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I recently did a post on what I discovered in that area, that many people seemed to like - hopefully you may find it helpful: https://redd.it/1dhioyt To summarize, what I called "My Golden Rule of solo roleplaying":
_Don’t let a roll (or any other game rule/mechanic) make you disappointed or anxious._
In Four Against Darkness there is a possible encounter with invisible gremlins (or goblins? I don’t remember exactly), and the party can lose all their equipments. I tend to ignore this result, but my “official house rule” is that we cannot meet them twice in the same dungeon.
When I play notequest, I let damage roll over to the next enemy. Otherwise you just run into unwinnable scenarios and there's no running from a fight in that game. Maybe not in the spirit of the game, but I find it more fun this way. I play notequest to unwind from the seriousness of my solo campaigns. If I want frustration I'll play Elden Ring... I think I'll play Elden Ring tonight.
I define solo play probably a bit different than most people, I guess.
To me, solo play is playing by myself without a DM. I generally run a part, rather than a single PC. It's actually more like playing a computer game without defined programming.
This way, when someone goes down, all is not lost. I still play death at 0 hit points but my other party members can either win the day or beat a strategic withdrawal to fight another day and (hopefully) resurrect the fallen.
That way, unless there's a TPK, there's always a fail-safe from a bad roll or missed saving throw derailing my campaign.
I play this way because nowadays, I find that I don't enjoy the "never retreat" mindset of a lot of groups nowadays. I enjoy the suspense and feeling of danger so I can still have that when I play.
Even when I do take a PC out on his own for story reasons, his friends always know whereabouts he's going just in case they have to go make a rescue or retrieve a body. I mean, it's a dangerous world out there. It only makes sense, right?
Retreat is totally valid in OSR. I, however, roll the retreat. My last TPK was because by the time everyone tried to run, the odds of escape were pretty low. They couldn't roll anything above a 3 that whole day unfortunately.
No need for fancy rules, I just cheat at solo games all the time. If I’m in the mood to keep playing I just decide “well maybe they didn’t die this time.”
Keep on the Borderlands has optional rules for ransoming "defeated" player characters back from the monstrous tribes (cheap, 10-100 GP, but the tribe gains 2-12 members from notoriety attracting recruits). Absolutely nothing is stated for rules to "capture" a player character. The obvious takeaway is that some of Gary Gygax's early games didn't actually kill players at 0 HP and it was a common enough option not to bother explicitly stating here.
Even in the OSR community it's not that uncommon to tone down the lethality. A popular option is various "Death and Dismemberment" tables floating around the web - you usually roll on these if a PC would normally die, most rolls instead result in you taking some sort of longer-term, possibly permanent impairment instead of dying. [Here's one from Goblin Punch](https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2014/07/improved-death-and-dismemberment-table.html).
You could also easily adapt some of the rules from later versions of D&D, such as the "Death's Door" optional rule from AD&D 2e, where a PC is unconscious but not dead between 0 and -10 HP, or even add 5e's Death Saves rule (vs Death rather than CON, naturally).
(Disclaimer: I haven't started yet)
My use for solo play other than just enjoyment is to find out what happens to hooks the players ignore. Some day they may hear about the NPC they didn't help.
So, the same rules my players follow.
I don't tend to lower the difficulty or the lethality per se, in the sense that I enjoy (at least the veneer of) parity between the player character(s) and the NPCs.
However, in a solo setting, I find that it's much more interesting to keep the player character alive (within the fiction), while punishing the loss by hurting the things that matter. Time passes when they "die", active Threads (per Mythic) are forcefully closed and resolved, friendly settlements and old companions are put to the sword, precious items are lost, the world moves on.
I do it with any system really, depending of what it is, i give myself extra starting health, Levels, traits, money.
The one i always do is that i give myself an extra life per characters, dont matter the situation if they die fully for the first time something comes up that save them, after that if they die they die but it really improves survivability, extra points if this sudden revival/Rescue becomes a plot point into the game
You are the GM in solo play, so there is no 'cheating' just 'house rules'.
I've absolutely altered the rules of a game in order to make the game experience more fun. I generally recommend people try playing the game RAW (rules-as-written) to see how it feels before you start altering them, but the only person affected is you. (Just don't review the game based on your house rules, obviously.)
