Daniel (@dungeondive) returns to the solo RPG bench after a long Cymbaline Isle gap, with a new toolkit and a new character. The toolkit haul is substantial: the Deck of Stories Genesis Box (cards organised O / R / C — beginnings, middles, conclusions — with NPC and sensory sub-decks); Steve Jackson’s The Fantasy Trip Outdoor and Labyrinth Encounter decks (the outdoor one earns particular praise for its line art); Geek Gamers’ Wanderings Gothic roll-and-read table (a public-domain-passages oracle from Lovecraft, Hodgson, Le Fanu, Wells — appreciated more for supporting Deborah than for fitting his fantasy register); and Madeline Hale’s Arcane Artifacts and Curious Curios, an enormous d100-of-d100s magic-item generator that immediately rolls a Soul Blade with Stormbringer-grade flavour.
The new character is Paldren Omtar, a human fighter chasing five artefacts against the Slaves of the Sunless Eye. The first dungeon is mapped via a Sidequest Dungeon deck, with the newly discovered adventure tag from Scarlet Heroes seeding inhabitants and complications. A bespoke d8 weather chart ties travel days to mechanical effects (very cold = double rations, downpour = free water, strong tailwind = -2 hours but harder to hunt). A rival treasure hunter — Jade Rumi — is rolled up but tabled with an open question to viewers: how to simulate a race against an offstage rival without bookkeeping bloat.
What’s the lightest mechanic that could simulate an offstage rival racing you to the same MacGuffin — a single die check per leg, an abstract progress track, or something else?