play the most exciting scenes, the first 
  meeting with the undead guards, confronting the dark 
  priests in their temple and then slaying their horrendous 
  snake god.  
  You can also jump about in time. If you character died 
  confronting the priests you could jump backward in time 
  and carry on playing the same character but explore how 
  they came to be on this quest. 
  When we cover record keeping, scenes is one of the things 
  that you may want to keep a record of. 
  
  Complex Questions 
  Not every question can be answered with a yes or a no. If 
  you eavesdrop on one of the villain’s lieutenant’s 
  conversations then yes or no is not much use to you. 
  In this case you roll two dice, or one die twice, and check 
  the following table, just like building a twist.  
  First Die 
  Second Die 
  1  Plotting against 
  1  an ally or colleague. 
  2  Uncovering 
  2  a foe or traitor. 
  3  Supporting 
  3  a new force or an old enemy. 
  4  Opposing 
  4  old lore or magic. 
  5  Creating 
  5  a death or murder. 
  6  Discovering 
  6  an alliance or surrender. 
   
  As before, you build a short sentence and then try and 
  work this into your game. Typical complex questions 
  relate to conversations, the contents of scrolls and books 
  and orders given by officers, but you will come up with 
  hundreds of other uses. 
  The golden rule is that you consider the story so far, the 
  current situation, the sort of adventure you want to have 
  and finally the dice rolls. 
  Imagine you are trying to gather some rumours in a town. 
  There are a couple of women sat by the well doing laundry 
  and chatting. You get close by and listen in. You roll a 5 
  and a 6, Creating an alliance or surrender. Depending on 
  the sort of adventure you are having are they 
  matchmaking and arranging a marriage between their 
  eldest children or are there rumours that a battle went so 
  badly that the king has been forced to accept surrender? 
  The same rolls made in a dockland dive of a tavern could 
  have two lowlifes negotiating a ceasefire between their 
  gangs. It is the context that is vitally important. 
  Ultimately if the roll makes no sense then discard it or if 
  you have a better idea, go with that. 
  NPCs, Friend or Foe? 
  Not everyone is going to be your friend and likewise not 
  everyone is going to draw swords and try and kill you. 
  NPC reactions can be handled using the regular Oracle 
  but you can use your characters Charisma in in addition 
  to likelihood modifiers. For example, if it is highly unlikely 
  that a castle guard will let you pass but you have a +2 
  modifier from your Charisma then that gives you a net +1 
  on the roll. You must remember that depending on the 
  question. If you ask a negative question where a Yes will 
  be bad for your character, then inverting you Charisma 
  bonus/penalty would make more sense. 
   
  Record Keeping 
  It is helpful to keep a written log or journal of your solo 
  adventures. This helps you pick up where you were later. 
  This is no different to keeping game notes except there is 
  no planned campaign as a backdrop.  
  Some people will make a few oracle question rolls and 
  then write up an entire scene as if it is a chapter in a book. 
  Others will record very little. I personally just use bullet 
  points and record questions, answers and key points. It is 
  very terse and would mean nothing to anyone else but it 
  only has to serve as a reminder to me. I also find that the 
  less time I spend writing the more time I can spend in 
  character. 
  Regardless of the style of journal you keep it is helpful to 
  keep a few lists. 
  NPC List 
  An NPC list just needs to keep the barest of details, name 
  race and location and a brief note about your meeting. The 
  location is important as when you revisit a place it helps if 
  the same NPCs are there. It helps to make the world more 
  consistent. If you have a list of NPCs and the oracle tells 
  you to introduce an NPC it often makes sense to use an 
  existing NPC rather than constantly creating new ones. 
  For you an player and DM not having to create hundreds 
  of detailed personalities makes life easier. 
  Scene List 
  You can number or name scenes as you play them and at 
  the end of the scene add a descriptive note. Glancing 
  down a scene list is almost like fast forwarding through 
  your adventure, but it is also useful if you want to insert a 
  flashback scene between a pair of scenes you have already 
  played. I record which NPCs were present as well as what 
  I was trying to achieve. 
  Loose Ends List 
  It is inevitable that you will end up with a great many 
  unexplored plot threads or loose ends. Why did your 
  nemesis ride into town that day? Who was the lieutenant 
  plotting to kill? Complications can create loose ends, story 
  twists often create loose ends and complex questions do 
  the same. 
  When this list get to more than half a dozen it is worth 
  seeing if you can tie some of them together into a deeper 
  and more complex plot that your character has just 
  brushed the surface of. Highlighter pens are useful here as 
  you can group by colour. These loose ends could be used 
  to explain some of the more unusual dice rolls. If 
  someone is going to be murdered that could explain why 
  the wizard you are looking for has fled town! 
  
