I know AI is a contentious topic and I’m not trying to discuss or dismiss those concerns, or argue that anyone should use AI. I also appreciate this sub's stance on AI discussions!
What I’ve noticed is two very common states of AI conversation, ones that we've all seen many times. Either it is...
“I don’t use AI at all and no one else should either”, or
“I’m trying to use AI to replace a human GM, and it sucks.”
I know people are using it in a lot of interesting ways, and I’m interested in discussing a more nuanced and helpful approach to using AI as a tool with solo RPGs, and in ways that are ethically, creatively, and practically different.
I’ve been thinking about it in terms of “Tier” usage, based on how much of the solo-play process you delegate to the AI and what boundaries protect creativity. Higher tiers listed below are not better tiers; they simply delegate more of the experience to the AI, which means more potential usefulness but also more risk.
Here is my first pass at the different Tiers:
Tier 0: No AI
This is the foundation that everyone should use. You have maximum authorship, and even if you do plan on using AI, it will give you an important foundation from which to understand how AI tools might help. This one is a no-brainer.
Tier 1: AI as a Record Keeper
This is the least intrusive use of AI. If you keep your solo RPG notes digitally, you can use AI to parse them and keep you organized. You can summarize sessions, organize notes, track NPCs, list unresolved threads, and create “return to play” summaries after time away. If you struggle with organization or continuity, or if you just want to offload some of the administrative tasks of running a game, AI can assist. The boundary here is important: AI is not adding any content to your game.
Tier 2: AI as an Advanced Oracle
This is my personal favorite tier, and there are two basic approaches here: AI can help you create specific oracle tables on the fly, and AI can help you interpret oracles. Both approaches can surprise you, which can be valuable in solo play. The player still uses normal solo tools such as dice, random tables, tarot cards, Mythic-style prompts, random words, etc.
Example #1, Creating Tables:
You could use AI to quickly create a custom oracle table specific to your current situation. Let’s say you are playing a rules-light OSR dungeon crawl, and your character is sneaking through a flooded, goblin-controlled mine. You could ask the AI to create a d20 oracle table called “What Complicates the Flooded Mine?” with each result being two words and get entries like “goblin lanterns”, “runaway ore-cart”, or “rising water”. This table is more useful than a generic dungeon table because it’s tied to your actual location and situation. You can also ask for multiple words or even sentences if you find one-word prompts too vague.
Example 2, Learning how to Interpret Results:
We’ve all struggled to interpret results at times, and it is an important creative skill to build. Paradigm shift: AI can actually help you build that skill instead of replacing it! Take this prompt: “Help me interpret the oracle result Betray+Sanctuary for Ironsworn without providing specific suggestions.” When I tested this, it talked at length about the relationship between the two ideas, what they might imply, guided me towards a vague “something or somewhere associated with safety is no longer trustworthy” and then prompted me with several questions to think about, such as “Who or what is depending on that sanctuary?”
Example 3, Being Surprised with Options:
You can ask for options from the AI and select or riff off one of them. “Given (the current scene), give me five possible interpretations of Betray + Sanctuary.” Even if you are the best oracle interpreter in your hometown, you will almost certainly get some ideas that hadn't occured to you, and one of them might spark an idea that makes for the most interesting branch of the story. It can add an element of surprise, which is very difficult to create on your own, and you still have plenty of creative license to change the final interpretation.
The important boundary for all of these is that the AI is only suggesting possibilities. The player chooses, rolls, modifies, or rejects them. The AI does not decide canon.
Tier 3: AI as NPC Emulator
At this tier, you are using AI to portray NPCs in a scene. This addresses one of the most awkward and unsatisfying aspects of solo RPGs: dialogue.
In traditional solo play, you often have to roleplay both your character and the NPC, which can feel artificial. You already know what both sides are thinking, so there’s no real surprise or tension, and any kind of social uncertainty is hard to create. As the player, you can stay in your character role while the AI temporarily portrays a specific NPC.
This takes a bit more work and is a good candidate for a custom GPT, but the results can be very rewarding. You need a template of information to give to the AI so that they run the NPC effectively and don’t default to being too cooperative. What they want, what they know and don’t know, how they feel about the PC, etc. You can also include things like personality, accents, behaviors to give them more flavor. Often this can just come down to feeding the AI with NPC oracle results that you rolled. This is a deep topic that would need a separate conversation to adequately cover.
The important boundary is that the AI is still not the GM. It shouldn’t decide outcomes – it is just portraying a character from that character’s limited knowledge, motives, and emotional state that you gave to it.
Tier 4: AI as Scene or Encounter Assistant
I have experimented in this space, but I am going to take the easy way out and say that this is too detailed a topic to discuss here, plus this is already too long.
At this tier, the AI runs an encounter from structured inputs: situation, NPCs, hidden information, pressure, scene type, exit conditions, and consequences. The player still handles rules and dice. The key is that the AI is not being asked to run a whole campaign, just one structured unit of play.
What I will say is that I think this is the practical limit of where “AI as an effective GM” exists right now. I also think it takes a paradigm shift in thinking. Instead of trying to emulate a GM, focus on what an AI can do well that human GMs struggle with, and design it from the ground up. It also takes a lot of prompting experience, knowledge of building custom GPTs, and lots of trial and error.
The important boundary here is that the AI just runs the scene, not the campaign. The player still owns character agency, rules, dice, and canon.
Tier 5: AI as Full GM
Unfortunately this is where many people start - the most difficult tier - usually with limited AI knowledge and basic prompts, and then they run into real constraints and conclude that “AI sucks at being a GM”. This is also where most other AI discussions take place, so no need to rehash it here.
