How we play Shadowdark solo, using SoloDark, The Arcane Library’s official solo booklet, alongside the core rulebook. SoloDark’s own tables (the Oracle, the prompts and the dungeon names) aren’t reproduced here. You’ll need the booklet.

What SoloDark gives you

• The Oracle: a yes/no roll for questions a GM would normally answer, with odds you set yourself and results that can twist.
• Prompts: a verb-and-noun table for open questions and twists.
• Rule tweaks for solo play: group initiative, shorter light, and more luck.
• A dungeon name generator, and pointers to other books for monsters, NPCs, treasure, encounters and maps.

Good habits with the Oracle

• Check the rules first. If a stat check or a trap’s tell answers the question, use that instead.
• Only ask plausible questions.
• Phrase questions positively: “Are there orcs here?”, not “Are there no orcs here?”
• Don’t over-ask. A couple of questions per situation is plenty.
• If the answer needs detail, roll a prompt.

Our solo loop

Setting up

1. Make two to four characters, or one higher-level character.
2. Pick a site: a published adventure, or one you generate with the core rulebook’s map procedures (p.130–135).
3. Find a reason to be there: a rumour (p.120), the adventure generator (p.122), or a prompt.
4. Set the danger level. It decides how often you check for wandering monsters.

Exploring

1. Describe what the party sees.
2. Rules first, then the Oracle, then a prompt if you need colour.
3. Let the characters act. Use the standard DCs.
4. Run the clock: light burns down, and encounter checks come round (p.112).
5. When something turns up, roll its distance, activity and reaction (p.112–113) instead of deciding.

Fighting

1. Use SoloDark’s group initiative.
2. Ask the Oracle about enemy choices you’d otherwise have to fake, or use the morale rules.
3. Spend luck when it counts.

Between scenes
Rest, count the loot and XP, and carouse in downtime.

Solo habits

• Keep the GM and player hats separate. Don’t decide what’s behind a door before you open it.
• Play what your characters know, not what you know.
• Let the dice hurt.
• Keep a short log, a line or two per scene, so you can pick up next time.

Where to look

Need	Where
Monsters	core rulebook p.189–193
NPCs	core rulebook p.124–129
Treasure	core rulebook p.270–277
Encounters	core rulebook p.142–185
Dungeons	core rulebook p.130–131
Wilderness	core rulebook p.132–133
Random events	core rulebook p.118

SoloDark also points to plenty of other creators’ tools and to a solo-play community (r/Solo_Roleplay is a good place to start).

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Licence

Solo Play for use with Shadowdark RPG is an independent product published under the Shadowdark RPG Third-Party License and is not affiliated with The Arcane Library, LLC. Shadowdark RPG © 2023 The Arcane Library, LLC.