The Solo Society

Solo Roleplaying Vaesen

INTRODUCTION: This supplement introduces solo roleplaying rules to the

Vaesen game. Solo roleplaying uses dice rolls and random tables to try and
emulate some of the decisions that the GM would make. No table can know
exactly the situation you are in, so you will need to interpret the dice rolls
and think, what does this mean to my character in this situation?

BY Peter Rudin-Burgess

Copyright 2021 Parts Per Million Ltd.

 · The Solo Society ·
A lot of solo roleplaying is based around GM
emulation. This means letting the dice answer
questions.
There is a common misconception that solo
roleplaying is just creative writing, telling yourself a
story, or even daydreaming. This is not true. Solo
roleplaying is older than the tabletop roleplaying
games themselves.
Roleplaying games grew out of war games. Solo
wargaming has always been commonplace, and most
wargames would come with solo rules’ out of the box’.
When a battle came down to the actions of a single
unit, such as holding a bridge to stay the opposing
forces advance, it was common to write up dispatches
from the officer of that single unit ‘in character’ even
naming fictional soldiers for commendations. Today
we would recognize this as a journaling solo game.
When solo wargamers wanted to add in an
element of the unknown, they looked to the games of
the time. They used cards, like the Chance and
Community Chest decks from Monopoly, to create a
game where they could play both sides of a battle and
yet not know what would happen next. Today, we
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would call those cards an oracle, something you
turn to to get an answer.
In solo play, you will use all of the rules of Vaesen
to run the game; you will make your character and
play her as you would in a regular game. When you
want to know detail about your version of Upsala,
you will roll the dice to ‘ask the oracle’. This
supplement will give you different oracles to answer
different styles of questions.
THE YES-NO ORACLE
The yes-no oracle is the most basic of tools in solo
playing. You roll the dice exactly as if you were going to
try a skill test. Roll a pool of dice and count the 6s.
Before you grab your dice, there is more to asking a
question than just the roll. First, you need to know how to
interpret the answer.
The key to answering yes-no questions is to have a
clear idea in mind for both options. For example, imagine
that you are searching a desk and want to know if there is
any correspondence on the desk. That is a yes-no
question. The no answer would suggest that there is no
correspondence. A yes answer would put letters on the
desk. You can then roll and see which is true.
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Each 6 you roll counts as one yes. The more 6s you roll,
the more emphatic the yes becomes. In our example, it
could go from a single letter up to whole bundles of
correspondence.
Before you ask the question, try and judge how likely
you expect the answer to be a yes. If you know that the
owner kept their correspondence in their desk, finding
letters, there is more likely. If they were illiterate, finding
letters would be less likely. How likely something is is
reflected by how many dice you roll in your dice pool.
If the question is unlikely to be a yes, you roll 3 dice. If
the question is 50/50 or you have no idea what the odds
would be, roll 4 dice. If the odds are more likely to be yes
than no, roll 5 dice.
Yes-No
Likelihood Dice Pool
Unlikely 3 Dice
50/50 4 Dice
Likely 5 Dice
Once you have your dice pool, roll it as if making a skill
check. Any sixes mean yes; more than one six makes the
result more emphatic.
No sixes means the answer is a no.
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NO ANSWERS
If your question gives a no answer, you go with what
you imagined the no answer looking like. If you roll
several no answers and feel it is blocking your game from
moving forward, you can roll on the Bindings table.
Bindings
D6 Hook
1 Advantage
2 Motivation
3 Dark Secret
4 Trauma
5 Relationship
6 Resource
When you roll for a Bindings, what you are doing is
giving yourself an extra piece of detail. Think of it as no,
because of <binding>, or no, but because of <binding>.
How this works in practice varies greatly depending on
your situation and the style of game you want to have,
horror, action, or investigative.
The Resource Binding can either relate to your
relative wealth or an NPC or location.
Taking the example of searching the desk for
correspondence, imagine I search the desk and ask if
there are any letters, I roll a no answer, I then turn to a
 · The Solo Society ·
strongbox and ask if I can see keys for it, again I roll a no
