This is an actual play of The Wayfarer, a Solo RPG about exploration and worldbuilding.
In the blocks like this one I describe my thinking process.
These blocks show the mechanics, like the character sheets, results of the rolls, and the random prompts I'm getting when I roll on random tables.
The plain text summarizes what happens in the actual story as the result of me interpreting the rules and the prompts.
Audio version:
When you define the world, it can be as simple as "Wild West" or "Fantasy Kingdom", but I want to play in the world I'm currently developing for my campaign.
In this chaotic and colorful fantasy world, the Allied Kingdoms of Light have conclusively defeated the armies of the Dark Lord, and now rule over the lands with the iron fist. The pompous and insufferable "good guys" are oppressing and mistreating the stereotypically "bad" guys (orcs, goblins, etc.), who are scrappy and sympathetic misfits. Think "Firefly" meets "Shrek".
I want to explore and develop one specific region of this world, so I'll focus on that.
The Fringes are the uncharted regions beyond the reach of the Allied Kingdoms, where many "bad guys" have fled to survive and live free. Think "Wild West" meets "Tortuga".
I roll on the tables to generate my character archetype, and character prompt.
I roll twice on each table, and pick one option I prefer.
Here's what I get:
Character Archetype: The Courier - Transport interesting, rare, fragile, bulky, confidential, illegal, or unusual items requiring special handling.
Reach a milestone when you make a delivery.
Character Prompt: Cynical cultist.
Based on these prompts, I come up with my character and one special ability they have at the start of the game:
Nerissa
Description: She is a pale and grumpy teenager, think April from Parks and Rec, who took a minimum-wage job as a delivery girl for a Lovecraftian cult. The cult has chapters all across the continent, and she works as a courier, transporting various creepy packages between the cult lairs.
Abilities: She can perform a dark ritual that summons a small imp (low-level demon) to do her bidding.
I roll on the locations table and pick a location prompt:
Location: Wild Outpost
I need to figure out how and why she ended up at this location. I think, she's here to deliver some creepy package to a cult lair in the middle of nowhere.
Nerissa journeys through the jungle, towards a small cult encampment stationed at the local swamps. She has a huge jar strapped to her back, like a backpack. Inside the jar, a tangle of tentacles floats in a murky yellow liquid. The cultists are learning to summon and commune with the eldritch swamp monsters, and the tentacles are a critical ingredient for their rituals.
I roll twice on the events table, and pick one I like the most:
Event: Face a stealth challenge requiring secrecy or careful movement.
How do you remain undetected?
Now I need to come up with a stealth challenge. She needs to sneak past someone or something. I think it's either:
1. something dangerous in the jungle, or
2. the cultists themselves.
I can't decide, so I'll roll for it.
🎲 2 She needs to sneak past the cultists themselves.
Why would she need to sneak past the cultists? Maybe she's delivering this package late, and she wants to drop it off and get paid before the mean chapter leader notices and berates her.
Nerissa sweats as she runs through the jungle, trying to get her delivery faster, but she knows she's already late.
She approaches the camp, where a lanky cultist yells at his followers, issuing the commands and rebuking people. "Get back to work, you useless squid-ankles, or I will feed you to my snakes!"
Now we need to establish both the objective (what the character wants in the scene), and what makes it difficult to achieve.
Not wanting to get yelled at for a late delivery, she looks for a way to sneak into the camp leader's tent to drop off the jar and get paid, before he notices her. Unfortunately, the camp is swarming with the watchful cultists.
Now it's time for action! I describe the action I need to take to get what I want.
Nerissa summons her imp to create a distraction. She draws a pentagram in the dirt, spills a drop of blood, and a tiny red devil poofs into the air. He giggles maniacally, flaps his small wings, and flies off into the camp.
I need to roll to see if this is successful.
I'll set the difficulty number to 10, as it's a moderately challenging task.
I roll with advantage because I'm using my ability.
🎲 12, 9. I succeed!
Now I need to describe the outcome.
Moments later, Nerissa hears screams, and sees one of the cultists running, holding a burning ancient tome.
The cult leader curses, "what have you done, you idiot, this thing is priceless!"
The cultist tries to explain himself, "but-but-b-b-but sir! It was the tiny red imp! We need to get him before he destroys more precious artifacts!"
With everyone distracted, Nerissa sneaks into the cult leader's tent, leaves her delivery on his table, and grabs some gold coins from his desk in payment for her work.
This is my first delivery, so I reach a milestone, which enables me to come up with a new ability and a location.
Milestone 1: Nerissa has delivered a jar of tentacles to the local swamp encampment, and got paid for her work.
New ability: I say that she found a potion recipe in the cultist's desk, and can now brew a potion that consumes the surrounding light when spilled.
Every time I add a new ability, I also need to come up with a new region or a distant location I want to explore in the future. I need to describe what makes it challenging, and what compels me to explore it.
New location: I roll for a prompt, and get "Guarded Crater." I'll say that Nerissa has overheard cultists gossip about a meteor crater nearby, which is guarded by holy knights. If she manages to grab a chunk of the meteor and bring it to the cult, she might get a promotion.
So this is the end of my first mini-episode!
From here, I can continue my adventures as Nerissa and play one more scene (perhaps she'll get to that crater and try to steal that meteor), or I can create a new character to explore this world from a different perspective.
If you liked this post, you should try playing this game yourself!
If you have any feedback, I'd love to hear it! What do you like to see in published actual plays (podcasts and blog posts), what kind of format do you prefer? Is there anything obvious that I could improve about an actual-play like this? Send me a message on our discord, or leave a comment on reddit.