RPG Solo Forums

TURN 7

Audio Log 7

DRAW: 3 CARDS

CARD 1: LIGHT OFF - 4 OF CLUBS - Someone has scrawled, in blood: VOIDLIGHT! The SHAMBLER comes! Rejoice! DIE!

CARD 2: LIGHT ON - 3 OF DIAMONDS - In your sleep, someone robs you of a granola bar. How on earth could they manage that? You see their footprints in the dust, but you soon lose the trail. Pull from the tower.   Pull: Eleven 1’s.   24 dice remaining.

CARD 3: LIGHT ON - 9 OF SPADES - The tunnel narrows badly. Do you try to squeeze through? You can’t see how far it’s like this, it could slow you. But it could be the way. Roll a D6, and on a 4, 5, or 6 pull from the tower.  Roll: 2 NO PULL

Token Check Roll: 3  No Tokens are Removed.  Total Tokens: 10

TURN 8

Audio Log 8

DRAW: 4 CARDS

CARD 1 - LIGHT OFF - 3 OF HEARTS - You wouldn’t eat human flesh, would you? It hasn’t gotten that bad yet, has it? The fact you are even considering it plays hell with your stress. Pull from the tower.   Pull: Six 1s.  18 dice remain.

CARD 2: LIGHT OFF - KING OF SPADES - You round a corner, lost in thought, and are now teetering on the edge of a crevasse. Pull from the tower. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side, and if all four Kings have been drawn, then you have fallen into the crevasse, breaking both legs. Death soon follows.  Pull: Three 1s.  15 dice remain.

CARD 3: LIGHT ON - 8 OF HEARTS - You find a small pool of water, enough to refill your bottle even. Water has never tasted so clean and cool.

CARD 4: LIGHT OFF - 4 OF SPADES - You stumble upon a crevice. Do you try to jump across, or find a way to go around? Darkness. Roll a D6, and on a 4, 5, or 6 pull from the tower.  Roll 2. NO PULL.

Token Check Roll: 6  Remove a token.  Total tokens: 9

TURN 9

Audio Log 9

DRAW: 5 CARDS

CARD 1: LIGHT ON - 2 OF DIAMONDS - Mark comes out of the darkness, catching you by surprise. Before you can react he has run past you, racing off in the direction you just came from. You can’t catch him, but do you follow?

CARD 2: LIGHT OFF - JACK OF SPADES - You’re having a breakdown. You just need some light damn it. But you know you should save charge. Darkness. Pull from the tower. Roll a D6, and on a 4, 5, or 6 pull from the tower. Roll: 3  NO PULL. Heck, I’m rocking these pull rolls.

CARD 3: LIGHT OFF - 7 OF HEARTS - You find a rat, limping along. It’s been hurt somehow. It’s food...but at what cost? Pull from the tower.  Pull: Four 1s.   11 dice remaining

CARD 4: LIGHT ON - JACK OF HEARTS - Those bones there look fresher than most. And blessedly not human. You’ve heard of eating the marrow before...time to give it a try. That rock there should do to crack them.

CARD 5: LIGHT OFF - 6 OF CLUBS - Something has been visiting you as you sleep. It leaves you little presents. A severed rat head. A gnawed finger bone. An inky purple stone. Darkness. Pull from the tower.   Pull: Two 1s.   9 dice remaining.

Token Check Roll: 1  No Tokens are Removed.  Total Tokens: 9

To Be Continued . . . 

Ah the descent into sweet madness!
Creepy stuff. I loved the end of turn 8 "I am a monster..."
And the rat munching in turn 9 was oh so disgusting. Eeeesh!

TURN 10

Audio Log 10

DRAW: 4 CARDS

CARD 1: LIGHT ON - QUEEN OF DIAMONDS - Rounding a corner you find Todd. You never liked them anyway, they were always sucking up to McManus. Still...it would have been nice to find someone alive.

CARD 2: LIGHT OFF - KING OF CLUBS - Some...creature...is following you. You have seen a glimpse of it, but the horror of that quick glance almost drove you mad. All those legs...all those sightless eyes. Pull from the tower. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side, and if all four Kings have been drawn, then the creature has caught you. You won’t want to be alive for what it’s about to do to you.  Pull: Two 1s.  7 dice remaining.

CARD 3: LIGHT OFF - 6 OF HEARTS - Someone dropped a granola bar! Just ignore that little smear of blood on the end, it doesn't mean anything, surely.

CARD 4: LIGHT OFF - ACE OF SPADES - You are getting a better feel for these tunnels, almost making sense of them. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side, and from now on rolls of 4 or higher will remove a token from the Ace of Hearts, if you have located it.

Token Check Roll: 4   Remove a token.  Total tokens remaining: 8

TURN 11

Audio Log 11

Only 15 cards left and I still need to remove 8 tokens. It’s not looking good.  

DRAW: 2 CARDS

CARD 1: LIGHT OFF - 6 OF SPADES - You hear crying, but it sounds wrong. Like something just pretending to be human. Could it just be the acoustics? Do you look? Roll a D6, and on a 4, 5, or 6 pull from the tower.  Roll: 5  Pull  One 1. Six dice remaining.

CARD 2: LIGHT ON 9 (last charge) - ACE OF CLUBS - You have found an altar in the heart of a cavern. The walls are glowing with a pale luminescence, revealing a structure made of human bones. It seems to represent a creature with far too many legs, and a slavering maw big enough to swallow you whole. Pull from the tower. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side, and if the King of Clubs has been pulled, you can shuffle it back into the deck. Pull  Three 1’s. Three dice remaining.  King of Clubs is shuffled back into the deck.

