SoloDark

Writing, Design, Layout

Kelsey Dionne.

Art
Trade dress by Brandish Gilhelm. Cover Art: Lucas Korte. Interior
Art: Yuri Perkowski-Domingos pg. 2, Lucas Korte pg. 5-6, Matt
Morrow pg. 10.

Fonts
JSL Blackletter font © 2023 Jeffrey S. Lee. Old Newspaper font
© 2023 Martin Steiner. Fullteron font © 2023 Emyself Design.
Montserrat font family © 2023 Julieta Ulanovsky, Sol Matas, Juan
Pablo del Peral, Jacques Le Bailly.

Legal Information and Attribution Statement

Not for resale or redistribution. Permission granted to copy for
personal use only. SoloDark and Shadowdark RPG © 2023 The
Arcane Library, LLC. The Arcane Library®, Shadowdark®, and
SoloDark™ are trademarks of The Arcane Library, LLC. This work
includes material taken from the System Reference Document
5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://
dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The
SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License available at https://creativecommons.org/
licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
 Solo Gameplay
Welcome to SoloDark, the solo MODIFIED RULES
gameplay rules for Shadowdark
SoloDark modifies some of
RPG!
Shadowdark RPG's normal rules.

As a solo player, you are both

Group Initiative. Choose one
the characters and the Game
character and one enemy to
Master.
make initiative checks on behalf
of their respective groups.
And just like in any game, you
don't want to know what's
You decide the order of actions
going to happen from the
on each group's turn. This can be
start. So you'll need a way to
different from round-to-round.
answer questions the GM would
normally answer.
Chaos Mode. Reroll initiative at
the start of every combat round
This booklet gives you roll tables
(use group initiative).
to do just that:

Light. Light sources last 10

ORACLE rounds each instead of 1 hour of
Use the Oracle to answer yes or real time.
no questions about the game
world. Sometimes you'll get an Luck. If you roll a natural 20, gain
unexpected answer or twist! See a luck token.
the table on pg. 10.
You can have as many luck
tokens as you have PCs in your
PROMPTS group.
Use prompts to spark ideas or
answer open-ended questions. Note you cannot reroll out-of-
See the table on pg. 11. Roll a gameplay results with luck, such
verb + noun to generate a result. as Oracle checks or talent rolls.

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 Getting Started
CHARACTERS
The focus of your game is on
the player characters (PCs) —
adventurers with class levels.

Generate new PCs with the

standard Shadowdark RPG
character creation rules.

Fortune's Favor. New PCs begin

with a luck token.

You'll typically want your group

to have 2-4 PCs. If you have more
than four, it can be hard to track.

If you want to have only one PC

in your group, consider starting
at a higher level.

JUMP IN!
You can head into a pre-written
dungeon and use the Oracle
to help decide your characters'
choices. Or you can create an
entirely new adventure from
scratch (get ideas on pg. 7)!

See pg. 3-4 for gameplay

examples and further resources.

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 Solo Examples
YOUTUBE BLOGS
• The Arcane Library. Kelsey • Castle Grief. Solo gameplay
runs Shadowdark RPG with with a variety of old-school
the SoloDark solo rules. systems. Resources, play
• Night Noon Games. Michael reports, and amazing hand-
runs Shadowdark RPG drawn original material!
with Mythic Game Master • Chaoclypse. Guides, art,
Emulator's handy card deck. game design theory, and
• Me, Myself and Die! Trevor system reviews.
Devall, a professional voice • Lone Horizons. Session
actor, runs Broken Empires reports, solo gameplay video
RPG (his own game), Savage episodes, and resources.
Worlds (with Mythic GME), • The Soloist. News, resources,
Five Parsecs From Home (solo and game reviews for all sorts
system), and much more! of solo RPGs.
• Geek Gamers. Lots of advice
and creative gameplay PODCASTS
examples spanning countless
• The Lone Adventurer.
systems and supplements.
Fantastic narration with 5E
• Wizard Deadloss. The wizard solo gameplay.
uses BECMI D&D rules to run
• Solo Dungeon Crawler. Solo
classic adventures including
gameplay with Original D&D
The Keep on the Borderlands
that passes in real-world time.
and The Veiled Society. He
uses a simple d6 solo system.
• Kill Ten Rats RPG. Minimalist,
SOCIAL MEDIA
approachable soloing with • r/Solo_Roleplay. A friendly
Knave, Black Sword Hack, community for advice,
Ironsworn, and other systems. resources, and game reports.

