I have been discovering a good deal of solo TTRPG players on substack and a few months ago I discovered the Kal-Arath rpg and its author Castle Grief, both are excellent but sword & sorcery just are not my usual thing. I like to read it and such but never got playing it.
Last week I discovered the author Write Firster and his RPG called Niv Lova. Designed for solo play, and oddly close to something I was working on in the background, I began reading this and loved the set up and execution. Niv Lova tells the story of a unique and unexplained 'incident' that happened in the frozen north. The Government tried to bury it, building a wall around it, then another as it expanded, then another.... Now it has become a wasteland where the lost and forgotten go, hoping to turn their lives around. Strange and unexplainable things happen here, untold riches and fame await...if you don't get killed.
I decided to give it a go. I fed the playtest document into ChatGPT and asked it to create a character based on the rules, below is the result:
Andrei "Ghost" Petrov
Background: POOR – Once a decorated soldier, Andrei fell on hard times after leaving the service. His skills didn’t translate well to civilian life, and without family or connections, he found himself drifting from one meaningless job to the next until he was eventually swept up in one of the government’s quiet “relocation” programs, sent to the edge of Niv Lova with nothing but his wits and a few supplies.
What do you want?: ESCAPE – Andrei doesn’t care about the mysteries of Niv Lova, the Aberrations, or the remnants. He just wants to survive long enough to make enough credits to buy his way out of this hellhole and start fresh—if that’s even possible.
Stats:
- MUSCLE (MUS): +1 (Still strong from his military days)
- VIGOR (VIG): +2 (Tough and experienced in hardship)
- FINESSE (FIN): +0 (Competent but nothing special)
- MIND (MIN): +0 (He’s got instincts, but he’s no scientist)
- PRESENCE (PRE): -1 (Years of disappointment and loss have made him distant and unapproachable)
HP: 8 (6 + VIG)
Fortune Points: 1
Starting Equipment:
- Credits: 10c (d6 x 5)
- Bandages: 4 (d6 roll)
- Food: 3 days worth (d6 roll)
- Knife: A battered combat knife from his past life
- Bedroll: An old military-issue sleeping bag
- Backpack: Standard survival pack
- Weapon: Revolver (d6 damage, .38 special, Reliable, 2d6 rounds of ammo)
Skill:
- Tough: Gain +1 point of damage reduction when unarmored. (Andrei has learned how to take a hit and keep moving.)
Character Details:
- Appearance: Andrei is in his late 30s, with a rough, unshaven face, deep-set eyes, and a permanent scowl. His uniform—long since stripped of insignia—is patched and worn, a reminder of better days.
- Personality: Bitter, weary, and resigned to his fate, Andrei keeps his distance from most people. However, a flicker of his old self remains—a soldier’s discipline and a survivor’s instincts. If he sees someone truly in need, he might step in, but he’ll never admit why.
- Code Name: Ghost – He’s already dead to the world outside Niv Lova, so what does it matter if he disappears here too?
Gameplay Notes:
Andrei is a hardened survivor with solid endurance and melee skills. His goal is to scavenge for enough resources to leave, but deep down, he’s not sure if he even believes that’s possible. He’s likely to avoid unnecessary fights, relying on stealth and intimidation when possible.
I think ChatGPT did a fantastic job with this, added a good amount of depth to the character and fit them nicely into the setting, and because people always ask, this was my prompt:
Starting a new game using this system. Please create a character using the rules in this document. Character is a male, Veteran Soldier, down on his luck, with no family, and just feeling lost in life.
As the playtest document does not have a 'Starting" section, I figured what the heck, let ChatGPT make one and this was the result when I asked for an initial set up and scenario to use as a starting point. It created a small town called Limbus, the last stop on a train track at the edge of Niv Lova:
You awaken to the rhythmic creaking of steel and the steady clack-clack of train wheels grinding against warped, rusted tracks. The train you’re on—a battered freight hauler converted into a human cattle car—is packed with the lost and the discarded. The air is thick with sweat, desperation, and the quiet murmurs of the soon-to-be-forgotten.
Through a broken window, you catch glimpses of the landscape: abandoned farms, frozen lakes, skeletal remains of towns long since claimed by the creeping influence of Niv Lova. It stretches endlessly toward a hazy horizon, a land swallowed by an Incident no one speaks of anymore.
The train is approaching Limbus, the last stop before the Boundary. From here, there is no turning back. You were sent here because you have no place left in the outside world—too poor to matter, too broken to fight it.
Andrei "Ghost" Petrov, once a soldier, now just another scavenger-in-waiting.
The train screeches to a halt, the doors unlatch, and a dozen lost souls—including you—are shoved out onto the frozen dirt. Armed guards watch lazily from the checkpoint, not caring whether you live or die once you pass the final gate. The settlement of Limbus lies ahead: a maze of half-collapsed buildings, makeshift shelters, and a market of thieves, killers, and opportunists.
You have a knife, a revolver, and a handful of supplies.
And yes, because I can never not do it, I made a character sheet
Now, let's see where this goes....
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