SOLO 02
Solo Journaling RPGs
The Winter Hearth
A cozy solo journaling RPG about keeping a mountain inn, the Lantern & Holly, alive through the Long Winter: draw a card each night, answer its prompt, roll a die against the cold and shelter the guests who come in from the snow.
- Players and time
- 1 player. Sessions of 20-60 minutes; a full winter takes 3-6 sessions, or one long evening (2-3 hours) with the short rules. Age: not stated. Tone: cozy and melancholic with creeping dread (touches illness, grief, loneliness).
- Pages
- 35
- Format
- A4 and US Letter, full color and printer-friendly versions.
- Language
- English, Italian (Il Focolare d'Inverno)
Get it on Etsy (opens Etsy in a new tab)
Instant download. Payment and files are handled by Etsy; nothing is shipped.
What's in the download
- Hedda's letter: the previous keeper leaves you the inn (p. 3)
- Safety & Tone, lines and veils, Cozy Mode (p. 4, 12)
- Opening the Inn, the nightly loop, Reading the Cards (pp. 5-6)
- Guest Book: check-in/check-out rules, What They Need d6 (pp. 7-8)
- What the Storm Brings weekly weather d6 (p. 9)
- Five Stages of Winter, Portents of the Winter Queen, four endings (pp. 10-12)
- 52 card prompts across Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades (pp. 15-18)
- Oracles: Names on the Pass, Who Comes in from the Snow, What They Carry, What They Hide, Inn Rooms & Corners, The Midwinter Feast, Overheard by the Fire (pp. 19-25)
- Sheets, Hearth Tracker, Keeper's Journal, Quick Reference (pp. 26-34)
Inside pages
Lines from the book
Wolves won't cross a threshold while there's bread in the oven.
If something knocks three times and no one's there, don't answer the fourth.
Keep the lantern lit at the bend in the road. Never turn away anyone who knocks after dark... Leave a cup of milk on the cellar step on Sundays. Bake when you're sad; the smell does half the work.
