TEXT: SOLO RPG: the simplest 
  Ruleset of the world! 
  Luna Gin 
   
  Since I started practicing the solo rpg, I have been trying to play 
  ever faster without sacrificing the narrative quality of my 
  adventures. After exploring the world of the dungeon crawling, 
  for which I have already proposed rules, I turned to a more 
  narrative style of play with Shorts Adventures At LunchTime. 
  The basic idea was to orient my game sessions towards a more 
  dynamic scene resolution style. 
   
   
  Today, I offer you a minimalist set of rules designed to play the 
  scenarios I propose. 
   
   
  
   
  These rules are not derived from a commercial game and are 
  specially written to perform solo role-playing while respecting 
  the following conditions: 
   
   
  solve actions extremely fast for solitary players who 
  don't have time 
   
  emulate an entire team 
   
  For those who already know Rocket Dungeons, you will find 
  some similarities. Indeed, I started from this first book of rules 
  and I have simplified the existing concepts to keep only the 
  essential. 
  These rules are easy to understand, they may be the simplest 
  rules in the world. They will be perfect for beginners but I also 
  hope that the more experienced will discover another side of 
  the solitaire rpg by trying them out. In any case, don't forget 
  that the real challenge doesn't come from the rule, but from 
  what you do with it (I will write an article on this subject very 
  soon) 
   
  Philosophy of the world's simplest solo rpg rules 
  The mechanism can be summarized as follows: one single 
  roll to determine the adventurer's destiny: he lives or he dies. 
  The game philosophy I'm trying to explore with the SAALT’s solo 
  role-playing game series range is to simulate only scenes that 
  reflect a specific degree of tension. Thus, each scene that 
  brings this degree of peril and must require a roll. But only 
  danger scenes require a roll:  other scenes are solved by the 
  narration. 
   
  Putting your life on the line - simple, fast and funky 
  During a fight or trap, you must choose only one adventurer who 
  will put his life on the line. The other characters will survive no 
  matter what and can move on to the next scene. To determine 
  the adventurer's fate, throw a D6 and refer to the table below: 
   
   
  1-3: Death! 
  
   
  4: Injury 
   
  5+: Safe 
   
  A character who receives a second injury dies. 
   
  That's all. 
   
   
  I told you these are the simplest rules of the world, didn't I? 
   
  Quick example of the rules: The team is looking for Gothyl's 
  tomb. 
  Scene 1: They meet a group of the Zhentarim on horseback. (we 
  will see in a future article how to play and describe scenes 
  quickly, millions times faster than Mythic, no offense please). 
  They fight = Describe the scene by highlighting a specific 
  character. This character must put his life on the line. D6=5: he 
  lives without damages. If D6=1: he dies in agony, but his friends 
  can move on to the next scene. The rest is up to you: did they 
  defeat the opponents? Did they run away? No dice required. 
   
  
  Scene 2: The entrance to the tomb is trapped? Choose a 
  character. 4? He's a lucky man. From memory, it was the 
  apprentice who had crafted the trap, which explains why the 
  character was only injured. 
   
  But then, all threats have the same dangerousness 
  with these fast rules?..... 
  You should not lose sight of the main objective of playing alone. 
  It's not a dungeon crawler, but a guide to tell a story (otherwise 
  go see 4 against the darkness, Pocket Dungeons or Diablo!). For 
  example, the scenario I propose in Short Adventure At 
  Lunchtime brings a background, a beginning of adventure.The 
  management of equipment, gold or the optimization of 
  statistics takes a lower priority. The only purpose of each 
  micro-adventure is to stimulate the imagination to get you to 
  tell a story quickly. 
   
  ....or not: Show off your Big Bad Bosses! 
  Remember that you are the master of the narration. It is 
  therefore up to you to highlight the obstacles of your choice. 
  For example, a dragon should be the object of several scenes 
  and therefore several perils's rolls. 
   
  Character creation: The rules for creating a complete 
  team in five minutes 
  The solo rpg rules are fast enough to allow you to create an 
  entire team of heroes in minutes! Find a name, motivation and 
  character trait. Then, you have the possibility to award a talent 
  point. Examples are not exhaustive: 
   
   
  Fighter: in a combat situation, the adventurer adds 1 to 
  the dice result 
   
  Evasion: in situations involving traps, explosions, the 
  adventurer adds 1 to the dice result 
   
  Magic: the magician has one magic point. This magic point 
  is used to give a bonus of +1 to whomever he wishes. 
   
  Healing: once per adventure, the character can heal a 
  point of injury: the injured adventurer becomes uninjured, the 
  dead character becomes injured 
  
   
   
  That's all. 
  The rest is decided during the narration. Some of you may ask 
  me: 
  and intelligence? I have never personally made an intelligence 
  roll against death 
  and the charism? use narration 
  and the mental strength to resist a psionic attack? This point is 
  open to discussion. 
  In general, you are free to adapt these solo rpg rules as you see 
  fit. But remember, if you adopt them, they should be kept 
  simple. The advantage of playing with the world' s simplest solo 
  rpg rules is that they are easy to remember. They also have the 
  advantage of being totally epic. At each scene, you will hold 
  your breath before rolling the die because one of your 
  characters may die! 
   
