Rules and tables needed to play OSR/0D&D/D&D B/X

games without a Dungeon Master

 Credits
Written By: Peter Rudin-Burgess
Contents
Cover Art: Image by Valgerd Kossmann
Introduction ................................................................. 1
No DM? .................................................................... 2 Interior Art: Enrique Meseguer, Stefan Keller

Tools of the Trade .................................................... 3 Creative Commons License: Attribution 4.0

International (CC BY 4.0)
Likelihood ............................................................. 3
Plot Twists ................................................................ 3 You are free to:

First Die ................................................................ 3 Share: copy and redistribute the material in any medium
or format
Second Die ........................................................... 3
Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the material
An NPC ................................................................. 3
for any purpose, even commercially.
Your PC ................................................................. 3
An Organisation ................................................... 3 The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you
follow the license terms.
A Physical Event ................................................... 3
Under the following terms:
An Emotional Event.............................................. 3
Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a
An Item ................................................................. 3
link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You
Appears ................................................................ 3 may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way
Alters the location ................................................ 3 that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Helps the hero ...................................................... 4 No additional restrictions: You may not apply legal
terms or technological measures that legally restrict others
Hinders the hero .................................................. 4 from doing anything the license permits.
Changes the goal .................................................. 4
Ends the scene ..................................................... 4
Playing out Twists .................................................... 4
Scenes ...................................................................... 4
Complex Questions .................................................. 4
First Die ................................................................ 5
Second Die ........................................................... 5
NPCs, Friend or Foe? ................................................ 5
Record Keeping ........................................................ 5
NPC List ................................................................ 5
Scene List.............................................................. 5
Loose Ends List ..................................................... 5
Solo Play Hints and Tips ........................................... 5
Random Dice Tables ................................................. 6
Tip......................................................................... 6
Random D6 Table ..................................................... 7
Introduction
These rules are intended to allow you to play an OSR, in
this case meaning 0D&D, B/X style games, without a
Dungeon Master.
The game you will get using these rules will be a sandbox
style adventure, you will not need to do any Dungeon
Master [DM] style preparation although having a few
stock NPCs or appropriate level would be helpful.

No DM?
The normal cycle of play is that the DM describes the
scene and asks what do you do? The players describe their
actions. The DM describes the effects of those actions and
the cycle repeats.
In solo play there is just the single character and no DM.
You start by imagining your character in the game setting
and play them through all the social interactions, all the
NPCs and events that would normally come up. At some
point you will reach a point where you would normally ask
your DM for more information. Are there any guards? Are
there any ways out? What can you hear? At this point the
solo rules come into play. You pitch your question in a
Yes/No format. The solo rules will then return an answer
to your question much like a Magic 8 Ball toy. It is then
down to you and your improv. skills to decide what does
this answer mean right now? Often the first thing that
comes into your head is the answer to go with.
If you just got yes and no answers things would get boring
quite quickly. These rules are designed to throw up twists
and turns into your character’s story.
Tools of the Trade Plot Twists
You are going to need just 2d6. It is helpful if they are At the same time as rolling the oracle d6 you also you roll
different colours or sizes. In some respects, if you have a second d6. On a 1 result there is a plot twist. Roll both
been a DM before you should be used to random dice dice again and consult the following table.
rolls changing the narrative of your games. When you roll
for wandering monsters and bad fight can completely First Die Second Die
change the characters chances of success or failure. 1 An NPC 1 appears.
2 Your PC 2 alters the location.
Rolling for surprise can completely change the outcome
3 An organisation 3 helps the hero.
of a fight. All these rolls are just 1d6 and these rules 4 A physical event 4 hinders the hero.
continue that tradition. The d20 may get all the glory in a 5 An emotional event 5 changes the goal.
battle but it is the humble d6 that runs the world! 6 An item 6 ends the scene.
There are several parts to these rules. The most commonly
used part will be the Oracle. The Oracle answers your With your two results put them together to make a short
questions. sentence such as “A physical event changes the goal.”
Likelihood Most of these results need some explanation.
Before you roll any dice you need to decide if the answer An NPC. You should be familiar with what an NPC is.
is more likely to be a yes, a no or whether it is a 50/50 You can either introduce a new NPC or reuse an existing
chance. If you are in an orc hold and you are asking if NPC in your story (See record keeping below).
there are any guards on the exit the answer is more likely
to be yes than no. Glancing up and down a street to see if Your PC. Somehow the root cause of the even comes
there is an unattended horse you can steal is more likely from your characters actions, intentionally or otherwise.
to be a no (most of the time). Have you ever seen a scene in a movie where a character
leans against a bookcase only for it to shift and reveal a
A likely result gives a +1 to your roll. An unlikely result secret passage? That is the PC driving a twist.
gives -1 and a pure 50/50 question has no modifier.
An Organisation. An organisation can be anything
1 or less No, and… from a village council to an entire army or just a single
2 No
representative of the organisation. Most fantasy settings
3 Complication
have guilds and secret orders that easily fit into this
4 Yes, but…
5 Yes category.
6 or more Yes, and… A Physical Event. This is a external physical event, it
could be a door opening somewhere in a house that is
You can see immediately that there are more than yes and supposed to be deserted or a caving in a dungeon. A
no answer. barroom brawl would just as easily fit under this heading.