  Solo Play Hints and Tips 
  ❖ The golden rule is do not ask too many questions. Ask 
  a question and possibly a follow up if you are still not 
  sure but then just start to improvise. 
  ❖ Do not ask game breaking questions. Don’t ask if you 
  wake up and find 1000gp under your pillow or a 
  vorpal sword at the end of the bed. If you need these 
  things just add them to your character sheet. It is your 
  game, no one will ever know! 
  ❖ Playing as a solo hero in a game designed for parties 
  of 6-8 heroes is hard. You may want to start at 2nd to 
  3rd level. This also adds more scope for skipping back 
  into your characters past to play flashbacks. 
  ❖ Don’t start your first solo play sat in a tavern. Take a 
  leaf from Hollywood and start right in the thick of the 
  action, a roof top fight against thieves, in a runaway 
  carriage careering towards a cliff or surrounded by 
  zombies in a boneyard. You know the sort of 
  adventure you want to have. Start there and start in 
  the thick of it. 
  ❖ The first time you solo play it will probably be slow 
  and stilted as you don’t know the rules or what to 
  expect. Don’t worry, this is normal and the more you 
  play the faster and more fluid it all becomes. 
  ❖ It is useful to have a stock of pre-generated NPCs. 
  When you are learning a new game, it is useful to 
  make a few characters to try and get an idea for how 
  the rules work. Keep those characters and use them 
  when you need an NPC. That saves breaking up your 
  game to create an NPC at a crucial moment. 
  ❖ Narrative Description is your friend. Have you ever 
  had a character in a barroom brawl and asked the GM 
  if there a bottle or chair at the table you can throw? 
  Or maybe you asked is the chandelier secured by a 
  rope, when you wanted to swing across the hall. In 
  solo play the answer to all these questions is yes. It is 
  your story, your adventure, you are star and director. 
  The props will always be in the right place. 
  ❖ Fail Forward. If something goes wrong and the 
  adventure would end or there is no way out ask the 
  oracle. In the movies the hero faces seemingly 
  impossible situations all the time and somehow gets 
  out of them. You are the hero, it is OK to save 
  yourself. 
  ❖ The questions you ask should be the ones best for the 
  game and not what is best for your character. 
  Random Dice Tables 
  On the following page is a random dice table with nearly 
  a thousand d6 rolls. You can use them left to right to top 
  to bottom, any which way you like so long as you use them 
  in sequence. 
  Random dice tables speed up your gaming, both solo and 
  at a regular table. If there is a chance of wandering 
  monsters you can easily scan down the list and see how 
  long it would be before the monster would turn up and 
  you can work that knowledge into your narrative. If you 
  can see that nothing would happen until midday you can 
  work with that. 
  At a regular table, if your players are anything like mine, 
  they will regularly force you into improvising. If you don’t 
  want it to be obvious that you are improvising, random 
  tables make it appear you are consulting game notes when 
  you are actually letting the dice decide. 
  There is no significance to the numbers being grouped 
  into threes or three by three blocks. That is purely for ease 
  of reading and highlighting. 
  Tip. Highlighters will never obscure the number on the page so you 
  can use the page once and highlight the used numbers in yellow and 
  then go over them again in green then pink and so on. 
  Random dice tables like these are useful for wandering 
  monsters, to see if elves spot a secret door without alerting 
  the players that there is something worth searching for. 
  If a player suddenly thumps a town guard then you can 
  glance three numbers along and you have his strength, if 
  he still be standing and wants to thump the character back. 
  When used with these solo rules they can completely 
  replace the dice. Print off the table of rolls and have it side 
  by side with whatever table you are referencing. It speeds 
  the game up immensely and doesn’t break the suspension 
  of disbelief nearly as much as making multiple dice rolls. 
   
