The Complete Soloist

Setting:  Dark Albion by RPGPundit Game Systems:  Lion & Dragon byRPG Pundit Tools:  Ironsworn oracle, GameMaster Apprentice Cards.  [Town or settlement -> Bleakcrag ] Anno Solis 1391 -  The town of Bleakcrag, Cumbria The late summer was already giving way to early morning frost. In the family orchard, Aerthur was picking the last batch of summer apples. It was a chance for him to spend time with Celest, a young housemaid in service to Lady Esmeralda DeWick. Lady Esmeralda, an aging widow and kind, matronly woman, treated both Aerthur and Celest as her own. Her late husband, Sir Edwin DeWick, known as the "White Dove", had been a gentle soul, yet a fierce warrior in battle. Sadly, the "White Dove" lost his life decades earlier on the fields of Liège, in Frankia. A perfectly aimed enemy arrow had slipped through the eye slit of his helm and lodged in his brain. Now, Lady Esmeralda lived in quiet solitude, still longing for the love of her life. Wi...

Lion and Dragon, character creation... In Lion & Dragon creating a character is a straightforward affair: Step 1 - Roll for ability scores ...  Roll a 3d6 dice in order and then add the modifiers. Here we go...  Strength 9 (0) Dexterity 12 (0) Constitution 15 (+1) Intelligence 10 (0) Wisdom 11 (0) Charisma 9 (0) So, a pretty average character with an excellent constitution, decent dexterity and wisdom.  Step 2 - Select ethnic background... This character could be a Scott or Cymri if I so choose. I am deferring the decision for now, but I am leaning towards Anglish ancestry. Step 3a - Roll a social class... Rolling a 2d6 dice on the "Social Class" table on page 4. I rolled a 6, a villain (city-born). My character has 75% of getting a plus +1 bonus to urban lore. Step 3b - Roll a background skill... Rolling a 1d100 dice on the "Trade" table. I rolled a 40, a Fruiter (a person that grows fruit). I am envisioning being born in...

Tools of the trade ... It's fairly trivial to get started with solo roleplaying. A minimalist approach is to use blank paper/pencil, some d6 (six-sided dice), a simple free ruleset such as Miso , and your imagination-That is it! Here is a more detailed list of the tools used drive gameplay, themes, and storyline... Setting and rulebook Dark Albion Lion & Dragon Real dice - Nothing beats the feel of actually rolling some dice. Chessex and funky dice sets can be found both on Amazon and Goodman Games Pen/paper and a writable playmat (optional) Miniatures or "theatre of the mind"? I may be using some paper miniatures from Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying game (3e ). I still find the "theatre of the mind" option to be most creative and immersive; However, combat is easier to visualize using a playmat and miniatures  Various random tables from found on the internet. Dyson has some excelent tables found here Oracles are used to simulate having...

The road less travelled... The  "Dark Albion - The Rose War"  setting, created by the talented RPGPundit, has inspired me to run a gritty and dark medieval campaign. For well over a year now, this superb setting has been sitting on a bookshelf, begging to be read, to be scrutinized and to be the inspiration for countless adventures. I have been a long time RPG player and GM/Judge/DM. I play mostly with a diverse online crowd on Google Hangouts. Dungeon Crawl Classics has been my go-to game of choice when it comes to roleplaying games. The publishing of Dark Albion, and most recently  Lion & Dragon , has rekindled my OSR flame.  The Lion & Dragon is an OSR rulebook specifically designed to reinforce the medieval gritty setting of Dark Albion brought to life but RPGPundit.  Why solo play? I find solo playing to be most beneficial for immersion, creativity, and unbounded gaming possibilities. Obviously, you can get the same benefit fr...