Recently I’ve been on a solo RPG kick. Most solo RPGs I’ve looked at so far use writing prompts to help build the story and allow the player to put their imagination into overdrive as they write about the challenges their character runs into.

On a rainy afternoon, while I pondered, weak and hungry, over another writing prompt from a delightful solo RPG game. While I stretched, nearly straining, suddenly there came a peering over to my bookshelf. I noticed/remembered that I had some solo RPGs that were quite different from those I’ve been playing.

Call of Cthulhu‘s Alone Against series, or at least that is what I call them, are supplements that let people run through a Call of Cthulhu adventure without a Keeper. These books are called solo scenarios and what makes these different from the other solo RPGs is that they don’t use writing prompts. The style follows more of a Choose Your Own Adventure.

The three Alone Against books I played are Alone Against The Tide, Alone Against The Frost, and Alone Against The Flame. There is another book called Alone Against The Dark. I don’t own or have ever played this book, so that’s why it’s not included.

If any of these caught your fancy, you can pick it up here: https://www.chaosium.com/solo-call-of-cthulhu/

Alone Against The Tide

“Our story begins sometime in the 1920s, on the pier opposite the lakeside resort town of Esbury, Massachusetts.”

With this scenario, I went with the pregen character, Prof. Ellery Wood. In the solo scenario, we go to the town of Esbury to collect the notes of the recently deceased Prof. Harris. You can create your own character with the only restriction of Occupation. They give you a list of Occupations to pick from.

Overall, I really enjoyed this solo scenario. Honestly, it’s probably my favorite out of the three. From my playthroughs, it was the one that felt most like a Call of Cthulhu scenario. Going to town for a simple job but stumbling into something far more dangerous than what you bargained for.

I would not recommend this solo scenario for anyone from Sarnath.

Alone Against The Frost

“You, Dr.L.C. Nadelmann, have long been fascinated by prehistory of North America, particularly the Big Woods of the North.”

I was very excited to play this solo scenario for three reasons, 1) Ithaqua is one of my favorite Great Old Ones, and I was excited to play something with them in it. 2) As a Canadian, it tickles me when I see a scenario taking place in my snowy country. 3) I was in Scout Canada for a long time, so having this scenario take place in the great outdoors, well, let us just say I felt confident.

It didn’t help that I ignored everything I learned in Scouts while playing, and let me tell you why.

I like that this scenario feels like a horror movie, or at least how I played it. No matter what I did, I always, ALWAYS, found myself running, trying to escape the woods while keeping trying to keep the people around me alive. And like most horror movies, I was the only one that made it out alive, and people thought I was crazy for telling the truth about what was in the woods.

What makes this scenario insane to me, without spoilers, there are many things in the woods beside a Great Old One. I screamed “What!” whenever I ran into something new. It kept things exciting and fresh with each playthrough.

I would recommend this scenario for anyone with burning feet of fire.

Alone Against The Flame

“Yet everybody you know in the world lives here. You know nobody in Arkham, not one soul. You ask yourself one last time if you are doing the right thing. The answer is here. None of your supposed friends have come to see you off. You are alone. Whatever challenges lie in Arkham, it will be a new life, and a brave one. A small gray motor coach approaches and rattles to a stop. You put your hat back on and pick up your cases.”

The solo scenario was fun, but I felt like it made me flip from page to page too much. After reading a section, it would ask me to go to another section that didn’t need to be its own section. I personally thought the constant page turning pulled me out of the story here and there.

Which is a shame because I think the story in this scenario is very cool. I can’t relate it to anything or go into details without spoiling it, so I’ll just say, give it a try if you have the chance and stick with it till the end if you are like me and get tired of page turning.

I would not recommend this scenario to Edward Woodward or any Cages.