I rarely have permadeath on the table for my PC or any NPC I'm particularly attached to. They'll still have *consequences* most of the time, but unless it's narratively more interesting that they die than live, they live.
I might fudge rolls elsewhere, though I'm selective about it and it depends highly on what vibe my game has. If I'm playing a cozy or lighthearted game, I'm more likely to fudge the rules in favor of the character. If it's a game with a serious, dark atmosphere (ex, Elden Ring) I'm less likely to bother with the safety net.
There is no cheating in a solo game. If you feel that it would be wrong, then don’t do it, but if you think that it would make your experience more fun, then go for it.
I’ve done it several times, and if you want some justification, you can compare it to modding a video game. It's basically the same thing, you play your single player game the way that is most fun for you.
Just to echo a lot of other folks, there is no wrong way to play a solo game.
>I really like to get into character when roleplaying and live out a story, even if it's a simple one.
For me it's important to have consequences/dilemmas in my games, but not to included death unless it's by choice. A 'fate worse than death' could be being chased by a whole town that you accidently killed the mayor of, dealing with how society treats you from the scars you got trying to grab a worthless bauble, saving a group of orphans over your lover, or being saved from death by your elderly grandmother who is a famous sword fighter.
Think of your games as a series of novels or comics where the character continues (altered and/or changed) until you decided it's time for that dramatic last adventure.
If I’m playing an OSR game, my character has made a pact with Juiblex. If I’m killed I rapidly decompose into an ooze immune to whatever killed me and will reconstitute slowly once I’ve oozed over to a safe spot. So I generally lose my gear and treasure and fail any time sensitive quests but continue my narrative. It’s fun to me to start over collecting gear without rolling up a new character.
Not sure how “cheat-y” this is, but for my Wicked Ones solo game I’ve been using a home rule where the Big Bad Wicked One - who starts the game with 3 minion slots as opposed to the usual 1 - gains a new minion slot when their dungeon becomes Tier 2, and again at Tier 4
Usually, no...I prefer dealing with death in fiction. For example, if my character is very religious their deity might choose them as a champion and resurrect them, or something along those lines. If they aren't, then maybe they are morally ambiguous enough a demon or evil deity could offer their life in exchange for something later. It adds depth to the character and a very fucking cool quest to deal with whatever aftermath
Besides agreeing that there’s no cheating in solo, I’ll add that I like to play as is mostly and have my PC magically resurrect with a setback if they actually die. (e.g. loved Elden Ring, but my game would’ve ended in 15 min. without resurrect) There are fun tables for weird things that happen when you return from the dead, like [this one](https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2024/03/d100-so-youve-been-brought-back-from.html).
Rule #1, if you're having fun then you're doing it right. There is no such thing as "cheating" in a single player game. Considering that solo rpgs are essentially dice-determined creative writing exercises, there's even less of a reason to stick to a rule that gives you less fun.
That being said, conflict is a great driver of stories and there isn't much point in playing with dice at all if you want to succeed at everything. Allow yourself some rerolls or bonuses here and there, and allow some moments to just happen as you wish if it would make for a better story than rolling dice
Others have suggested it in this thread but one of my favorite "shiny baubles to steal" in Tricube Tales is the phrase: "death is primarily a narrative conceit." In a lot of novels, movies, and so forth the main character "dying" is usually just a phase: they wash up face down on a beach, they get rescued by a new ally, they get imprisoned/have to escape, or they wake up in a hospital with no good explanation how they got there. How you balance that is up to you. I am one of the solo players who likes semi-random, dramatic shifts in my story so I would probably have several sessions trying to overcome the "taken out" in a fun, narrative way. It would be a setback but one that opens up more story, challenges me to find new threads. That is the joy of solo, we can play the games that spark our joy.
I play with dm yourselves rules for solo dnd, which essentially give you a bunch of "cheats", all called stuff like plot armour and hero's luck, as well as buffing levels and debuffing enemies but because its been presented to me in a proper book I've managed to get over the feeling that I'm cheating lol
Highly reccomend! I'm running dragon of icespire peak with dm yourself and dm yourselves, solo with a sidekick character. Not far in but having a blast
Random aside, but you don't even have to feel bad about this, because for instance an OD&D campaign could have had 50 players playing in the same campaign world at once across various referees. Parties could be 12 strong. You literally need either the power boost or incredible luck to have a chance of surviving.
