The Shopkeeper's Saga

You need:

• Something to write with and on
• A d20 (or random number generator)
• A tracker token of some sort (coin, meeple, etc)

Optional:

• A set of dominos (a print-and-play version is available at https://mr-matthew.itch.io/dominoes).
  • If using dominos, an opaque bag or box to pull them from (put them in it and mix them up randomly).
    
• If not using dominos, a d6.

About the Game

A villain threatens the world, and someone must rise to stop them! That someone won't be you, though, as you're merely a humble shopkeeper...

You find yourself gathering supplies and things to sell from the villain's lair when a hero appears! You realize that you can help them defeat the villain by crafting equipment they desperately need while working toward your personal goals as well.

The Shopkeeper's Saga was created for Moos-a-Dee Community Jam #14, which had one of my favorite themes of all time: "You are the traveling merchant in an RPG that always shows up to a location before the heroes do."

How to Play

After journaling about who you are, why you're in the villain's lair, who the hero and villain are, and what the lair is like, you'll go through a number of moments in the dungeon.

The game uses the Second Guess System for these moments: you'll roll a d20 to get a prompt, then journal about what happens, why, and what you get out of it. Whenever you roll a number you've already rolled, a twist happens. This is when the hero crosses your path, and they see what you were doing in this moment, which shapes their opinion of you. You also get two opportunities to craft requested equipment for them (with dominoes —thanks Domino Crafting Mechanic— or "written dominoes" using a d6), which will increase their power.

Once five twists have happened, the hero and villain face off! If the hero can defeat the villain, the world is safe again! Either way, you may also win a personal victory if you've progressed toward your purpose... but you may not enjoy your personal victory long if the villain won the battle. Unless you wanted that to happen! 

No printing is required, but there is an optional character sheet you can print. This makes tracking everything much easier, but you can also just use a blank piece of paper instead.

Did you know we have a Patreon? 

You can read more about The Shopkeeper's Saga there.

The vast majority of our posts are free: we share news, updates, behind-the-scenes design stuff, and more. We do have paid tiers that get access to our stuff as it releases, but even becoming a free member will get you emails when one of our free posts goes out. And psssst: sometimes we even release free stuff!

More Solo Journaling Games

Check out all of our solo games in this list, and some of our solo journaling games below