Object Interaction

Many people think playing Dungeons and Dragons requires a group of four to eight people that meet every week for immensely long sessions. What if I told you there’s a way to play any tabletop RPG solo? Well, it’s possible, and pretty easy if you know how to do it. Playing Dungeons and Dragons or any other TTRPG solo can be an awesome experience packaged in a much shorter session. In this article, I’ll go through every step you need to start playing any TTRPG solo.

Reasons to Play Solo:

Playing TTRPGs solo allows you to explore characters and storylines that would have never come to fruition in a multiplayer game; whether that be because of your players not biting your narrative hooks or them just not finding that story-relevant magic item in the dungeon. Solo play is excellent for worldbuilding and can be the perfect place to flesh out the structure of that awesome assassin guild you’ve had in your head forever. Solo D&D is great whether:

You’re a Forever DM: As a dungeon master whose players very rarely ever run any games you likely have a myriad of characters in your mind that you want to run. Playing solo can be an excellent way to do just that!
You’re A Player with a Busy Schedule: If you or your group’s schedules just aren’t lining up solo play can be a great way to turn your mismatched free time into a memorable adventure.
You’re Just Curious: Even if it’s just a passing fancy, solo play can be a great way to dip your feet into tabletop RPGs or learn a new system before playing it with your group.

Choosing a Game System and Setting:

Before embarking on your solo TTRPG journey you have to choose a system. While this can be incredibly daunting to some I’m going to give you some advice on how to go about choosing the perfect system and setting for your foray into solo play.

An OSR System: The OSR is a great place to start for solo RPGs. Their rules-light old-school approach makes them easily digestible and a few of them are made specifically for solo play. If you go with an OSR system I’d recommend Old School Essentials as it is my favorite for emulating that old-school gameplay. For more info on the Old School Renaissance check out this video by Questing Beast.
The World’s Largest Role-Playing Game: If you are thinking about playing solo games, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition can be a great place to start. Although I prefer a more rules-light experience, D&D 5e is an amazing product and is likely the only system many of you know. However, if you like a more rules-centric system, you should check out Pathfinder 2nd edition. Pathfinder 2e can be a pretty board gamey system, but it might be exactly what you are looking for. If you decide to go with either D&D5e or PF2e, I recommend using a solo-play supplement along with the system, such as the Solo Adventurers Guide.
A Solo RPG: Systems such as Ironsworn or any of the many solo-centric products on Drive-thru RPG are fantastic for newbie solo adventurers and seasoned veterans alike. While I’ve personally never played Ironsworn I have heard amazing things about the system and its sci-fi sister system Starforged. They give you a diverse set of tools to help you through your single-player experience. These systems are among the best for learning how to play Solo.
Whatever Catches Your Eye: Realistically, the best system and setting for you is the one that catches your attention. If you see a book cover, setting, or system that you fall in love with your best bet for an enjoyable solo TTRPG experience is to go with your heart. If it’s a setting you’re obsessed with you can find a setting-agnostic RPG to run in that setting, like GURPS or D20.

Your Medium for Play:

Whether it is pen and paper or a virtual tabletop and notepad there are a few different ways you can sit down and play the game, and those are:

Pen and Paper: The classic way to play TTRPGs. Grab a pen and paper, some dice, maybe print out a character sheet for your system, and have at it. I recommend recording your adventures with pen and paper instead of keeping the journey all in your head.
Roll20 or Foundry: Both Roll20 and Foundry are good virtual tabletops for solo RPG play. Roll20 is a little easy to use while Foundry can be as complex and customizable as you want with its myriad of plugins and automated systems. I would recommend Foundry for more complex and math-heavy systems like Pathfinder 2e, while Roll20 excels at simple rules-light systems with its easy-to-learn interface. Whichever one you choose you should journal your adventure using a notebook or a program similar to Microsoft Word.
A Mix of the Two: If you don’t want to use a virtual tabletop you could roll dice IRL and record your results for the RPG in Word or use any combination of the things I’ve mentioned in the last two bullet points. Honestly, when it comes down to how exactly you play nobody’s single-player game is going to look the same. You should go with whatever feels the best for you. After all, while playing solo nobody is going to judge you.

Something to Play Through:

When starting any TTRPG there is always the question of what to play through, whether that be a full campaign or a one-shot dungeon I’ll cover some of the best things to play through when it comes to solo play here:

An Officially Published Adventure: From Curse of Strahd to The Abomination Vaults there are countless published adventures for mainstream TTRPG systems. Many people have never gotten the chance to play through the exact module that most interests them and solo play can be a great way to do that. It is recommended however that you search online for ways to convert these campaigns and mega-dungeons to solo-friendly content. The best places to look for these sorts of things will be the DM’s Guild, Drive-Thru RPG, and when all else fails asking around on Reddit or ttrpg discord communities.
Random Tables and Procedurally Generated Play: The Dungeon Master’s Guide for many RPGs holds within it a treasure trove of semi-random tables for encounters and dungeon-building. This is my favorite way to play solo RPGs. When you reach a dip in the story you roll a random encounter, it could be combat or a merchant with a quest hook, as long as you go with it and extrapolate on what the random encounter or event was you can draw great stories from seemingly mundane rolls.
Specially made Solo Content: There are probably thousands of specific solo RPGs and journaling games, each of which usually comes with some sort of beginner story to play through. For something relatively simple and accessible I would recommend Mork Borg’s solo expansion Solitary Defilement. If playing solo-specific RPGs and journaling games interests you check out this video by The Dungeon Dive.

Go Out and Play!

I hope this article has been helpful to you on your solo RPG journey. Solo RPGs are truly a labor of love, where you can explore whatever it is your heart desires, be it worldbuilding, character interactions, or juicy combat. If you would like to see my first Solo RPG session, check out my first blog post. Also, if you need any advice on anything related to TTRPG, feel free to leave a comment below, and I will respond as soon as possible!