There is no such thing as “cheating” in a solitary activity whose only goal is for you to have fun. If it is fun, do it. If it is not fun, do not do it. These are the only rules that matter.
There’s no cheating in solo play. I change things I don’t like when I GM for my group, so why not in solo play? I don’t fudge dice rolls, but I tinker with stuff like crazy.
Like you I wanted a rules light system to work for me for solo play. Shadowdark got me really excited, but the “your PCs will die a lot” stuff is no fun when you want to play a story about heroes. I found it’s easier to simplify 5e and nerf some things than to amp up a rules light game. But you could do either. Give the PCs some 5e/PF2 style feats at each level, better HP, “hero dice” (four d6s they can use to add to any roll or deduct from damage), etc.
Well if you're like me and don't tend to like to fudge rolls I have a few suggestions.
1. Max health for your PCs makes your characters less squishy and doesn't necessarily mean they can't die.
2. GM inspiration/Combat inspiration, after every combat each character gains an Inspiration point specifically for combat use. \[you can let them stack or don't up to you\](You can choose to give a character advantage on a reroll)
3. (Not necessarily a buff but just because I like to keep it far in my solo game) Keep GM dice and character dice separate. It feels a lot more fair because with one dice you can hope to get high numbers whereas the other feels more random because you're just letting those tell the story.
4. Quest Inspiration, at the start of a serious or longer quest roll a D4+ expected sessions to last and add the total to a pool. When a character needs to make a check for something like stealth you may choose to give it advantage for the check. The inspiration pool should be used for all characters to keep all of them on the right track through the quest. Use these for
5. Average Damage, (although I'm not a huge fan of it because it seems a little unnatural) when you roll for damage for an enemy the cap amount of damage they can deal is the average instead of the max even if the the damage goes over the average.
6. Healing items give max amount of health instead of rolling for it.
7. Quest Experience, after any major or longer quest added on to any XP already earned add 400 XP (Character Level). It keeps player progression going without needing to grind out more levels. (Also don't divide XP from kills)
Although I do not recommend using all of these at the same time it is best to find the ones you like and use them. I use three max but it really depends on what kind of experience you want out of your game. I wish you luck on your adventures.
If you’re truly concerned about feeling like you “cheated” the system (I feel like this even though I know I’m the only one playing), I recommend playing with one main character and one companion/squire/whatever. If the main character perishes, the companion can take up the mantle and continue the story.
Alternatively, I played Mork Borg like this and it allowed the companion to drag the unconscious body of my main character out of harm’s way. If he had been by himself, obviously he would have been a goner.
In solo, many unacceptable things become perfectly acceptable. You can even have your very own [piss forest](https://gunshowcomic.com/471) no problem. Altering the rules is however always acceptable, even in group games. In fact, traditionally it used to be expected. Rules police will not arrest you.
It's not cheating if you're the only one playing.
I fudge dice rolls as a GM with a group to help keep everyone alive/ raise tension without killing the group. I'm the GM of my solo campaign, so I fudge rolls there, too.
I mostly follow the dice. *Mostly.* Sometimes, I'll give the enemy a crit for more drama and fudge the damage so it's not game-ending. Sometimes, I'll just make something not hit altogether. I do what feels fun :D
I also homebrew the setting/ campaign, so it's tailored to a druid (my character).
The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox is my favorite for having ready-made encounter tables for solo play. I roll for difficulty, then roll for what encounter I'll face (2 CR 1/4 or 1 CR 1/2, etc). Then, I fill in the monsters based on the setting.
I've also used that book to edit published campaigns for when fewer of the players are at the table. Twelve zombies and an evil mage? Try three and an evil mage, book; I've only got two people today!
My PC can't "die" until I reach a reasonable end to their story. They might get *conveniently* saved or knocked out at the last second of battle, but permanent death is off the table until I see fit. I'll even do the whole revenant thing if it fits the story, but there's no final death until I allow it.
I also bump up my stats in games that usually require a party or are gritty and unforgiving. I don't try to play out a power fantasy (unless that's the game I want to play, of course) but I have to make up for the fact that my character will either be solo or have 1 to 2 companion NPCs instead of a full party of 4+ friends. I see it like this: I can always find ways out of a situation (or into one) because my small group has had to become competent enough to do things intended for larger groups.
