The fine folks at Exalted Funeral sent over a review copy of Disciples of Bone and Shadow for us. By Black Oath Entertainment, its a handsome little book that contains a novel solo RPG. The aesthetic is firmly in the progressive black metal category – I listened to Altar of Plagues as I played and that fit the vibes nicely.

Probably the biggest hurdle for enjoying tabletop RPGs is that they require a group or, at the very least, a GM and a player. Solo TTRPGs tend to have more in common with pick your path books and haven’t really seen a ton of development beyond that (surprising, especially when you consider how many board games now have rules for solo play).

Disciples creates a randomly generated solo RPG experience that is different every time you play, kind of like a roguelike videogame. The system is recognizably old school and pretty paired down. No classes, but there is an archetype system that dimly echoes them without being confining. The most unusual thing is the corruption stat, which is a bit of a ticking time bomb. You get corruption points by messing about with magic – hit your max, bye bye character. Oh! Surprise twist, you play a party of two!

Exploring the world is facilitated by two sets of random generation rules – one for the overland hex map, one for interiors on a traditional grid, though the work similarly. Every step you take, you’re creating the world, determining its features and discovering its perils by consulting a series of random tables. I really, really love this approach. It plays super fast and challenging – not knowing what lies ahead, because it doesn’t exist yet, tests your ability to improvise. As does not having a GM to make sad puppy dog eyes at when you blow your combat roll.

Keen to see how this develops. You could make modules for the game (there is a sample one to get you started), but I think a much cooler way to expand it is through the release of more and more tables.