The ‘and…’ modifier means that the result is more than An Emotional Event. Emotional events are those that
you expected. If you wanted to know if the guards were force or play on your characters emotions. It could be a
alert and you get a ‘No, and…’ maybe and officer has just random act of kindness or something that plays on your
demanded that the guards follow him and marches off. If characters back story.
you got a ‘Yes, and…’ maybe not only are they alert but
one of them thinks he heard something in your direction. An Item. Characters are surrounded by items and simple
machines. You have their own equipment, objects around
The ‘but…’ is the opposite of the ‘and’ modifier. The them as well as traps and unique items in the world.
answer is a yes but it isn’t as good as you had hoped. Think
of it as adding some kind of drawback. Appears. This does not have to mean “as if my magic X
appears”. This twist introduces something into the current
There is also a complication. A complication should stand scene.
between the character and the subject of the question. The
Complication is the first way in which the solo engine can Alters the location. Some thing happens that should
take your game in an unexpected direction. For example, drive the story to change the location of the action. It
you look down the street and ask “Is there a horse I can could be as simple as learning that the wizard you are
steal?” The result is Complication and the first thing that looking for is in a different city or a pit that drops you into
comes into your mind is that looking down the street you a cavern below the temple.
see your arch nemesis riding into town with half a dozen
of his mercenary followers.
Helps the hero. The help could be a simple as a farmer amazing role playing and challenge your improvisation
allowing the hero to sleep in their barn to a sage giving up skills. If you are five levels down in an undead infested
valuable information or a key NPC offering aid. catacomb and the dice say an NPC helps the hero. Where
did this NPC come from? How did they get here? You
Hinders the hero. Is the gate guard being just need to let your imagination provide and answer.
cantankerous? The sage refusing to see anyone? Has a
roof collapse blocked the way out? Scenes
Changes the goal. This twist can really change your These rules have mentioned scenes. A scene ends when
story. Changing a goal may be a piece of information that you could imagine a director shouting Cut! or you feel like
changes what you were planning to do next. It could be skipping a block of time. More importantly is your ability
that someone else completed the quest before you and to think in scenes. You do not need to play every scene.
now you need to find them? If you were sat around a gaming table with friends you
would not role play every minute of a mundane journey
Ends the scene. You should see Scenes below for more into town. As you are the only player and the game is for
on scenes. In short a scene ends whenever a director your benefit only you can pick the scenes you want to play.
would shout cut, when the DM would hand wave away a There is no reason not to skip great swathes of a dungeon
period of time or the action changes location. When this crawl and just play the most exciting scenes, the first
twist comes up something will happen to bring about an meeting with the undead guards, confronting the dark
end of scene. priests in their temple and then slaying their horrendous
snake god.
Playing out Twists
You can also jump about in time. If you character died
A twist does not have to happen instantly, the second you
confronting the priests you could jump backward in time
roll it. You should rather see it as a note pinned to your
and carry on playing the same character but explore how
character or storyboard. Once you have decided what the
they came to be on this quest.
twist would mean for your character you should then try
to work it into your character’s adventure. Sometimes they When we cover record keeping, scenes is one of the things
will be instant. Frequently, the best solution will create so that you may want to keep a record of.
many unanswered questions that they will drive some
Complex Questions Record Keeping
Not every question can be answered with a yes or a no. If It is helpful to keep a written log or journal of your solo