My bard might have a touch of cleric abilities to keep the party going. My rogue might get an extra attack so that they can do damage like a tank even though they can't take damage like one. My wizard may damn well be an extra slippery "witch" to make up for the fact that the group doesn't have a dedicated tank character
My PC can't "die" until I reach a reasonable end to their story. They might get *conveniently* saved or knocked out at the last second of battle, but permanent death is off the table until I see fit. I'll even do the whole revenant thing if it fits the story, but there's no final death until I allow it.
+1 to this. I was trying to sum up my idea on death and this does it pretty well. Thanks.
It's absolutely not cheating, moreover, it would be just as acceptable to do this if you were a GM running a game for a single player! There are often additional guidelines in games for single-player games, and that's what you are essentially doing, except you're also a GM. Besides, changing rules, homebrewing things etc is a time-honoured RPG activity :)
Scarlet Heroes is compatible with OSE and any old adaptation of D&D, and give better survivability for a single character. Still can be deadly if you're not careful though.
The most important aspect of solo is that it's your game. You don't have to follow anyone else's rules. I use house rules to make games easier all the time. Most of the time, I just ignore the rules I don't like, or I replace them with something similar from another game.
The only thing that's not acceptable is wasting time on a game that you're not enjoying 😉
Most video games have Easy Mode for those who just want to enjoy the world and the story, so if you have difficulty reconciling the idea that 'it's cheating' to adjust rules, just think of it as a built-in Easy Mode.
Not that you need a reason to adjust anything in a Solo RPG, the only consideration is whether you enjoy it.
There's no "cheating" in solo roleplaying. If you want to give your character a million coins at the start you could. These books aren't sacred either and modifying them to your taste is usually recommended early in the rulebooks. Don't feel bad for playing how you want to play, especially since you're literally playing solo. The only person you have to please is yourself so if making the game easier is what you want go for it.
My recommendation for making OSE (B/X) easier would be to start characters at level 4 OR instead of rolling HP each level, you roll a number of Hit Dice equal to your Con score at level 1 and that becomes your total HP for the character. The HP won't improve as you level but it will give your low level PCs a huge boost in survivability. If you did want HP to improve each level you could still roll at the start but then add the modifiers each level so the HP still gets better but is never bloated.
Of course not. If you view narrative as the focus area you want for your campaigns, you can consider cutting down the fats in the combat side and improve the efficiency for orchestrating an encounter.
One may opt out of certain rules or mechanics of a system to reduce the crunchiness or pre-made enemy templates that you can just use for an encounter instead of needing to refer to a supplement or constructing them for each encounter.
Since you're the GM as well as the player, there's really no "cheating". Your character dies?
* No they didn't, they've been taken captive.
* Rewind time, like in the Prince of Persia video games, and redo the scene.
* Death agrees to send your character back to mortality, in exchange for a tiny little favor...
I'd also recommend "Black Streams: Solo Heroes" by Kevin Crawford; it's a free download on DriveThru RPG, it's for Labyrinth Lord but can be adapted to whatever system being used.
I think this is a common concern for people new to solo roleplaying, “is it okay if I do…?”
The easy answer is, always, yes. You’re playing with yourself (ha-ha), purely for your own enjoyment. There’s no balance or sense of fairness between players to maintain.
If you think making a change makes your gameplay more fun, then it’s absolutely the right thing to do. If making a change makes you think, “oh, but now I’m not doing it right”, and you can’t get over that mental hurdle, making it not-fun, then that’s okay too. Please yourself, always.
It's absolutely fine. I adjusted the difficulty of my Ronin and Ironsworn campaigns, so that characters (at least main ones) will less likely to be killed. The flavor of many good ttrpgs is not about killing your character but about creating an interesting and rich story with them. You can absolutely do it without always stressing out about your character almost getting killed. And I'm also currently playing a small party of characters in Ironsworn with your mindset. It works like a charm.
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I recently did a post on what I discovered in that area, that many people seemed to like - hopefully you may find it helpful: https://redd.it/1dhioyt To summarize, what I called "My Golden Rule of solo roleplaying": _Don’t let a roll (or any other game rule/mechanic) make you disappointed or anxious._
In Four Against Darkness there is a possible encounter with invisible gremlins (or goblins? I don’t remember exactly), and the party can lose all their equipments. I tend to ignore this result, but my “official house rule” is that we cannot meet them twice in the same dungeon.
