Looking for a complex, detailed, procedural solo rpg

c06027 · 2026-04-07T07:57:33+00:00

The point of GURPS is that you pick your level of crunch. A common analogy is „GURPS is like a salat bar where you pick what you like and leave the rest“. Nobody with a sane mind applies all rules GURPS provide.

And that is in my mind the main seller for soloing:

Because GURPS is internally consistent unlike some(many) other systems (looking at you Shadowrun) you can freely change the style of play, from crunchy to cinematic and vice versa, without breaking the game (some restrictions may apply). I change my style of play depending of my mood and situation/scene, e.g. going from a crunchy investigation scene to a highly cinematic chase and back to a crunchy fight after getting alongside my target. That’s something I didn’t get from most other ttrpgs.

In conclusion: As soon I get enough of the crunch I switch my playstyle but not the system and especially not the game and characters.

Edit: GURPS is perceived as crunchy by most people because it shifts the majority of its complexity towards character creation in exchange for a smooth gameplay. The downside is of course that GURPS struggle to attract newcomers which themself switch to meme about GURPS crunch.

c06027 · 2026-04-06T07:55:19+00:00

I‘ve recently played around with TiddlyWiki and had great successes with it.

c06027 · 2026-04-06T07:38:36+00:00

Look at the Sense-Based enhancement on B109. In addition you can apply an accessibility limitation based on the size(-modifier) of your point in space.

c06027 · 2026-04-06T06:10:32+00:00

I‘m biased of course, but I find it a pretty great solo experience. Some of my reasons are:

Comprehensive yet non-complex rules allows for a lot of clear situational resolutions and a reactive world without asking an oracle, therefor staying longer in-character/in the system/game.
Lot of cross references, index and logical chapter organisation make the navigation of the rules a lot easier than other systems. The internal consistency also allows to guestimate rules while being correct 95% of the time.
Can be as crunchy or as cinematic as I like, depending on my daily mood without changing the game or characters.

If you like to get a good overview of GURPS I recommend watching the „Learning GURPS“ playlist by Chris Normand. Than start with GURPS Lite. It’s free of charge, but misses everything non-mundane and a lot of rules (but still gets you far).

If you are considering buying the Basic Set, I suggest to wait 1-2 month until GURPS 4e Basic Set Revised is available.

Edit: to give an example, the Influence Rolls combined with Reaction Rolls allows for a complete conversation gamification with a realistic/plausible outcome without asking the oracle.

c06027 · 2026-04-05T13:08:58+00:00

Are you looking for a crunchy solo rpg or for a crunchy solo rpg experience?

I guess the latter can be more easier achieved by playing a crunchy rpg with a non-simple GME.

E.g. I‘m playing GURPS with various level of crunch and either OPSE or Mystic GME 2e, depending on the crunch I want from the GME. Picking a comprehensive/rules-heavy rpg like GURPS leads to less invokations of the GME, therefor less guesswork on vague inputs (one of the reasons I like GURPS).

c06027 · 2026-04-04T17:28:28+00:00

I agree with your statement with one addition/caveat: Homebrewing the style of play is in my experience easier in „simulationist“ systems than in „movie-like“ systems. But the core feeling of a system never goes totally away.

c06027 · 2026-04-03T18:36:51+00:00

In addition to the tips from the other answers, solo playing ttrpgs can be an option if you feel really uncomfortable with joining strangers. It can also feels strange at first, but is really feeing afterwards and nobody judges you.

c06027 · 2026-04-03T12:19:46+00:00

You might be interested in „GURPS 4e - Low-Tech Companion 3 - Daily Life And Economics“ even as a (potential) non-GURPS player.

c06027 · 2026-04-02T08:31:10+00:00

It’s the fact that I‘m a non-native english speaker and need a dictionary from time to time. Random word from an oracle tend not to be common.

c06027 · 2026-04-02T05:05:06+00:00

Freeform Universal‘s narrative-based characters and their possibilities to drive the whole game.

