Solo RPGs: Scarlet Heroes

A primarily one on one game system loosely based on early Dungeons & Dragons (with some optimizations to lower the number of rolls & let a single hero handle several foes), but a chapter is dedicated to solo gaming.

  • 130 Page Book/PDF.
  • #Characters: 1. Customization: early D&D like character & creation method (4d6), with classes, races, simplified equipment, etc.
  • Dice: full polyhedral set.
  • Key Features: Mechanics to support fighting several low-level grunts/minions at once; Many useful random tables; Adventure Tags (see below).
  • Sample Character: Sam, Cleric Dwarf Level 1; Str 15, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 13; Max HP 7, AC 3, Attack Bonus +1, Fray die 1d6, Light Weapon 1d6 (+1 Str); Traits: Mining, Dwarven Senses, Resistant Stomach/Immune System, Religious Scholar, True Believer; Plus Equipment & Spell list (omitted for brevity).
  • Oracle: No/No But/Yes But/Yes, plus a series of charts including and Oracle Adjectives/Motivations.
  • Quest Generation: Adventure Tags for plots/tropes with likely enemies, friends, things, complications and places for each.
  • Dungeon Mapping: Random dungeon maps are not a focus, the book suggests reusing freely available maps on-line.
  • Monsters/Traps/Room Contents: Has a number of charts for these.  Includes a mini-bestiary.
  • Magic System: Uses a Dungeons and Dragons like system, but with fewer overall spells.
  • Character Growth: Uses levels & experience points.

Want to play a solo version of early Dungeons & Dragons?  Scarlet Heroes may be a good fit for you.  The oracle is a little simplified and if you want something that does random dungeons you’ll need to borrow a subsystem from elsewhere, but quest generation ideas here may be something you want to lift into another system.  A “Fray Die” is a special roll you make when your level is above the monsters’ hit dice which lets you do extra damage to them–representing the extra feints and swipes that may just hit a foe.  Another interesting innovation is the attack roll which gives results similar to early D&D and keeps early D&D’s low AC without THAC0.  In short, roll a d20, add your attack bonus, and the defender’s AC.  If the result is 20 or higher, you hit.  So if your bonus is +3 and the opponent’s AC is 5, and you roll 14: 14+3+5=22 a hit!  But a 10 is a miss (10+3+5=18). If the foe’s AC is 2 then your 14 misses (14+3+2 = 19).