CREDITS

Written by Peter Rudin-Burgess

Art by Peter Linforth

D20Solo is written against the ModernSRD.

D20Solo copyright © 2022 Parts Per Million Limited. International

House, 12 Constance Street, London E16 2DQ.

1
CONTENTS
Introduction ................................................................................. 4
What is Solo Roleplay................................................................... 5
The Oracle .................................................................................... 9
Situational Modifiers.................................................................... 9
No, and… ...................................................................................... 9
No, but…..................................................................................... 10
Yes, but… .................................................................................... 10
Yes, and… ................................................................................... 10
Relative Answers ........................................................................ 10
Worst possible result ................................................................. 10
Negative result ........................................................................... 10
Positive result............................................................................. 10
Best possible result .................................................................... 10
The Muse ................................................................................... 11
Upright ....................................................................................... 11
Inverted ...................................................................................... 12
Realism ....................................................................................... 15
Massive Damage Threshold ....................................................... 15
Adrenaline .................................................................................. 15
A Vehicle .................................................................................... 15
Scenes & Records ....................................................................... 16
Scene One .................................................................................. 18
In Medias Res ............................................................................. 18
Flashbacks .................................................................................. 19
Scene Skills ................................................................................. 19
Challenges .................................................................................. 20
Three Things ............................................................................... 21
Are Things As You Expected? ..................................................... 21
Missions & Adventures .............................................................. 24
Prolog ......................................................................................... 24
Act 1. .......................................................................................... 24
Act II. .......................................................................................... 24
Act III. ......................................................................................... 25
Epilog.......................................................................................... 25
Factions and Allegiances ............................................................ 26

2
Agenda ....................................................................................... 26
Goal ............................................................................................ 26
Allegiances ................................................................................. 27
Characters, Partys and GMs ....................................................... 27
Single Character ......................................................................... 27
PC & Sidekick .............................................................................. 27
Party ........................................................................................... 28
GM.............................................................................................. 28
Taking Solo Further .................................................................... 29
LEGAL INFORMATION ................................................................ 30

3
 INTRODUCTION
I think d20Modern was my first introduction to D&D 3.5 or the
game’s core mechanics. I went from Basic/Expert D&D to AD&D
and then 5e, with none of the iterations in between.

It is a different beast from the earlier versions and much crunchier

than 5e.

Real people have access to specialist training that lends itself to

a more complex skill system, which doesn’t feel out of place in
d20Modern.

Before I started playing d20Modern, I was concerned that hit point

inflation would make guns and bullets ineffective. Characters
would have so many hit points that they could walk through a hail
of bullets without a care, knowing that they could not do enough
hit points of damage to kill them. Thankfully that has not proven to
be the case.

These rules introduce some new game mechanics that are not a
part of the d20Modern SRD or core rules. These are rules that I
have imported into the game to make solo playing easier and
more fun.

I hope you enjoy playing d20Modern solitaire.

4
 WHAT IS SOLO ROLEPLAY
That is an open question. Many people first got into roleplaying via
fighting fantasy or choose your own adventure [CYOA] books.
Those certainly fall under the heading of solo play. However, the
big breakthrough for solo play came with the Mythic Game Master
Emulator.

Before the Mythic GME, wargamers had been solo roleplaying in

the form of Dispatches. If a wargame battle came down to the
actions of a single unit or officer, maybe holding a bridge, or fort
against overwhelming odds, rather having the action come down
to a single roll of a d6, the wargamer would or could write up some
dispatches from the point of view of the officer, even naming
fictitious soldiers for recognition. This was roleplaying that officer,
even if it was posthumous.

Wargamers were also using oracles and dice to answer questions.

For example, when the wargamer wrote an order, an oracle could
be used to decide when the orders arrived at the officer. It could
be as simple as orders arriving in 1d6 turns to reflect all the trials
and tribulations that an ADC could go through in delivering orders
to units. They could also use a d6 to decide if the orders ever
made it through at all.

As most wargames came with rules for wargaming solo, it made

perfect sense to inject that bit of personality into the battlefield.

Roleplaying sprang from wargaming, and very rudimentary solo

rules were included with the earliest D&D rules. Tunnels & Trolls
[1975] had solo roleplaying as a core concept.