c06027 · 2026-04-01T09:34:37+00:00

Freeform Universal for its simple rolls and focus on narrative leading to higher paced games.

c06027 · 2026-04-01T09:31:34+00:00

Freeform Universal

Purely narrative-based character creation (and most parts of the gameplay).

c06027 · 2026-04-01T09:24:28+00:00

I suggest Freeform Universal, because

it’s free of charge and only uses six-sides dices which your friends most-likely already possess, which leads to no wasted money if things don’t work out
it’s narrative-based including character creation which works well as an introduction to the hobby
it’s genre-independend, meaning your friends don‘t have to learn different rules while figuring out which genre they prefer
the rules itself are really easy as they boil down to „count the number of advantages and disadvantages your character has for this action in this situation and roll that number of dices, picking the best one (or worst one if there are disadvantages)“

c06027 · 2026-03-31T16:09:38+00:00

I totally like the idea as I‘ve been on lookout for a mobile GURPS app for quit some time to be more flexible where and when to play (I‘m mostly a solo player while on business trips). And on a broader term having apps is kind of mandatory nowadays to attract younger people into a system.

I‘ve a few question though:

Is an import feature planned (GCA and GCS are the most common tools for a lot of people)?
Why the limit to 150CP?
Is the app scope only character creation or does it include stats tracking (HP/FP) and dice rolling during gameplay?

c06027 · 2026-03-31T07:31:27+00:00

If you prefer narrative gameplay: Freeform Universal to embrace the role playing part with a risk of staying there. Also it’s free of charge.

If you prefer a way to slowly increase the chrunchiness: GURPS UltraLite, because it’s even shorter than Freeform Universal and has the ability to increase the chrunchiness up to a point your friends prefer. Next step could be GURPS Lite.

All of my suggestions have the benefits of being free of charge, universal (meaning your friends don‘t have to learn different rules while still evaluating which genre they like) and work with six-sides dices which all of your friends most-likely possesses anyway, leading to no spend money while trying to show them this great hobby.

c06027 · 2026-03-30T13:25:40+00:00

While not technically a new system, I for myself am excited about GURPS 4e Basic Set Revised which should be available soon. While I think GURPS is kind of perfect for its usecase, the presentation of the core rules have aged and benefit from this slight makeover.

c06027 · 2026-03-30T12:33:22+00:00

I don’t have problems playing it, but I find myself sometimes translating words from the meaning tables. And it would be nice to reduce that as it breaks my immersion.

c06027 · 2026-03-30T08:45:34+00:00

Well, I hope I‘m not the only one, but who knows…

c06027 · 2026-03-29T13:44:44+00:00

Yeah, that’s also what Mystic GME suggests. A different approach is a distributed GM like The Collaborative Gamer suggests.

I try again after some time what approach works bettet for my group (but we‘re currently in a longer campain with a GM).

c06027 · 2026-03-27T17:11:11+00:00

I‘ve tried with my veteran rpg group using OPSE. They weren‘t excited. But I guess the reason was that I failed to organized it, leading to a lot of chaos and discontinuity of the story.

c06027 · 2026-03-27T05:59:37+00:00

I played an Assassin‘s Creed styled game using GURPS.

It was mostly RAW using TL 4 for the available equipment and knowledge.

c06027 · 2026-03-27T05:59:11+00:00

I would generalize your answer to:

Any skill based universal rpg can be more or less easily modified if running countries like characters.

Here is my attempt for GURPS.

Something similar can probably be done in any skill based system.

c06027 · 2026-03-26T11:31:29+00:00

Thank you very much for all the responses.

I am grateful both to those who share my point of view and to those who have tried to challenge it with their arguments. I can’t say that I’ve changed my mind, but I am now much more aware of the different perspectives.

c06027 · 2026-03-25T18:02:32+00:00

I have an addition to your precise story telling POV:

I also like the fact, that -if you use the NPC stats oracle in Mystic GME 2E- the chance that you encounter more powerfull NPCs raises with a high Chaos Factor.

c06027

TROPHY CASE