you eavesdrop on one of the villain’s lieutenant’s adventures. This helps you pick up where you were later.
conversations then yes or no is not much use to you. This is no different to keeping game notes except there is
no planned campaign as a backdrop.
In this case you roll two dice, or one die twice, and check
the following table, just like building a twist. Some people will make a few oracle question rolls and
then write up an entire scene as if it is a chapter in a book.
First Die Second Die Others will record very little. I personally just use bullet
1 Plotting against 1 an ally or colleague. points and record questions, answers and key points. It is
2 Uncovering 2 a foe or traitor.
very terse and would mean nothing to anyone else but it
3 Supporting 3 a new force or an old enemy.
4 Opposing 4 old lore or magic. only has to serve as a reminder to me. I also find that the
5 Creating 5 a death or murder. less time I spend writing the more time I can spend in
6 Discovering 6 an alliance or surrender. character.
Regardless of the style of journal you keep it is helpful to
As before, you build a short sentence and then try and keep a few lists.
work this into your game. Typical complex questions
NPC List
relate to conversations, the contents of scrolls and books
and orders given by officers, but you will come up with An NPC list just needs to keep the barest of details, name
hundreds of other uses. race and location and a brief note about your meeting. The
location is important as when you revisit a place it helps if
The golden rule is that you consider the story so far, the
the same NPCs are there. It helps to make the world more
current situation, the sort of adventure you want to have
consistent. If you have a list of NPCs and the oracle tells
and finally the dice rolls.
you to introduce an NPC it often makes sense to use an
Imagine you are trying to gather some rumours in a town. existing NPC rather than constantly creating new ones.
There are a couple of women sat by the well doing laundry For you an player and DM not having to create hundreds
and chatting. You get close by and listen in. You roll a 5 of detailed personalities makes life easier.
and a 6, Creating an alliance or surrender. Depending on
the sort of adventure you are having are they Scene List
matchmaking and arranging a marriage between their You can number or name scenes as you play them and at
eldest children or are there rumours that a battle went so the end of the scene add a descriptive note. Glancing
badly that the king has been forced to accept surrender? down a scene list is almost like fast forwarding through
The same rolls made in a dockland dive of a tavern could your adventure, but it is also useful if you want to insert a
have two lowlifes negotiating a ceasefire between their flashback scene between a pair of scenes you have already
gangs. It is the context that is vitally important. played. I record which NPCs were present as well as what
I was trying to achieve.
Ultimately if the roll makes no sense then discard it or if
you have a better idea, go with that. Loose Ends List
It is inevitable that you will end up with a great many
NPCs, Friend or Foe? unexplored plot threads or loose ends. Why did your
Not everyone is going to be your friend and likewise not nemesis ride into town that day? Who was the lieutenant
everyone is going to draw swords and try and kill you. plotting to kill? Complications can create loose ends, story
NPC reactions can be handled using the regular Oracle twists often create loose ends and complex questions do
but you can use your characters Charisma in in addition the same.
to likelihood modifiers. For example, if it is highly unlikely
When this list get to more than half a dozen it is worth
that a castle guard will let you pass but you have a +2
seeing if you can tie some of them together into a deeper
modifier from your Charisma then that gives you a net +1
and more complex plot that your character has just
on the roll. You must remember that depending on the
brushed the surface of. Highlighter pens are useful here as
question. If you ask a negative question where a Yes will
you can group by colour. These loose ends could be used
be bad for your character, then inverting you Charisma
to explain some of the more unusual dice rolls. If
