No Lords! No Masters!

This could be a newsletter, but I like the ability to write something up with less pressure over too many sends per month, and I wanted to write it now, and also it’s a bit more frivolous than the newsletters.

Then I remembered that the website could serve as much as a blog as anything else. So! Let me tell you about my new obsession, in hopes that it might also become yours! Or at least something that you can use to entertain yourself when all of your D&D mates can’t show.

(Basically, I had a lot of fun and I had to tell someone! Congratulations!)

I first discovered solo TTRPGs last May. I don’t remember how, or how I realized what they were, but the first one that caught my eye was Lordsworn, a game about a group of companions whose god, captain, and company have all died and they have to make the long journey home as the world falls apart around them.

If you know my work, you know that kind of emotional devastation is 100% my jam.

I didn’t know how a solo RPG works, but I was supposed to be playing with my normal table and the day got cancelled. Meanwhile, I was still in the mood. So I whipped it out.

It didn’t take much, just a few cards to pick my characters and a few dice see how much pain they would be in after every encounter. In a couple hours, I was having a blast. Playing an RPG is a lot like writing, and also nothing like writing. It was a good stress relief valve since I was in the middle of the great crush of 2024 (finishing Ambessa AND The Sovereign AND Fate’s Bane). I was willing to try anything to stave off burnout a little longer.

(I won’t say that it was easy, though; part of me fought the other part of me the whole time: “If you can do this, you might as well be writing!” “This is a waste of time! If you want to have an adventure game, go write your damn books!” But that voice wasn’t right. The game had no stakes. I could drop it when I want. I could swerve in new directions. I could indulge in the scenes I liked best. There was a freedom I hadn’t felt in some time, just playing. Nothing had to be perfect because nothing was permanent.)

I won’t talk much more about Lordsworn for ✨reasons✨ but suffice to say that I had a lot of fun but I paused that particular playthrough. If it intrigues you, make sure you’re subscribed to a little newsletter called “Mirrorsworn.”

Flash-forward a year later and I have discovered ANOTHER solo/gm-less RPG: Ironsworn! I learned about Ironsworn from this post on the Story Engine blog, which has lots of other systems to tryout soloing.

(Ironsworn and Lordsworn are not related despite the titles.)

Ironsworn (et. al.) is a game where the narrative thrust is an iron oath the character makes—one in their background, a major one, and one to deal with whatever inciting incident starts the story. The whole game is about roaming through the land trying to settle that oath—and probably picking up more along the way. There is enough emphasis on the fiction of it all that it keeps the writer/reader in me invested, and the dice rolls can screw you over good, which keeps things interesting and unpredictable. (There’s nothing quite like having the perfect story path in mind and then having the dice say—Not today! Try something else! I find it very helpful in getting me to choose the less-trodden path. I have actually been using this in Warmongers, and it has opened some exciting avenues.)

And I’m not actually playing solo! I’m playing with part of my usual table while the other half is away. There is no Game Master, and we rely on dice rolls on the various oracle tables (a randomiser of sorts) for something that a GM might normally decide. It takes a lot of the stress off of one person having to meticulously plan (which is why I have never wanted to GM).

I’m sure I’m not alone in this, but character creation is one of my absolute favorite parts of writing/gaming. The Baldur’s Gate character creation screen? A game in and of itself.

My Ironsworn character is Avella Nazmi (courtesy of the name oracle), and she is a wannabe monster slayer from a fishing village who has sworn an iron oath to make her fortune, then come back and wed her sweetheart. At first, I thought she would be on her way back home for this playthrough with my friends, but! I have decided to save that for a later solo session and see what she’s like before she gets badass. She may not have any skills, but she’s got a lot of heart, a thirst for gold, and a loyal hound named Chicken.

I already have missions in my head for how this character will spin off on her own adventures. Maybe I’ll even share them with you one day. In the meantime, I’m really enjoying the system, and if you find yourself at creative loose ends and want a bit of the joy of storytelling without the pressure of writing a whole book (or story), I’d give this a go! Even if you’ve never done anything like this before. It’s easy to learn and you don’t have to wrangle schedules with other people!

I also find it great for when I’m struggling to read, either because I’m antsy or have too much of my own book in my head. I enjoyed listening to someone playing it live at Me, Myself, and Die. At 30 minute episodes (I listened on spotify while running), it was much easier commitment than, say, 10000000 hours of Critical Role.

If you’ve played any of these (or if you try ‘em out!), let me know! I’d love to talk shop and hear about your characters. Or if you have any other solo RPGs you think I should play.