Solo didn’t really become its own thing until Mythic GME arrived.
Finally, a standalone set of rules could be applied to any
roleplaying game for the first time. The rules and the supporting
material on how to solo play.

The problem with Mythic GME is that it has a distinct feel of its
own. It is a crunchy D100 system with plenty of tables and
elements to track. You definitely know when you are playing

5
d20Modern and when you are playing with Mythic GME. You will
be using a completely different mental space.

Nearly all of the available solo tools are a variation of the ideas
laid down by Tana Pidgeon in Mythic GME. Mythic proved the
need for mass-market solo tools and set the blueprint for how they
should look and feel.

Mythic introduced the idea of an Oracle. The Oracle is used to

answer questions that fall into a yes-no format. It also gave us a
spectrum of answers based on improvisational acting. The
spectrum goes from yes, and… not only is your supposition
correct, but this also happens. In the middle of the spectrum are
the basic yes and no answers, and at the far end is no and… not
only is the answer negative, but this also makes things worse.
There are two key ideas here. The first is that until the dice are
thrown, you don’t know which state is true. Are there cameras on
the corner of the building, yes or no? The answer changes how
your character is going to act and react.

In d20Modern you will be used to making tests with success,

failure, and should fail by more than 5, a really bad result. So that
is yes, no, and no, and… in operation.

The second idea is that of delegating GM decisions to the dice.

This is a fundamental concept in GM Emulation. You don’t decide
if there are security cameras. The GME decided for you.

The next big idea in Mythic GME was what has become known as
a Muse. An Oracle answers questions. A Muse inspires the
imagination.

Mythic GME has two d100 tables of words. The first is an action,
and the second is the subject. You put the two words together and
try to fit the concept to your situation. It sounds more complicated
than it is.

Nearly all solo tools have these two core tools. They are mostly
universal and generic.

This may read like a big advert for Mythic GME. Where Mythic
GME falls down is that it is generic. It doesn’t feel like d20Modern

6
when you are using it. It doesn’t use the same dice mechanics nor
have the same feel as d20Modern.

A generic tool can never know how a lone hero will cope in a game
world built for a party of adventures. Furthermore, some games
have strong starting characters, and only incremental increases
as characters develop, whereas d20Modern has significant power
steps when entering advanced classes or just multi-classing.

These rules were built for d20Modern and are not generic.

When you are solo playing, you will take turns creating a scene
wearing the GM hat, using the rules and tables in this booklet to
make decisions and answer questions. Then jump into your
character and play through the imagined scene until you need to
act as GM. If an action is internal to your character, what you think,
say, or do, is part of the player’s turn. If it requires adjudication or
interpretation, that is the GM’s turn.

Stories develop as you play through these cycles. They are limited
only by your imagination.

7
8
 THE ORACLE
As said in the introduction, the Oracle is for answering yes-no or
closed questions. It is essentially a DC 10 test, with situational
modifiers and consequences for failing by five or more and
benefits for passing by more than 5.

Roll Yes-No Graduated Closed Question

1-5 No No, and… Worst possible result
5-9 No No, but… Negative result
10-15 Yes Yes, but… Positive result
16-20 Yes Yes, and… Best case scenario

This table is very slightly skewed towards yes answers [45% no,
55% yes]. This is because GMs are always encouraged to say
yes, so it makes sense to skew the results this way. You will be
asking questions about your world and the scene you are in. If you
feel you need to ask the question, a typical GM would be more
inclined to say yes than no.

SITUATIONAL MODIFIERS
Not all questions are equal. For example, CCTV cameras are
more likely to be found around banks and important buildings than
on ranches and in sewers.

You can choose to add or subtract ±2 to any question to reflect

this shift in likelihood.

No, and…
This is a negative result and adds an additional detail, making the
situation more emphatic. Not all negative answers are bad. For
example, if you asked the oracle if the gangsters blocking your
way were armed, a negative answer would be good. You could
decide that they are not obviously armed, and… they are talking
amongst themselves and have not noticed you.