   
  Quick Example of application 
  The group is under attack. The warrior is designated by the 
  narrator to put his life on the line. As a fighter, he has a bonus 
  of +1. 
  The magician decides to use his magic point to throw a fireball 
  that will destroy part of the threat. To survive, the warrior must 
  roll a D6+2 
   
  
   
   
  Leveling: no danger, no reward! 
  In this version of minimalistic rules, only heroes who have put 
  their lives on the line will be able to reach the next level. 
  To reach level 2, you must have put your life in danger at least 
  once. The adventurer will receive 1 point of fate. This point of 
  fate is for single use only and allows the dying character to 
  survive. The adventurer will no longer be able to participate in 
  the current adventure. His return to a subsequent scenario must 
  be justified by the narrative. 
   
  To reach level 3, you must have put your life at risk twice more 
  (3 times in total). The adventurer will be able to add a talent 
  point where he wants. Example: A fighter may receive a +2 
  bonus in combat or decide to learn 1 magic point. The maximum 
  bonus of a feature is +2. 
   
  To reach level 4, you must have put your life in danger 3 more 
  times (6 times in total). The adventurer will receive 1 additional 
  point of fate 
   
  
  To reach level 5, you must have put your life at risk 4 more 
  times (10 times in total). The adventurer will receive 1 
  additional talent point. 
   
  Here are the survival statistics according to the bonuses: 
   
   
   
  Death Injury Safe 
  0 
  50% 
  17% 
  33% 
  +1 
  33% 
  17% 
  50% 
  +2 
  17% 
  17% 
  67% 
   
   
  This system is not flexible enough? try the variant of 
  the solo rpg rules D12! 
   
   
  1-5: Death! 
   
  6-8: Injury 
   
  9+: Safe 
   
  This variant is my favorite on rpg adventures without gm longer 
  than the ones I propose in SAALT. It allows to incorporate an 
  equipment management and allows a more rhythmic 
  progression. In this variant, review the leveling proposed 
  above. 
  The adventurer gains 1 talent point at each level and 1 destiny 
  point every 2 levels. Give the wizard 3 magic points. 
  Limit the bonus to +6 and consider a result of 1 to mean death 
  in all circumstances. 
  Here are the statistics of the D12 rules: 
   
   
   
  
   
  Death Injury Safe 
  0 
  42% 
  25% 
  33% 
  +1 
  33% 
  25% 
  42% 
  +2 
  25% 
  25% 
  50% 
  +3 
  17% 
  25% 
  58% 
  +4 
  8% 
  25% 
  67% 
  +5 
  8% 
  17% 
  75% 
  +6 
  8% 
  8% 
  84% 
  Note that the variants work for all types of dice. If you are one 
  of these D20 addicts, the system works too! 
  In longer campaigns, these variants make it possible to 
  introduce a more marked rise in level and to introduce a finer 
  equipment management: 
  You can assign magic objects +1 or even +2 
  Characters will be able to achieve a more constant progression 
  The allocation of experience points will no longer need to be 
  conditioned by the success of death rolls. 
  As I said earlier, this is not my way of approaching the fast solo 
  rpg. I prefer to focus on history and reserve the jeopardy jets 
  for particularly significant events. Nevertheless, these variants 
  can be a good alternative for players who want to keep a place 
  in consumable management, combat strategy or a less 
  significant but more regular progression. 
   
  
   
   
  A remedy against bad luck with dice: the heroic trick! 
  Solo rpg player: "Oh no! All my adventurers are dead! What 
  should I do? Go back to §1? My solo session is ruined..." 
  Author of the solo ruleset "Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! Don't you know that 
  real heroes never die?" 
   
  Solitaire role-playing games are not Fighting Fantasy: you don't 
  start the adventure again if you lose. Whatever happens, the 
  show must go on! The real heroine of your scenarios is your 
  story. But, I must admit, it is sometimes penalizing to see his 
  entire team dying. So, and unless this is the last scenario of 
  your campaign, you can't afford to lose everyone without taking 
  the risk of breaking the link with the rest of the story. 
  That is why an adventurer must be designated as the hero of 
  the adventure. This choice can be made at the beginning of the 
  game or during the game (for example, it may be the last 
  survivor). The hero of the adventure cannot die: if he has any 
  companions left, someone sacrifices himself in his stead. If the 
  hero is the last survivor and dies, he remains alive (to be 
  justified by the narrative) but the quest is a failure. Note that 
  the adventure may also fail if the last roll is failed (at your 
  convenience). The background will have to adapt to this new 
  situation. 
  The hero of one adventure is not necessarily the hero of the 
  next, and former heroes may die. 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Solo/2. GM Emulators & Generic Solo Rules/SOLO RPG - The Simplest Ruleset of the World.pdf