Singular Journeys

A System for Creating Spontaneous Adventures

By Daniel Elswit

© Copyright 2021 by Daniel Elswit

Introduction
Singular Journeys is a set of rules and deck of cards that are designed primarily to allow one
person to play out adventures with one or more characters in a roleplaying world without a
gamemaster. It could also be used by a group playing together without a gamemaster, or by a
gamemaster who needs to quickly come up with ideas if a party of adventurers has suddenly
ventured into unexpected territory. This is not a roleplaying game (RPG) by itself, but rather is
used with RPGs to help formulate an adventure on the fly. It is best suited for situations where
players desire a reasonably realistic, thematic sequence of events, where long journeys are
undertaken through unknown territory, and where there is an underlying, consistent storyline.
(Strictly speaking, an RPG is not necessary in order to use the cards to tell a story, but these
instructions assume that Singular Journeys will be used as an accessory to an RPG.)

Singular Journeys provides thematic prompts through card draws to create scenes, answer
questions, help determine reactions of people you meet along the way, and assists in various types
of encounters to help you tell your story. Like any good story, unexpected happenings and plot
twists can occur that will challenge characters and potentially lead in surprising directions.

The initial purpose of this system was to be able to handle solo play in a rich and beautiful, but
somber and serious roleplaying game world where broad-ranging randomness and chaos could
quickly take you out of the moment. But Singular Journeys is not reliant on any particular RPG
system or setting. It does assume, however, that adventures are taking place in a dynamic,
changing world, and that “off-stage” events of some sort are occurring around the characters that
may increase tension. For example, an evil essence in the world could be growing stronger and a
large part of the reason for “adventuring” is to provide aid against this inevitable rise.

A prerequisite for using this document is to be familiar with whatever RPG system you choose,
however it is not necessary, nor possibly even desirable, to use all aspects of a roleplaying system
when playing solo.

Some important aspects needed from your chosen RPG are character development, rules for skill
use, combat, movement and resting, magic if appropriate, and you’ll need a source of detailed
information about adversaries including monsters and non-player characters (NPCs) that you will
face off against.

Getting Started
Playing RPGs solo often means that you need to divide your thinking between what you as the
player know and what your characters know. You may know a great deal about the world in
which your characters are having their adventures, and will likely know more about their
adventure than they do. Part of roleplaying solo is that you are playing the role(s) of one or more
people who know less than you do about their situation, and imagining their reactions and how
they would handle things. It is also up to you to play the role of NPCs, both allies and adversaries
who may interact with your characters. You’ll (hopefully!) be rooting for your own characters, but
also imagine how other entities in the adventure might behave.
Having at least a very rough idea for an adventure ahead of time is helpful, and I find it useful to
put together a small outline using an adventure creation tool. Three of my favorites are The
Covetous Poet’s Adventure Creator, the Mythic Adventure Crafter, and the Adventure
Frameworks associated with the Gamemaster’s Apprentice card decks. Each of these works
differently, and it’s worth exploring them all, as well as other similar products, to find out which
works best for you. Note that none of these will be specific to the world that your characters are
adventuring in, and you’ll need to adapt the results as needed.

Adventure creation tools are generally designed to create a relatively full and detailed adventure
from the get-go. This is NOT the desired outcome in this case though, since you will be playing
through the adventure and will likely want the joy of uncovering scenes, challenges, allies, and the
story itself along the way. But go far enough through this process initially to get the adventure
started. For instance:

 Is there a patron for the adventure? If so, what have they asked the characters to do?
 What is the basic premise of the adventure? Investigating something? Rescuing
someone? Escorting someone or something? Confronting a threat?
 Is the location of the start of the adventure known? If so, are there details about it that
might be known by the characters that should be determined in advance?
 Are there key NPCs who are known at the start? It may be helpful to determine some
aspects of major NPCs, even if the characters do not yet have this information, because if
the NPCs have some background and motivations it will help in playing the NPCs more
realistically, even “off-stage”.
 Optionally, create the first scene or two ahead of time to make sure the adventure starts
with the desired tone. Once things get moving, anything can happen, but if you have a
storyline in mind, this will help get you off to a good start. A potential alternative, if a
patron is sending the characters on a mission, could be to imagine the situation leading up
to this occurring, and the conversation that occurs with the patron.

Journaling
Document your story as it occurs! There are many ways to do this, from writing it on a computer
to hand-writing it in an old leather bound journal by candlelight, but whatever the case, keeping
track of what occurs serves multiple purposes. You’re going to be creating a story using narrative
prompts to help define the plot, and it will be helpful to have a record of scenes and situations as
the story progresses, as well as a remembrance of your characters’ travels. You’ll also need two
specific lists: Plot Lines and People, which will be discussed below. Additionally, if your RPG
system includes a classic experience-point-based reward system, you will likely want to keep an
experience log that includes monsters vanquished and other challenges resolved, in order to more
easily level up your characters at the appropriate time.