9
No, but…
These answers are not as strong as the no, and… result. The but
suggests something that could flip the result to a yes, dependent
on your character’s actions. Are the gangsters armed? No, but…
there is a gun on the table. If things go badly, one of them could
go for the gun; at the very least, there is a gun in the scene, and
an NPC could go for it at some point.

The but modifier can also suggest that the no could be turned into
a yes, based on your character’s actions. In this case, demanding
that they throw the gun over to you would disarm the gangsters.

Yes, but…
Yes, but… answers are positive, but with a modifier that suggests
that the yes could easily become a no or that the yes is not as
strong as it could be. Again, using the example of the gangsters,
Are they armed? Yes, but… with improvised weapons, knuckle
dusters, and broken bottles. That would satisfy the but modifier.

A yes answer is not always positive.

Yes, and…
This is the strongest possible positive answer. Are your gangsters
armed? Yes, and… they are heavily armed with illegal guns.

RELATIVE ANSWERS
Worst possible result
Not all questions are suited to yes and no answers. The question
may encompass many ideas and concepts that would be hard to
quickly vocalize. It may be easier to use the Worst possible result
to imagine your character’s situation in these cases.

Negative result
This is not the worst possible situation, but the answer is negative.

Positive result
The answer to your question is positive.

Best possible result

The answer to your question is the best possible result.

10
 THE MUSE
The Muse is used when you have an open question that cannot
be answered with a simple binary yes or no.

A question of “Is the safety deposit box locked?” is a closed

question. It is locked or not?. The Oracle may suggest a strong
lock or no lock, but the box is still locked or not.

An open question is, “What is in the safety deposit box?”

Unfortunately, this cannot be answered in the same yes-no
manner.

The way the questions are answered is with a two-word pair. The
words are inspired by Tarot cards, and if you are familiar with tarot,
these tables can be replaced with a physical deck.

Upright
D20 1-5 [1] 6-10 [2] 11-15 [3] 16-20 [4]
1 Fulfillment Reflection Success Illusions
2 Hope Broken Materialism Patience
3 Change Sacrifice Truth Change
4 Search Bravery Control Union
5 Tradition Authority Nature Unconscious
6 Creation Innocence Defensive Community
7 Inspiration Burden Resilience Movement
8 Success Conflict Expansion Leaving
9 Excitement Determination Overcoming Action
10 Compassion Comfort Idealist Surprise
11 Dreams Satisfaction Disillusionment Choices
12 Healing Loss Contemplation Friendship
13 Partnership Spirituality Discipline Action
14 Complexity Curiosity Failure Trauma
15 Entrapment Deception Leaving Ambition
16 Suffering Restoration Indecision Clarity
17 Security Comforts Efficiency Desire
18 Legacy Rewards Passion Diligence
19 Sharing Poverty Security Building
20 Decisions Prosperity Enlarge Revolution

11
Inverted
D20 1-5 [1] 6-10 [2] 11-15 [3] 16-20 [4]
1 Incompletion Doubt Sadness Confusion
2 Insecurity Suffering Freedom Excess
3 Decay Stalling Dishonesty Control
4 Isolation Weakness Aggression Disharmony
5 Rebellion Tyranny Emptiness Repressed
6 Trickery Recklessness Destroyed Conflicts
7 Boredom Inability Fatigue Panic
8 Punishment Differences Obstacles Fear
9 Procrastination Jealousy Impulsive Anger
10 Coldness Insecurity Disappointment Insecurity
11 Domestic Smugness Avoidance Confusion
12 Independence Acceptance Awareness Isolation
13 Tension Emptiness Cruel Disregard
14 Bitterness Inevitable Deception Despair
15 Acceptance Clean Transition Resentment
16 Forgiveness Stress Lesser Brutality
17 Greed Jealousy Reward Laziness
18 Success Reckless Uninspired Distractions
19 Domination Recovery Greediness Disorganized
20 Overwhelmed Chance Shrink Revolt

You ‘draw’ two cards. You can do this by either rolling 2d20 and
cross-referencing or a d20 and a d4 for the column. Do this once
for each table. You will end up with two words.

If you imagine a bank safety deposit box in from of your character.

The box belongs to a mob boss, who you suspect has murdered
their spouse. You open the box. What do you find inside?

