The Doug Alone – Prep is Play and Play is Prep

Here’s a preview for the 2027 Fourth Wall Break art. It’s moderately altered from a photo by Nicolás Encina on Unsplash. I was going to look for a photo of a door and there was a collection called “gloaming” and Encina’s photo sang to me a bit.

I think I used the 2026 photo a grand total of maybe twice. Used to do these every month or two but like most things involving this blog, it just kind of melted away. Kind of got to a spot where I spend way more time reading and watching old horror movies than any solo play and that’s ok but it’s also a bit sad.

Random wastescrolling is also part of it, right? Hour or two a day just spent mindlessly inbetween. The liminal space of wasting time until we can go to bed feeling unfulfilled.

In this light, I am going to be doing something of a personal schedule (likely loose) and will be bringing some New Year’s Resolutions. One of which will be to at least finish all the open campaign arcs that are currently on this blog.

In no particular order (besides the one which my brain remembers them), this includes:

De Havikmannen vs De Wittespin
Johnny Blue vs The Kid
Alex the Dumbass vs The Cornmaze Monster
The Four Generals
The Dwarven Halls
Barston Bakersfield Goes to Hell
The Bleak and the Pearl (at least the north island expeditions)
Sort of…The Goblin [though he is more recurring]
At least one more The Glow storyline that was hinted at but NEVER even really started on the blog
And, frankly, possibly more.

I think “vs The Kid” was part of it. It got to a very heady space so I came up with an idea to fill in something else. Got to a bit of stopping space there and rather than go back to finish “vTK” moved on. Did this four or five times and now there are a lot of open stories.

And to this I am going to add at least two more: the ongoing Advanced Fighting Fantasy Edgemoor campaign and I want to do at least one involving an apocalypse. Like…really bad. One that might end pretty quickly.

The plan is to kick off Edgemoor — Arion Games is releasing a module or two per month, so it is likely to be a fairly sporadic campaign — and then bring maybe De Havikmannen to a close. I have an idea for a surreal weird sci-fi horror game but it might frankly have to be tabled. It would also be in The Slice, though, and be building up more of that world.

Then focusing hard on getting The Four Generals wrapped up. Then Johnny Blue, finally. Then likely just hanging out with The Dwarven Halls for a good bit with some side adventures here or there.

We’ll see.

This might be the classic “Going to restart the blog soon, guys!”

We’ll… see.

NOTE: From this point on, no longer will be numbering Fourth Wall Breaks.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place [One Shot]

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-10-16

In Actual Play, Horror, In-Line, One-Shot, Science Fiction, The Slice, Tricube Tales, Tricube Tales Solo

Another One-Shot Episode of Tricube Tales Solo action. This one is from a banked idea about Interstellar Smugglers: a fleeing smuggler lands on a seemingly derelict space colony…only to realize there’s something already on-board. Now he must evade captors and the creature long enough for help to arrive.

The R’yleh Team (or, how easy it is to run a quick Tricubes Tales Solo Game)

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-10-15

In Alabama Weird, In-Line, One-Shot, Tricube Tales, Tricube Tales Solo

Richard Woolcock has recently released a new one-sheet for Tricube Tales called THE R’LYEH TEAM (a play on The A-TEAM) and I felt it would be fun to dive in with a game on the quicker side just showing off fairly default Tricube Tales Solo loops.

Doug’s Oracle of Changes Added to the List of Tools

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-10-09

In Doug's Oracle of Changes

I have been using “Doug’s Oracle of Changes” in some as-of-now off-blog play and realized I was still drifting here or there in application so wanted to sit down and formalize it before going forward.

I spent today typing up a bit TOO much information about it but since I imagine it will only ever be me playing it then that’s ok.

Now that I have the notes relatively formalized it should make it easier to add in the “missing” elements and work towards finalizing a way to track Twists and such.

A Mythic Audience Feedback Crafter for Alex the Dumbass DRAFT VERSION

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-10-06

In Alabama Weird, Alex the Dumbass VS The Corn Maze Monster, Campaign Design, Design, Experiments, Mythic, Oracles and Tools, Solo Musings

A mechanic I would like to add to the Alex the Dumbass (and possibly other) series is audience feedback and participation. An element that can highlight certain aspects of the story while complaining about others. Creating an in-world meta element which will impact the story’s focus and features.