Creating Characters
Use your RPG system to create your characters. It is likely desirable to have more than one
character, but the more you have, the more details you will need to keep in mind about them and
the slower the play will be. A compromise, if your RPG system provides rules for this, is to create
one or two full-fledged characters and then use companions who may not be fully fleshed out for
the other members of the party. You could even use the Singular Journeys card deck to get ideas
for background material for your companions. Once you’re more comfortable with running solo
adventures, you may want to create (or recreate) companions who are fully realized characters. In
some RPG worlds, if they are set in a particularly grueling environment, you may also wish to
consider ways in which companions, henchmen, or some sort of escort might accompany the
characters for awhile until they level up at least to 2 nd level.

Creating Scenes
Adventures are made up of a series of scenes. How often you create a new scene is up to you, but
a good rule of thumb is, when traveling overland, at least 3 times a day, and in a settlement or
other confined area, create a scene as each new area is explored or as conditions change, or even
to give yourself more ideas for what’s going on.

To create a scene for your characters to play through, draw three cards and look at the “Scene”
section at upper left. There are three words, a noun, verb, and adjective. For the maximum
number of possible combinations, use one word from each card, with the first draw being the
noun, the second, the verb, and the third, the adjective, and use these words as prompts for a
scene. For example if you drew “Legend”, “Gather”, and “Liberated”, this could be a legendary
figure gathering and liberating people, or it could be a legend in an old book about a gathering
place for liberated prisoners, or it could be that someone has heard an old story about gathering a
type of herb that induces rest because it liberates people from their cares for a short time. Use
your imagination and don’t be afraid to improvise!

Once a scene has been generated, you can fill it out with other details on the cards. Use the
Oracle (described below) to get answers to yes/no questions about the scene, and potentially
populate the scene using the Features and Encounters section and/or an event as explained
below. Add items, motivations, weather, and other aspects from the cards as seems appropriate.

If a difficulty level is required for a scene there are two ways to generate that from the cards:

1. Draw a card and look at the B10 die. 5 and 6 will be average difficulty, lower is easier, and
higher is harder.
2. Ask yes/no questions about the scene, and then assess difficulty based on the answers to
the questions.

The scene section of the cards can also be used to answer questions that are not of the yes/no
variety. Pose your question, draw three cards, and see where the words take your thinking.

Plot Lines
Singular Journeys uses “plot lines” to help keep track of the various aspects of the story. You start
the adventure with at least one plot line that is uncovered during the process of creating the
overall idea of the adventure. For example, if the characters’ patron is sending them on a
dangerous journey to escort someone to a safe haven, that’s a plot line. If along the way, they
meet a merchant who needs help, that’s another plot line. If they hear news from afar of a town
taken over by outlaws, there’s another plot line. Sometimes plot lines can also involve your own
characters, or NPCs.
Each plotline is assigned a number and together, they become a table on which you roll to choose
a plot line randomly to determine how it is associated with events. In a complex campaign it may
be desirable to curate plot lines in such a way that at certain times it is likely that some plot lines
will come up randomly more often than others. To facilitate this create a hierarchical plot line
list, where related plot lines that are less likely to come up in certain areas are bundled together
under a single heading in the top level list. If that heading is randomly chosen, then roll again on
the secondary list for that heading. For example, in the following table, if an event occurs that
needs to be tied to a plot line, roll 1d6. If a 6 is rolled, roll 1d4 to uncover the required plot line:

1. Elf king asks group to investigate orc incursions among isolated outposts along the river.
2. Merchant has been robbed by orcs along the road to the river and offers a reward for safe
return of his goods.
3. Dwarf warrior is searching along the river for his lost kinsman.
4. An outlaw leader has taken over an abandoned tower in the downs across the river.
5. Player characters
1. Thardin the Dwarf
2. Silriel the Elf
3. Anred the Ranger
6. News from afar
1. Pirates have been attacking coastal towns.
2. A group of Pirates have a huge ship that moves without sails.
3. The king has taken ill.
4. A trader along the South Road saw an apparition at an old ruin and believes it to be an
undead soldier.

Rearrange hierarchical lists as the adventure progresses, and remove any closed plot lines.
Continue to keep closed plot lines on a different list, as they are also part of the story of the
adventure and you may wish to refer to them again.

If the characters have personal quests, goals, or long-term threats related to them, be sure to add
those as plot lines as well.

