A guide to solo, analog, dungeon crawls (solo RPG)

In this episode of the Dungeon Dive, we take a look at 8 examples of one of my favorite sub-genres of table-top games - the solo, analog, tabletop dungeon crawl. The games include Ker Nethals, A Torch in the Dark, NoteQuest, Four Against Darkness, D100 Dungeon, 2D6 Dungeon, Caves & Catacombs, and Marching Order.

#dungeonsanddragons #dungeoncrawl #solorpg #tabletopgames #adventuregame #soloboardgames #fantasygame

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0:00 Introduction
4:03 Caves & Catacombs
14:20 NoteQuest
24:20 D100 Dungeon
35:24 Marching Order
45:54 Ker Nathalas
55:19 Four Against Darkness
1:06:23 2D6 Dungeon
1:14:11 A Torch in the Dark
1:21:54 Outro

[StoneyD]

As someone who had no idea this genre existed before I stumbled across this video, I am fascinated

[andreazanon]

I don't ever comment on YouTube, but know that your efforts are very much appreciated. Will definitely be a patron when I am done paying for business school lol. Keep it up, you're doing God's work here

[deadering]

As dramatic as it sounds it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say finding this video changed my life lol
I'll spare you the sappy details but you've ignited a new passion in me after giving up hope for RPGs a decade ago due to social reasons.
Fast forward 2 months after randomly being recommended this video and I've learned book binding and half a dozen game systems and a backlog of a few times that.
I can't express how much it means to me. Thank you for everything!

[Deltium]

I am a huge fan of D100 dungeon. I just find the depth of the system and the breadth of the expansions to be superb. As a FYI, some of the modules have even been added to Steam to simplify and expedite the bookkeeping and setup. It is super deep and rewarding in my opinion.

[TobyLancaster_DR_Games]

Thanks for the amazing video Daniel. So much information and insight, very useful. You really know your stuff. Also thanks for featuring 2D6 Dungeon and for the kind words. I'm pleased you like the combat system and tables ;-)

[blackoathentertainment]

Thanks Daniel for featuring Ker Nethalas once again! My personal favorite has always been D100 Dungeon because I'm a sucker for D100 rulesets, and it offers a perfect amount of crunch. But I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the amazing 4AD, which was my intro to solo gaming (excluding gamebooks and boardgames, of course). Awesome video!

[yellw]

0:00 Introduction
4:03 Caves & Catacombs
14:20 NoteQuest
24:20 D100 Dungeon
35:24 Marching Order
45:54 Ker Nathalas
55:19 Four Against Darkness
1:06:23 2D6 Dungeon
1:14:11 A Torch in the Dark
1:21:54 Outro

Great video, by the way. :) As a newbie to solo adventuring, I'm very excited to give some of these a try! 🎲

[jcraigwilliams]

Nice to hear you mention The Bard's Tale. God, I loved that series. The leader of my party was a fighter named Jasn Dragonsbane, but after playing a bit, I felt it was a bit presumptuous to have such a name, soi made a backstory for him, saying it was inherited from his father. Then I had to develop details about his father and how he got that name. I wound up going back one generation further, then another...

By the time I was done, I had written 700+ years of history, drawn maps, and written the creation myths of the game world, which had morphed into a mix of my own story and the official lore.

Good memories.

[JohnZombi]

Thank you for including the less than complex games in the list. One of the things I dislike about TTRPGs like D&D is how complex they are and the minutiae when I just wanna have a fun dungeoncation

[julatsa]

i was laughing when you started bringing out all the 4 against darkness books. Was like a neverending clown car 😂

[konnyknees]

annotations and time markers would be awesome on this video!

[MAKRON-R]

Thanks for all the great information you've provided/presented on solo RPG'ing!

[charliemilton]

Ah man. I love old dnd modules, just reading them and looking through the art, and occasionally running little spoken word adventures for my friends at sleepovers. I had no idea this stuff existed, and it feels perfect, plus you just seem like you're having so much fun talking about them. Thank you for introducing all these cool adventures!

[russellcampbell]

So glad I found your channel: It's a real treasure for solo RPGers

[Melonskull]

Finally I don't need my embarrassed self-conscious friends to enjoy a pencil paper dungeon crawler! thanks for the video I would have never known this existed.

[Kazaganthi]

Great timing! Just about to go on a trip with Ker Nethalis and 4AD.

[MARSHOMEWORLD]

So I came up in the 80s with AD&D, but did not do any solo play except when I was conceptualizing the dungeons I was building as I was most groups DM in those years. Anyway I find this fascinating. And I really enjoyed this video. Another thing that many of my friends did back then was play by mail and I recently found a old horde of gaming magazines at a local shop and they were from the middle 1990s or so and there were still ads for play by mail games

[ShieldiceStudio]

Absolutely top tier! 🎲 Destined to be a classic Dungeon Dive video! Thanks for your efforts Daniel!

[chaoswood]

Check out Tunnels and Trolls! There were a ton of "solo adventures" released commercially and open license, though several are lost media. It was a DnD competitor back in the day, and solo play was it's main selling point.

[OctagonMD]

This is why I love the internet. So good.