Token Check Roll: 5 Remove a token. Seven tokens remain.

TURN 12

Audio Log 12

DRAW: 4 CARDS

CARD 1: LIGHT OFF - Ace: You find the body of McManus. The prick survived the cave-in, but someone got him. There is a pick-sized hole in his head. And whoever did it, didn’t even search the body! You find his pockets full of snacks, and an almost full battery pack with 5 charges. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side to remind you of the 5 charges. Once expended, you can discard.

CARD 2: LIGHT ON - 5 OF CLUBS - Something has been visiting you as you sleep. It leaves you little presents. A severed rat head. A gnawed finger bone. An inky purple stone. Darkness. Pull from the tower. No Pull.

CARD 3: LIGHT ON - 5 OF HEARTS - You hear a trickle of water. You follow the sound, eventually coming to a crack in the wall, where the water is falling. You manage to get a few sips, but hurt yourself. Pull from the tower. Zero 1s.  3 dice remaining.

CARD 4: LIGHT OFF - 10 OF HEARTS (Oops, I learned later that I accidentally copied the description for the 9 of hearts. No matter, I’ll just use the 10 of hearts description when I pull the 9) - You are so thirsty...so...so thirsty. Do you suffer the hurt to your sanity by drinking your own urine, or do you suffer the pain of dehydration? Pull from the tower.  Pull: One 1. Two dice remaining.

Token Check Roll: 1 No tokens removed. Seven tokens remain.

TURN 13

Audio Log 13

DRAW: 4 CARDS

CARD 1: LIGHT ON - 9 OF CLUBS - You see yourself standing before you. They look as surprised as you are, then horrified, and then they turn and run. You feel compelled to do the same. Darkness. Pull from the tower. No Pull. It really is uncanny how many times I had my light on when I pulled darkness cards.

CARD 2: LIGHT OFF - 2 OF SPADES - The path forks. One way heads down, but you think you can hear water. The other, though, goes up, the direction you need to go. Roll a D6, and on a 4, 5, or 6 pull from the tower. Roll: 3 No Pull.

CARD 3: LIGHT ON - 9 OF DIAMONDS - You find Rolly. Your best friend, the guy who’s always had your back in the mines. He’s dying, nothing you can do, but he asks for a sip of water. You can’t refuse him. Pull from the tower.  Pull: One 1. One die remaining.

CARD 4: LIGHT OFF - 2 OF HEARTS - Who would have thought that lichen could survive down here...or that it would be so tasty?

Token Check Roll: 4  Remove a Token. Six tokens remain.

TURN 14

Audio Log 14

DRAW: 6 CARDS.  Well, this is it. That’s the last of the cards. All four kings will have been pulled by the end of this turn.

CARD 1: LIGHT ON (Last Charge) - QUEEN OF HEARTS - You’ve taken to licking the moisture from the walls wherever you can find a wet patch.

CARD 2: LIGHT OFF - 7 OF CLUBS - You find a door, and your heart soars! But when you open it, there is only void beyond it. Not even your light can penetrate it. Darkness. Pull from the tower. Pull: Zero 1’s. One die remaining.

CARD 3: LIGHT OFF - 9 OF HEARTS - (This is actually the description for the 10 of Hearts per error back in turn 12.)  Those bones there look fresher than most. And blessedly not human. You’ve heard of eating the marrow before...time to give it a try. That rock there should do to crack them.

CARD 4: LIGHT OFF - KING OF HEARTS - You have found a small cluster of pale green glowing mushrooms. Your hunger is so great that you can’t help but try them. Within minutes you are sick and throwing up. Darkness. Pull from the tower. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side, and if all four Kings have been drawn, then the poison of the mushrooms has killed you.  Pull: Zero 1s.  One die remaining.

CARD 5: LIGHT OFF - QUEEN OF CLUBS - How is there an image of you carved into the stone? One clearly very, very old.

CARD 6: LIGHT OFF - KING OF CLUBS - Some...creature...is following you. You have seen a glimpse of it, but the horror of that quick glance almost drove you mad. All those legs...all those sightless eyes. Pull from the tower. Do not discard this card. Set it to the side, and if all four Kings have been drawn, then the creature has caught you. You won’t want to be alive for what it’s about to do to you.

THE END

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Matthew 8:11-12  What's this?

THE AFTERPOST

The Final Board (at least the top portion)


I played every card in the deck. I eliminated every tower dice except for one. I logged every prompt. I think I got about as much out of this game as I could.

I do want to address the last couple of turns. Not that anyone has questioned this, but I do feel it needs some additional explanation. Back in turn 11 I was instructed to shuffle the King of Clubs back into the deck. The way I did this in my system was to put that card at the bottom of the card column, highlight it in black to cover it up, then use Google sheets “Randomize” function several times to rearrange the cards that were still unrevealed. I certainly didn’t expect that the King of Clubs would end up on the bottom of the column, making the final card to be drawn. As you might expect, it made me question whether or not the “Randomize” function actually worked.

So, in typical Tev style, I had to run some tests.

At that point in the game, I would have had 14 unrevealed cards, including the returned King. So, with all cards revealed and the King of Club at the bottom of the stack, I highlighted the last 14 cards and hit the “Randomize” function several times. All the cards did change places. However, the King of Clubs did reappear in the last cell several times during my test, frequently enough that I’m confident that my shuffle mechanic did indeed work, and, merely by chance, the final order left the King as the last card to be drawn.

I enjoyed the Wretched & Alone style of gameplay and the journaling nature of storytelling. I also had fun recording and producing the audio logs. As a result, I have built up a large library of journaling games, both W&A and other systems, and will certainly be playing and posting more in the future.

As always, thanks for reading (and listening).