Now we roll for the two cards.

I rolled 8,1 Success and 6, 4 Conflicts. I imagine the box is filled

with banded bundles of new $100 bills and polaroid photos of what
look like murder victims or, more likely, assassination victims. I got
the ideas for these from Success being linked to illegal earnings
and Conflicts, suggesting that the mob boss had kept some kind
of momento from rivals they had disposed of.

12
Your interpretation could be completely different, even given the
same words. You will draw on what has happened in your game
so far, the style of game you want and enjoy, and the current
scene.

You can use the Muse to answer questions about the contents of
letters, diaries, journals, and websites; the contents of boxes,
rooms, or the trunk of a car. In addition, it can be used to create
the motivations or desires of NPCs.

If the words you rolled don’t inspire anything immediately, try word
association, It may subtly change the meanings, and as the
associated words come from within you, you are more likely to find
meaning in them.

13
14
 REALISM
Being a solo character is dangerous. You are likely to have less
support than a group of characters, and one character cannot
cover all of the skills an adventure may call upon.

There are several options we can use to address this.

Massive Damage Threshold

Consider giving your character Improved Damage Threshold as a
free Feat, in addition to any character has from profession or
class. If your character gets this Feat anyway, increase the
Massive Damage Threshold by a further 3 points.

This bump up in Damage Threshold only applies to you. It does

not apply to Heroic GM characters.

Adrenaline
You normally only replenish your Action Points when gaining a
level. When you roll a natural 20 on any skill test, you earn an
additional Action Point.

There is no upper limit to how many action points you may gain
this way.

These additional action points leak away at a rate of one per

scene. This reflects the character calming down and their body
recovering.

These extra Action Points cannot be hoarded as they diminish

over time, so you should spend them, ideally in the scene where
you earned them.

A Vehicle
If James Bond and Knight Rider can have a car, you deserve one.
A vehicle is a major boost to a solo character or a very small
group. You cannot possibly carry all the equipment that you may
need. A vehicle gives you mobile storage and a place of refuge.

15
 SCENES & RECORDS
Scenes are the basic building block of solo games. We normally
think of playing roleplaying games in sessions, adventures, and
campaigns. With solo play, you can play as much or as little as
you like, and that could be a single scene lasting just a few
minutes. You do not have to play for several hours, as we tend to
when players have to schedule the time to play together.

Scenes begin and end whenever you skip a moment in time. This
could be handwaving away an 8hr flight from New York to Paris
or just a few seconds as you switch your attention from searching
the study to one of the bedrooms.

If your game was a movie, every time the screen faded to black or
the director would shout ‘Cut!’, that indicates the end of a scene.

New scenes frequently provoke oracle questions. These are to

clarify specifics about the new location.

Just as a GM would be keeping game notes, it is useful for you to

save some records of your games, and keeping notes at a scene
level helps to keep games organized.

Solo roleplaying is not a writing exercise. You can do 99.9% of it

purely in your imagination, but at some point, you will probably
want to keep track of hit points at the very least. It is also good to
have a summary of each scene as an aide de memoir.

The following note-taking technique is not strictly part of solo

roleplay, but it is the method that I have settled on as being the
easiest, fastest, and most flexible. It is a variation on Cornell
notes.

Cornell notes use a special form. Take a sheet of paper and divide
it into three. First, rule off two or three lines from the bottom of the
page. Now divide the larger top section into two with a thinner left-
hand column and a larger right-hand column.

16
 1

Most of your notes will be written in the bigger pane (2). You can
write these freehand or just brief reminders of what happened,
running total of HP, etc. Anything goes in that bigger space.

Sometimes you will ask a question that has ramifications beyond

the scene you are playing. They may be about an organization
such as Department 7, a government, or an opposing forces
organization. You could create a world-building fact such as
naming a jungle village or river. Write the question in the first
column (1) if these questions are unanswered. Put the question
and answer in the column if you have answered it.

At the end of your scene, write a brief summary in the footer at the
bottom of the page (3). The box is intentionally small to keep your
resume short.

You will use one page per scene. You can also use these pages
as NPC character sheets or for mapping remote locations or
outlining factions. You always use the same format, notes, ‘big
picture’ questions, and summary.

