Sitting down tonight, I ran a solo game, using and testing out my solo tools. I created a procedure for hex crawling in a post apocalyptic world, a journal software and even a random mutant generator.
So the session, Its Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with my custom character Vark, a Wolverine Ninja. Vark sets out from his village with a clear objective. Find the Human Empireās robotic armor facility. Track down the scientist known as the Librarian. Gather intel and get out. Maybe cause a little chaos if possible.
That plan lasts about one hex, lol.
What follows is a push through uncertain ground. An abandoned farming settlement that still feels watched. Patrols moving through in walking armor. Signs of destruction with no bodies left behind. A Toxic Wasteland that forces a hard retreat before it kills him. Every step adds pressure. Every move raises the question, āshould he even be here?ā
Then the tone shifts.
Vark spots a river, thinking he has no where to go, but he spots some scavengers nearby. A camp that looks empty but isnāt safe. Vark takes the risk anyway. He slips in, grabs what he can, and leaves. It feels like a win. Quiet. Clean. No one saw him.
That assumption doesnāt hold.
What you get at the end of this session is not a planned encounter. Itās fallout. A single goat scavenger tracks him down, and now Vark has to deal with it fast. No backup. No reset. Just a short, sharp fight where one mistake could end the run early.
This video shows the system working in real time. The hex crawl. The control checks. The encounter triggers. The oracle decisions. The journal. The tools are not there to make things easier. They are there to remove control and force honest outcomes.
A few things to watch for as you go through it:
ā¢ How quickly a āsimple moveā turns into layered risk
ā¢ How patrols and faction presence change the feel of a location
ā¢ How retreat becomes the right call, not failure
ā¢ How small decisions create consequences a few steps later
ā¢ How fast combat resolves when thereās no padding around it
Vark is not a hero with plot armor. He is one character moving through a space that does not care if he survives. Thatās the point of this kind of play.
If youāre working on your own solo procedures, or thinking about running TMNT & Other Strangeness this way, this session shows what happens when you let the system breathe and stop protecting the outcome.
Watch the video, Subscribe to the channel and comment away!