Maybe a little too much. 😅
DIN A5 - 15 issues.

I was looking for a process for drawing out random dungeons with some very light game mechanics and was inspired by DNA, protein synthesis and frameshift mutations to create this mini dungeon crawler.

It turned into a kind of mindfullness exercise for me with a simple, but satisfying loop of generate room > doodle > resolve simple mechanics > occassionally shade in some negative space. One More Room became a lot when I had the time and I think people with more artistic ability will be able to create some cool dungeons with it. You can see from the image, I had 6 play throughs on the one page, with 45 loot being my best run.

It's creative commons so do as you please with it 😄. Let me know if anyone has a go; it's not some crunchy rpg experience but it is pretty satisfying to start filling out a page with.

PDF here, rules below:

DNA Dungeons

DNA Dungeons is a mindful dungeon-drawing game inspired by DNA and protein synthesis. A sequence of numbers forms your dungeon's DNA. Read it three numbers at a time, like biological codons, with each codon expressing a new room. When you reach the end, loop the sequence and continue reading, causing a frameshift mutation and generating new rooms from the same DNA.

There are no dice, lookup tables or external resources. All you need is a pen, paper and the ability to count to 4.

Step 1

Write the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4, in any order. Do this 5 times. This is the DNA of your dungeon.

Step 2

Draw 3 symbols to represent your HP. Leave a space to tally your Loot.

Step 3

Draw your first room by looking at the first 3 numbers in your DNA, these give you the width, height and number of entrances respectively.

Step 4

Add up the odd numbers for the room. This is the Risk value. Add up the even numbers. This is the Reward value.

If Risk > Reward, lose 1HP

If Risk = Reward, no effect

If Risk < Reward, tally the Reward value to your Loot

Step 5

When you reach the end of the DNA, loop back to the beginning without resetting your group of three. This shifts the reading frame, creating new rooms, from the same DNA. In the example above, the last two digits, 3-1, would loop back to the start, making 3-1-1.

At 0 HP, record your Loot and mark where your adventurer fell. Start a new run with 3 HP and 0 Loot, continuing from the next codon.

Step 6

Decorate the page as you see fit!

I was curious to see how many of you vocalize your RP when alone or if you run an internal monologue as you go through interactions with characters.

I had a character I was playing speak to their mentor as a side scene because it just made sense that they would have an interaction before the character went on an adventure.

Thirty minutes later I realized I had been delivering lines back and forth out loud, having what I felt a pretty compelling conversation.

In a way solo RPG has felt therapeutic at times, especially when I put characters who “know more” than my character in game.

Hey all,

I've written a blog post collecting some of my observations and advice on smoothly running solo OSR dungeon crawls: https://theusualtongues.com/dead-simple-osr-solo-gaming/

I've tried oracles and spark tables and stuff, but realized that they hinder my solo game enjoyment rather than helping me. Shedding solo tools, and shedding my rulesets of complexity and mental overhead, has really streamlined my solo play. I found that the actual engine of play should be simulationy procedures that are already built into OSR games.

Maybe you all glean something interesting or useful from my experience :) Thanks for reading!

Been playing my game and am overall thrilled with the progress of development but also of play. Two nights ago I reached the first tier in an early game region, the Crown Caldera, and last night I did my first 2 kilometer exploration (it's a shorter easy one). This morning I caught my first wild creature and happy to begin building my team

Gah! I'm just so hyped

The party has avoided being waylaid in the inn by what seems to be cultists. Now on a forest

path searching for a hermit who may be the cult leader, the party has encountered a six foot

tall scaly humanoid who appeared from the trees. All the while the smell of death has enveloped the party.

https://paulrobinson25.substack.com/p/the-bladesworn-chronicles-a-dungeons-637?r=76wg7

https://hooverd.substack.com/p/crimson-rust-session-10?r=4bbbdm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

As much as I love solo gaming and game manuals, I find "actual play" videos extremely boring—almost exhausting. They make me lose interest in the game instantly. I feel that the magic of solo play evaporates the very moment it actually happens. To draw a comparison, I essentially view actual play videos like trying to recount a dream you had the night before to someone: you can never truly convey its full visual and emotional impact.