Solo Adventure Resource - The Dungeon Oracle.pdf

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The Dungeon Oracle
A Method for Converting
Published Modules for Solo Play
by PAUL BIMLER
CREDITS:
All text by Paul Bimler
Cover Art by DM’s Guild Creator Resources
All other art by William McAusland
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, the dragon ampersand,
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©2016 Wizards of the Coast LLC, PO Box 707, Renton, WA 98057-0707, USA. Manufactured by
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THE DUNGEON ORACLE: CONVERTING A MODULE FOR
SOLO PLAY ON THE FLY!
With the plethora of amazing, multi-player
modules online, wouldn’t it be amazing if
there were some way solo players could take
advantage of these. Well they can.
Your first stage is of course to purchase the
module. Read through the adventure
background before starting your quest.
You, as DM, will be running this for your
adventurers, as a solo player. You can run any
number of adventurers you want. Adventures
are often balanced for 4 x PCs of a certain
level. Four PCs is a lot to run, however. As a
solo player, you may find a party of two or
even just a single adventurer is preferable. If
you run a single PC, give it Max HP, as it is
not allowed death saves.
Have a look at this chart to give you an idea
of how to convert 4-player adventures for 1-2
PCs. When a recommendation is given with
the words “harder” or “easier” that means that
there is a slight variance in encounter
difficulty levels. So, 1 Level 6 PC will find an
adventure balanced for 4 level 2s
slightly
harder than intended. 2 Level 4s will find the
same quest a little
harder
than intended. But
that just gives you choice - do you want to
experience the story and have a little fun with
combat along the way? Then go with easier.
If you like a challenge, go with hard.
This is not a simple matter of calculating via
the table on p.82 on the Dungeon Master’s
Guide. With smaller parties, the action
economy is reduced, so the difficulty rating is
increased even if the monsters stay the same.
We need to take this into account when
calculating a balanced level to run a module
solo, and p.83 of the
Dungeon Master’s Guide
(“Party Size”) gives us guidelines on how to
do this. You can also use sidekicks and magic
items to buffer difficulty levels.
An adventure balanced for...
4 x Level 1 PCs
4 x Level 2 PCs
4 x Level 3 PCs
4 x Level 4 PCs
4 x Level 5 PCs
4 x Level 6 PCs
4 x Level 7 PCs
4 x Level 8 PCs
4 x Level 9 PCs
4 x Level 10 PCs
4 x Level 11 PCs
Could be played with...
2 x Level 3 PCs (balanced)
2 x Level 4 PCs (easier)
2 x Level 5 PCs (balanced)
2 x Level 7 PCs (balanced)
2 x Level 10 PCs (harder)
2 x Level 11 PCs (balanced)
2 x Level 13 PCs (balanced)
2 x Level 15 PCs (harder)
2 x Level 17 PCs (easier)
2 x Level 18 PCs (harder)
2 x Level 20 PCs (easier)
Or...
1 x Level 4 PC (harder)
1 x Level 6 or 7 PC
(harder/easier)
1 x Level 8 or 9 PC
(harder/easier)
1 x Level 11 PC (balanced)
1 x Level 14 or 15 PC
(harder/easier)
1 x Level 16 PC (balanced)
1 x Level 18 PC (balanced)
1 x Level 20 PC (balanced)
No level applicable
No level applicable
No level applicable
CREATING SURPRISE: CHANGING
THE ADVENTURE
But even you are going to get some surprises.
We are going to take the basic framework of
this module and use it as a starting point for
our adventure. So reading through this
adventure will reveal some basic detail, but
the nature of this material is going to change
in interesting ways.
More enemies may appear. More traps may
appear. The story will
definitely
change, as we
need it to surprise us. But this method will
allow you to enjoy innumerable adventures
crafted by the many creative minds that
contribute to the world of D&D (or any RPG
for that matter)
TO PRINT OR NOT TO PRINT?
You may wish to print out the module or
obtain a physical copy. Get away from those
screens and onto the tabletop, increasing the
quality of your gaming experience tenfold.
THE MAPS
You have two approaches to the maps. You
can choose to use the maps and their locations
as is, which detracts from the surprise a little.
Or you can count the number of locations on
the map, then devise a dice roll which triggers
their appearance, making a new map as you
go.
More on that below: “Randomising the Map”
CONTEXT
Here is your starting text to provide some
context as to why you might be embarking on
this quest alone:
You have heard rumours about this quest, you
have even talked to some who have attempted it
and failed, and they have told you many of the
perils that await. With this foreknowledge, you
feel you have a good chance of succeeding in this
quest.