When you pick up your game for a second or subsequent session,

you can read the brief summaries to get an idea of where your
adventures have been.

For NPCs, you can get an idea of them just from that summary
without reading their entire character sheet.

If you are short on time but want to do something with your game,
you can pick out the big picture questions and answer them, fill in
more details, name that gang, or work out that new organization
or faction.

17
These notes work best as loose-leaf pages. One of the reasons
for that goes back to why we play in scenes.

SCENE ONE
The first scene of your first adventure in your first solo game is
likely to be the hardest.

Solo games all start with a mission outline. You can certainly use
a random mission generator, but I find it is better to start with what
sort of character you want to play. Create your PC. Now, what kind
of adventure do you want to have? If it is counter-narcotics with
drug barons, jungle compounds, and airstrips, then that is what
can have. If you’re going to fight the mafia on the city streets, you
can do that. Once you have an idea of what this game will be
about, write it down in as few words as possible. Something like
Organized Crime in New York or Take Down Escobar. A short
sharp concept like that is easy to remember, and if your game
starts to sprawl, it is easier to discard elements that lead you away
from what you wanted to play.

A regular group game would probably start with some kind of

briefing scene or a plot hook. For example, you could give the
players a mission outline and field any characters’ questions. You
may then go into equipping the characters, either by buying
equipment or trying to borrow it from the Department.

None of that is required for a solo game. There is no meeting of

the team required. You don’t need the briefing as you thought of
the starting point yourself. You don’t need a plot hook to get you
interested in your own game.

There are two ideas you can utilize here.

In Medias Res
The first is in medias res, or in the thick of things. The aim is to
throw your character into a high-stakes and high drama situation
with no preamble. You do not need to work out any of the details
in advance. It is simply on topic for the game you want to play and
demands immediate reactions from you.

18
Starting this way nearly always creates unanswered questions. It
is those questions that will get you using the oracles and start your
adventure.

Flashbacks
By throwing yourself into the action, you will have missed out on
the option to buy or borrow equipment, talk to NPCs to learn more
information, and do other things. Flashbacks are the answer to
this. You can pause the current scene at any time and start a
flashback.

Take a new sheet of notepaper, and play out the flashback. A

flashback should ideally be limited to a single skill test. For
example, this could be a wealth test if you think you would have
bought something you now find that you need or a requisition
attempt. Success means you have it. Failure means you go
without.

When dealing with NPCs, you could flashback to an interrogation

and use a single Intimidation test.

You may think that the best way to circumvent security was to
bribe one of the guards the night before, to leave a fire exit open.
Create a flashback, attempt to bribe the guard, and see what
happens. When you return to the present scene, deal with the
consequences. If you failed in your attempt at bribery, will the
guards be more alert? If you are trying a different deception, will
that guard recognize you?

Once you have played a flashback, write up any notes, record any
big picture questions and answers, and write the brief summary.
You can then insert it into the correct place chronologically in your
game notes.

Scene Skills
Some scenes will have an obvious focus on certain skills. Combat
scenes will use combat skills, for example. In addition, you can
use skills as an added inspiration when creating scenes.

Create two lists. The first is all the skills that your character has.
The second is a list of all the untrained skills. Your list will vary
depending on what books and supplements you are using.

19
Your personal skill list is used as an inspiration in scenes when
you are alone. These could be scenes when you are scouting, or
hiding, or doing research. Roll against your table and pick a skill.

Can you imagine a situation, in this scene where you may be

called upon to use that skill? If it makes no sense, ignore it.

You can often use the skills as knowledge skills, for exmaple,
rolling Craft (chemical) to identify chemicals or working out what
they could be used for.

The second list is for giving skills to NPCs. You do not have to
take the skill literally, rolling Diplomacy could mean that an NPC
is trying to get on your good side, or appeal to your better nature.
It could also mean that the NPC wants to influence you for their
own ends.

These lists will evolve over time. You may introduce new skills,
and your character will learn new skills as you level up or enter
new classes.

Challenges
A DC5 skill test normally has little consequence, even a moment
of embarrassment if you fail it. However, a DC25 skill test is a
major challenge and can shut the door on an avenue with an
insurmountable obstacle.

