Recommendations: Solo RPGs with a Writing Component

#1

Can anyone throw me some recs for single-player ttrpgs with a writing component? Just started DC’s plot ARMOR and am loving it—Thousand Year Old Vampire is also on the list. Any others I should definitely check out?

Here’s the list so far, titles recommended by @bccook, @shane, @yoshi, @Curubethion, @Lu.Quade , @Em_Queue, and @DavidMorrison.

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#2

Might not be precisely what you’re looking for, but give Melody Watson’s Laika a peek, too!

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#3

Maybe Swords of the Skull Takers (which includes Tarot reading and journal writing)

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#4

First Ride/Last Ride by Jason Morningstar.

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#5

And even though it’s technically not solo, I am going to mention De Profundis anyway, because it’s a 2-player game where you exchange letters about spooky supernatural stuff. (We should probably also put it up in Duets! Hmmm.)

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#6

For that Duets thread I guess:
By the General’s hand (two player letter writing game)

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#8

Did @SidneyIcarus and @jesseross have a two player letter writing game in codex a while back? Or have i gone mad…?

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#9

In case you want to read a review on Last Ride First Ride, I have one on my blog:

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#10

That’s right, that’s right, the one inspired by the Dessa song. Matches to Paper Dolls. (Not a solo RPG, though—maybe we can get a separate thread going for duet writing rpgs.)

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#11

I think For the Queen might also work as a journalling game. Just answer the questions as they come, and with the new Roll20 thing I just might start doing it!

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#12

Feel free to start a new thread for duet games!

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#13

The Page I Didn’t Write by Lauren Bryant-Monk. It’s a game about saying important things and how they can come out wrong.

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#14

mumble mumble blog post mumble mumble

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#16

It can be.

I want to play a session sometime in the spirit of “This is just to say” by William Carlos Williams.

Jumbled confusions about eating someone’s leftovers would be fun :slight_smile:

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#17

I love solo RPGs! A couple that haven’t been mentioned yet, both of which I enjoy:

  • METAL SHOWCASE 11PM
  • Seppuku: Fury of the Samurai
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#18

Just released, today, for the #WizJam2k19, Steading by Anna Landin:

To grow, all things need a foundation. There is a root for every tree, a spring for every river, a seed for every flower – and for every witch, there is a steading. Today, the time has come to settle into yours.

A journaling game about being a witch, and finding the place where you belong.

https://annalandin.itch.io/steading

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#19

I uh, just bought this and it looks so sweet.

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#20

I haven’t played any such games yet, but bought into Thousand Year-Old Vampire as it’s really intriguing, and can’t wait to try it out.

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#21

A guy I know wrote a tiny RPG which is meant to be played with anyone, anywhere, for any amount of time, with nothing but the rules (on a business card, on a phone, or in your head).

You could easily play it solo if you substituted the GM-side of the resolution mechanic with shuffled cards or RPS dice (or a single df or d6-as-d3)…I might ask him about adding a Solo Serving Suggestion Supplement.

It’s called Instant RPG, and it’s free, and I should invite him to join this forum. Thanks for the spark!

EDIT: I just re-read the thread and realised i’d mis-read it as “without” a writing component, so Instant RPG doesn’t belong here unless you journal your play. Sorry. I will restrain my impulses and read better next time.

PS: Also happy to delete this post if you like, sorry again.

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#22

Oh, and John Harper mentioned Alone Among the Stars yesterday, which has a journal which you can optionally burn.

Thought: You could play as the AI of an empty ship drifting, waking up only to note the planets you pass by.

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