Digital (and Physical) Titles for Solo Roleplaying Games
PDF Guides Solo RPGs Gamebooks

Digital (and Physical) Titles for Solo Roleplaying Games

Duncan Thomson

Here we are looking at paid or free pdf and book titles for solo rpgs and other solo gaming, for all systems and genres.

Solo Guides - all | solo main | fantasy | sci-fi & horror | d&d solo | solo tools

Disclaimer: Rand Roll is an affiliate for DriveThru RPG and DM's Guild.

Starting Points

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Solo RPGs is the art of playing a tabletop roleplaying game on your own. You are player, gamesmaster, worldbuilder, narrator and audience.

Some people like to journal, some like to play their favourite RPG, some try out new RPGs. Others play RPGs specific to solo play, adventure gamebooks or a lightweight RPG. I'm currently working my way through various British RPGs, old and new.

Other guides with Solo sections include Sci-Fi Solo Titles, Fantasy Basics, Horror Solo, Fantasy Dungeon Solo Titles, Fantasy Wilderness and Hexcrawls and Fantasy Sea Solo PDFs.

Many of the titles were included in 31 Days of Solo RPGs, which I did for March 2023 listing resources for solo rpgs each day on reddit.

For resources and advice for solo rpgs, check out The Soloist blog on Substack.

Aug 2025: Updated titles. Jun 2024: new titles and gamebook section. Nov 2023: alt solo section added. Aug 2023: Cards section added. Free & pwyw split into rpgs & tools. .

Major Solo Titles

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Some PDFs are much larger and comprehensive.

Mythic Game Master Emulator 2nd Edition Plot Unfolding Machine Solo Game Master's Guide DM Yourself - solo roleplay for 5e, D&D and OSR adventures Ironsworn: Starforged

Free and PWyW Solo RPGs

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

If you like free (or pay-what-you-want) pdfs and random tables then there are some options. And where you find one you might find more...

  • Ironsworn from Shawn Tomkin is one of the best known solo games (and free! in pdf form), where the narrative is pushed forward by powerful vows made by the protagonist(s).
  • Stars Without Number from Sine Nomine Publishing is a free RPG, which also has many pages or random tables. And a fantasy version in Worlds Without Number.
  • Black Streams: Solo Heroes from Sine Nomine Publishing is a lightweight solo rpg written for running classic D&D adventures for a single character.
  • Micro Chapbook RPG Deluxe Core Rulebook from Micro RPG is a PWYW lightweight rpg that uses randomly generated adventures.
  • Rocket Dungeons from LunchBox RPG is an ultra light dungeon crawler built for solo play.

Ironsworn Stars Without Number Black Streams: Solo Heroes Micro Chapbook RPG Rocket Dungeons

Free and Pay-what-you-want Tools

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

If you like free (or pay-what-you-want) pdfs and random tables then there are some options. And where you find one you might find more...

Conjecture Roleplaying GM Emulator One Page Solo Engine Encounter Building Oracle Deck ALONe: A Solo Game Engine GEMulator

Cards

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Decks of cards are useful for random choices and playing screenless / offline .

  • From Larcenous Designs are the GM's Apprentice Decks (base deck 2e linked). There are several variants including fantasy and sci-fi.
  • The Deck of Signs by Pickpocket Press is 50 cards with a picture, direction and four text prompts. It's to help interpret open-ended oracles questions.
  • For maps of fantasy kingdoms there is Pocket Lands: Kingdom from Alexey Aparin, a 70-card deck of terrain maps (sea, mountain, forest, hills etc), each containing a 5x5 grid. There are also versions for High Seas and other terrains.
  • The Sidequest Decks from Inkwell Ideas provide quest ideas and a map. They cover a number of genres, including Horror/Lovecraft, Sci-fi (depicted) and Dungeons among many.
  • The Galaxy Builder Decks: Planets from Journey Mountain Studios is a deck of double sided cards with unique planets and planet traits. Its part of a series including Systems, Asteroids and Spooky Plasnets, all together in a Galaxy Builder Decks Bundle.

GM's Apprentice 2e Base Deck Deck of Signs Pocket Lands: Kingdom Sidequest Decks: Science Fiction Galaxy Builder Decks: Planets

Journalling

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Some solo games are setup around journalling, which gives a more storytelling and creative writing experience. There's also Apothecaria from Blackwell Games.

