How to play a tabletop RPG without a group

The short answer

You can play a tabletop RPG alone or without a regular group in five ways: a journaling game, a traditional game with an oracle standing in for the game master, play-by-post, an online table of strangers, or a game run by an AI game master. They suit different moods. Most solo players end up using more than one.

1. Journaling games

A journaling game gives you prompts, often drawn with cards or dice, and you write what happens. There is no game master and very little to learn. It suits people who like writing and a quiet hour. It is less suited to anyone who wants to be surprised by another mind, because every answer comes from you.

2. A traditional game with an oracle

An oracle is a set of tables that answers the questions you would normally ask a game master: is the door locked, does the guard believe me, what goes wrong? You roll, interpret the answer, and play your character under a rule system you like. This gives you real rules and real surprises. It also asks the most of you: you run the rules, the bookkeeping and the world, and play in it too.

3. Play-by-post

In play-by-post, a group plays in writing on a forum or chat server, each person posting when they can. Nobody needs the same free evening. Games move slowly, sometimes a few posts a day, and they depend on everyone continuing to show up.

4. An online table of strangers

Communities exist to match players with game masters for games over voice or video. This is the closest to the classic experience and the best way to make gaming friends. It brings back the original problem, though: a fixed time each week, and a game that ends if the game master leaves.

5. An AI game master

An AI game master plays the world for you. You make your character's choices; it describes scenes, plays everyone you meet, and applies the rules. You can do this with a general chat assistant and some setup (see the guide to using ChatGPT as a game master), or with a game built for it.

Orpheus is one of those games. It is single-player and runs in a browser. Rules come from SRD 5.2, and the game rolls the dice when an action could go either way. The people you meet remember how you treated them, and the campaign is still there tomorrow. A free account gets a daily allowance of story turns and three campaigns.

Which one fits you

• You like writing and reflection: a journaling game.
• You love a particular rule system and don't mind the upkeep: an oracle.
• You want other people but can't keep a schedule: play-by-post.
• You want the full table experience and have a free evening each week: an online group.
• You want to play tonight, be surprised, and not run the game yourself: an AI game master.

Next steps

The solo RPG guide walks through a first session. If the vocabulary is new, the glossary has plain definitions, and there are campaign ideas if you need a premise. The help center covers how Orpheus plays.