answer. Rather than drawing a blank and no knowing
which way to turn, I roll on the Bindings table and roll a 3,
Dark Secret. My Dark Secret is that my wealth comes from
stolen bonds. They were thought lost when a bank burned
down. How can this relate to the strongbox? I decide that
the strongbox is identical to the one that I found the bonds
in when I took them.
While this does not help me immediately, it does feed
more details into the game world. Those details will help
you build up a more cohesive picture of the world around
you. For example, where would someone who worked in
banking keep their keys? Probably on a chain attached to
their belt. Now I have a good idea of finding the keys and
an extra detail about an NPC.
RECORDING DETAILS
Vaesen is an investigative game at heart. As you play,
you will learn things about your world. To keep these
ideas consistent, you need a way to record them. One of
the best ways of improvising investigations is using mind
maps. A mind map is a visual way of recording ideas and
the connections between them. Every time you establish
a fact, add it to the mind map. These facts could be as
simple as a name, a color, or a relationship. Some of these
facts will come from the random tables either in the
Vaeson rules or later in this book. Other facts will be
established through your questions.
You can glance over the portions of the mind map that
relate to a place or person before you roleplay a scene in
that place or with that NPC. This will help you refresh
your memory about what you already know and suggest
more questions to ask. Then, using the tables below and
the background and Mystery tables in the Vaesen rules (pg
188-191, 214), you can start building the mind map of your
adventure.
In this case, I rolled for a Mystery and found that it was
disappearance; wanting to know what had disappeared, I
rolled on the Quest Giver table and rolled Child, and for
the location, I rolled Mill, using the Interesting Locations
table. So at this point, my entry into the adventure is
investigating the disappearance of a child from a mill
building. Using the background tables in the rules, I find
that they are Burgher class, and asking a yes-no question,
I want to know if the child is a boy? No, it is not a boy.
Therefore it is someone’s daughter.
Later on, when talking to other villagers about the
missing girl, I learn that she was a good girl and a credit
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to her mother. This came from the upbringing table
“Mother’s Footsteps”. So this is another fact that I can add
to the mind map.
The maps work best if you do not add any details that
your character cannot know, and you only add details as
you learn them.
This helps the investigation remain a mystery even to
you, and you are the one creating it.
MYSTERIES
Mysteries have a beginning, middle, and resolution. So
before you start your game, you need to create a mystery.
The Vaesen rules have mystery tables [page 188-191].
Roll on these tables to build a mystery but being sure to
only roll for information that your character actually
knows. As you establish facts, add them to your mind map.
Then, there are scenes that you know are going to happen.
The first is how you get involved in the mystery. The
Invitation table [pge 188] gets you started. You can roll for
all the details that the invitation includes.
Next, you need to travel to the location and gain your
Advantage.
When you arrive at the adventure location, you need
to start somewhere, probably meeting with your Quest
Giver or another NPC.
Add every fact to the mind map. You can use the
random names table [page 191] to give a name to each NPC
that you add to the mind map.
You can return the Mystery tables as you need or the
random tables later in this book to support what you learn
through the yes-no questions.
Eventually, you will have enough facts to come up with
some kind of solution to the mystery.
If you accuse something of something, you can always
use the yes-no question to determine if they really are
guilty or not. The more sure of your case, the more likely
you are to be accusing the right person. If you get a no
answer, they could be framed by somebody else or have
been an unwitting pawn in a bigger scheme. You should
not know the truth until the very moment your character
learns the truth. You can use MANIPULATION to force a
confession and then test to see if they are guilty or not.
MAKING A SCENE
Solo games are often played out in scenes. Vaesen
suggests game sessions of four to six hours, but that is a
long time to keep improvising everything your character
does and creating the world around them. This is
especially true as you do not have other people to react to.
 · The Solo Society ·