Final Point
I think it is useful to ask, “What challenge in solo play is this tool helping to address, and how much authority am I giving it?” rather than treating every use of AI in solo RPGs as equivalent.
Someone using AI to organize session notes is doing something very different from someone asking AI to be their GM. Someone using it to voice an NPC is doing something very different from someone using it to replace their own creativity.
Personally, I think the safest and most useful uses are the ones where the player keeps control of authorship and final decisions, while the AI helps with specific challenges that solo play can make difficult. I’m curious how other solo players think about these boundaries, including people who choose not to use AI at all.
Anyway, that’s my current framework. I’m not trying to settle any debate, just make the conversation a little less all-or-nothing and hear about how others may be using AI.
I'm trying to work out how a solo mystery can give you useful clues without making you know the answer before your character does. The discussion here about choosing dungeon routes without enough information got me thinking about it.
Say you find a muddy footprint outside a locked room. Do you decide who left it straight away and keep that separate from what your character knows? Or leave the cause open until more clues turn up?
The second option sounds more surprising, but idk how you stop every theory from becoming true just because you thought of it. What rule or tool helps you keep the mystery fair? A small example from a game would help.
Context: I’m researching narrative play for Metlivi Adventure.
Hey all. I make a free rules-lite game called GATEWAY RPG, and I built a companion app for it. Flagging two tools inside it that are completely system-neutral, in case they're useful even if you never play my game:
Dice roller, fully offline
Solo oracle tables for all sorts of things: NPC, locations, traps, Hooks, Secrets.
No GATEWAY knowledge needed for either. The whole app works offline and it's free on Google Play with zero ads or paywall. (Android only right now.)
There's GATEWAY-specific stuff in there too (character sheets, the full rulebook) if you're curious, but the roller and oracles stand alone.
I tried a few different Solo RP games but never really got further than a single “session” or two”.
Then I realized I’m the forever GM of my playgroup. I rarely ever play as a PC. So it was a bit jarring to switch to being a PC AND trying solo play both new experiences at the same time.
I started a new solo game where I am just prepping sessions the same way I would if I were GMing my friends and it’s been a blast.
within the “session” itself I’ve just been using mythic to determine what the PCs might be doing.
I want to try Triple-O for this as well but I haven’t gotten that far.
So far the prep and worldbuilding on its own has been enough fun!
Just an experience I wanted to share — prepping for an imaginary group has filled a great niche for me.
If I'm running a small party solo, the part I'm unsure about is keeping player knowledge separate from what each character knows.
Say the rogue finds a hidden door while the others are outside. I know it's there, but having everyone immediately act on it feels kinda off. Writing a separate journal for every character sounds like a lot, though.
Do you keep little notes per character, assume they share info between scenes, or just let it slide unless the secret matters? A small example of how you handle this would help, esp when the party splits up.
Basically the title. I like scifi more but if the gameplay and adventure of Bastionland is so much better then I don’t mind playing that either. But I also know Astroprisma is easier to play solo because Bastionland has those myths that only the dm is supposed to know
Hi folks, what are your favorite wilderness and dungeon generators? I’ve really enjoyed using the native tables in Scarlet Heroes, but would like to try some other tools. I’ve used Delve from Ironsworn and Gold & Glory. I’d like to find something that works well with OSR or 1e DnD. But I’m always on the hunt for new tools and inspiration!
I have played and ran 5e for years and see how i can just roll for stealth to sneak past a enemy. From my understand of OSR it is done more around player skill. How does stealth function in OSR as a solo player? I feel like I am missing something and fighting everything in OSR seem to lead death. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I played Advanced DND (1st and 2nd edition rules) for many, many years before moving to DND 5e. I think it would be fun to do a solo_roleplay with the earlier editions. What I like about doing it with 5e is the system it has for determining the challenge rating of encounters, and then adjusting it for party size, so that I can come up with encounters that my 1 or 2 person party can handle. The second edition Monstrous Manual doesn't have that. Anyone have a workaround or suggestions? I assume that the characters and the monsters in the two approaches are not equivalent.
Hi. I’m new to the world of dnd. I’ve so far just created my own custom world. I wanted tips on how I can actually play now that I’ve built a world, built an economy, built a large array of characters and built a couple of custom magic mechanics.
I’m planning to go the dice and paper route so everything is super random and exciting.
I wanted tips on if I should write an entire journal to keep track of my campaign or if there’s a simpler way solo players are tracked their games.
The idea is that I'm pretending to be a wizard from another world who somehow woke up in the body of a person on Earth. I don't have his entire backstory figured out yet. I'm just imagining what it would be like for someone from a completely different world to suddenly find themselves here, with no idea how anything works.
During my everyday life, I imagine myself going on little reconnaissance missions, exploring my surroundings, and trying to understand this strange world. Things we consider completely normal become mysterious or magical from my character's perspective. For example, I might think of TVs as magical mirrors that display images, cars as self-moving transportation devices, and money as paper used to exchange for goods.
I also keep a diary written from my character's perspective, documenting what he's discovered about this world. So far, he's been trying to figure out things like geography, economics, technology, and human social customs. I make things up as I go, based on what I encounter in real life.
I'm not playing a solo RPG with dice, rules, or random tables. It's more like an ongoing, improvised roleplay that happens in my imagination throughout the day, with the diary as a record of my character's discoveries.
I guess it's somewhat similar to immersive daydreaming, but with a continuous character and a journal that develops alongside the experience.