The following table selects a random DC for a test. If the result is

lower than you expected, imagine why this skill test is unusually
easy. If a climb is easier than you expected, are there natural hand
and footholds on the surface? If the result is unusually high, think
of a reason why the test is so much harder than you were
expecting. Using the example of the climb, is the surface
crumbling and handholds come away as you try to pull yourself
up?

D6 Low Level Mid Level High Level

1 DC0 DC5 DC10
2 DC5 DC10 DC15
3 DC10 DC15 DC15
4 DC15 DC15 DC20
5 DC15 DC20 DC25
6 DC20 DC25 DC25

20
The decision as to whether you are low, mid, or high level is
arbitrary but is based on Character Level, not class levels. As a
ballpark, I would suggest 1st to 5th as low level, 6th to 10th as mid,
and 11+ as high. Moving up to mid and high levels will make your
game harder.

DC0 tests will be an automatic pass under normal circumstances,

but they still require time and may consume resources. A DC0
test, while injured, in the dark, and in freezing temperatures, could
easily be failed.

Three Things
Name three immediately obvious things when creating a location,
object, or NPC. A motel room could have a bed, TV, and chest of
drawers., A wallet could have bills, a driver’s permit, and a black
and white photograph of a guy in uniform. A hotel doorman may
have a pristine uniform, a pleasant smile, and a Scandinavian
accent.

You can drill down as you move your focus. For example, the room
had a chest of drawers. As you examine that, you may decide that
it has a wobbly leg, brass pull handles, and deep scratches on the
top. You can keep drilling down to greater levels of detail for as
long as it makes sense. For example, if there was a suit in a
drawer, it may make sense to think about its quality, size, and if
there is anything in the pockets. On the other hand, if the drawers
contain socks, they probably don’t warrant much further
investigation.

This technique is about where your character rests their focus. In

real life, we all miss things that would be obvious to somebody
else. Three things emulates this effect. Three things are quick and
easy to come up with without slowing your games down or putting
you under pressure to develop a detailed description.

Are Things As You Expected?

This is an interesting question to ask at the very top of the scene.
Depending on how much information your characters have before
entering the situation, you can set the odds in favor of yes or no.
If a location has been under surveillance for days or weeks, it is
unlikely to completely change its nature overnight. In roleplaying
games, nothing is ever 100% certain!

21
You can ask the question and use the Oracle to answer it. If you
pictured meeting a crime boss under a massive bridge, you can
picture the rain falling at night in the dark and car headlamps
reflecting in the standing water. That is what you are expecting.
You have called the meeting to threaten the crime boss if they
continue to ship their latest designer drug into the city.

You are expecting a show of force by the crime boss; threat meets
threat. But now you ask the Oracle, Is everything as you
expected? With +2 in this case for likelihood. Rolling a 1 gives a
total of 3 and the worst-case scenario. The first thing that comes
to mind is that the crime boss turns up as expected, but getting
out of the limousine, they drag my character’s wife out, bound and
gagged. Somehow the crime boss knows exactly who my
character is and how to get to them. Is there a leak in Department
7?

If a twist in the expected scene is obvious, go with what you

imagine. If it isn’t obvious, you can use the Muse and see what
the inspiration words suggest. Rolling two words, I get Surprise
and Doubt. The first thing that comes to mind is that the commlink
in my ear suddenly goes silent. They have managed to block the
signal. I am now cut off and alone. This was unexpected (surprise)
and made the situation potentially much more dangerous, enough
to satisfy the doubt prompt.

22
23
 MISSIONS & ADVENTURES
It is helpful to have an overall structure for adventures. There are
two common names for the same system in roleplaying games.
They are the adventure in three acts and the five-room dungeon.
They are both essentially the same thing. Adventures in three acts
are more popular with modern-day and sci-fi settings as it does
away with the connotations of dungeons.

An adventure in three acts has five steps. A prolog, three acts,

and an epilog.

Prolog
When you jump into your adventure, in scene one, you are in the
Prolog. You know the overall theme of the adventure you want to
have and your character, but most of the plot is unknown to you.