A scene can be a few minutes to several hours or more then the porter may discretely tell you that their room is
of your character’s adventure. If the game was a movie, empty; if you failed, the porter might have told the hotel
every time the movie faded to black or cut to a new manager about you, and they may be keeping a watchful
location, that would be a new scene. You can ask yourself eye on you.
the eight Experience Point questions at the end of each Flashbacks mean that you do not have to think of
scene, but you cannot gain an experience point for the everything in advance; you can fix your timeline as needed
same thing twice in the same gaming session. but still stay within the game’s rules.
Also, between scenes, you can ask any questions that Flashbacks are not unlike how the journey is played,
help you imagine the opening of the next scene. For according to the Vaesen rule book; see pages 181-182.
example, if you are visiting a new location, you can ask NPC REACTIONS
questions about the place. You could ask if it appears There are three things to consider with NPCs. The
rundown, or conversely, is it well maintained. Some of the first is how people or things react to you when you first
most powerful questions to ask are questions such as “Do encounter them. The second is how NPCs act within your
I arrive safely?” or “Does anything look odd or out of scenes, and the third is how other characters in your own
place?” Do not ask this sort of question too often, or the group behave.
game can begin to feel a little cartoonish. If you ask this The first time you encounter someone, or something,
kind of question, ask it when you have a good idea of what how you react will impact how they respond. The
the yes answer will look like. individual Vaesen have their initial goals or actions built-
I tend to ask this kind of leading question when I have in, so these are easy to play out. Everyone else, the normal
an idea or theory about the case. Once I think I know the people, in your adventure that you want to make
source of the Vaesen or the person behind what has interesting and believable.
happened, the question is intended to move the case from
the middle part to the end but provoking a confrontation.
Having asked any questions you need to help you
visualize the new scene, you can play it out, imagining any
interactions between your character and the NPCs.
I find it easier to imagine my character from a few
meters away. I refer to this as the director’s point of view.
This director’s view allows me to imagine my character,
NPCs, and the location all at the same time and how they
relate to each other.
Play out the scene, and as soon as you want to change
location or skip a block of time, that is the end of the scene
and the start of the next.
FLASHBACK SCENES
Occasionally, you may think your character would
have thought of something when you did not. This is
perfectly fair. The character is a living, breathing
inhabitant of your version of Upsala. In contrast, you are
just making it up as you go along.
When you hit one of these moments, you can pause the
current scene and play a flashback.
Jump back in time and play out what you think your
character would have done. Try and limit the scope of the
flashback to a single dice roll or scene. If they checked
with the station master when the next train was due, that
does not require a roll. If you tried to bribe a hotel porter
to let you know when someone leaves the hotel, that
would require a MANIPULATION roll. If you succeed,

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 · The Solo Society ·
Most of the time, a person’s reaction is predictable. A
train conductor may be bored or chatty, an innkeeper is
likely to be pleasant and welcoming. If you have just
caused a fight in the inn, they are suddenly much less
likely to be welcoming. Decide based upon your scene
what you think the most probable reaction is and the
opposite. Then roll a Likely [5 Dice] question to see if that
is really the case. It is frequently the no answers that add
the most to your adventures. If you return a lost child, you
would expect the parents to be overjoyed, but what does
a no answer mean now? We make the question likely to
make the no answers rare enough to stand out.
How people react to you initially is important and
should be added to your mind map. Their reaction is a
window into their whole personality and should be
consistent.
Once you are into your scene, you may need
something from an NPC that they may not want to give or
not be able to provide easily. These reactions are resolved
using the yes-no roll, but you choose the likelihood
depending on your own actions.
The final situation is if you want to have more than one
character. Some soloists like to play an entire party of
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characters, all directly under their control. Others prefer
to play a single character. It is difficult to be a lone
character without any support. If you are incapacitated,
then it is often game over! The compromise is to have a
second character that is not under your own control.
Create these characters as other members of the
Society. You can have an entire library of characters ready
to go, and you just pick a team for each adventure. When
you are playing, you play the character at the center of the
action. This could mean that you play the same hour of the
day repeatedly if the characters split up and go in
different directions. When two or more characters are
present, you play what you would consider your primary
character. All the others are considered secondary.
Secondary characters are controlled using yes-no
question rolls. The assumed question is, “Do they do the
sensible or expected thing?” The question roll is a likely [5
dice] roll. Most of the time, your team should behave as
you would expect. The roll is for when they are distracted,
have different ideas, or there is more than one option. As
normal, you decide what the yes and no options would
look like before rolling the dice. The goal is to push the
characters’ behavior outside of your control.
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Having secondary characters is useful for when your Inspirations

