• Princess With A Cursed Sword by Anna Anthropy
• Tavern at the End of the World by Anna Anthropy
• The Empress and Her Seer by Anna Anthropy
• Cat’s Dream by Tobie Abad
• The One Ring: Strider Mode By Free League Publishing

For the last couple of days, I’ve been sick. Between sleeping and feeling cold every moment of my existence, I was bored. I watched Youtube and Netflix but still, I was bored out of my mind. I thought about making a post about being sick but figured no one would want to read about that. Then it hit me, people may not want to read about me being sick, but they may have an interest in reading about some solo RPGs. That was a good enough reason as any to take my first steps into the solo TTRPG world.

So after some googling and seeing what people on Reddit had to say, I found some solo RPGs that tickled my curiosity.

Princess With A Cursed Sword

“A figure stands in an ancient ruin, bare feet on crumbling stone. Her gown far too fine, her sword much too dark. At a princess’ coming of age ceremony, an uninvited guest gifted her a sword, then vanished, laughing, into smoke. She cannot put it down until she finds the place it came from. So she has come.“

Princess With A Cursed Sword is about exploring a ruin to break the curse that compels the princess to hold onto the cursed sword. The mechanics of the RPG relays on tarot cards and coins. When exploring the ruin, you will draw a tarot card to determine what kind of room, environment, or obstacles the princess wanders into. When facing a challenge, you flip one or two coins depending on the princess’ skill level. Getting heads on at least one coin flip means the princess has overcome the challenge. The game ends when the player decides where or not the room is where the sword belongs.

The game is about writing a log about the princess exploring the ruins. Writing about the princess’ struggle as she is in the final stretch of lifting this curse.

During my game, I had the princess explore a ruin where an unknown force had stopped the flow of time at some point in the past. So events that took place long ago were still “fresh,” as if they just happened. When I got the tarot card, the tower, I decided that the princess’ journey had come to an end. I decided that the sword was a key that needed to be bathed in the blood of the first traitor to the entity that stopped time in the ruin. The key will open a gate. A gate for something to return to the world. The sword promises the princess a mark. A mark that would protect her and her family from whatever lives beyond the gate. She accepts. As the princess walks out of the ruins, twisted screams can be heard from within.

Pick Up a Copy: https://w.itch.io/cursed-sword

Tavern at the End of the World

“Tavern. Publichouse. There are a lot of words for the thing you run. The one you like these days, as occupiers’ boots tramp through your streets, is refuge. You offer a hard drink, a good meal, somewhere to hide. And other, more slippery things. Until they shut you down.”

Tavern at the End of the World is one of those games that lets you live out the situation of owning a tavern in an occupied area. Going with the same mechanics as Princess with a Cursed Sword, tarot cards, and two coins. The game revolves on writing about running your tavern. Tarot cards are the customers; challenges keep a low profile, and the game ends when the occupying forces come for you.

My tavern was called The Sinful Dove. It was a tavern and a drug den on the down low, where people would come to experience some psychedelics. I get the drugs from some apothecaries, where in return, I help fund their medical practices. I could stay off the radar of the occupying forces with some bribes at first, but near the end, I needed someone to “disappear,” and I couldn’t cover up my tracks as well as I thought. Luckily I could get out of there before they came for me.

Pick Up a Copy: https://w.itch.io/tavern-at-the-end

The Empress and her Seer

“What does an empire dream of? Blood and fire, flags and banners, ravenous graves? Does it dream of its Empress – its human handler, master, prisoner? The Empress does not shoulder her duties alone. She has advisers, generals, spies, poison tasters, lovers. But she has no one so important as you. For you are all these things, and more. You are her Seer.”

The Empress and her Seer is a game where you can be an advisor like Joseph from Joseph: King of Dreams or bring out your inner Wormtongue from Lord of the Rings. As the Seer, your job is to interrupt the dreams of the Empress and aid whenever she needs help as people begin to question her authority.

This is another game by Anna Anthropy that follows the tarot card and two coin mechanics. Where the tarot cards represent the Empress’ dreams, and the coins are used to lose or maintain her authority. The game ends with you deciding how your service as the seer comes to an end. Do you lose the favor of the Empress, or does the Empress lose control?

I decided to play as a power-hungry seer determined to manipulate the Empress for personal gain. The Empress is a warrior made empress because of her actions and leadership during the war that unified the land. She is known as The Head Taker, The Blue Axe of the North, and The Red Wind. All titles she earned during the war. Her dreams, with my help, told her of a new leader that would rise from the peace. With this time of peace, the world doesn’t have room for fighters. They want innovators and thinkers, the things that the Empress aren’t. Things were going my way until the loss of authority of the Empress also meant my authority decreased. Even though people disliked the Empress, it would seem that people disliked me a bit more. I lost the favor of the Empress once she realized I was manipulating her.

Pick Up a Copy: https://w.itch.io/the-empress-and-her-seer

Cat’s Dream

One of my favorite movies is The Cat Returns from Studio Ghibli. The magical world of cats and the dapper baron helping Haru is just a superb viewing experience. So when I found out there was a solo TTRPG inspired by The Cat Returns, I immediately bought the PDF.

The game uses a deck of cards and a D6 to determine the events of the player’s journey. Like other solo TTRPGs, the game involves recording the adventure using writing prompts.

The game begins with a cat running into the player and doing something odd, like a talking cat or having a parade of cats following them. Then, the player, out of curiosity or amusement, follows them to a door that transports the player to a new world. I won’t go into detail about my adventure, but I will say that I got to visit a magical underwater city of cats.

The One Ring: Strider Mode

I think everyone who has ever seen the Lord of the Rings Trilogy has at one time or another looked at Aragon and thought, that’s a cool dude. Now with Strider Mode, you too can be a mysterious stranger in the corner of The Prancing Pony.

This one took a bit more time to set up because a person needs a copy of The One Ring 2nd Edition and The One Ring: Strider Mode to play the game as a solo RPG. It also helps to have some knowledge about Tolkien’s Middle Earth since you will need to visualize the world as you adventure around it.

I will say that this solo RPG definitely isn’t for everyone because of the extra work needed to run the game, but if you can get past that hurdle. It is a very fulfilling system. I love all the options for quests that are available from the patron system. It really allows the player to pick the path they want to travel on the most.

It allows the imagination to dance with the world of Middle-Earth, placing you as a wanderer exploring the world and seeing the minor effects of evil in the world. I would suggest this system and mode for people interested in TTRPGS, but I would strongly recommend this to people who can get lost in Tolkien’s world.

Pick Up The One Ring Core Rulebook: https://freeleaguepublishing.com/en/games/the-one-ring/

Pick Up Strider Mode: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/396291/The-One-RingTM-StriderTM-Mode