Your goal in the Prolog is to learn the outline of your mission. If

you hold this in mind when you need to interpret Muse words,
Oracle answers, or put words into NPCs’ mouths, what you want
to know is what you have to achieve.

You can insert flashbacks into the Prolog to give yourself a

briefing, interview an NPC, and anything else to get you fully
embedded in this mission or adventure.

In a fantasy game, we would probably call this the plot hook.

You have completed the Prolog when you have a clear idea of the
mission.

Act 1.
Act 1 is about the first challenge or barrier. For example, barriers
could be having to bust one of your team out of prison or infiltrate
an organization. Barriers and challenges work best when they
focus on your intended theme and make good use of your non-
combat skills and feats.

Act II.
Act 2 is about roleplaying. If you made contact with a double agent
in Act 1, now you get to interrogate them. You could still be in

24
hostile terrain, but fact-finding, establishing truths, and facts fall
into Act 2.

If there is an exploration element to your mission, Act 2 is the ideal

place for it. Unless you are entirely on your own, exploration will
involve social interaction and discussion within your team and
NPCs.

Act III.
Act 3 is where you build to the showdown. If you extracted a key
scientist in Act 1 and learned about the secret tunnels in Act 2,
then Act 3 is when you will tool up and head in.

Act 3 normally culminates in the showdown with the mission’s big

bad evil guy.

Epilog
The Epilog is a chance to resolve loose ends, escape from hostile
terrority, and return victorious with whatever you were sent to get.

Acts 1, 2, and 3 imply order or sequence, but you can play them
in any order. You can compress an act into a single scene or two
or linger in an act because it emphasizes the elements of
d20Modern that you enjoy the most.

To see an adventure in three acts, you may be familiar with the

original Alien movie.

• Prolog has the crew of the Nostromo pick up the alien

distress call.
• Act 1 covers exploring the alien ship and ends with the
face-hugger and getting the crew member back to the sick
bay.
• Act 2 runs from the chest buster, covers the crew’s
reaction to the alien and develops the motion detectors.
• Act 3 is Ripley’s showdown with the alien, the destruction
of the Nostromo, and finally killing the alien.
• Epilog would be Ripley’s journey back alone.

One of the format’s strengths is that it can influence your

interpretation of Muse words and oracle answers when you know

25
which stage you are in. Also, if you know your goal, it is easier to
work towards it.

FACTIONS AND ALLEGIANCES

Factions and organizations can become an important part of your
campaign. Every gang is a faction that may be vying for power
against other gangs. Every organization, legal or otherwise, has
something it wants or needs and extends its dominance in the
world.

Keeping track of multiple organizations and power networks could

be a complete nightmare.

You can condense organizations down to just two elements.

1. Agenda
2. Goal

Agenda
A faction’s agenda is its ultimate goal. That could be expanding its
turf or world domination. It could be wealth or political influence.
Faction wants or needs something.

Goal
A goal is a faction’s immediate next objective. For example, a
gang may crave wealth, but its immediate goal may be to rob the
Wells Fargo Bank next Friday.

In play, if you keep both the immediate goal and the ultimate
agenda in mind, you can more easily improvise their actions and
reactions.

If you want to know what they will do once you have foiled their
plans, they will do what will advance their agenda.

If you have to improvise a briefing about a faction, what would they

have done to achieve their agenda so far, and what is likely to be
their next goal?

You can fill in all kinds of details while you play, but underneath
those details, all you need to know is what the faction is doing now

26
and what they want to achieve in the long term. Everything else is
just window dressing.

Allegiances
A character can have up to three allegiances. Creating three fully-
fledged organizations is a lot of work. This Agenda/Goal
shorthand can make creating organizations quicker and easier.
You can then flesh them out to whatever level of detail you want.

The same is true for any organization, but the ones that your
character owes allegiance to can be played as if they are NPCs.
Each organization has a distinct atmosphere analogous to a
person’s personality.

In practical terms, most allegiances come down to a +2/-2 on

Charisma skills when dealing with members of the same
organization or opposing organizations. However, you may find
situations where that +2/-2 may feed into Oracle questions rolls.

