The Lone Toad Newsletter - May 2024
Build your own unique world with these Solo Map Making Games
Welcome to the May 2024 Lone Toad Newsletter! Last month the Toad army crossed the 300 subscriber threshold! Solo RPGs always seem like a niche within a niche but I don't see it like that. It is a creative hobby filled with people telling stories and designing games.
I'm proud that many of you choose to spend a bit of your time twice a month to hear my ramblings and chat about solo RPGs.
Just like when The Lone Toad hit 200, I can promise something else huge at 500 subscribers. I just like… need to think of something.
But on to this month’s feature!
Solo RPGs are all about building a world that matches your imagination. There are thousands of ways to create your own unique story but I find an amazing way is to build your own world, from a literal blank piece of paper.
Why Draw Your Own Solo RPG Map?
“Geography is Destiny!” - Napoleon (maybe)
Think for a minute, how important geography is to your favourite Sci-fi or Fantasy stories. Let’s take Lord of the Rings, the massive Misty Mountains are a huge part of the stories. They constantly force groups to decide if they go over, under or around them. This creates the many memorable scenes, from the dash through Moria, to the Dwarves and Bilbo stuck up trees hiding from wolves and goblins.
Or take Dune. The geography of Arrakis is essential to the story. The poles being the only place cities can exist, the rocky outcrops that the Fremen live in, and the great storms that keep the ignorant out, are all great examples of this.
The geography of these worlds provides plot points and dramatic locations for stories to happen in. The key to this is to have worlds so well thought out, that you have all those locations mapped out. And that is the benefit of drawing and creating your own world.
Deep understanding of your world
I once heard of a GM who was so deep into their world-building that they started with the plate tectonics of their world because tectonics create geography, and as I quoted above, geography is destiny!
I’m not saying you need to go that crazy, but I think there are benefits to understanding why a city sits on a particular bend in the river (perhaps it was originally where royalty buried their dead and the city grew around that) or why the local cult finds the mountains to be such a sacred site (a meteor struck that mountain thousands of years ago).
Buy-In
When I recently created a world using Cartograph: Atlas Edition I felt so engaged with that world. The shimmering ocean, the rain that fell upwards, and the mouthless people who lived there. I had created it all, with the help of Cartograph and because of that I was super bought into the world and everything going on in it.
I immediately had to play in that world. Right after I finished drawing my map, I created a character using Into the Odd and put them right into that world.
More than just what your Character or Party sees
If you are anything like me you get laser-focused on what your character or party is doing in your world. And that makes sense right, they are the main character(s). But they aren’t the only part of the world and they aren’t the only actors in it.
If you draw your world and understand the intricacies of how it all works, you’ll better understand the scope of everything. If you overthrow an evil king, yeah that is good in all. But now their Uncle who rules the kingdom next door might be pretty unhappy with you and ready to raise an undead army.
Map Making Solo Games
There are a lot of map-making games out there, some you can play with a group and some that are meant for solo play. Here are a few that jumped out at me.
Delve - A Solo Map Drawing Game by Blackwell Games
Hey, remember when I talked about the Mines of Moria, like 2 minutes ago? Well, you can dig your own mine in Delve by Blackwell Games.
DELVE: A Solo Map Drawing Game is a map drawing game that puts you in control of a dwarven hold as you discover the horrors that lurk below.
Dwarves doing dwarf stuff is so IN right now, isn’t it? Delve is not just a mine drawing game, it also has rules for defending your mine from eventual invasion.
Also check out their Sci-fi version, UMBRA: A Solo Game of Final Frontiers
Exclusion Zone Botanist by Exuent Press
Go into a restricted area with nothing more than your notebook with Exclusion Zone Botanist by Exuent Press. Less of a game about making a map of the land, and more about cataloguing interesting and exotic plants. Exclusion Zone Botanist is a different take on world-building.
Mappa Imperium by Nookrium
Probably the most ‘traditional’ of the games on this list, Mappa Imperium allows you to create worlds with deep geographic history. Not only a solo game, Mappa Imperium can be played with a group also!