Events
In addition to scenes, unexpected events may occur, often involving adversaries, and occasionally
NPCs. RPGs generally have a mechanism to check for random events, particularly in the wilds or
in dungeons. You can also use the cards to check for events, as follows:

 Three times/day while traveling in the wilds or at each new scene if no encounter has
already occurred, determine the likely odds of an event in that area, draw a card and check
the Oracle section of the card to see if an event occurred. (The Oracle is described further
below.)
 Either draw another card and consult the Encounters column of the Features and
Encounters section of the card for the appropriate type of area or use random
event/monster/adversary tables from your RPG or adventure setting to determine the
 nature of the event. If a scene has not yet been generated, create the scene now as
described in the Scenes section above.

Tension
Good adventure stories include an element of tension that rises and falls at various times.
Tension is related to the anxiety and stress that the characters experience at any given moment in
the adventure. As tension rises, it is more likely that dramatic and unexpected things will occur.
Tension can also affect the likelihood of a favorable answer from the Yes/No Oracle. Tension is
measured on a scale of 1-10. Start your adventure with tension set at 2 if the party starts in a
settlement or known safe area. Start at 3 if starting in the wilds. An easy way to track tension
level is by using a d10, set to the current tension level.

As tension rises, it will become more likely that new NPCs appear, enemies make themselves
known, plot lines change, distant events occur that affect the characters’ situation, dark forces
gather, or very rarely, unexpected hope appears.

Raise tension one point in the following situations:

 An encounter with an adversary ends with a character near death (or worse!).
 An encounter with an adversary ends without resolution (the enemy is still a threat).
 A “- plot point resolution” facet is drawn (see Plot Line Facets below).
 Any other disturbing or strongly negative situation occurs.

Lower tension one point in the following situations:

 An encounter ends with resolution and no character is near death.

 A “+ plot point resolution” facet is drawn (see Plot Line Facets below).
 Any other strongly encouraging, hopeful, or otherwise positive situation occurs.

People
Create a list of NPCs you meet, and number each one. Any time you need to know if something
relates to particular NPC, use this list to determine which one. If a significant number of NPCs
crowd the list, consider making the list hierarchical as described above for plot lines, so that more
likely NPCs will be randomly chosen for a given environment, but it is still never out of the
question that an unusual linkage between events and NPCs may occur.

The Cards
The Singular Journeys cards are made up of a set of randomizers to help provide narrative
prompts to help tell your story. Each part of the card is described below:
Scene Prompts
This area of the card is made up of a Noun, Verb, and Adjective designed to spark ideas for scenes
and situations. For the maximum number of different combinations, draw three cards, one for
each word as opposed to using all three words from one card. The first draw is the noun, second
the verb, third the adjective. Try to work with the initial way the cards come up, in order to
stretch your thinking to potentially unanticipated directions, but, if, once drawn, you feel a
different combination among the nine possible words fits the situation better, use the
configuration that works best.

Non-Player-Character (NPC) Descriptors

Like the scene prompts, the NPC descriptors provide prompts related to people your characters
meet along their journey. Draw twice, once for the culture on the left, and once for the
occupation or class on the right. Additionally, draw more cards for motivation and reaction, both
of which are detailed below.

Dice
Common and a couple of less common dice types are available at upper left, all with correct odds
for the number of cards in the deck. To get a d100 or percentile result, draw two cards and use
the d10, the first draw for the 1o’s place and the second for the 1’s. In addition to the usual RPG
dice types, two less common types are included:

 A die called “B10” is included, which is a d10 where the probability is arranged as a bell
curve, so that the most common results are 5 and 6.
 A Fate die is included for use with the Fate roleplaying system (draw 4 cards for the Fate
result).

Oracle for Yes/No questions

The heart of most solo roleplaying systems is a tool to allow the player to ask yes or no questions.
In Singular Journeys, the Oracle has 7 odds levels ranging from Near Impossible to Almost
Certain, which correspond to between 5% and 95%. To use the table, first pose a yes/no question.
Then, assess the situation, take into account any appropriate skills and extenuating
circumstances, choose the desired level, then adjust as follows:

 Modify level more favorably by one step if tension level is less than 4.
 Modify level less favorably by one step if tension level is greater than 7.

Draw a card, and look at the answer in the corresponding column of the table. Remember that
the object is not to “win”, but rather to have a good time and tell a good story! There are four
possible results, with simple Yes and No results making up 70% of the results:

 Yes
 Yes but (the answer is yes, but there is a complicating or mitigating factor of some sort)
 Yes and (the answer is not only yes, but very much so)
 No
 No but (the answer is no, but there is a complicating or mitigating factor of some sort)
 No and (the answer is not only no, but very much so)

Once you have the answer to your question, interpret it in as logical and thematic a manner as
possible, in keeping with the story you want to tell.

