The Lone Toad Newsletter - April 2024
The OSR makes it to Solo RPGs and a Free Croaker RPGs game!
Welcome to the April 2024 Lone Toad Newsletter. I’m happy to say the Toad Army continues to grow, and I haven’t even enacted forced conscription yet. We’ve grown past 250 subscribers on our path to world domination getting the word out about Solo RPGs.
For what is considered a small subsection of an already small hobby, the Solo RPG community is strong and active and I love you all so very much. And because you are all awesome (and beautiful) people, I’m giving you all access to The Lost City of Cargoth, my Ironsworn adventure! Check out the details below. But before that, let’s talk about OSR in solo RPGs.
OSR-ing Your Solo
I’ve been reading and getting into the OSR, or Old School Renaissance, lately. It’s an awesome subset of our TTRPG hobby where rulings are more important than rules, and player knowledge and skills can be more important than their characters. It harkens back to the style of play that was widely characterised in early editions of Dungeons and Dragons.
At first blush, OSR and Solo play don’t seem very compatible. But I think there are some mechanics and principles you can bring into your Solo play from the OSR world.
Rulings over Rules
In OSR this refers to the GM/Referee’s (whatever they are called) ability to make a ruling when an unusual situation comes about. This is especially important when OSR games almost by definition are rules-light games.
You likely won’t find a solo RPG where every possible eventually has a rule for it. We as solo players can take things in such unusual ways, that no designer can account for everything, and if they did, the book would be thicker than War and Peace. So be comfortable making Rulings when the situation calls for it, instead of looking for a rule that may or may not fit.
Reaction Tables
These tables go far back into the history of the hobby and were a way to tell how friendly or hostile a newly met NPC would be. Lots of Solo RPGs and GM Emulators have a way to tell how an NPC or intelligent monster will react to you, but I like the simple tables you can find in a lot of OSR games. Nothing fancy, just a 2D6 table.
Solo Prompts: The Merchant you just met rolled low on the reaction table and is attempting to attack you. Is it someone from your past or is he possessed?
Morale Checks
Outside of movies and video games, fights rarely go to the death of everyone involved. Instead, one side eventually breaks and runs once the fight seems unwinnable. Sure, some elite units of soldiers may fight to the last, but that is an exception. That is why OSR games have morale-check rules, which are commonly triggered when a leader dies or when half their number are killed. If the enemies fail their check they run or surrender. This can speed up combat SOO much, especially when it is already apparent that you are going to win.
Solo Prompts: A local warlord has an elite unit with extremely high morale. Maybe their minds have been altered by a wizard?
The bandit leader is hanging back behind his soldiers. What can you do to get to him and end the combat early?
Retainers
Just because you are playing solo doesn’t mean your character has to be all alone. OSR games have a ton of different types of retainers that can come along and help you, usually for a share of your ill-gotten gains. Torchbearers hold torches and try not to die (and often fail at it), mercenaries will fight by your side, and hedge wizards may cast useful spells. Use retainers to back up your character through dangerous parts of a dungeon or provide some firepower in an area you lack. Just remember, they will want their cut.
Solo Prompts: A down-on-their-luck knight offers to quest with you deep into the dungeon, for a cut of the treasure. Will they try to betray you once the danger is gone?
OSR Solo RPG Suggestions
Scarlet Heroes - by Sine Nomine Publishing
A solo RPG created for GMless and solo play, this is a great entry into OSR-style solo play! Scarlet Heroes is highly recommended by the solo community and is a full setting plus rules in one package.
Black Streams:Solo Heroes - by Sine Nomine Publishing
Created to run classic DND, this is more of a toolset usable with a wide range of old-school rulesets!
Kal-Arath by Castle Grief
Another from Castle Grief! Inspired by old-school games, Kal-Arath takes inspiration from Barbaric!, Mörk Borg, Black Sword Hack and OD&D.
Also can’t get enough of me? I can’t blame you. Follow me on Threads here!
The Lost City of Cargoth - Free Game!
I’m happy to provide The Lost City of Cargoth to my subscribers for free! This game will go on sale later this year for $5 but you can grab it now. Love to hear feedback and ways to improve it before it goes on sale.
Please don’t share this link, instead share this Lone Toad post which will help grow the community!
A lost city, a great power, riches to be made and an ancient curse. The Lost City of Cargoth has many perils and opportunities for an enterprising Ironsworn traveller. At the centre of it all is the Orb of Cargoth, a relic of such amazing power it is only spoken about in hushed whispers.
The Lost City of Cargoth is an adventure to be used with Ironsworn. The game contains:
A 13-page fully designed adventure booklet.
An inciting incident to get your Ironsworn adventurer into the action.
An Extreme Vow to give you hours of gameplay.
Unique Pay the Price and Perils tables built for your journey through the Lost City
Individual exploration tables for the Lost City, The Ruins of the City and the Catacombs with over 30 evocative locations to explore.
A surprising twist that allows your Ironsworn adventurer the chance to make a decision that will affect the whole Ironlands.
8 potential foes and allies including beasts, the unnatural, and other adventurers.
Be sure to check out my other games here!
Other RPG Stuff
Substratum Protocol has launched! Check it out on Backerkit right now! I wrote a preview in the March Lone Toad edition which you can see here.
Ajar! has been thrust into this world. Ajar! is an old-school door generator compatible with MÖRK BORG I made for the DD&D Door Jamb Jam. With five different D6 tables, you can create something unique to torment your players. I've included a Death to Printers, Dead Tree (for printing) and Bad fax versions.
Errant Adventures has started a new season! Friend of the newsletter and member of the League of Incredible Soloists, Steve is an excellent storyteller who creates rich and complex plots. Listen to the new season today.
I did a mini-review of Cartograph: Atlas Edition here. It’s a great map-making game and well worth checking out.
Sundered Isles, the expansion to Starforged is kickstarting and has SMASHED its goals. Congrats to Shawn for another mega-successful launch!
I loved this post from Explorers Design about designing dungeons with Numbers. I never thought about the impact numbers can have on the game and the difference between having one door and two. Worth a read.
Skelton Code Machine talks about Depth Crawls, a mechanic where the lower you go in a dungeon (or similar environment) the more pressure gets wratched up. It’s a perfect mechanic for a solo game and has inspired a lot of thinking in my game design.
Up Next for The Lone Toad
For the Ribbing Adventures Issue #2, we are going into the past. How far? All the way to the first Solo RPG ever created. Buffalo Castle, for Tunnels and Trolls. There will be a little history lesson, a summary of the adventure and review, and then some things all solo players and creators can learn. Be sure to keep a look out for mid-April!
Thank you for Reading!
As always I write this because you all read it. Please like this newsletter and share it with others who may be interested.
Thank you for the adventure. I've never played a pre-made one for Ironsworn before. Looking forward to it.