3
 I Need A...
MONSTER ENCOUNTER
• Shadowdark RPG by The • Shadowdark RPG pg. 142-185.
Arcane Library, pg. 189-193. • City Encounters for Swords &
• The Monster Overhaul by Wizardry by Matt Finch.
Skerples. • Deck of Old-School
• Index Card RPG: Master Encounters by Philip Reed.
Edition by Runehammer
Games, pg. 382-383. DUNGEON
• Knave 2E by Ben Milton, pg. • Shadowdark RPG pg. 130-131.
64-67.
• The Gardens of Ynn and The
Stygian Library by Emmy
NPC Allen.
• Shadowdark RPG pg. 124-129. • Tome of Adventure Design
• Knave 2E pg. 53-59. (Revised) by Matt Finch,
• Masks - 1,000 Memorable chapter three.
NPCs by the GnomeStew.com • Axebane's Deck of Many
authors. Dungeons.
• UNE, The Universal NPC • Knave 2E pg. 14-17.
Emulator Revised by Zach
Best. WILDERNESS
• Shadowdark RPG pg. 132-133.
TREASURE
• The Hexanomicon #1 by
• Shadowdark RPG pg. 270-277. Zariel Kuri.
• Index Card RPG: Master • Sandbox Generator by Atelier
Edition pg. 384-398. Clandestin.
• Ensorcelled Loot Deck by • Tarvannion by Castle Grief.
Philip Reed.
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 Dungeon Names
DUNGEON NAMES
d100 Name 1 Name 2 Name 3
01 Citadel of the Haunted Idol
02-03 Wreck of the Forgotten Betrayer
04-05 Ruins of the Disgraced King
06-07 Chapel of the Barbaric Elephant
08-09 Library of the Monstrous God
10-11 Grave of the Fallen Cult
12-13 Fortress of the Cursed Knight
14-15 Laboratory of the Bound Hero
16-17 Abbey of the Poisonous Pirates
18-19 Prison of the Cyclopean Spirit
20-21 Tomb of the Sky Sisters
22-23 Forge of the Frozen Sword
24-25 Ravine of the Burning Beast
26-27 Monastery of the Thieving Ancients
28-29 Spire of the Crystalline Lost
30-31 Hideout of the Otherworldly Outcasts
32-33 Castle of the Blighted Sailor
34-35 Tunnels of the Celestial Undead
36-37 Halls of the Draconic Mage
38-39 Tower of the Ethereal Hoard
40-41 Steading of the Desecrated Mummy
42-43 Undercity of the Reptilian Usurper
44-45 Aerie of the Metallic Saint

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 DUNGEON NAMES
d100 Name 1 Name 2 Name 3
46-47 Vaults of the Insectoid Mechanism
48-49 Observatory of the Elemental Brothers
50-53 Asylum of the Arachnid Lord
54-55 Sepulcher of the Demonic Descendant
56-57 Barrow of the Fungal Abomination
58-59 Palace of the Golden Hermit
60-61 Keep of the Fey Warlord
62-63 Caverns of the Lightning Hunter
64-65 Fane of the Piscine Guild
66-67 Garden of the Corrupt Vampire
68-69 Temple of the Righteous Philosopher
70-71 Maze of the Mud Warriors
72-73 Redoubt of the Night Queen
74-75 Pyramid of the Hidden Gem
76-77 Sanctum of the Forbidden Secret
78-79 Mines of the Shimmering Emperor
80-81 Lair of the Glass Weapon
82-83 Den of the Radiant Sorcerer
84-85 Pits of the Mad Crown
86-87 Grotto of the Wild Ancestor
88-89 Depths of the Lost Runes
90-91 Stronghold of the Majestic Tree
92-93 Manse of the Antediluvian Assassin
94-95 Warrens of the Prophesied Relic
96-97 Monolith of the Shrouded Blessing
98-99 Crypts of the Cosmic Ritual
00 Dungeon of the Legendary Overlord

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 Oracle
WHAT'S AN ORACLE? INTERPRETING
An oracle is a system to answer If an oracle result needs more
"yes" or "no" questions. information to make sense, use
the Prompts Table on pg. 11.
For example, you might ask the
oracle if the old wizard you've For example, if your character
been looking for is in the tavern. hears a strange sound in the
Then, you make an oracle check next room, you can roll a prompt
to find out. to determine the sound's nature.