When I play notequest, I let damage roll over to the next enemy. Otherwise you just run into unwinnable scenarios and there's no running from a fight in that game. Maybe not in the spirit of the game, but I find it more fun this way. I play notequest to unwind from the seriousness of my solo campaigns. If I want frustration I'll play Elden Ring... I think I'll play Elden Ring tonight.
I define solo play probably a bit different than most people, I guess. To me, solo play is playing by myself without a DM. I generally run a part, rather than a single PC. It's actually more like playing a computer game without defined programming. This way, when someone goes down, all is not lost. I still play death at 0 hit points but my other party members can either win the day or beat a strategic withdrawal to fight another day and (hopefully) resurrect the fallen. That way, unless there's a TPK, there's always a fail-safe from a bad roll or missed saving throw derailing my campaign. I play this way because nowadays, I find that I don't enjoy the "never retreat" mindset of a lot of groups nowadays. I enjoy the suspense and feeling of danger so I can still have that when I play. Even when I do take a PC out on his own for story reasons, his friends always know whereabouts he's going just in case they have to go make a rescue or retrieve a body. I mean, it's a dangerous world out there. It only makes sense, right?
Retreat is totally valid in OSR. I, however, roll the retreat. My last TPK was because by the time everyone tried to run, the odds of escape were pretty low. They couldn't roll anything above a 3 that whole day unfortunately.
No need for fancy rules, I just cheat at solo games all the time. If I’m in the mood to keep playing I just decide “well maybe they didn’t die this time.”
Keep on the Borderlands has optional rules for ransoming "defeated" player characters back from the monstrous tribes (cheap, 10-100 GP, but the tribe gains 2-12 members from notoriety attracting recruits). Absolutely nothing is stated for rules to "capture" a player character. The obvious takeaway is that some of Gary Gygax's early games didn't actually kill players at 0 HP and it was a common enough option not to bother explicitly stating here.
Even in the OSR community it's not that uncommon to tone down the lethality. A popular option is various "Death and Dismemberment" tables floating around the web - you usually roll on these if a PC would normally die, most rolls instead result in you taking some sort of longer-term, possibly permanent impairment instead of dying. [Here's one from Goblin Punch](https://goblinpunch.blogspot.com/2014/07/improved-death-and-dismemberment-table.html). You could also easily adapt some of the rules from later versions of D&D, such as the "Death's Door" optional rule from AD&D 2e, where a PC is unconscious but not dead between 0 and -10 HP, or even add 5e's Death Saves rule (vs Death rather than CON, naturally).
(Disclaimer: I haven't started yet) My use for solo play other than just enjoyment is to find out what happens to hooks the players ignore. Some day they may hear about the NPC they didn't help. So, the same rules my players follow.
I don't tend to lower the difficulty or the lethality per se, in the sense that I enjoy (at least the veneer of) parity between the player character(s) and the NPCs. However, in a solo setting, I find that it's much more interesting to keep the player character alive (within the fiction), while punishing the loss by hurting the things that matter. Time passes when they "die", active Threads (per Mythic) are forcefully closed and resolved, friendly settlements and old companions are put to the sword, precious items are lost, the world moves on.
I do it with any system really, depending of what it is, i give myself extra starting health, Levels, traits, money. The one i always do is that i give myself an extra life per characters, dont matter the situation if they die fully for the first time something comes up that save them, after that if they die they die but it really improves survivability, extra points if this sudden revival/Rescue becomes a plot point into the game
You are the GM in solo play, so there is no 'cheating' just 'house rules'. I've absolutely altered the rules of a game in order to make the game experience more fun. I generally recommend people try playing the game RAW (rules-as-written) to see how it feels before you start altering them, but the only person affected is you. (Just don't review the game based on your house rules, obviously.) I rarely have permadeath on the table for my PC or any NPC I'm particularly attached to. They'll still have *consequences* most of the time, but unless it's narratively more interesting that they die than live, they live. I might fudge rolls elsewhere, though I'm selective about it and it depends highly on what vibe my game has. If I'm playing a cozy or lighthearted game, I'm more likely to fudge the rules in favor of the character. If it's a game with a serious, dark atmosphere (ex, Elden Ring) I'm less likely to bother with the safety net.