Dividing the map equally and working together you will create unique landmasses, geography, and resources for your world. From there each player will take command of a major faction and develop it from a struggling settlement to a massive empire, or perhaps drive it into the lost histories of time.
Cartograph Atlas Edition by Ravensridge Press
I covered Cartograph Atlas Edition in the January Edition of The Lone Toad and also did a mini-review of Cartograph on notes. So it probably goes without saying that I like Cartograph quite a lot!
Cartograph is a solo / multiplayer map-making RPG about journaling, exploration, worldbuilding, and resource management. The core rules are easy to learn, and facilitate the creation of a world map through a variety of prompts and tables.
Want to hear more about Cartograph? Well, you are in for a treat. I’m interviewing the creator Brandon Lee of Ravensridge Press for Ribbiting Adventures Issue 3 later this month.
Crowdfunding or releasing a solo game soon? Hit me up! The Lone Toad is here to boost fellow Solo RPG designers. Leave a comment, respond to this email, use Substack’s new messaging thing, write a note into your solo notebook and cast it into the sea and I will grab it when I’m at the beach next.
Also can’t get enough of me? I can’t blame you. Follow me on Threads here!
Croaker RPGs WIP
I’m happy to start talking about what will be either the next or the next next free Croaker RPGs game for those who subscribe to The Lone Toad!
My goal is to release 3 games a year that subscribers to the The Lone Toad can download and play months before they go on sale to the masses.
The Void Chorus
Oh yeah! Folks, I’m excited about this one. Taking inspiration from Alien(S), Alien RPG, Mothership, The Thing and a whole bunch more horror and sci-fi games, books and movies, The Void Chorus is going to be an adventure built to play with Starforged with maybe additional rules for Mothership.
The art is from Grey Gnome games, and it fits the feel of the game so well. The basic premise of the story is a mysterious data cube leads you to the long-forgotten Void Station where… Well, you’ll have to tune in over the next few months to find out.
I can say the game will play out over three acts in a dramatic and guided story that still gives you the freedom you expect in a Solo game.
But Don’t Forget - The Lost City of Cargoth (FREE GAME)
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.
Please don’t share this link, instead share this Lone Toad post which will help grow the community!
Be sure to check out my other games here!
Other RPG Stuff
Eric Dill of the Dragon’s Den has just started his Four Against Darkness play-through. Well worth checking out, especially his fantastic maps.
JeansenVaars has recently updated the Plot Unfolding Machine with a ton of new features.
I liked this story in Tokoyo Dev about D&D’s early attempts to get into the Japanese TTRPG market. It was an abject failure.
Castle Grief showed off his amazing new adventure set in a post-apocalypse / Mad Max world. Studded Leather looks very punk.
Sundered Isle by Tomkin Press has opened their backerkit. I’ve been reading the digital version and will be waiting by my mailbox every morning until the physical one shows up. It will be many months but it is worth it. Missed the Kickstarter? Sign up for a late pledge.
Congrats to Pandion Games for an amazing Kickstarter for Substratum Protocol! Well deserved, it’s a fantastic game.
Revolt! A Fantasy RPG by Always Checkers Games (the designer who brought us Notorious) will be crowdfunding soon. Looks cool so be sure to check it out!
Rivers and Lakes is a Japanese mythology-inspired game based on Thousand Year Old Vampire. Looks really cool!
A great RPG bundle for a great cause. Be sure to support Trans Rights and pick up 529 different RPG games, supplements, and whatever!
Up Next for The Lone Toad
For the Ribbing Adventures Issue #3, we are interviewing Brandon Lee of Ravensridge Press who recently knocked it out of the park with a successful Kickstarter campaign for Cartograph Atlas Edition. I ask him about the campaign, why he came back to Cartograph and how his family is involved. It is a great interview and I look forward to posting it in a few weeks.
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.
I'd love to hear what your favourite solo map making games are and the excellent experiences you've had. Be sure to drop them in the comments!
I can't believe I missed Cartograph when doing my series on world building. Will have to check it out. Rivers and lakes sounds awesome. I also just started a sundered isles game on my substack. It's what you'd expect from ironsworn/starforged and is great so far.