Has anyone else ever done something like this? I'm curious whether there's a name for this kind of hobby or whether other people enjoy turning their everyday lives into an imaginary adventure like this. I'd love to hear about your experiences!
In this week's article, we use a popular Irish term and concept to describe a method of controlling tactical wargame scenarios with over 15 beings on the board as a Solo GM.
TL;DR: I want to start a PF2e campaign solo, I don't want to run an Adventure Path (prewritten module), I need tips, strategies, tools and random tables for: overarching plot and subplots, dungeons, encounters, etc. If you want to skip the long post, go to the bullet point list that starts with QUESTIONS.
To give you some context:
RPG player since 2020 (yeah, you know why), fell in love, played multiple long full campaigns. Systems I've played: 5e, PF2e, Draw Steel, Slugblaster, Blades in the Dark, Mythic Bastionland.
RPG GM since 2024: I have run 2 PF2e full campaigns, and I'm currently running 1 PF2e, 1 Draw Steel, 1 City of Mist.
I've been testing the waters of Solo RPG for a while now:
I started with PF2e running two Adventure Paths (playing 4 PCs and the GM), Abomination Vaults and Hellbreakers, for 3-4 levels each. Reasons why that didn't work for me below.
I played a full campaign of Slugblaster solo (1 PC), and an arc of Mythic Bastionland solo (2 PCs + 2 squires, with a self-made system for world discovery). Went great, but I want to go back to PF2e.
I've read Mythic Game Master Emulator (Mythic GME) and tried its random tables. I really like the system (without having tried it yet, other than the Fate chart) but I *really* dislike the random tables. I found that the random tables given by Mythic Bastionland, despite being small in comparison, were miles better just because they were *focused* on the kind of campaign that Mythic Bastionland expects. With GME, it's just not the case, because it's made to be system- and setting- agnostic, and that made them super uninspiring for me no matter what I tried. So while I really want to try the system, I need to find other random tables to make it work.
What doesn't work (for me) with prewritten adventures:
Abomination Vaults is a mega-dungeon. It was a good pick because it let me explore the dungeon on my own terms, and tackle the challenges of each room as I encountered them. But I got bored of the room-room-room with minimal interactions outside the dungeon, because I wasn't yet familiar with the mechanics of solo RPG.
Hellbreakers is a more traditional campaign with a good mix RP-Exploration-Combat. BUT, what really made it not work was that every time I encountered a new situation, I had to read the GM-only text, which gave me "if players do X, then..." which right from the get-go gave me "the answer" of what I had to do. In the end, it felt like I was following the most tedious railroad, because I just couldn't ignore and forget it, or "stop reading before" (because there's always relevant information afterwards, and you need the full picture to make the world react accordingly).
So, long story short, I simply don't want to keep trying prewritten adventures and I decided to go on with a completely homebrew adventure. BUT, I don't prepare the campaign beforehand (essentially, do prep), because that'd feel like I'd be running a prewritten adventure with extra steps, even if I try to keep it light with prep.
Ideally I would like to go into this campaign with a minimum of "overall campaign prep" (tone, basics of the setting, maybe some major locations or map) and then "play to find out", using randomizers to give me inspiration and build as I play. I think I'd go with Mythic RPG for the Fate Chart and the NPC/Thread list, but I definitely want some other random tables (or build my own, if that is even doable?).
But I really need some help with these QUESTIONS:
Design dungeons as I play (so I don't know what's behind the next corner).
Randomize encounters. I am perfectly capable of creating my own PF2e encounters, but I wonder what would be the best way to: randomize the enemies, randomize the map, etc. Maybe it's just about getting a general vibe for the kind of fight through oracles, and then make a fight from scratch with that concept. It's doable, just a lot of work to do it in the moment.
Suggestions to come up with the plot as I go. I did that with Mythic Bastionland, but just because the game has its own play loop that worked really well with randomization.
Random Tables: any randomizers for Golarion specifically? Or general ones but that you've found to be inspiring? I just don't like the ones in Mythic GME, I'm sad to admit.
And anything you can think could be helpful!
Again, sorry for the extremely long post, I have a problem :_)
Since rewards aren't stated for urban adventures do you just work them into the narrative or are you not supposed to give yourself loot for completing an urban adventure? How do you guys handle it?
Like the title says, i'm looking for either further space adventures to play within The Wretched (the Alien-like solo rpg game) or other very similarly themed games? I've played a few times, and while I really enjoy it, there is much repetition from game to game. When I face the same prompt for the 3rd time, I dont really care to delve into my thoughts (same as last time probably) for journaling purposes, and just skip to the next card prompt. As fun as it is, its not highly replayable. Any suggestions? Thank you!
Reading the sub, I came across Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings.
The premise sounded fantastic, and I was genuinely interested in giving it a try. Then I came across this statement from the creator (it is on their website):
If you are a supporter of the right I am going to ask that you not buy my games. I don't want your money, but more importantly I don't want you to feel comfortable enjoying things produced by the people and systems you want to destroy.
Yes, I mean members of cartoonishly evil hate groups, this includes Trump supporters too.
People who make art and beauty and fun universally revile you and it's time you started to feel that. I'm lucky enough that I don't need your money. You aren't welcome here, you don't get to play with my things. Shoo.
I have no problems with progressives or left-wing creators, but I am neither. It sucks because Thousand Year Old Vampire seems like exactly what I was looking for.
So, can anyone recommend a good solo journaling RPG with similar storytelling (long-lived vampires and their experiences) that doesn't come with a weird discriminatory/cultish political statement?