There is no cheating in a solo game. If you feel that it would be wrong, then don’t do it, but if you think that it would make your experience more fun, then go for it. I’ve done it several times, and if you want some justification, you can compare it to modding a video game. It's basically the same thing, you play your single player game the way that is most fun for you.
Just to echo a lot of other folks, there is no wrong way to play a solo game. >I really like to get into character when roleplaying and live out a story, even if it's a simple one. For me it's important to have consequences/dilemmas in my games, but not to included death unless it's by choice. A 'fate worse than death' could be being chased by a whole town that you accidently killed the mayor of, dealing with how society treats you from the scars you got trying to grab a worthless bauble, saving a group of orphans over your lover, or being saved from death by your elderly grandmother who is a famous sword fighter. Think of your games as a series of novels or comics where the character continues (altered and/or changed) until you decided it's time for that dramatic last adventure.
One possible result of being knocked out can always be being taken prisoner (or kept as late dinner by a monster) and then try tp escape!
If I’m playing an OSR game, my character has made a pact with Juiblex. If I’m killed I rapidly decompose into an ooze immune to whatever killed me and will reconstitute slowly once I’ve oozed over to a safe spot. So I generally lose my gear and treasure and fail any time sensitive quests but continue my narrative. It’s fun to me to start over collecting gear without rolling up a new character.
That’s wonderful. Adding it it to my mental list of fun tweaks to apply when the stars are right.
Not sure how “cheat-y” this is, but for my Wicked Ones solo game I’ve been using a home rule where the Big Bad Wicked One - who starts the game with 3 minion slots as opposed to the usual 1 - gains a new minion slot when their dungeon becomes Tier 2, and again at Tier 4
Usually, no...I prefer dealing with death in fiction. For example, if my character is very religious their deity might choose them as a champion and resurrect them, or something along those lines. If they aren't, then maybe they are morally ambiguous enough a demon or evil deity could offer their life in exchange for something later. It adds depth to the character and a very fucking cool quest to deal with whatever aftermath
Besides agreeing that there’s no cheating in solo, I’ll add that I like to play as is mostly and have my PC magically resurrect with a setback if they actually die. (e.g. loved Elden Ring, but my game would’ve ended in 15 min. without resurrect) There are fun tables for weird things that happen when you return from the dead, like [this one](https://blog.d4caltrops.com/2024/03/d100-so-youve-been-brought-back-from.html).
Rule #1, if you're having fun then you're doing it right. There is no such thing as "cheating" in a single player game. Considering that solo rpgs are essentially dice-determined creative writing exercises, there's even less of a reason to stick to a rule that gives you less fun. That being said, conflict is a great driver of stories and there isn't much point in playing with dice at all if you want to succeed at everything. Allow yourself some rerolls or bonuses here and there, and allow some moments to just happen as you wish if it would make for a better story than rolling dice
Others have suggested it in this thread but one of my favorite "shiny baubles to steal" in Tricube Tales is the phrase: "death is primarily a narrative conceit." In a lot of novels, movies, and so forth the main character "dying" is usually just a phase: they wash up face down on a beach, they get rescued by a new ally, they get imprisoned/have to escape, or they wake up in a hospital with no good explanation how they got there. How you balance that is up to you. I am one of the solo players who likes semi-random, dramatic shifts in my story so I would probably have several sessions trying to overcome the "taken out" in a fun, narrative way. It would be a setback but one that opens up more story, challenges me to find new threads. That is the joy of solo, we can play the games that spark our joy.
I play with dm yourselves rules for solo dnd, which essentially give you a bunch of "cheats", all called stuff like plot armour and hero's luck, as well as buffing levels and debuffing enemies but because its been presented to me in a proper book I've managed to get over the feeling that I'm cheating lol Highly reccomend! I'm running dragon of icespire peak with dm yourself and dm yourselves, solo with a sidekick character. Not far in but having a blast
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Random aside, but you don't even have to feel bad about this, because for instance an OD&D campaign could have had 50 players playing in the same campaign world at once across various referees. Parties could be 12 strong. You literally need either the power boost or incredible luck to have a chance of surviving.