bonus/penalty would make more sense.
someone is going to be murdered that could explain why
the wizard you are looking for has fled town!
Solo Play Hints and Tips Random Dice Tables
❖ The golden rule is do not ask too many questions. Ask On the following page is a random dice table with nearly
a question and possibly a follow up if you are still not a thousand d6 rolls. You can use them left to right to top
sure but then just start to improvise. to bottom, any which way you like so long as you use them
❖ Do not ask game breaking questions. Don’t ask if you in sequence.
wake up and find 1000gp under your pillow or a
Random dice tables speed up your gaming, both solo and
vorpal sword at the end of the bed. If you need these
at a regular table. If there is a chance of wandering
things just add them to your character sheet. It is your
monsters you can easily scan down the list and see how
game, no one will ever know!
long it would be before the monster would turn up and
❖ Playing as a solo hero in a game designed for parties
you can work that knowledge into your narrative. If you
of 6-8 heroes is hard. You may want to start at 2nd to
can see that nothing would happen until midday you can
3rd level. This also adds more scope for skipping back
work with that.
into your characters past to play flashbacks.
❖ Don’t start your first solo play sat in a tavern. Take a At a regular table, if your players are anything like mine,
leaf from Hollywood and start right in the thick of the they will regularly force you into improvising. If you don’t
action, a roof top fight against thieves, in a runaway want it to be obvious that you are improvising, random
carriage careering towards a cliff or surrounded by tables make it appear you are consulting game notes when
zombies in a boneyard. You know the sort of you are actually letting the dice decide.
adventure you want to have. Start there and start in
the thick of it. There is no significance to the numbers being grouped
❖ The first time you solo play it will probably be slow into threes or three by three blocks. That is purely for ease
and stilted as you don’t know the rules or what to of reading and highlighting.
expect. Don’t worry, this is normal and the more you Tip. Highlighters will never obscure the number on the page so you
play the faster and more fluid it all becomes. can use the page once and highlight the used numbers in yellow and
❖ It is useful to have a stock of pre-generated NPCs. then go over them again in green then pink and so on.
When you are learning a new game, it is useful to
make a few characters to try and get an idea for how Random dice tables like these are useful for wandering
the rules work. Keep those characters and use them monsters, to see if elves spot a secret door without alerting
when you need an NPC. That saves breaking up your the players that there is something worth searching for.
game to create an NPC at a crucial moment.
If a player suddenly thumps a town guard then you can
❖ Narrative Description is your friend. Have you ever
glance three numbers along and you have his strength, if
had a character in a barroom brawl and asked the GM
he still be standing and wants to thump the character back.
if there a bottle or chair at the table you can throw?
Or maybe you asked is the chandelier secured by a When used with these solo rules they can completely
rope, when you wanted to swing across the hall. In replace the dice. Print off the table of rolls and have it side
solo play the answer to all these questions is yes. It is by side with whatever table you are referencing. It speeds
your story, your adventure, you are star and director. the game up immensely and doesn’t break the suspension
The props will always be in the right place. of disbelief nearly as much as making multiple dice rolls.
❖ Fail Forward. If something goes wrong and the
adventure would end or there is no way out ask the
oracle. In the movies the hero faces seemingly
impossible situations all the time and somehow gets
out of them. You are the hero, it is OK to save
yourself.
❖ The questions you ask should be the ones best for the
game and not what is best for your character.
Random D6 Table
3 6 3 1 1 1 2 6 6 5 4 6 2 4 3 6 1 6 4 5 1 6 4 5 1 2 1
2 4 3 3 5 3 2 1 3 4 3 2 6 5 1 2 4 1 2 2 6 1 3 1 3 1 2
3 4 4 3 6 3 4 4 3 1 1 3 6 6 1 4 4 3 5 6 6 5 4 5 2 3 2