I've been playing The Magical Year of a Teenage Witch, which as far as I know is like a cozy version of A Thousand Year Old Vampire. I've done a few prompts so far, and I'd like to continue expanding on the characters I've created and this story, but I think I need more crunch and oracles to keep me going.
I'm currently considering using Tricube Tales and the solo tables, but I'm unsure how to mesh the two together. I'm also new to TTRPGs so I'm not used to rolling dice for social interactions, but this could be a chance to start.
Have you ever been in a similar position? How did you add more crunch to a journaling game?
TL;DR: Find the way of playing that brings you the most fun. Do not be afraid to try systems, whether they are complicated or simple. Nor should you hesitate to bend the rules if you believe it will improve the experience, but remember that in a world where you can do everything, nothing shines in particular. Restrictions provide motivation.
PS: This is not an advertisement for any system. All those tested here were paid for by me. Everything is a personal and subjective opinion.
I am an eternal DM with a group that always has trouble getting together. Like many people post here, I began my TTRPG solo journeys without knowing how to start. I looked for videos and did some tests, but I couldn't get hooked on the mechanics...
Ultimate Solo RPG Toolkit (Silver Nightingale)
... until I found the system that tells you how to play. It tells you everything: how to move, what to do if this happens, or if that happens. That was a great breakthrough because I didn't have to think about anything, just roll dice. I discovered that I liked creating worlds, deciding geography, surprising myself with a swamp near a settlement, etc... The problem appeared when it came time to travel that map. The mechanics could cause the character to get lost or not advance, and I had to narrate and invent what happened at every step. What had been a creative activity—designing the world—became an obligation: simulating and narrating everything.
DnD 5e
My great love, my collection of books... how could I not be able to play it? I decided to mix the gameplay system of SoloKit with the combat and roleplaying mechanics of DnD. I started a game, but my character got lost a lot according to the day-to-day rules of SoloKit. Additionally, if a quest indicated that I had to go to a temple in the desert, the fact of discovering the map hex by hex didn't allow me to know where I should walk. I decided to change the format. Now, the world's biomes were generated before playing. Only what was in the hex was discovered day by day. But DnD mechanics are very cumbersome; they don't allow for agile combat, which is not what I'm looking for.
SoloKit
I returned to the simplicity of the system. Another game, this time with the map already generated. I made a lot of progress, but I realized something. My "Eternal DM" sense told me that I had to note everything down. I was practically writing a book while playing, and that hindered my game. I don't like "journaling"; I just want to roll dice and roleplay, but I have a bad memory. So I modified the entire notation system. Something similar to the "Loner log". I moved forward with a new game, but my character, according to the mechanics, got lost a lot, and when I reached the settlement I was supposed to reach, I felt overwhelmed because I had to invent the outcome of the adventure (a betrayal or something like that awaited us). I didn't feel like it. The system overwhelmed me.
Adventurous
I read the book, bought it, translated it into my language and drew the map; I started playing but didn't hook onto the mechanics. I don't know if it was a lack of will or if I truly didn't understand, but I didn't want to play.
Gemini
I had done tests with AI previously, but I got bored and abandoned it. This time I proposed a system, a rudimentary memory for the AI so it wouldn't forget, and the rules of my favorite, 5e. I started the game, the story advanced but there was something that bothered me, as if it were going in circles. Nothing was ever completed; something always appeared. After a while, I got bored.
I decided to dust off Tiny Dungeon 2e; perhaps its light mechanics would help me handle combat better.
Claude Code
This time I will change the approach. It won't be a hexcrawl. There will be an existing world, with history and everything. And there will also be a pre-defined adventure. Claude will handle the narration, and I will handle the mechanics. Claude will maintain the character sheets, story sheets, location sheets, etc.
This time it worked. The adventure was already defined, so the AI wouldn't start inventing things. And as long as I handle the mechanics, I won't run out of context so that the AI can dedicate itself solely to narrating. It worked; I had a fairly long session. But it's only a test, with a character that doesn't entirely convince me. Another game.
This game was more thought out, more elaborate. The first adventure had no combat; it was only dialogue and diplomacy against the AI. The second adventure started immediately with combat (at my request) and so far the plot continues to work... but as a player, I know everything. I know how the story ends (because it was already defined), I know what endings I have, and I know how to roleplay to reach the end I want. It's not bad, but I miss the element of surprise.
Loner 4e
I decided to try it. This time the AI doesn't define the story; it only helps me organize the sheets. And so far it's going well; there are twists where I get stuck, but one query to the AI and it gives me options for advancement.
---
That is my experience. So far I haven't tried much, but I have certainly tried. I don't try some systems because reading in English tires me (I speak spanish);
In between the mechanics, I built scripts that help me maintain order and generate characters. I even created a chat to talk with NPCs using my local LLM. I know there are many detractors of AI, but I see it as a tool. If it serves me, I will use it. It's not that I lack imagination; it simply complements it.
FAQ
Why didn’t you try [INSERT SYSTEM]?
It just doesn’t catch my attention. Also, I’m lazy, and I had a hunch that the problem isn’t the system, it’s the way of playing.
Do you only play on a computer?
Yes. The fewer things I have on the table, the less of a chore it feels to play.
You should try playing with pen and paper.
I did. I even have some things printed, and I made a dice converter so I only roll a d20 and interpret the other rolls from it. I still prefer the PC.
You shouldn’t use AI.
I understand the position, but for me it’s just another tool. If it helps me, I’ll use it.
How do you keep the AI from forgetting things or making stuff up?
