How to Use Cairn + “Solo Roleplaying Made Simple” to Start Your Solo Adventure Journey

Without Losing Your Mind

Apr 30, 2025

So, you’ve got that itch. The one that says, “I wanna go on an epic fantasy journey… but it’s just me here.” Enter Cairn (you can get it here), a streamlined, beautifully gritty fantasy RPG that’s perfect for solo play. Pair it with Solo Roleplaying Made Simple from RPGadventures.io, and you’ve got yourself the peanut butter and jelly of solo fantasy roleplaying.

Let’s dive into how these two click together like lock and key—and how even total beginners can start rolling dice and weaving stories today.

Cairn: Dangerous Forests, No Classes, All Flavor

Cairn is like a stripped-down D&D set in a haunting, mysterious forest. No classes, no levels. Just three stats—Strength, Dexterity, Willpower—and whatever junk you’re carrying in your bag. What makes Cairn shine? Its focus on fiction-first decisions, risky saves, and emergent storytelling. Perfect for solo roleplay where you are the Warden (aka Game Master) and the Player.

Here’s the magic sauce: Cairn already runs with minimal mechanics and emphasizes world interaction over stat blocks. This blends beautifully with the improv-heavy solo format of Solo Roleplaying Made Simple.

Solo Roleplaying Made Simple: A Scene-Based Engine for Imagination

This guide breaks down solo play into digestible, structured storytelling beats using a Scene Template that works like this:

Location - One-liner description
Encounter – Who or what do you meet? + Dialogue
Objective – What’s the goal/problem?
Obstacle – What makes it hard?
Action – How do you try to solve it?
Resolution – Use game mechanics to decide success/failure (This is where Cairn rules come into play)
Cliffhanger – Hook into the next scene

Basically, you build a little drama loop every time you play. And Cairn’s simple mechanics, like rolling under your stat for a save, give you just enough crunchy feedback to keep things tense and exciting.

A short heads up: a save is nothing else than a skill-check in Cairn.

Let’s See It in Action (literally): Scene Breakdown Example

Here’s a tasty sample to show how these two systems groove together.

Scene 1

Location: The Woods of the Woes – Filled with the world’s oldest trees that lightly hum with wind and underground magic rivers.
Encounter: I spot necrotic damage spreading across ancient leaves. That ain’t natural. (Note: I could add a dialogue but talking to the trees does not really add flavour here. When encountering a NPC, you would add a short opening line here.)
Objective: Take a healthy-but-damaged branch to the Tree Elders for answers.
Obstacle: The first leaf already turned to dust when touched. I’ll need surgical precision.
Action: I look for sturdier branches and try to cut one with part of the limb intact.
Resolution: Dexterity save under 14 (this is my Cairn stat). I roll an 8 – Success!
Cliffhanger: I make the cut cleanly. The branch thuds softly to the grass. I now wonder (keep reading to learn more about these three questions):
- Are the Tree Elders affected by the necrosis?
- Will they even speak to me after my exile (this is part of my backstory)?
- Do they know a cure?

(I roll using the Recluse Oracle by Graven Utterance to answer those juicy questions.)

Cairn + Solo Roleplaying Made Simple = Perfect for Beginners

Here’s why this combo rocks if you’re just starting out:

Cairn’s saves and rules are minimal, so you won’t get bogged down in rulebooks.
Solo Roleplaying Made Simple gives you a storytelling framework—no blank-page paralysis.
Encounters and obstacles come to life naturally through random questions and dice rolls.
- You can easily combine this with random tables.
The Recluse Oracle gives you a 1d6 “yes/no” (with the addition of “but” and “and”) oracle for spinning unexpected story turns.
You get just enough crunch (via saves and HP/Inventory in Cairn) to feel like the world responds.

Pro Tip: End Each Scene with 3 Oracle Questions

At the end of every scene, ask your oracle (like Recluse) three questions about the world. Example:

Are the Elders also showing signs of decay?
Do they believe I brought this curse back with me?
Is there a ritual that can stop it?

This keeps your world rich, reactive, and ready for what’s next.

I don’t answer them instantly. I keep them open until my next session to pick it off right where I left it.

In Conclusion: Your Solo Saga Awaits

Whether you're new to RPGs or just tired of scheduling 5-player sessions that fall apart, Cairn + Solo Roleplaying Made Simple is your gateway to moody forests, cursed leaves, and talking mushrooms. Just pick up a pen, some dice, and start asking questions. The answers? That’s your story now.