  • For a pay-what-you-want option, Quill from Trollish Delver Games is "A Letter-Writing Roleplaying Game for a Single Player", exploring an rpg world through writing.
  • If you want to play a vampire, then journalling game Thousand Year Old Vampire from The Hutchingsonian Presents-PlaGMaDA is the game for you!
  • The Wretched from Loot the Room is set in a spaceship where you are the last survivor. But a hostile lifeform is onboard with you. Others in the series include Go Alone and The Assassin.
  • For a journaling experience using 1d6, a pack of cards and your mind, try Journey from Greycastle Press. Expanded Aspcects for Journey adds more options for elements while exporing your gameworld.

Quill: A letter writing rpg for a single player Thousand Year Old Vampire The Wretched Journey

Alternative Solo Games

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Some solo games that aren't rpgs or just have some rpg elements.

  • Four Against Darkness from Ganesha Games is a solitaire dungeon-delving game where you control a party of four adventurers. Related titles include Four Against the Abyss (higher level) and Alone Against Fear (horror)
  • Five Leagues from the Borderlands from Mophidius is a solo miniatures game where your warband explores a fantasy world.
  • Delve: A Solo Map Drawing Game from Blackwell Games takes you on a journey below ground, drawing the horrors that a dwarven hold unearths in the depths.
  • The Quiet Year from Buried Without Ceremony is a map game, detailing the struggles of a community in a post-apocalyptic setting, as they attempt to build something in a quiet year before trouble arrives.
  • From Lame Mage Productions, Microscope by Ben Robbins lets you explore the history of a collapsed empire, a galactic civilisation or an ancient line of sorcerers. Or a backwater town!

Four Against Darkness Five Leagues from the Borderlands Delve: A solo Map Drawing Game The Quiet Year The Quiet Year

Gamebooks

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Gamebooks are another type of solo rpg. Some are available as physical books only or as a computer game. But others are digitial.

  • Fabled Lands Publishing has many of the best gamebooks written. Depicted is Workshop of the Gods, the final book of the VulcanVerse open-world series. But also check out Fabled Lands (book 1 is the War-Torn Kingdom), the legendary Heart of Ice and Way of the Ninja, starting with Avenger.
  • The Valley of Bones from Spidermind Games is the first in Legendary Kingdoms, an open-world gamebook series where you play a group of up to 4 adventurers.
  • Call of Cthulhu is the best-known horror roleplaying game, and you can experience it in Alone Against Nyarlathotep by Lee Wade. Lots of North Yorkshire and creepy seaside towns and villages to explore. It's available as a PDF from drivethrurpg.
  • With an Asian feel, Jungle Quest from Penguin Comics is one where every playthrough is different.
  • Gamebooks are an alternative to solo rpgs with oracle or journals. From PenguinComics is Random Solo Adventure: Post Apocalypse - Solo Gamebook, taking a romp through a wasteland of the world that was.

Workshop of the Gods The Valley of Bones Alone Against Nyarlathotep Jungle Quest Random Solo Adventure: Post Apocalypse - Solo Game

Other Solo Titles

overview | major | free rpgs | free tools | cards | journalling | alt solo | gamebooks | other

Then there are a few other titles for solo that don't fit in other categories

  • Motif Story Engine from Thought Punks is a modular solo oracle, toolkit and emulator. There's also the Motif Character Engine, an emulator for PC / character actions.
  • Rangers of Shadow Deep from Mophidius is a solo (or co-op) game playing a group of rangers holding back the darkness of Shadow Deep.
  • From Zadmar Games is a solo system and deck of cards called Tricube Tales. The cards are used to drive the narrative and tricube tales can be paired with most rpgs.
  • For something in the fictional Wild West, try The Drifter from KenK. A gunslinger out to get the money for a ranch, in any way they can.
  • Tilt: An oracle for solo roleplaying from Little Dreamer is a short (15-page) pdf using pieces of fiction for inspiration.
  • To create places of adventure, Word Mill Games has The Location Crafter, useable in solo or prep for regular rpgs.

Motif Story Engine Rangers of Shadow Deep Tricube Tales The Drifter Tilt The Location Crafter

More Generators

This will get updated in the future, but leave a comment with other titles if you have one to share.

If you liked these there are Generators at Chaos Gen and a monthly random tools Newsletter. Or find us on the Rand Roll Discord or an instagram of Random Tables.