Reactions
Use the reaction randomizer on the cards to determine how NPCs react to your interactions.
Most roleplaying games have a mechanism to determine if a character exceeds a threshold for
being able to communicate or pass themselves off successfully (for example a charisma or skill
check). If that check was unsuccessful or for whatever reason not able to be used, use the first of
the two reaction words. If the check was successful, use the second. Remember that
interpretation within the theme is important. If, for example, an Elven ranger happens upon a
kinsman in the wild and saves his life, but the reaction of her kinsman is drawn as “hostile”, that
could be a story unto itself. Did the two have a falling out in the past? Or is the hostility not
directed at his kinsman at all, but someone or something else? If your imagination and/or
circumstances do not provide a ready answer, ask yes/no questions or generate a new scene to
provide ideas.
Motivation
Use this randomizer to provide ideas for what motivates an NPC. As always, use your best
judgment as to how the prompt fits the situation, but be try to make the drawn result work in
some fashion. If it is truly not appropriate in the situation, draw again.

Object
This randomizer provides options for things people might find, carry, need, or that might
populate a room or other space that the characters might happen upon.

Location
Need to know where someone is going? Where they are from? Where the object of the quest
lies? Locations provide prompts for any time a locale is required. Note that these are large-scale
locations, as in towns, cities, or regions. For more localized locations such as towers or ruins, see
“Features” below.

Direction
Provides the 8 compass directions, in answer to questions as varied as where the wind is coming
from, to which way the monster fled, to where the army of orcs is coming from.

Weather
This randomizer provides a weather report, based in part, on recent weather trends. The entries
are composed of three letters: T, W, and P, which correspond to Temperature, Wind, and
Precipitation. Following each is a “+” or “-”, indicating increasing or decreasing. For example,
“T-/W+/P+” would mean temperature falling, wind rising, and more chance of precipitation. For
best results, establish the baseline early in the adventure, and check the weather as often as seems
appropriate or necessary, keeping track of the trends as the adventure progresses. As with most
of the elements of these cards, use the weather randomizer when it may have a bearing on the
adventure, for instance when traveling in the wilds in the fall when cold and snow could hamper
travel, but don’t allow it to become a burden.

Plot Line Facets

During play, the tension rating will rise and fall. At the start of each new scene, following initial
scene creation, roll (or draw) a d10. If the result is less than the tension rating, draw a card to
determine an extra facet for this scene that you initially did not include in the scene setup. There
are two possible facets on each card, one for areas where encounters are more likely, and one for
where they are less likely. Choose the most appropriate one, and then roll on your plot lines table
to determine which plot line the scene relates to.

Many facets are associated with “Plot Point Resolution”, either “+” or “-”. For these facets, modify
the scene you just created as follows:

 + means that this particular scene is related to resolving a plot line, where a clue is
revealed, a missing person, item, or information is discovered, etc.
 - means the scene causes the plot line in question to be more complex than it originally
seemed, and is further from resolution.

Other facets either relate to new NPCs or other entities appearing, or introduce twists in the
story. Again, remember that facet text does not necessarily need to be taken literally. For
example, if the party is deep in the caverns beneath an ancient dwarven stronghold, and the facet
“Distant news” is drawn, perhaps some old document is found in the caves that has information
relating to a plot line. Or if the party is in a friendly sanctuary and “Enemy is revealed” is drawn,
perhaps scouts bring news of the movements of an enemy related to a plot line.

Location-Based Features and Encounters

The Location-Based Features and Encounters table provides scene elements and encounters that
are appropriate to the particular type of location. Not all features and encounters are dangerous,
though many potentially are. Both the Features and Encounters columns are deliberately vague,
designed to spark ideas, not provide detailed situations. Monsters listed are just to provide an
idea of general type of encounter. It is up to you to make what you will of the results.

Adversary AI
Realistically, adversaries probably won’t just keep hacking away with the same attack over and
over until the battle is over. The Adversary AI is designed to provide some insight into enemy
behavior during battles. Roleplaying games usually have a related compendium of monsters and
other challenges the characters can face, and depending on the system, may have significant
detail related to options the monsters can use in combat. The Adversary AI assumes that
monsters have at least two possible actions they can take, the ability to defend and/or heal in lieu
of attacking, and the possibility of them attempting to escape either stealthily or by outright
running away. There are three rows in the Adversary AI:

 A designated target for attacks.

 The action taken if the adversary has significant health remaining (25% or more)
 The action taken if the adversary has little health remaining (less than 25%)

If an adversary only has one available action, use that action for all action results.