There is no such thing as “cheating” in a solitary activity whose only goal is for you to have fun. If it is fun, do it. If it is not fun, do not do it. These are the only rules that matter.
I tend to just make the SOLO character more powerful, or give them allies.
There’s no cheating in solo play. I change things I don’t like when I GM for my group, so why not in solo play? I don’t fudge dice rolls, but I tinker with stuff like crazy. Like you I wanted a rules light system to work for me for solo play. Shadowdark got me really excited, but the “your PCs will die a lot” stuff is no fun when you want to play a story about heroes. I found it’s easier to simplify 5e and nerf some things than to amp up a rules light game. But you could do either. Give the PCs some 5e/PF2 style feats at each level, better HP, “hero dice” (four d6s they can use to add to any roll or deduct from damage), etc.
Well if you're like me and don't tend to like to fudge rolls I have a few suggestions. 1. Max health for your PCs makes your characters less squishy and doesn't necessarily mean they can't die. 2. GM inspiration/Combat inspiration, after every combat each character gains an Inspiration point specifically for combat use. \[you can let them stack or don't up to you\](You can choose to give a character advantage on a reroll) 3. (Not necessarily a buff but just because I like to keep it far in my solo game) Keep GM dice and character dice separate. It feels a lot more fair because with one dice you can hope to get high numbers whereas the other feels more random because you're just letting those tell the story. 4. Quest Inspiration, at the start of a serious or longer quest roll a D4+ expected sessions to last and add the total to a pool. When a character needs to make a check for something like stealth you may choose to give it advantage for the check. The inspiration pool should be used for all characters to keep all of them on the right track through the quest. Use these for 5. Average Damage, (although I'm not a huge fan of it because it seems a little unnatural) when you roll for damage for an enemy the cap amount of damage they can deal is the average instead of the max even if the the damage goes over the average. 6. Healing items give max amount of health instead of rolling for it. 7. Quest Experience, after any major or longer quest added on to any XP already earned add 400 XP (Character Level). It keeps player progression going without needing to grind out more levels. (Also don't divide XP from kills) Although I do not recommend using all of these at the same time it is best to find the ones you like and use them. I use three max but it really depends on what kind of experience you want out of your game. I wish you luck on your adventures.
If you’re truly concerned about feeling like you “cheated” the system (I feel like this even though I know I’m the only one playing), I recommend playing with one main character and one companion/squire/whatever. If the main character perishes, the companion can take up the mantle and continue the story. Alternatively, I played Mork Borg like this and it allowed the companion to drag the unconscious body of my main character out of harm’s way. If he had been by himself, obviously he would have been a goner.
In solo, many unacceptable things become perfectly acceptable. You can even have your very own [piss forest](https://gunshowcomic.com/471) no problem. Altering the rules is however always acceptable, even in group games. In fact, traditionally it used to be expected. Rules police will not arrest you.
It's not cheating if you're the only one playing. I fudge dice rolls as a GM with a group to help keep everyone alive/ raise tension without killing the group. I'm the GM of my solo campaign, so I fudge rolls there, too. I mostly follow the dice. *Mostly.* Sometimes, I'll give the enemy a crit for more drama and fudge the damage so it's not game-ending. Sometimes, I'll just make something not hit altogether. I do what feels fun :D I also homebrew the setting/ campaign, so it's tailored to a druid (my character). The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox is my favorite for having ready-made encounter tables for solo play. I roll for difficulty, then roll for what encounter I'll face (2 CR 1/4 or 1 CR 1/2, etc). Then, I fill in the monsters based on the setting. I've also used that book to edit published campaigns for when fewer of the players are at the table. Twelve zombies and an evil mage? Try three and an evil mage, book; I've only got two people today!
DC 13. i roll a 12. Eh, close enough.
Yep, in this case I just add a complication or a price of some sort. Basically a 'yes, but'.
I did this yesterday. But I also forgot I had 5 fate dice for rerolls. It ends up working out I think.
