How to Play a Solo RPG Adventure in 30 Minutes: Six Scenes, Two Clocks

Playing well · 4 min read

A whole story with a beginning, a middle and an ending, in about half an hour, with nothing to prepare.

Some evenings you do not want to build a world or plan a campaign. You want a whole story, with a start, a middle and an ending, before your tea goes cold. That is what the 30-minute adventure in Your Story is for. One tap deals you a hero and six scenes. You make the choices and write a line or two each time, and the dice and the oracle keep it surprising.

Start in one tap

1. Open Your Story and tap Play a 30-minute adventure. You get a hero with a portrait, a town and the first scene. Nothing to fill in.
2. Already playing a story? Open More and choose Play a 30-minute adventure here. The adventure starts in the town your story began in, with the hero you already have.

The six scenes

Every adventure has the same shape, so you always know where you are:

1. The hook. Someone needs your help, and there is a reward.
2. Setting out. The road, the weather and whoever you meet on the way.
3. The trouble. Something goes wrong: a rival, a lie, an ambush.
4. The discovery. You learn who is really behind it, or what they fear.
5. The climax. Face to face with the one who has been in your way all along.
6. The ending. The clocks decide how it went, and you write how it ends.

Each scene card tells you where you are, who is here and what is wrong. Read it, picture it, and fill in whatever it leaves out. If a detail does not fit, change it: it is your story.

Ask the oracle when you are not sure

Every scene suggests one question, such as Was the client followed here? Tap Ask this question to send it to the oracle, or ask your own. Pick how likely a Yes feels, and the answer goes into your story. If you have never used one, read how to use a yes/no oracle; it takes two minutes.

Bold or careful: every choice has a price

Each scene ends with two choices.

• Bold is a roll. Roll a d20 against a target: easy is 8 or more, risky is 12 or more, desperate is 16 or more. A success fills two boxes of Progress (three in the climax). Up to four short of the target is a partial success: one box of Progress and one of Danger. Anything lower, and every 1, fills two boxes of Danger.
• Careful needs no roll. You get one box of Progress, but it costs time, so Danger rises by one too.

The target rises with Danger. The deeper in trouble you are, the harder the next bold move becomes. That is how a story builds tension without anyone planning it.

Playing your own game? Use its dice

You do not need our d20. If you play a game with its own rules, roll whatever that game asks for, then tap It worked, Partly or It failed. The clocks move the same way. Many players use their own character's skills here and let the adventure handle the story.

How the ending is decided

• A clean win: Progress is full and Danger is 3 or less.
• A win, at a price: Progress is full but Danger is 4 or more.
• Half a victory: Progress reached 4 or 5.
• A defeat, for now: Progress is 3 or less.

If Danger ever fills all six boxes, the ending drops one step. Playing it safe all the way gets you half a victory; to win cleanly you have to take some risks. Every ending leaves a loose end, which becomes an open thread in your story for next time.

Keep it to half an hour

• Write a line, not a page. One or two sentences after each choice is enough. You can always add more later.
• Take the first idea. If the scene says an ambush, it is an ambush. Accept it and keep moving.
• Use the timer as a guide. The card shows roughly how many minutes are left. Going over is fine; it is there to keep the pace, not to rush you.
• Stuck? Tap Who? for someone to meet or Twist for a surprise, and ask how it connects to what is wrong.

When it is over

The ending card shows the whole adventure in six lines. You can play another, share the six lines, print the story, or continue as a campaign: a new adventure starts in a new session with the same hero, and the loose end is still waiting in your threads. Everything stays on your device, and you can send a session to the Campaign Notebook journal or download it as text.

New to solo play? Your first session in 15 minutes explains the basic loop, and the example adventures let you try a story with prepared choices first.