CHARACTERS, PARTYS AND GMS

There are as many different ways to solo as there are soloists.
You only need to please yourself, so over time, you will shape your
solo gaming to fit exactly how you like to play.

Single Character
It is often easier to get into character if you are only playing one
character. You can imagine the world through their eyes, and your
words become their words. Unfortunately, this is also one of the
hardest ways to play. You only have the skills and feats of one
character and no one to help you out when things go badly.

PC & Sidekick
You create two full characters in this version, but choose one to
be your main PC. In every scene, there is an assumed question:
“Does your sidekick do the most sensible thing?” The odds are
skewed towards a yes unless there is a good reason not to. If you
get any form of yes result, they use their eyes and ears and all
their appropriate skills, as one would expect. If you get a no, or
worse, they may have become distracted or had an idea of their
own. You do not need to limit the question to once per scene. Each

27
time they are put into a situation where independent thought is
required, ask the question.

With this kind of buddy system, you have the option to hop into
the other character if they are taking the spotlight in a scene. If
one of you is tough and the other smart, there could be scenes
that play directly to your different strengths.

Two characters have a much broader skill base, and you have
someone to rescue you if things go bad.

If one character dies, you can also carry on with the other
character. This also works well for games where two is the natural
team unit, such as cops, FBI, or special agents,

Party
Trying to play an entire party is harder than getting into a single
character. However, you have a much better chance of surviving.
You can play published adventures without rebalancing them for
one or two characters.

You get a full range of skills and feats that a well-rounded party
can provide, and if one character goes down, you have a team
around you to help.

If you can maintain half a dozen distinct personalities in your

imagination and enjoy playing all the characters, this may be the
option for you. It may sound hard, but most GMs do this every
session with their NPCs.

GM
There is often an assumption that you are going to be the player
in solo play and emulate the Game Master with the questions.
Solo play works just as well if you want to run adventures as the
GM, but with emulated players. You still have to imagine each
scene and the characters’ actions, but this time you ask questions
about how the party or individual characters behave.

This is one of the best ways of running published adventures. You

run it for a group of virtual players and get to imagine their surprise
when you spring the final boss at them or toss them out of an
aircraft at 10,000ft.

28
 TAKING SOLO FURTHER
This booklet is intended to get you started in solo playing
d20Modern. Over time you will accumulate more random tables
and generators and shape your play to fit your style.

If you need help or advice, there is an active subreddit and discord

server where you can ask questions and share experiences. You
may play alone, but you don’t have to be alone.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Solo_Roleplaying/

https://discord.gg/jwYknJY

29
 LEGAL INFORMATION
OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a

The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards
of the Coast, Inc ("Wizards"). All Rights Reserved.

1. Definitions: (a)"Contributors" means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have
contributed Open Game Content; (b)"Derivative Material" means copyrighted material
including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation,
modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment
or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) "Distribute"
means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise
distribute; (d)"Open Game Content" means the game mechanic and includes the methods,
procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product
Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified
as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License,
including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes
Product Identity. (e) "Product Identity" means product and product line names, logos and
identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts; creatures characters; stories, storylines,
plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions,
likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or
audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments,
personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations,
environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos,
symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified
as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the
Open Game Content; (f) "Trademark" means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs
that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products
contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) "Use", "Used" or "Using" means
to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material
of Open Game Content. (h) "You" or "Your" means the licensee in terms of this agreement.

2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice
indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License.
You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added
to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or
conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License.

3.Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of
the terms of this License.

4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors
grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of
this License to Use, the Open Game Content.

5.Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open

Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You
have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License.

6.Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this
License to include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You
are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the
copyright holder's name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you
Distribute.

30
7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication
as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the
owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-
adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work
containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent
Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any
Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of
that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall
retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity.

8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions
of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content.

9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of
this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute
any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License.

10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the
Open Game Content You Distribute.

11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content
using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to
do so.

12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License
with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or
governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.

13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms
herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All
sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License.

14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision
shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.

15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill
Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet,
Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy
Collins, and JD Wiker.

D20 Solo Copyright 2022, Parts Per Million Limited; Author Peter Rudin-Burgess

END OF LICENSE

31