2 1 3 3 6 5 2 6 6 3 2 2 2 3 2 6 3 3 6 1 2 2 4 4 4 6 4
6 3 3 1 4 5 6 6 2 6 4 1 3 6 6 2 6 5 1 4 6 4 4 5 6 1 6
6 2 3 4 4 1 4 6 1 4 1 6 3 5 1 4 1 3 3 5 6 3 3 5 6 1 5

3 1 5 2 5 5 2 4 3 6 6 1 3 3 1 1 5 3 3 6 3 4 6 1 6 6 4
6 5 3 1 4 3 1 5 3 1 5 3 4 3 6 4 6 1 5 2 2 3 4 1 5 2 5
4 5 3 6 5 1 2 3 2 4 2 5 5 2 1 4 1 1 5 5 4 6 4 6 1 2 5

1 1 1 1 6 1 2 2 2 1 1 4 5 6 2 5 1 1 5 4 4 5 6 4 5 6 4
3 6 6 3 6 3 5 2 2 5 2 2 6 3 5 3 2 4 1 1 1 1 6 6 4 2 2
1 5 2 5 5 1 5 1 1 1 4 4 1 2 3 5 2 4 6 1 4 5 4 4 3 3 2

4 6 2 4 2 5 1 4 4 6 4 4 5 6 4 4 3 6 1 4 5 6 3 2 5 5 5
2 4 1 5 1 6 4 6 6 1 6 6 5 3 1 3 2 4 5 1 5 4 4 5 5 5 5
5 3 2 5 1 3 3 1 2 3 6 5 4 4 5 5 2 1 4 5 4 5 6 4 5 6 1

6 4 5 1 1 6 3 2 6 3 3 6 3 6 1 3 2 2 3 5 5 6 3 6 3 3 4
3 1 1 6 4 5 5 3 6 2 2 3 4 6 3 5 1 2 6 5 2 4 3 2 2 4 5
4 4 4 6 5 3 1 4 2 2 4 6 1 5 6 1 4 1 5 5 3 2 6 4 1 3 2

6 1 5 1 6 5 3 3 2 2 1 1 3 3 5 5 4 5 4 1 3 5 1 3 2 3 2
3 2 5 6 5 3 1 3 1 5 3 6 4 4 3 6 6 6 1 4 2 1 4 6 4 5 6
2 2 2 2 4 5 6 2 6 2 1 3 5 2 5 1 6 4 3 5 3 5 3 2 5 3 6

1 3 3 4 1 4 1 3 6 3 1 4 6 3 4 1 6 5 4 3 2 2 5 3 4 4 5
4 2 3 5 5 5 2 4 3 6 2 1 4 3 3 1 4 5 6 2 3 2 3 2 4 3 4
5 5 6 6 4 1 1 1 2 1 1 4 3 5 2 4 2 6 2 6 6 5 4 2 6 2 1

5 2 6 1 5 2 5 1 5 1 2 1 4 6 4 2 6 5 3 5 6 4 3 3 4 3 1
3 3 3 5 1 3 5 6 5 5 1 6 6 4 3 3 6 5 4 4 4 3 3 6 1 2 1
2 1 2 6 4 6 2 3 4 1 5 4 6 5 6 3 4 1 1 2 5 2 6 6 3 3 4

5 5 4 3 3 4 3 4 5 4 4 3 6 3 3 2 2 2 6 1 6 6 3 4 6 3 3
1 5 2 4 1 5 4 2 3 6 3 1 5 2 5 6 1 5 2 3 2 2 5 6 1 6 5
6 6 1 4 6 6 1 3 1 2 5 3 5 5 2 1 1 4 3 3 3 6 3 4 2 6 2

1 2 4 5 6 3 5 5 6 4 6 2 5 1 1 4 5 1 3 1 1 2 3 4 2 6 2
6 5 1 2 3 3 1 1 2 5 5 2 1 2 6 4 5 5 5 1 1 4 6 3 6 3 3
5 6 2 2 2 2 1 4 3 2 1 1 5 2 4 5 4 5 2 2 1 6 2 3 1 5 6