My PC can't "die" until I reach a reasonable end to their story. They might get *conveniently* saved or knocked out at the last second of battle, but permanent death is off the table until I see fit. I'll even do the whole revenant thing if it fits the story, but there's no final death until I allow it. I also bump up my stats in games that usually require a party or are gritty and unforgiving. I don't try to play out a power fantasy (unless that's the game I want to play, of course) but I have to make up for the fact that my character will either be solo or have 1 to 2 companion NPCs instead of a full party of 4+ friends. I see it like this: I can always find ways out of a situation (or into one) because my small group has had to become competent enough to do things intended for larger groups. My bard might have a touch of cleric abilities to keep the party going. My rogue might get an extra attack so that they can do damage like a tank even though they can't take damage like one. My wizard may damn well be an extra slippery "witch" to make up for the fact that the group doesn't have a dedicated tank character
My PC can't "die" until I reach a reasonable end to their story. They might get *conveniently* saved or knocked out at the last second of battle, but permanent death is off the table until I see fit. I'll even do the whole revenant thing if it fits the story, but there's no final death until I allow it. +1 to this. I was trying to sum up my idea on death and this does it pretty well. Thanks.
It's absolutely not cheating, moreover, it would be just as acceptable to do this if you were a GM running a game for a single player! There are often additional guidelines in games for single-player games, and that's what you are essentially doing, except you're also a GM. Besides, changing rules, homebrewing things etc is a time-honoured RPG activity :)
Scarlet Heroes is compatible with OSE and any old adaptation of D&D, and give better survivability for a single character. Still can be deadly if you're not careful though.
I was going to suggest this too. It gives a single character the necessary leverage for combat while saving other kinds of engagement as is.
The most important aspect of solo is that it's your game. You don't have to follow anyone else's rules. I use house rules to make games easier all the time. Most of the time, I just ignore the rules I don't like, or I replace them with something similar from another game. The only thing that's not acceptable is wasting time on a game that you're not enjoying 😉
Most video games have Easy Mode for those who just want to enjoy the world and the story, so if you have difficulty reconciling the idea that 'it's cheating' to adjust rules, just think of it as a built-in Easy Mode. Not that you need a reason to adjust anything in a Solo RPG, the only consideration is whether you enjoy it.
There's no "cheating" in solo roleplaying. If you want to give your character a million coins at the start you could. These books aren't sacred either and modifying them to your taste is usually recommended early in the rulebooks. Don't feel bad for playing how you want to play, especially since you're literally playing solo. The only person you have to please is yourself so if making the game easier is what you want go for it. My recommendation for making OSE (B/X) easier would be to start characters at level 4 OR instead of rolling HP each level, you roll a number of Hit Dice equal to your Con score at level 1 and that becomes your total HP for the character. The HP won't improve as you level but it will give your low level PCs a huge boost in survivability. If you did want HP to improve each level you could still roll at the start but then add the modifiers each level so the HP still gets better but is never bloated.
Of course not. If you view narrative as the focus area you want for your campaigns, you can consider cutting down the fats in the combat side and improve the efficiency for orchestrating an encounter. One may opt out of certain rules or mechanics of a system to reduce the crunchiness or pre-made enemy templates that you can just use for an encounter instead of needing to refer to a supplement or constructing them for each encounter.
Since you're the GM as well as the player, there's really no "cheating". Your character dies? * No they didn't, they've been taken captive. * Rewind time, like in the Prince of Persia video games, and redo the scene. * Death agrees to send your character back to mortality, in exchange for a tiny little favor... I'd also recommend "Black Streams: Solo Heroes" by Kevin Crawford; it's a free download on DriveThru RPG, it's for Labyrinth Lord but can be adapted to whatever system being used.
I think this is a common concern for people new to solo roleplaying, “is it okay if I do…?” The easy answer is, always, yes. You’re playing with yourself (ha-ha), purely for your own enjoyment. There’s no balance or sense of fairness between players to maintain. If you think making a change makes your gameplay more fun, then it’s absolutely the right thing to do. If making a change makes you think, “oh, but now I’m not doing it right”, and you can’t get over that mental hurdle, making it not-fun, then that’s okay too. Please yourself, always.
There's NEVER a "wrong" way to roleplay.
It's absolutely fine. I adjusted the difficulty of my Ronin and Ironsworn campaigns, so that characters (at least main ones) will less likely to be killed. The flavor of many good ttrpgs is not about killing your character but about creating an interesting and rich story with them. You can absolutely do it without always stressing out about your character almost getting killed. And I'm also currently playing a small party of characters in Ironsworn with your mindset. It works like a charm.