Casal Geek: Little Town: A Solo RPG inspired by Twin Peaks

“All that we see in this world is based on someone's ideas. Some ideas are destructive, some are constructive. Some ideas can arrive in the form of a dream. I can say it again: Some ideas arrive in the form of a dream.”
– The Log Lady

Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, Twin Peaks was a television series that had its two original seasons aired between 1990 and 1991. Despite its short life span, the series has influenced countless works, from video games to cartoons, through comics, movies and, of course, RPGs.

I'm a big Twin Peaks fan and nowadays I just play Solo RPGs. Since 99% of the tabletop RPGs inspired by the series are focused solely on group play, I decided to write a game that would be playable solo, and the result is Little Town, which is also an attempt to pay homage to the series.

In short, Little Town is a solo PbtA that puts the player in the shoes of someone who is looking to solve one or more mysteries from a quiet but peculiar little country town. As in most Solo RPGs, the game features lots of random tables, and mechanics to answer questions usually directed to GMs.

From a mechanics point of view, Little Town was influenced by Paranormal Inc. and Brindlewood Bay, Dungeon World and Noir World, the mandatory Mythic Game Master Emulator and guides like Monophobia: Rules Light Solo Roleplaying and The Solo Investigator’s Handbook, as well as Tiago Junges’ Tagarela NPC emulator.