BEST PRACTICES HOW IT WORKS

Plausibility. Only ask reasonable Each time you ask the oracle a
questions. Don't ask, "Is there a question, you must determine
+3 longbow lying on the floor?" the odds and then make an
oracle check.
Defer To Game Rules. See if
the game rules can solve your
ODDS
question first. For example, allow
Jorbin to make a DEX check to Before you make an oracle
avoid a falling rock instead of check, decide how likely your
asking, "Does the rock hit him?" question is to get a "yes" result.

Phrasing. Ask your question Unlikely or Impossible. Roll the

with affirmative phrasing. oracle check with disadvantage.
Instead of asking, "Are there
Even Chance. Make a standard
no orcs in this room?" ask, "Are
oracle check.
there orcs in this room?"

Likely or Certain. Roll the oracle

Limit. Ask no more than three
check with advantage.
questions per situation.

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 ORACLE
d20 Result
1-9 No
10 Twist
11-20 Yes

ORACLE CHECK
To make an oracle check, roll a
d20 on the above Oracle Table,
modified by the odds.

Twist. Something unexpected

happens! Roll a prompt (pg.
11) to determine its nature.

Odd Number. If your oracle

check is an odd number
(excluding a 1), the outcome has
a turnabout phrased as a "but."

This alters the situation without

fully negating the oracle result.

"Is there a way to climb out of

this pit? No, but a rusty chain
lies in the mud nearby..."

Critical. If you roll a natural 1

or 20, the outcome is the most
extreme version possible.

"Will the king meet with us? Yes,

and he wants to see us at once!"

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 Prompts
PROMPTS
d100 Verb Noun d100 Verb Noun
01 Stop Fault 24 Block Freedom
02 Tell Life 25 Consume Weakness
03 Trust Battle 26 Pursue Unknown
04 Prevent Lie 27 Reward Glory
05 Deliver Vice 28 Expand Friend
06 Dismantle Memory 29 Waste Discovery
07 Create Burden 30 Capture Lead
08 Resist Treachery 31 Weaken Storm
09 Imbue Trial 32 Reveal Enemy
10 Befriend Risk 33 Investigate Integrity
11 Sneak Prosperity 34 Forbid Science
12 Disagree Time 35 Start Asset
13 Illuminate Conflict 36 Surprise Crime
14 Assemble Light 37 Endure Wisdom
15 Free Unnatural 38 Pull Justice
16 Combine Information 39 Unleash Strife
17 Disrupt Hope 40 Avoid Disgust
18 Demand Journey 41 Advance Danger
19 Obstruct Mundane 42 Agree Balance
20 Push Hazard 43 Deliver Nature
21 Arrive Family 44 Link Chaos
22 Slow Obstacle 45 Hinder Ambush
23 Overcome Doubt 46 Withhold Wealth

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 PROMPTS
d100 Verb Noun d100 Verb Noun
47 Lose Thought 74 Take Essence
48 Evolve Dark 75 Question Dream
49 Fortify Connection 76 Drop Anger
50 Punish Door 77 Accept Vision
51 Ignite Fear 78 Sacrifice Safety
52 Awaken Sorcery 79 Drain Result
53 Defy Honor 80 Hint Place
54 Conceal Spirit 81 Fumble Path
55 Invite Trust 82 Fall Nourishment
56 Break Loss 83 Ascend Theft
57 Allow Failure 84 Protect Decay
58 Open Peril 85 Escape Truth
59 Repel Plan 86 Defeat People
60 Activate Trick 87 Mend Help
61 Gather Mind 88 Acquire Gear
62 Give Pain 89 Guide Idea
63 Reverse Victory 90 Mislead Order
64 Warn Death 91 Banish Success
65 Confront Control 92 Uphold Barrier
66 Betray Knowledge 93 Build Goal
67 Secure Secret 94 Change Luck
68 Darken Kindness 95 Revoke Identity
69 Flee Exploration 96 Seek Harm
70 Win Surprise 97 Destroy Wilderness
71 Scatter Magic 98 Uncover Motive
72 Contain Animal 99 Rest Shelter
73 Assist Way 00 Release Power

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