Surprise! I do ultra-nerdy things like playing a tabletop RPG by myself.
I’ve been working on streamlining a small, portable kit to easily grab and play when I need to. For me, putting all this together (including layout and printing of custom booklets) is half the fun. I posted my latest iteration of this kit on Discord groups and Bluesky. Instead of huge threads on those platforms with all the pieces, I thought I’d compile it here.
The Tools
Shadowdark Core Rules by The Arcane Library
A great all-around system, especially coming from D&D. This solid A5 tome has all the lightweight rules that are easy to learn and run, and lots of tables for inspiration. The procedural nature of Shadowdark makes it a good fit for solo.
The Game Master’s Guide to the Western Reaches by The Arcane Library (selections)
The Western Reaches is Kelsey Dionne’s first-party Shadowdark setting, Kickstarter-funded last year, and will be released soon. The setting books have some updated procedures for hex crawling, camping, travel, and renown I wanted to have handy. I was able to take those pages and print a small set of 6 A5 pages to slip into the SoloDark book.
SoloDark by The Arcane Library
This small booklet is less of a set of rules, and more of a resource on determining outcomes and inspiring some narrative. It includes rules variants, an oracle system to answer questions, dungeon names, and a verb-noun Prompt table.
Sly Flourish’s The Lazy DM’s Companion (selections) by Mike Shae
All Mike Shae’s books in the “Lazy” series are great. The Companion is a good set of tools, inspiration, and generators for fantasy RPGs overall. I curated some adventure generators and tables to help inspire quests and laid them out in a 28-page A5 booklet to match the size of the other Shadowdark books. They’re great for providing a more structured quest or adventure.
Quest Generator by Silver Nightingale
This small pocket-fold booklet is another way to quickly generate a quest by rolling for a quest giver, objective, motivations, location, complications, and rewards. I might use this on its own or to fill out some details I didn’t get from the other books or tools.
Sly Flourish’s GM Postcard
Mike Shae has so many great perks on his very reasonably priced Patreon. This postcard has NPC name lists, 8 NPC portraits, a handful of NPC/location/quest/description tables, and 10 dungeon map sections. Nice to have when I need quick inspiration without opening any books.
Oracle Cards by Grey Gnome Games
This pack of 6 double-sided cards comes with a promo pack for their other games. Lots of open-ended ways to use these cards, including yes/no answers, d6, dungeon/room layouts, locations, and more.
The Gear
2 Metal Dice Sets
The often-used Prompt table in SoloDark is a 2-column d100 table. Several other Shadowdark tables use at least 2 dice as well. So having 2 sets makes it easier to work through those. Also helps to roll two characters’ checks at once. I opted for small sets of metal dice to fit in the box with give it a little more weight for rolling.
Dice Box
Definitely not necessary, but when I came across this Mage Tech Dice Box with magnets, I knew it would be useful. Just big enough to roll dice in, and the 1–20 tracker with magnetic counters is great as a torch timer.
A5 Journal
Since Shadowdark’s books and everything else I made were A5 or very close, I wanted an A5 notebook to match. And since I’m a sucker for dot-grids, that was the natural choice for this Rhodia journal. The paper is smooth, holds up to ink without bleeding through, and has a nice feel with a soft cover and stitched binding that holds up well.
A5 Journal Cover
I don’t remember where I got this particular journal cover, but I just wanted something that could hold the source books, tools, and my notebook. The core Shadowdark book was a little too thick to fit in here, but it’s great for holding almost everything else.
Writing Instruments
Nothing to (ahem)… write home about… Just a simple Zebra 0.7mm mechanical pencil, kneaded eraser in a tin, and a pen that’s always in my pocket anyway.
Index Cards
The most versatile piece of paper known to humankind. I prefer the blank 3x5 variety.
Pouch of Tokens
Just a few wooden meeples and cubes in a pouch. I don’t use these often, but sometimes I want something for positioning that might change too often to draw out in the journal.