   
  
  Random D6 Table 
  3 6 3    1 1 1    2 6 6   5 4 6   2 4 3   6 1 6   4 5 1   6 4 5   1 2 1 
  2 4 3  3 5 3  2 1 3    4 3 2    6 5 1    2 4 1    2 2 6    1 3 1    3 1 2 
  3 4 4  3 6 3  4 4 3  1 1 3  6 6 1  4 4 3  5 6 6  5 4 5  2 3 2 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  2 1 3  3 6 5  2 6 6  3 2 2  2 3 2  6 3 3  6 1 2  2 4 4  4 6 4 
  6 3 3  1 4 5  6 6 2  6 4 1  3 6 6  2 6 5  1 4 6  4 4 5  6 1 6 
  6 2 3  4 4 1  4 6 1  4 1 6  3 5 1  4 1 3  3 5 6  3 3 5  6 1 5 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  3 1 5  2 5 5  2 4 3  6 6 1  3 3 1  1 5 3  3 6 3  4 6 1  6 6 4 
  6 5 3  1 4 3  1 5 3  1 5 3  4 3 6  4 6 1  5 2 2  3 4 1  5 2 5 
  4 5 3  6 5 1  2 3 2  4 2 5  5 2 1  4 1 1  5 5 4  6 4 6  1 2 5 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  1 1 1  1 6 1  2 2 2  1 1 4  5 6 2  5 1 1  5 4 4  5 6 4  5 6 4 
  3 6 6  3 6 3  5 2 2  5 2 2  6 3 5  3 2 4  1 1 1  1 6 6  4 2 2 
  1 5 2  5 5 1  5 1 1  1 4 4  1 2 3  5 2 4  6 1 4  5 4 4  3 3 2 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  4 6 2  4 2 5  1 4 4  6 4 4  5 6 4  4 3 6  1 4 5  6 3 2  5 5 5 
  2 4 1  5 1 6  4 6 6  1 6 6  5 3 1  3 2 4  5 1 5  4 4 5  5 5 5 
  5 3 2  5 1 3  3 1 2  3 6 5  4 4 5  5 2 1  4 5 4  5 6 4  5 6 1 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  6 4 5  1 1 6  3 2 6  3 3 6  3 6 1  3 2 2  3 5 5  6 3 6  3 3 4 
  3 1 1  6 4 5  5 3 6  2 2 3  4 6 3  5 1 2  6 5 2  4 3 2  2 4 5 
  4 4 4  6 5 3  1 4 2  2 4 6  1 5 6  1 4 1  5 5 3  2 6 4  1 3 2 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  6 1 5  1 6 5  3 3 2  2 1 1  3 3 5  5 4 5  4 1 3  5 1 3  2 3 2 
  3 2 5  6 5 3  1 3 1  5 3 6  4 4 3  6 6 6  1 4 2  1 4 6  4 5 6 
  2 2 2  2 4 5  6 2 6  2 1 3  5 2 5  1 6 4  3 5 3  5 3 2  5 3 6 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  1 3 3  4 1 4  1 3 6  3 1 4  6 3 4  1 6 5  4 3 2  2 5 3  4 4 5 
  4 2 3  5 5 5  2 4 3  6 2 1  4 3 3  1 4 5  6 2 3  2 3 2  4 3 4 
  5 5 6  6 4 1  1 1 2  1 1 4  3 5 2  4 2 6  2 6 6  5 4 2  6 2 1 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  5 2 6  1 5 2  5 1 5  1 2 1  4 6 4  2 6 5  3 5 6  4 3 3  4 3 1 
  3 3 3  5 1 3  5 6 5  5 1 6  6 4 3  3 6 5  4 4 4  3 3 6  1 2 1 
  2 1 2  6 4 6  2 3 4  1 5 4  6 5 6  3 4 1  1 2 5  2 6 6  3 3 4 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  5 5 4  3 3 4  3 4 5  4 4 3  6 3 3  2 2 2  6 1 6  6 3 4  6 3 3 
  1 5 2  4 1 5  4 2 3  6 3 1  5 2 5  6 1 5  2 3 2  2 5 6  1 6 5 
  6 6 1  4 6 6  1 3 1  2 5 3  5 5 2  1 1 4  3 3 3  6 3 4  2 6 2 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  1 2 4  5 6 3  5 5 6  4 6 2  5 1 1  4 5 1  3 1 1  2 3 4  2 6 2 
  6 5 1  2 3 3  1 1 2  5 5 2  1 2 6  4 5 5  5 1 1  4 6 3  6 3 3 
  5 6 2  2 2 2  1 4 3  2 1 1  5 2 4  5 4 5  2 2 1  6 2 3  1 5 6 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Old School Revival (OSR(ic))/OSR Solo.pdf