I just remind it every so often. The character sheets and adventure sheets live in files, and I ask it to re-read them. If it invents too much, I use an OOC (out-of-character) mechanic to tell it what it did wrong.
If the adventure is already defined, how do you keep the surprise? Did you try oracles (like Mythic)?
Yes, I use oracles. Mythic feels too cumbersome for my taste. And since I had defined the adventure myself, I already knew how it ended, so there were no surprises. The fun was figuring out how to reach the resolution. The surprise came from making my character do nonsensical things and seeing how the NPCs (played by me or the AI) reacted. But as I mentioned in the post, that takes its toll too, which is why I’m playing Loner now.
Do you write the adventures yourself or buy them?
I make them up myself with the help of oracles and AI. I roll the oracles, the AI gives me a list of suggestions, and together we expand on them.
If your group is hard to get together, did you try playing online or with people in other time zones?
Yes, I tried online. I didn’t enjoy it.
Why are you so strict or square whit the rules?
Because I am a software developer and I have a very sequential way of thinking. It's hard for me to bend a rule.
I’ve been working through the One Ring RPG cause I love middle earth so much and want to give RPGs a try (never played a single rpg solo or in a group) and I’m realizing there is a lot going on.
When I was looking into getting into the hobby, I watched some videos of people playing so I can understand the gameplay. Quite a few of them had these small (maybe 6-10 inches and no more than 20-30 pages) books/games. I think one was called Miru or something like that and it looks a lot lighter and simpler to start with.
Is there a few solo games like that that are lighter/smaller but like the One Ring that I can use to get into the hobby? The only thing is I’m not a big fan of all the Kill a god, or play a god type stories/games.
Sorry if this is the wrong way to post this! I used the promotion flair just in case, calling a prototype a free product seemed wrong. This is my first time I'm writing solo rules so I might be a bit all over the place.
The game is called, "Love in A Place Like This"?
It’s still in the very early stages, but I’d really appreciate it if someone could give it a look!
It’s based on he/she loves me, he/she loves me not. That’s the simple game where you take a flower and alternate he loves me, he loves me not, as you rip of petals, the phrase you say as you rip the last petal off telling you the result.
If you prefer you can skip right to how to play, but here’s an overview:
To play, you make a journal from a note book or folded stack of papers.
Write prompts with options telling you to “pull” a specific number of petals on the early pages, along with a few visual aids like a mood tracker.
Next prepare the latter pages so they are partially cut into strips to blindly tear or fold over by touch, representing the petals.
Once the notebook is prepared, you can take it and a pencil anywhere, and play anytime you want with ease!
You encounter prompts as you turn the pages, make choices, and “pull petals” accordingly.
If you end on they love me the relationship improves, and if you end on they love me not it worsens.
Whether a number to pull is even or odd can tell you what the result of a choice will be, but the option to tailor your response to what will improve a relationship is an important part of romance games!
Plus with randomly ordered prompts with options that limit whether you can improve a relationship or at what cost, and the end of pages or pre-folded page breaks stopping pulls early making them an apparent 50/50, things aren’t always predictable or safe.
Theres some more nuance to it, but we’ll get into it later.
I hope that sounds interesting to some of you! Heres step by step set of instructions on how to play.
How to play.
Preparing the notebook:
1. Create 2 characters and a scenario.
I made a bold, inexperienced cadet fresh out of the academy in some sort of military as my player character, and their experienced but uptight and slightly snarky superior officer as their love interest.
Its good to make characters that can be at odds at first, starting with a bit of tension. Feel free to consider yourself the narrator instead of focusing on one of the two characters’ perspectives.
For the scenario what type of “dungeon” the characters are forced to escape or explore and why they are there is important.
Mine were on a mission to scout an abandoned space station when the ship they were crew of suddenly left without them.
Because the prompts I wrote are designed around the idea of scifi exploration, if you come up with your own scenario it should fit with that. It should also be an isolated environment with escape and survival being uncertain, but the rest is up to you. You could have the two characters wake up from cryostasis to find everyone else on the ship dead, or the ship they came in on destroyed, the stars are the limit!
2. Create the mood trackers.
Draw five expressions on the front page of the notebook or booklet made out of a folded stack of papers, from angry to blushing/in love.
Add two dots next the each face.
If you want, add a phrase or two based on how you think the love interest would react to situations and choices based on the relationship/mood level.
Circle the lower dot next to whichever face represents their relationship starting out. I selected the second lowest face.
Also write down whatever version of the phrase they love me, they love me not, applies to your characters so you can mark which phrase to start with next.
(Something like this!)
3. Create or select prompts
For now use the provided prompts. You can decide to use all 15, or only 10 or 5 and pick the ones you like.
Write the ones you select into the next pages of the journal, or at least their title and the corresponding options. You can find the example prompts after the preparing the journal section is finished.
Alternatively, if you plan to have a device open while you play, you can use the prompts on the provided list without writing them down in the journal. This step is just for if you want a fully portable experience.
4. Number pages with prompts
Now that you know what prompts you are going to use, you need a way to randomly encounter them. If you are using a phone or computer alongside the journal rather than writing in prompts, you can just use a random number generator each time you turn a page/finish an entry to see what number prompt to use.