Read through the module intro, including the
DM backstory. Take note of:
1. Basic storyline. (Strip it down as much as
possible.)
2. Each room, its inhabitants, and a basic
outline. Don’t worry, you are still going
to be surprised!
3. Read through most of the module, even
the DM background. This is the
basic
story, but we are going to change it in
interesting ways that even the original
authors didn’t intend!
4. Look for any interesting random tables or
monster encounter tables in the
adventure. Take note of these. Perhaps
you could even replace them with your
own!
MAIN STORYLINE (Example):
Beastmen are abducting villagers. The PCs
uncover an ancient chaos cult and its source: a
temple in the centre of an underground sea.
A rite is about to take place - the sacrifice of
their fellow villagers. The PCs must stop it. If
they don’t the Chaos Lord will be reborn.
ASK SOME QUESTIONS, especially ones
that might add extra detail.
DETAIL: Something can cause the villagers to
become undead… what is that?
DETAIL: Is there some sort of re-animation
machine involved here? Have they gotten hold of
planar technology somehow?
QUESTIONS
Now that you have the main storyline, it is
time to ask some questions, to brainstorm the
adventure. This is where
your
creativity comes
in.
•
•
•
•
•
WHAT
is this cult doing here?
WHO
is the Chaos Lord, really?
WHERE
is the village that the PCs
start in?
WHEN
does this take place within
our world
HOW
do the PCs get to the island?
Some more questions to ask:
•
What is the PCs personal stake in this
adventure?
•
Do any of the PCs have a connection to the
BBEG, or to the location? If so, what?
ANSWERING THOSE QUESTIONS
In order to furnish answers to these
questions, and to any questions that pop up
within the adventure (EG: “Does this halfling
appear hostile towards me?”), you will need
access to a question/answer mechanic. The
Mythic GM Emulator
(available on Drivethru
RPG) is an excellent one, and I have also
included one in my product
The Solo
Adventurer’s Toolbox
(available on Dungeon
Master’s Guild). Simply put, question/answer
mechanics are a way of using dice rolls to get
yes/no/maybe answers to any questions you
might have regarding what happens as you
move through your quest.
Both of these books also contain tools for
generating detailed answers through random
word association. With
Mythic GM Emulator,
you have the Event Meaning Table, with
The
Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox
you have a list of
499 rollable Verbs. Random word generators
are excellent for providing surprises within a
solo adventure.
I have also included yet another list of
random words not provided in either of those
products, at the end of this document!
MONSTER LOCATIONS
Next, make a list of all the monsters that
populate each area of the each map.
Roll for each of these, and determine whether
they have moved. If they have, then set a 30%
probability that you will encounter them at
one of the other locations.
In the above example, I determined that the
Beastman Champion had moved. So, every
time I entered a new location, I rolled a d100
(30%) to see if he was there. Perhaps he won’t
appear until the boss encounter.
EXPANDING THE ADVENTURE
Beyond what is contained in the module, we
can also consider some preliminary
exploration or shopping in a nearby settlement.
What is the closest settlement to where the
quest takes place? Research it in the Forgotten
Realms Wiki, or whatever resource you feel is
appropriate. What are some notable buildings
and NPCs in that location? Does your PC
discover these people and places, and if so
how do they interact with them?
What might a DM have a party do first before
embarking on this mission? Visiting the local
library or temples, in order to try and gain
information on the perils about to be
encountered? Lurking in and picking up
rumours, perhaps? Searching to see if there are
any magic items available in the town? Using,
for example,
The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox,
or
Mythic GM Emulator,
you can do some
freeform solo adventuring and see what is able
to be discovered, learnt, bought or traded, prior
to embarking on the quest proper.
MAP 1: KEEP EXTERIOR
1.
2.
3.
4.
Vine Horrors
Beastmen
Beastman Champion
Tar Ooze
Now, for each of these, make a roll for how
likely it would be that these creatures would
move from their specified location. Come up
with the likelihood ratio yourself. For the Tar
Ooze and the Vine Horrors, let’s put the
probability at 15%, as they are fairly
stationary creatures. For the Beastmen and
the Beastman Champion, we will make it 30%
as they are more mobile, but do have reasons
for being in the locations where they are.
Using question/answer mechanics and
keywords, interpret your answers creatively
and add these newly-discovered threads to
your storyline. You will be changing the

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