Freeform Solo Roleplaying (a Guide)
A downloadable Solo roleplaying guide
New Updated Edition! Expanded with new material, illustrations, and a new condensed Pocketmod Zine version summarising the main content.
It can be all too easy to get caught up on the rules of roleplaying games, and forget about the actual roleplaying - "playing a role", inventing a story, and having an immersive imaginative experience.
This guide describes an accessible and easy way to get started in the art of Solo Roleplaying, without rules or a system.
There are no stats or numbers. Instead you rely on your knowledge of the characters, the in-world logic of the setting, and the natural flow of the story.
Once you give yourself permission to play without rules, you find you are capable of roleplaying any kind of experience or setting. Overcome option paralysis, and jump in!
Download
Install instructions
Thank you for downloading. Have fun! :)
Please note: the Pocketmod Miniguide version is a condensed summary only, not the whole text of the main guide.
If you like what you read here, you might be interested in my freeform solo game, Of Moon and Leaf: https://mothteeth.itch.io/of-moon-and-leaf
Development log
- Updated Edition! Plus new Pocketmod Zine!Aug 30, 2025
- Freeform Solo Roleplaying (a Guide)Sep 17, 2023
Comments
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It feels like we all start knowing how to improvise and play in our imaginations as children. Over time, we become self conscious and that skill is lost-- sometimes it feels as if even the spark is lost too. This guide is a wonderful starting place for bringing the spark back, encouraging freeform play and always coming back to the heart of things: that this is for fun! Wonderful guide! Whether you feel quite comfortable improvising or you want to hold onto some familiar strategies like oracle tables and dice, there's suggestions that can benefit all kinds of experience levels!
Thank you! I agree, holding on to that playful imaginative freedom is a skill, and the adult mind has a way of trying to codify and systematise everything. In a way, the style of solo roleplaying I enjoy is a return to how I used to write stories as a child, before my adult mind got all caught up on plot structure and literary seriousness. Through solo roleplaying, I rediscovered the pure joy of experiencing a story, in the moment, without judgment or editorial thought. As you said - a return to "play". Thanks again! Wishing you happy "play" :)
This is a really well written guide, recently got into solo journaling games, and by recently I mean yesterday where I basically ended up writing a whole short story by playing 32% by Lostwaysclub.
I like this guide, as it explains some things you can to do what solo journaling games do, without having to attach yourself to a system. I like 'solo roleplaying' I guess because its essentially a elaborate system of writing prompts- and I write better when prompted.
Thanks, I'm glad it's helpful to you :) Good luck on your journey!
Does there happen to be a discord or anything for this system :0
Sorry, no. But if you sit alone in the forest at midnight on the full moon, you may find yourself able to commune with others of like mind... :)
More seriously, though, if you're looking for discussion of freeform and other styles, you'll find some great conversations and theory in the NSR Cauldron discord. There are some very knowledgeable and passionate people there.
this is the perfect introduction for me, actually! thank you for writing it <3
considering how i'm not all that interested in playing rpgs in groups, having the succinct explanation on how to do it solo is really appreciated :o
Thank you! Let me know if you have any feedback, as I've been considering how I might update this guide (or if I should just leave is as is.)
after a reread, i think i only have 2 main ideas:
A) how/where to start after the character creation (things like blank page syndrome)
B) adding a PDF table of contents (unless my browser is the issue lmao.)
but i still think you're solid either way!
Thanks for that. Addressing blank page syndrome is a good suggestion. :)
Hey! So I came to the conclusion that I much prefer freeform roleplaying games around the time you posted your guide on Reddit and Discord.
We pretty much came to the same conclusions so I'm glad you wrote that and put it out there!
Long story short, thinking in story-world logic has been a game (lol) changer for me. Relying on it allows me to improvise on the spot because my focus is entirely on the fictional situation and not on some stats.
I use a method that might interest you!
Success/failure roll
Pretty basic. Thanks to Grok?!, I've added an additionnal layer to that :
It's super easy and adds a bit of drama after failed rolls. The choice between failure and a complication might not be easy to do and is a fair source of tension, I find.
Had a lot of fun with this, again thanks for the guide! Happy gaming
Hi :) Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate the encouragement, and I'm glad you like the guide.
I like nice simple dice mechanics like the one you described, thanks for sharing. I tend to use different kinds of dice rolls on any given day, depending on what mood I'm in or which dice I happen to have sitting in front of me (or, more often than not, which indie games I've recently read). I have a bit of a preference for d10 because I just find percentages so straightforward to think about, but I love the simplicity cozy familiarity of six sided dice almost as much.
I'm going to drop a totally unsolicited recommendation on you. Wightbred's "Named" - https://wightbred.itch.io/named I mention it partly because it might interest you if you like the ideas you found here, and also it has a quite interesting d6 based dice mechanic that allows rerolls with amplified consequences.
Happy gaming, and thanks for saying Hi :)
Thanks for the feedback :) I am definitely intending to release an expanded version of the text in future, so I really appreciate your comments. Cheers!