But, if you are using only pencil and paper the way I suggest handling randomization is randomly numbering both the pages of the journal and the prompts. That way when you turn a page a new number presents itself and it corresponds to a prompt. This can be a bit hard to keep track of or do in a way you don’t remember, so heres some tips.
a. Write down a list of numbers somewhere, one by one, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… untill you reach the number of prompts you are going to use.
b. Next write x down on whatever page you intend to start journaling, the one after the prompt list ends. This is where you will write the inro.
c. Turn the page or the next page so that you can no longer see the x you wrote down, then randomly write one of the numbers from your list. Cross it off on the list.
d. Repeat this till all of the numbers have been used, then randomly number the prompts you wrote down with the same set of numbers, or use the order they are in already as numbers when journaling.
(Here the number four is visible on the left page, but there is none visible on the right, if you turn the right page you will se another random number, not 5)
5. Transcribe banes and boons.
Sometimes a prompt will provide an additional benefit or consequence for a they love me or they love me not result. These are called banes and boons.
Write them in the journal on the last page. (Again, this step is unnecessary if you plan to use this document as a reference while journaling).
6. Create petals.
Starting with the second to last page of the journal, make cuts along the right edge of the page so that foldable paper strips appear. They can be short cuts, its fine if the majority of the page is still connected.
Don’t track how many cuts you are making, but about ten provides a good set. There will hopefully be pages with an even number of cuts as well as odd but not a fully equal amount of each, leave it up to fate as much as you can.
Finally, at a few pages randomly rip out or pre fold over a petal, making a page break before the page ends.
(It should look something like this. In this cases pages with pre-folded petals are next to each other, try to avoid doing that all the time. On the right page you can see a particularly thick petal near the end, varying size can make where the page ends a biiiiiit harder to tell)
I’m not totally sure how many pages should be cut per number of prompt, but I did 15 prompts and cut 6, which was a bit generous. Try 5 for 15, 3 for 10, 2 for 5 maybe. Whether you select prompts that have a benefit for hitting a page end effects things as well.
With that you have fully prepared the journal and can begin play, or wait and begin at a later time. The next section will cover actually playing the game, first…
Here are the example prompts and boons.
Prompts: prompts feature choices, each with a number of petals to pull. Even ones keep the mood going, generally resulting in whatever result the last one did, positive or negative, while odd ones switch up the vibe and often yield the opposite. The higher the number, the more risky or draining in term of resources, mental and physical state, or just luck the choice will be.
Sometimes prompts will have special rewards or conditions, especially if you hit a page break. In general though, you move the mood tracker one up or down one circle if you do not hit a page break, and two circles, thus a full face, if you do. More on that later.
The Flood: As you reach about halfway across the seamless walled room, it begins to rapidly flood with liquid.
Try to run or float across it before it floods completely5 petals. If page break hit they love you not does not decrease relationship.
Find a safe place to wait it out, huddled together for warmth 4 petals. It might be a raised platform or air pocket in a full flood. If page break hit relationship goes up a single dot in addition to any other change.
The Feeble: You encounter a lone, weak creature or robot. It doesn’t seeeeeem threatening.
Move past it, sneaking by or killing it 2 petals.
Try to tame it, 5 petals. If you hit a page break, it is tamed successfully on they love me, gain a boon. On they love me not taming fails and it is hostile. If you do not hit a page break you can decide taming success or base it on the result as you wish, it has no mechanical effect.
The observatory: you enter a room with strange and captivating apparatus, a giant telescope, vast windows with touch screen displays, or powerful radar that you can almost feel.
Move on 0 petals. Nothing occurs.
Spend time observing or investigating3 petals. If you hit a page break, you gain knowledge that brings hope or despair, enlightenment or insanity, bane or boon in line with result.
The nightmare: The two of you take a chance to rest, finding safety or simply overwhelming exhaustion. In your dreams, it finds you.
Let terror overtake you 0 petals. Decrease the relationship by a single dot.
Search for yourself within, or be swept up by, a deeper darkness. Pull petals till you hit a page break and gain a bain if they love you not. Results are otherwise normal for a full stop.
The chasm: A great gash of rended mettle and sparking wires, void peaking through, lies between you and the path forward. Weightless, you must use tethers to cross.
You pass over the chasm 1 at a time 5 petals. If you hit a page break, and they love you not, instead of moving relationship down: Pull petals till the next full stop, spending a page. If they love you not again, the love interest is lost in space. They can communicate through coms for the rest of the dungeon, as they drift further and further out into space, doomed. If the relationship is full and you complete all prompts, there may be a way to save them… up to you.
Walk together, tethered to each other 3 petals. If you hit a page break, and they love you not, instead of moving relationship down: Pull petals till the next full stop spending a page, if they love you not again, you are both lost in space. See ending, all petals used.
The garden: you find yourselves in a lucious garden, strange fruits and creatures you’ve never seen or the familiar, nostalgic sight of the flora of your home world(s).
Enjoy and move on, 0 petals. The relationship goes up one circle.
Spend time foraging, pull petals till a page break. If he loves me gain a boon as well as usual result, if they love you not, the relationship remains the same.
The escape pods: the pods are functional, but there is no navigation system to aid their path, they will simply travel in a straight line in space till they run out of fuel. life support fades.
Move on, pull two petals. Your hopes are dashed. For now.
Use them, all the remaining petals in the journal, ending your journey. Each time you reach a page break, record the result and continue. If two thirds are they love me, you both reach safety or are discovered before life support runs out, otherwise you both meet your end. Can pick this option after this room has been encountered, but if there are not at least 3 page breaks when it is used, it auto fails, your luck has already been spent.
The crew: The room is filled with barely functional suspended animation units, some of them have occupants, injured or on the edge of life and death some… just not right.
Try and save them 6 petals. If page break hit boon or bane accordingly. Some may be so changed from the experience they attack, no one can be saved for long either way, (it is always just you and your love interest against the world) but you may be able to give some of them closure or learn something valuable.