primary character becomes broken or terrified. You can D6 List 1 List 2 List 3

swap the point of view from the broken character to the 11 Magic People Through
secondary character until the broken character is 12 Mystery Creature Make
recovered. 13 Want Place Clues
14 Combat Body Like
RANDOM TABLES 15 Human Upsala Night
This chapter provides some random tables for when 16 Fear Someone More
your imagination draws a blank. 21 Conflict Animal Should
Roll a D66 for each column and then rearrange the 22 Powers Family Between
three words to create an idea. These do not have to be 23 Magical Village Could
literal. 24 Mental Wife Something
For example, I have found some correspondence 25 Ritual City Before

and want an idea of what it contains. I roll for three 26 Curse Water Over
31 Being Children Own
words and get 44 Dead, 12 Creature, 22 Between. I
32 Mysteries Sea Take
decide the Between relates to the NPC and their
33 Love Child Down
correspondent. The Dead Creature is the cause of
34 Black Home Same
division between them, and one is blaming the other
35 Strange Castle Back
for the death. I think it could be a horse or a pet dog,
36 Death Victim New
so ask if it a horse and roll a no, so I decided it was a
41 Force Police Become
dog. To finish, I ask, was the death natural? Yes, the
42 Enchant Spirit Create
death was natural. I can now add these facts to the
43 Living Church Dark
mind map.
44 Dead Forest Found
Not everything you roll will directly relate to your 45 Stories Inn Themselves
mystery. Some things will be red herrings, some just 46 Know Fire Small
details of the NPCs’ normal lives. 51 Mad Tree Left
If you find the three words cannot fit into your current 52 Secret Lake Along
situation, try discarding a word and work with just a pair 53 Cross Horse Light
of words. 54 Power Woman Near
The three lists are loosely themed. List 1 is the most 55 Banish Journey Move
mystic, List 2 is ‘things’, and List 3 is related to changing 56 Kill Man Gain
states. 61 Dreams Mountain Buried
62 Atmosphere Priest Stop
63 Transform Farm Behind
64 Spell River Fast
65 Invitation Dance Taken
66 Revenge Disease Inside

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 · The Solo Society ·

CREATING TABLES CREDITS

It is really useful to create your own random tables. Interior Art
This lets you put your own stamp on a game. However, Theodor Kittelsen, Hermann Hendrich
creating tables can be a time-consuming affair. Written By
I suggest starting with just four options. Two more Peter Rudin-Burgess
common options, and two that are less likely. Arrange
your table, so it looks something like this. Copyright 2021 Parts Per Million Limited
D6 Hook
International House,
1-2 Common Thing 12 Constance Street, London E16 2DQ.
3-4 Common Thing https://www.patreon.com/PPMGames
5 Uncommon Thing
6 Uncommon Thing
Four options may not seem very many, but the table is
easily extended to six items. I find four items are quick to
think of, whereas I can sometimes struggle to find the
sixth item on a straight d6 table.
Tables that you use the most often can be expanded
with more options, or you can chain tables together where
each entry is the name of another table.
Save all the tables you create and you can build up a
custom library of them that will make your game unique.

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