Solocubes solitaire RPG engine

I recently posted an actual play report on MeWe around my last Romance of the Perilous Land solo adventure and there were a few questions about the engine I used.

In the past I've used Mythic, but since I like to play and note everything on my phone, particularly while travelling, this could be a bit clunky. Instead I used my owned janky system I call Solocubes. There are two main components: Rory's Storycubes and a d6. This is how it works.

1. Objective setting

You first need to figure out what the hook is - why you're playing the game. To do this, roll 3 Storycubes. Try using cubes themed around your game. For instance, with RotPL I used a mix of medieval, enchanted and mythic. You can interpret the results how you like. You might choose just one image to run with, mix images together or use all images to create a single objective. I rolled a treasure chest and a maze, so I decided a bugbear has nicked treasure from a local village and it was hanging out in a hedge maze. Simple.

2. Scene setting

The adventure is split into scenes. This is based on location and time. If location moves or time skips, consider it a new scene. Roll 3 Storycubes to define what happens in the scene. This could be an NPC you come across or a clue you find. Do this at the beginning of every scene. If you're not happy with what you've rolled, roll again! I tend to use random tables online to come up with names.

3. Consult the d6

The d6 is for asking questions to build out the scene. When you roll, the results are as follows:
1. No, and
2. No
3. No, but
4. Yes, but
5. Yes
6. Yes, and

Whenever you get a but or and you can make up what's logical (Yes, but there are TWO enemies instead of one) or roll 3 Storycubes and determine what the additional or exception could be.

That's pretty much it - easy stuff and it works for me. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Hrunting, the Sword of Beowulf

In Beowulf, hrunting was meant to be a sword that never failed. The problem was that in the fight against Grendel's mother the sword totally failed. The blade had been passed to Beowulf by Unferth who had failed to destroy Grendel with it, so it's thought his failure had been passed onto the sword itself.

To reflect this, the Hrunting sword gains power when dealing killing blows, but reduces in power if a day goes by without the blade slaying someone. I think this presents some interesting roleplaying opportunities. If it comes to evening and the wielder hasn't slain a for, do they just accept that Hrunting will be less effective or do they go on the hunt? Maybe they track down a petty street thief and gut them. Do they convince the rest of the party to venture into the woods to clear out some redcaps? Basically, does the blade drive the wielder to bloodlust? Surely this desire becomes worse on the second day when the sword is reduced to a mere d4 weapon.

Hrunting
Short sword (d8)
Special: If an enemy is dealt the killing blow with Hrunting, the sword gains +1 to damage for the remainder of the day. Hrunting can have up to +3 per day in bonuses in this way. However, if a day goes by without hrunting dealing the killing blow, it is reduced to a d6 weapon the next day, and a d4 if this happens the next day (it cannot go below a d4). As soon as a killing blow is dealt by hrunting, it returns to a d8 weapon.

Quill now out with JellyMuppet Publishing

This is a very exciting day. The wonderful JellyMuppet Publishing is putting out a print run of Quill, my solo letter writing roleplaying game. The print book is available via Melsonian Arts Council in the UK and Exalted Funeral in the US.

I really think Quill is a one of a kind gaming experience that straddles the line between LARP and storygame and JellyMuppet is the perfect partner for the game. So, like, go buy it and stuff.

Dungeon Gits second edition is out now

I decided to give Dungeon Gits a bit of a refresh and release it as a second edition. Not a tonne has changed - I've clarified some rules, added a section on troupe play and expanded some items. The layout and imagery has been overhauled too.

If you don't know what Dungeon Gits is, it's a hyper lite fantasy RPG (but easily porter to other genres) with a system designed to be hacked and built on.

Patreon supporters will shortly find it available to download. Everyone else can get it at Drivethrurpg.

The racism jumped out

Some of you may have seen a bit of a furore on Twitter after Varg Vikerness had a flap about PoC depicted in Romance of the Perilous Land and so set his white supremacist cronies on me Twitter is such a fun place.

Unfortunately for these imbeciles, the brigading just served to promote the game and as a result a load of people bought it. I was super happy to see all the support I got from my online chums and I really thank them for it. Osprey Games came out with a statement of support, of which I'm grateful.

The thing is, I'm pretty lucky. There are people - minorities and women - who face this shit on a daily basis. I don't know how they do it and those people will have my constant support.

Folklore is inherently inclusive. Countries thousands of miles apart share similar stories and traditions. Folklore is a map of human relationships, of beliefs and customs. Sure, some of it will have been transferred by force (invasion, colonialism etc), but much of it is benign.

Also, fuck racists.

Romance of the Perilous Land Appendix N

A recent interaction on the oft volatile Twitter which prompted me to put together an Appendix N for Romance of the Perilous Land.

• Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory
• The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle
• The Lore of the Land by Jacqueline Simpson and Jennifer Westwood
• King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green
• Slaine by Pat Mills
• Merlin, the BBC TV series
• Monty Python and the Holy Grail
• The Pendragon Cycle by Stephen Lawhead
• The Mabinogion

The following are gaming inspirations in one way or another:

• The Fighting Fantasy gamebook series by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone
• Tunnels and Trolls by Ken St. Andre et al
• BX D&D by Tom Moldvay and Zeb Cook
• D&D 5th edition by Mike Mearls et al
• D&D 4th edition by Rob Heinsoo et al
• The Black Hack by David Black
• Swords and Wizardry White Box by Matthew Finch et al