Move on, or shut of life support and let them end, 1 petal pulled.
The dragon, how!? Scales gleaming, eyes burning, talons rending at metal and air, breath hot and foul enough to turn flesh fetid, what should not be is.
Your only chance is to run 2 petals. If page break hit, pull another page. If you get they love me twice, you are stopped but you miraculously slay the beast, gain two boons. If the result is mixed you barely escape with your lives. If you get they love me not twice it overcomes you, see end all petals spent.
Genetic alterations lab: a room full of glowing displays and blinking buttons, and two tubes of pulsing liquid, quivering almost in time with the beating of your heart.
Run last programmed experiment 5 petals. What monstrosity or miracle is created? What was this lab, maybe even this station, for? Boon or bane according to result.
Try to program a new experiment 3 petals. On they love you, you may choose to do The feeble prompt as well, even if you have done it before.
Move on 0 petals. Nothing happens, after a look around the area you leave it, learning and gaining little.
Robo tea party: you encounter a group of robots, gathered around a table, raising delicate cups to face plates and trickling, tea? In and over themselves. A gesture or word of invitation.
Join 3 petals. Decide whether it goes well or poorly, the petals tell you how that impacts the relationship.
Decline 2 petals. If this results in they love you not, even due to a full stop, a fight breaks out, pull two additional petals after the result.
Leviathan song: Creatures resembling whales pass by, swimming through space, creating a beautiful song where there should be no sound.
Stay a while and listen 0 petals. Relationship improves one dot.
Hunt them for their power 5 petals. Perhaps out of foreknowledge of their usefulness, or legends, or out of fear or desperation to use anything you can to save yourselves, you find a way to hunt the peaceful beasts. Whether you get they love you or they love you not, gain a boon, any one you like, even ones that you normally couldn’t. Relationship is effect as normal.
Message in a bottle: drifting through space, something catches your eye. A glass jar with a paper in it?
Move on, 0 petals. Do not decide what is in the bottle, you will never know.
Try to obtain and open it 5 petals. Decide/discover what is in the bottle perhaps based on the result from the petals. Does it bring a message of good tidings or ill? Perhaps something more than just a message, something dangerous.
Dopplegangers: you encounter two figures, indistinguishable from you and your partner. They are not friendly. This prompt is a mess, but was quite fun to use.
Face yourself, 4 petals. By mind, tongue, or arms you prevail. A result of they love you functions as normal. On they love you not however, you lose track of what happens to your partner. On a result of they love you not, circle the current mood before you decrease it. Continue play as normal. If you would get a bain, instead it is revealed that your partner was replaced! Reset mood to where it was circled and lose a page (of petals) dealing with the doppleganger/finding your partner. If you would get a boon first, instead you find proof your partner is the real one, move relationship up a full level. If you encounter neither, and reach the end of the game with full romance, the doppleganger is revealed, reset the mood to where it was circled and either reunite with your partner… or decide to escape with the doppleganger, having learned to rely on them and giving your relationship with it a chance. If you reach the end without full romance… you may never know the truth… or perhaps your character learns in the future far, far too late to stop what is coming.
Face your partner, 4 petals. Gain two banes on he loves you not. (Yeah… figured the other one was so complicated I wouldn’t work to hard on this one, it sort of incentives risking the doppleganger though. That’s neat).
Boons and banes: some prompts provide additional benefits and consequences, most you can only select once. There is one of each however, that can be selected as often as you get a boon or bane, but only once you’ve used all other options. You can also get a boon by increasing your relationship when it is maxed or a bane by decreasing it when it is at minimum.
List Boons:
Skip a prompt when you want, repeatable, can only select if all other boons are gone.
Advance the relationship two dots.
Every time relationship increases by two dots, increase it by an additional dot.
Your next choice on a prompt takes 2 less petals.
Switch loves me/loves me not tracker once.
List Banes:
You must pull all the petals on a page, repeatable, do not select unless all other banes are gone.
Lower relationship by two dots.
Every time the relationship decreases by two dots, decrease it by an additional dot
Rip three petals.
You must tear double the petals on your next choice
You are ready to begin play
1. Intro
On the page marked x, Journal whatever you like about… your characters… how the adventure starts for them… the gist of their relationship… how they arrive in the “dungeon” they must try to explore or escape… and what it first appears like.
Its not a bad idea to have a mystery in mind, something you’ll decide the truth of based on better prompts. In the intro my characters arrived on the station, had a little back and forth, and then were shocked to see their ship leave without them. Neither trying to make contact or wait worked so they were forced to explore the station for something to help them. I did not know why the ship left starting out just like the characters, but decided the answer based on prompts that resonated.
2. Find out what the first prompt is and begin journaling.
Turn to the first numbered page or digitally generate a number. Check back to the prompt page and find the one that corresponds. Make your choice.
You can base it off of factors such as petal cost or the result its likely to have based on being odd or even, or just run with what you think your character(s) would do.
Begin journaling. Writing what the room looks like, your characters reactions based on personality and how they feel about each other, and how the decision on how to proceed occurs.
It might be a unanimous decision, one reached after an argument, or one character rushing forward despite the others objection. Keep their current relationship level and personalities in mind.
3. Pull the petals (you can do this before journaling at all if that helps you think of an entry better).
Reach a hand to the back of the journal, feel the last page and fold over or rip of a petal (strip of paper), then say or think they love me or they love me not depending on what you think is appropriate for them.
