Kicking off Season 4 (Dungeons) of Rolling Solo with Delve, the map-drawing game by Anna Blackwell.
Delve solo - intro | finish | all season 4 | all dungeon solo
Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate
Game Introduction - Delve
delve intro | setup | game start
Delve is a solo map-drawing game by Anna Blackwell. It's not the first of Anna's games on Rand Roll, following on from Apothecaria and an Interview with Anna. It's one of the first games I encountered while looking into solo rpgs, found on a solo podcast now lost to time...
In Delve you take are an overseer, managing the digging, development and hazards of your subterranean dwarven hold. In theory you have the gold to find the Void Crystal for the Under-King, but that's a pretty long-term project!
You start with a starting space at the top of a 2-d grid, and proceed to dig left, right or down. Each time you did you draw a card to see what you find.
- Hearts❤️ = resources (build rooms & traps)
- Spades♠️ = remnants (ruins & foes)
- Clubs♣️ = natural formations (caves, gas, rivers)
- Diamons♦️= trade goods (hire units)
In future turns you can dig from any other square in your hold you've got control of.
Then you can build rooms, which give a variety of bonuses and let you recruit different units (soldiers, clerics, masons, hounds). You can also add stairs, corridors, barricades and traps.
As the game progresses you'll face foes and combat is a bit more involved, depending on how your units are deployed around your hold (we'll get to that next article). After descending 5 levels you add in the jokers, representing legendary finds, good and bad!
There's a few other bits and optional rules, such as the adventurers who appear if you build an inn, good and bad magic, inventions, optional bloodrunes (ading risk and reward) and challenges to complete over several games.
Game Setup for Delve
delve intro | setup | game start
To start you gather your materials (pencil/pen, squared paper, notepad, deck of cards) and draw a stairwell in the centre of the top row of your grid. This represents the Entrance of your hold...
You note down resources (20❤️, 20 ♦️), your 5 Soldiers, remove the jokers, shuffle and get ready to start!
There's no character to generate or other starting decisions.
Starting with the Delve of Blightguard Watch
delve intro | setup | game start
The Halls of Blightguard Watch
I started off with delving 6 caverns. It went ok until I uncovered a gas pocket, killing all the soldiers in my newly built barracks. So now slowly building back up.
I decided to keep a simple narrative journal, equating one game turn to a week in time. (
Tasked with finding the void crystal, but mostly using superior logistics to create a dwarf hold in the depths.
Month 1, Year 1, Blightguard Watch (❤️20. ♦️20)
At once we hit old seals, something was trapped here long ago. We've let it be for the moment.
Mined our first cavern, copper ore, then converted into our first proper room for living.
Much more copper and made a Shrine of Fortune with our first cleric, Alva.
Disaster! A pocket of gas was released, killing Alva and our cousins in the barracks. Questions are being asksed about my leadership
Month 1, Year 1, Blightguard Watch (❤️3. ♦️2)
Rich in copper, we've repaired the barracks and temple, but no new priest to bless us yet.
Finishing Up
Next time is seeing how it goes in the hold...
Have you played Delve?
