An Interview with Patrick Buechner
Patrick Buechner writes The Soloist, one of the best newsletters in the scene, about solo, co-op, and GM-less indie RPGs and other tabletop games
Mario | La esquina del rol: Patrick Buechner! Welcome to La Esquina del Rol. Finally, the stars have aligned, and we get to chat. There's no better time than now, especially with your exciting crowdfunding launch just around the corner. But before we dive into Solo Borg, could you tell us about Who you are, and What you do in the tabletop RPG community?
Patrick Buechner | The Soloist: Hi Mario, thanks for having me! Gaming has always been a big part of my life. Some of my earliest memories are playing Uncle Wiggly, a kids' board game, with my grandpa. I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, in the '80s and was an early geek. The cool teenagers on my street introduced me to Red Box D&D when I was about 10. By high school, I was hanging out at local game stores -- Rivendell and The Dragon’s Lair -- playing a lot of Traveller and GURPS. Attended our annual Con in costume. Oh, and my first job? I was an arcade attendant at Magic Castle Pizza, where I wore an amazing bright green polyester squire’s costume!
After college, I ended up making gaming my career. I got my start at Maxis, working on SimCity and The Sims, and spent over 25 years in the video game industry. I’ve been lucky to work with some incredible teams on games like Spore, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: The Old Republic. These days, I’m still involved in video games, consulting with indie developers and startups.
Right before COVID, I started getting back into TTRPGs after a long break. Then, when the pandemic hit, everything moved online, and that was a game-changer for me. Suddenly, I had access to so many people, types of indie games, and opportunities to play!
That led me to explore solo RPG. Now, I write The Soloist, a newsletter all about solo and co-op TTRPGs. It's now in its 3rd year with about 10,000 readers a month.
Mario: Wow, it's amazing how the pandemic ended up keeping us locked at home, yet expanded our horizons within the hobby. If it hadn't been for the pandemic, I don't know if I would have had the chance to meet so many people in the community, follow your work from the beginning, and now have this chat with you. I understand that my situation during the pandemic was one of privilege. It has been terrible for many who lost family or friends, but it was thanks to the pandemic that I had the opportunity to meet people like you.
Could you share with us about the beginnings of your newsletter and how it has become a reference in solo RPGs, even in Spanish? How did the idea for the project come about and how has it established itself in the solo RPG world?
Patrick: In 2022, I left a full-time job, wanting to explore more creative projects. As part of a New Year’s 2023 resolution, I decided to start something new.
At the time, there were already some amazing TTRPG newsletters and blogs. But I was playing solo TTRPGs like Ironsworn and Notorious, and I was fascinated by the creativity in that space. Solo RPGs are full of wild, inventive ideas about what a TTRPG can be, and I felt like there was room for a platform to spotlight that.
That’s how The Soloist came to life. By focusing on solo and co-op TTRPGs, I found a niche that resonated with people. It’s been incredible to see how it’s grown and connected with readers. It’s clear this is a space full of creativity and passion, and I’m so happy to help shine a light on it.
Mario: It's incredible what you've done for the community with your newsletter. I'm truly amazed by how many people are part of the soloist, and I'm confident that number will continue to grow. With that in mind, I'd love to hear your thoughts on where you see our solo RPG community heading in 2025. Are we still riding this wave of rapid growth, or are we moving into a phase of consolidation? How do you see the development of our community?
Patrick: My sense is that solo and GM-less gaming is only going to grow, and in hopefully crazy, unexpected ways. Here are some ways I think it'll grow:
1. More solo components in new TTRPGs: Solo play is becoming almost a requirement for new TTRPGs. It’s silly not to include at least some level of solo support—it helps GMs learn the ropes, and many people prefer GM-less play.
2. Making solo play more social: I hope we start seeing meta-games where players share the same world asynchronously, even if they’re technically playing solo. I've been thinking about doing something in this space for awhile.
3. Storytelling through solo games: Solo games can be a great platform for storytelling. There have been a bunch of new solo actual play podcasts and Substack play reports in the last couple years. I hope we'll see a some mix up the formula and break out.
4. Solo games as a gateway to RPGs: Solo games, particularly journaling games, have an appeal that can go wide. They’re accessible, don’t require a group, and come in so many genres. Wondering how to introduce a friend to RPGs? Get them a solo game around a theme they love!
One thing I really want to see is more people publishing their solo work—and I'm always looking to feature more in the newsletter.
Mario: They would be very interesting ways to keep growing as a community. And I'm convinced by what you say, it's important to encourage people to publish more and more of their solo RPG works. Maybe we need our own Morktober to inspire us to create more—perhaps a "Solotember" led by The Soloist could be a very cool idea!
Speaking of Morktober, I was thrilled to read in your newsletter at the beginning of October that you had been involved in this month of creation dedicated to MB, writing daily tools for playing MB Solo. The Kickstarter announcement that followed was incredibly exciting for me, and I think I reached the climax of hype when you released that amazing cover. Can you share how the idea for Solo Borg came about and what this experience has been like for you?
Patrick: “Solotember” is a fantastic idea—I’m putting it in my calendar now!
Solo Borg came directly out of my work during #MÖRKTOBER, a month-long event where you create and share MÖRK BORG content inspired by daily prompts provided by provided by Exeunt Press. I decided to build solo-focused tools, like quest generators, NPC behavior systems, and oracles, which I shared on The Soloist. Some people, including Exeunt Press, encouraged me to collect those tools into a book.
MÖRK BORG is great for solo play because it’s rules-light and packed with creative, random content. What it lacks is a structured framework for solo adventures. Solo Borg is designed to fill that gap with tools and systems to build worlds, generate quests, manage NPCs, and keep their games surprising. It's a stand-alone ruleset, so you don't even need the main book to play.
The free content from #MÖRKTOBER is still available on The Soloist website if people want to check it out. You'll see I got through half of the prompts. The Kickstarter will help take those ideas to the next level, with new content, a polished edit, layout, and original art. I’m launching in February during Zine Quest 2025, and I can’t wait to see what people think.
Mario: Awesome! I'm really looking forward to it. A few days ago I saw the cover you shared on BSKY and what a cover! I would like you to tell us what are you most excited about the whole project and a bit about your upcoming collaboration with Andy from Pandion Games. I read about it and I thought it was really cool that you two are collaborating together.
Patrick: The cover art for Solo Borg is by the outstanding Lucasz Piwinski, known as Vault Crawler on social media. He did a brilliant job capturing the “lone hero against the darkness” vibe I want Solo Borg to evoke.
What excites me most about the project is how it builds on the knowledge I’ve gathered from talking with solo game designers while writing The Soloist. I’ve also heard from readers about their frustrations with solo games—like struggling to create a coherent narrative or not knowing how or what to journal—and I want to provide some solutions.
Andy from Pandion Games is one of those designers I connected with through The Soloist. Pandion has published a dozen games, including Badger & Coyote, Substratum Protocol, and Whispers in the Walls. Andy mentioned he was working on Midnight Muscadines, a fantasy RPG set in a “cozy-dark” world of dwindling light and fading magic, and that he could use some help with the book’s tables and oracles.
I love crafting tables—especially setting, quest, and NPC generators—so I jumped at the chance to contribute. The crowdfunding campaign for Midnight Muscadines is launching this April.
And that's all for today. Cheers, and until next time!