Play a solo tabletop RPG with an AI game master

Why play solo

A tabletop campaign needs four calendars to line up every week, and one cancellation can end it. Solo play doesn't. Play at midnight or on a lunch break, for ten minutes or a whole evening, and the story is where you left it.

Solo also means the story is yours. Nobody else is steering. Every scene bends toward your character's choices, your pace, and the parts of the world you care about.

Solo players have long done this with oracle tables and journals, rolling for answers and playing both sides. With an AI game master, the other side plays itself: you make your character's choices, and the game master answers with the world, its people and the rules.

How a first session goes

1. Pitch a sentence. “An all-night diner where the regulars are werewolves, and it's your first shift.” That's enough. A short setup asks for the rest: a campaign name, the genre, tone and setting, anything to keep in mind or keep out, and how challenging it should feel. Or start from a preset world and change it.
2. Make your character. A name, then as much as you want to share about who they are and where they come from. Type freely. The suggestions are only there to help.
3. Session Zero. Before the adventure starts, the game master talks with you about your character and the kind of story you want.
4. The first scene. The game master sets it: where you are, who's there, what's about to go wrong. Most beats end on a few choices. Pick one, or type what you do in your own words.
5. Your first roll. Try something risky and the game master calls for a dice roll. Success or not, the result shapes what happens next.
6. Your first fight. Initiative, real rolls and death saves. Follow it in the story, or flip to the tactical board and move your pieces yourself.
7. Come back tomorrow. Your friends, your rivals and the trouble you started are all still there.

Tips for a first solo campaign

• Start small. One place, one problem, one person who wants something from you. The game master grows the world as you go.
• Give your character a want. A debt, a grudge, a missing sister. It gives the game master something to push on, and the scenes stop feeling random.
• Say what's off the table, early. Tell the game master the themes you want and the ones to keep out before you start. It's easier than steering away mid-scene.
• Type when the choices don't fit. The suggested choices are a shortcut, not a fence. On the web, switch to typing and do the thing you actually want to do.
• Let it go wrong. A failed roll is still story. Some of the best scenes start with a plan falling apart.
• Be nice to the innkeeper. People remember how you treated them. A favor now is an ally later, and a slight comes back too.

What's free

A free account gets a daily allowance of story turns and three campaigns, with scenes, portraits and music from the Orpheus art library. Session Zero, recaps, and turns the game starts on its own don't use up your turns, within a daily cap. Monthly plans add Ink for more play, scenes and portraits generated for your world, a voice for every character, music made for your scenes, and as many campaigns as you like. See the plans, or read the details in the help center.

Orpheus plays in any modern browser, on a computer or a phone, in English, and it's for adults 18 and older. Not sure where to begin? Browse worlds by genre. More in the guides.