Pull another with the opposite phrase that you said last time if your are supposed to pull more than one, and continue until you have pulled the required number of petals.
If you end with the phrase they love me, draw a circle around the next highest dot on the mood tracker. If you end on they love me not circle down one. Erase the original circle, leaving only the new one.
On the same page as the mood tracker the phrases they love me they love me not should be present. Circle the opposite one to what you ended on, you will start with that phrase the next time you pull petals.
If you run out of petals to pull in the process of this, either reaching the end of a page, or a pre-folded petal, end the pulling early and use the phrase that you last pulled a petal with. This may change the even or odd value of petals pulled and thus the result, move the relationship tracker up or down two dots instead of one.
You can choose to tear more petals than the prompt requires as long as you do it in sets of two to keep the even/odd value. If you hit a page break this gives you a chance to get boost in relationship where you otherwise wouldn’t, and can impact some prompts more than others.
Prompts may have additional effects such as boons or banes, especially if you reach a page break, something you can choose to do by pulling extra petals, so read each one carefully. Some can even end the game early.
4. Journal the result of the choice.
Now that you know the effect the choice will have on the relationship, you can continue journaling. The stage is already set, you’ve described the problem, and how your characters are choosing to address it, now its just a matter of what happens when they do.
In some cases, particularly where boons and banes are involved, the petals may tell you how well the action goes as well as the emotional impact. Most of the time you can decide success or failure for yourself. An action might work, but still drive a wedge between the partners based on the petals, or fail but bring them closer together, even when one of the characters didn’t support the action in the first place.
Keep the characters, the before and after state of their relationship, the petal number representing risk or resource costs, and what you think would be a cool result of the prompt in mind when journaling.
In testing I did silly things like make the message in a bottle just an ad for a casino, an “out of the box”, marketing attempt. Also more serious things like tie the genetic experiment room to the dopple-gangers, and them to the reason the ship left without the characters, for me at least things seemed to come together quickly!
5. Next prompt, continue
Repeat steps 2-4 but on the next numbered page, using the marked phrase as your starting point. Think about if there are any elements of the last prompt you want to incorporate into the next ones. Are supplies running low or an injury a lasting threat? Did someone find a useful object or learn something about the station? What does it all mean for this encounter?
Continue until you run out of prompts or petals.
6. Ending the game.
The game ends if a prompt says it does, you run out of petals, or arrive at the last prompt and resolve it.
If you reach the last prompt, ignore the number of petals and tear until the next full stop, or use all that remain in the journal without stopping. The prompt, including its effect on the relationship, resolves as normal, making the state the relationship ends in one last 50/50. If you use a boon to skip the last prompt, this final 50/50 does not take place.
7. Resolving a out of petals ending.
If you ran out of petals, the party of two fails to escape the dungeon before disaster strikes, running out of food, air, or being critically harmed by a threat from the prompt you ran out of petals on.
Write a final journal entry to describe their last moments or how everything ends. You may focus on the prompt or gloss over a resolution or escape, focusing on how things take a turn after it. Take losses caused by previous prompts and the relationship level into account. Do they die in each others arms? Go their separate ways and die alone? Strike each other down in a rage?
If the relationship is at full when you run out of petals, a special option exists. One of the characters can sacrifice themselves to allow the other to escape. How this plays out in the story is up to you, but to give an example given the provided prompts, the characters could return to the escape pod room with a promise to take their chances together. Instead one stays behind in the control room, having figured out to access the stations computers over the journey, and locks the other in an escape pod as they launch it and guide it to safety from the station.
8. Resolving a out of prompts ending.
If you reach the last prompt and resolve it, the players find a way to escape, potentially related to the prompts featured throughout the journey. Once they are free from the station it has a huge impact on the relationship, represented by the last 50/50. It may bring them closer together once they can have safety and space from the other, or drive them apart.
Write an epilogue for them based on their relationship level, if it is at its highest they might immediately start a committed relationship for real, second highest, slowly find true love between each other over time, middle neither avoid nor seek each other out while the ghost of what could have been hangs over every awkward meeting, second lowest resolve never to meet the other unless forced, lowest, part sworn enemies.
For my run, the love interest was replaced with a doppelganger, but that left the relationship frozen at full, while the doppelganger appeared to lower it. They were soon revealed, and the characters reunited, they discovered the doppelgangers had been created in experiments in the genetic experiment room, and eventually figured out that the captain had been replaced by a doppelganger, getting through to their ship with a stronger communication array on the station and explaining the imposter situation, allowing the ship to return for their rescue.
Cut to an epilogue of them vacationing on the casino planet they found an ad for, the uptight love interest in a Hawaiian shirt sipping a drink. Together they realize they may have left their pet slime back on the station (cause I forgot about it completely during later prompts, oops), and the love interest smirked and suggested they return to find it, much more cavalier than they had been before the dungeon.
Heres a few optional rules that might be useful.
Feeling for petals alone can be pretty tough sometimes too, as the next pages can be felt behind the folded petals of the one you are on making things tough. Maybe try alternated cut pages and full blank pages when preparing the journal (a waste of space but oh well), or tear chunks off of full pages instead of folding precut strips, a page break happening when the right edge is completely gone. Your subconscious can influence the results that way too.
You can give a number from 1-6 for what kind of prompt the love interest might like, depending on how daring (more petals) or conservative vs eccentric they are (even vs odd). If you select a prompt that matches that number, you can change the result to they love me even if it shouldn’t be. This sets the starting phrase to they love me not for the next prompt as usual. I forgot to test this rule when playing so it might not work so well.