Alex the Dumbass vs The Corn Maze Monster, Part 1

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-09-15

In Actual Play, Alabama Weird, Alex the Dumbass VS The Corn Maze Monster, Gamemaster Apprentice Deck, Horror, Mythic, Solo Campaigns, Standard Style, Survive This!, Tricube Tales Solo

Alex, Gaz, and Abby have arrived. Can they solve the mystery about the Hayseed Farms Corn Maze Monster? Or is there anything to solve? Is this just a case of urban legends meeting small-town rumors?

Alex the Dumbass vs the Corn Monster, Session 0

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-09-04

In Alabama Weird, Alex the Dumbass VS The Corn Maze Monster, Gamemaster Apprentice Deck, Horror, In-Line, Launch, Mythic, Survive This!, Tricube Tales Solo

Time to make our main five characters going through the usual Survive This! steps with a few extra oracle bits to round them out.

Alex the Dumbass VS The Corn Maze Monster, Arc/Campaign Launch

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-09-02

In Alabama Weird, Alex the Dumbass VS The Corn Maze Monster, Horror, In-Line, Launch, Mythic, Survive This!

This is going to be a long one, Space Pilgrims, so buckle up. I am going to launch one of the planned cornerstone campaigns for the blog and Alabama Weird and an adventure seed I have wanted to try out for a moment but never played out to resolve.

(Most) of the Big Outgunned Superheroes Kickstarter Just Arrived

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-09-01

In Fourth Wall Break, Outgunned, The Four Generals

I was trying to hold off a bit on playing through The Four Generals until I got my Outgunned Superheroes box and it came in and, well, let’s focus on the positives first…

De Havikmannen Interlude: Solving the Case

By Doug Bolden

On 2026-08-10

In De Havikmannen, Doug's Oracle of Changes, Intermission, Science Fiction, The Slice

It is kind of weird to say but I’m a bit out of practice with the whole solo RPG thing. I think that was the longest sustained time I have had off from the hobby since I started getting really into it over 2023-2024, and the first time since I really got into my own playstyle that I had a break. Back in the Ick & Humb days it was perfectly easy to snap back into place after a week or two off because pretty much every session was me flinging vibes into the wind.

That being said I figured a nice little “easy” step on would be to simply ask a few questions and give a few expectations and desires.

QUESTION 1: IS THE TARTAN CORP DIRECTLY WORKING WITH THE TRITONS? {2+} → [3], 4,6 → Yes, but…

Now that I have found out that the Tartan Corp has been integrating Triton tech into their sponsored battles at least as far back as the Corp War, and that there was some definite activity between the Tritons and the TC Execs (not necessarily friendly) it made sense that it was more than an accident. However, TC are greedy bastards and Tritons are in it for galactic domination so they are both trying to use each other.

QUESTION 2: IS DE WITTESPIN WORKING AGAINST THIS ALLIANCE? {3+} → [5], 2, 5 → Yes.

Simple as, the driving robots — likely with some Tritonite tech inside — to go haywire, the so-called “White Spider” is actually trying to bring attention to the TC activities. I like that.

QUESTION 3: ARE THE TRITONITE-TECH TC ROBOTS A DANGER? {4+} → [6], 2, 1 → No.

They might give TC a leg-up on other tech-firms, but they are safe. Not part of a long term invasion plan. The fact that they can be hacked to be dangerous is a problem, but TC isn’t planning a secret invasion and the Tritons didn’t have enough control.

QUESTION 4: ARE THE KIONITES DESCENDED FROM TRITONITES? {4+} → [4], 2, 2 → No, but…

I’ve had some oddly conflicting answers to variations of this question but in this case I’m going to read the final answer as this: the current Kionites are bio-mechanical beings which evolved from a sister species to the Tritons. Two dominate creatures sharing a planet and some basic DNA structure but the Kionites have given up most of their true-flesh.

The “Pilgrimage” is simply a way to keep an ancient enemy down. And some of the tension between the Kionites and the Tartan Corp is because the TC has learned of the Kionites opposition. Hence the terrorist attacks on the Kionite community while blaming the Children of Tartan group.

QUESTION 5: WOULD THE TRITONS HAVE ESCAPED EVEN WITHOUT NATUM VIJF AND WILLEM HAVIK’S INTERFERENCE? {3+} → [6], 1, 3 → No.

Even though the Tritons have woken up enough to start controlling the worms to try and damage the ruins/prison, it was Natum opening and entering the ruins/prison that actively allowed them to escape.

In Summary

Around a century (or two) ago, Triton ruins were found on the moon and an economic group now known as the Tartan Corp worked to terraform the planet to try and harvest the moon (now called “Tartan”). Along the way they found that the species behind the tech were sealed inside a special prison using the heat on the surface and extreme conditions to stop the Tritons from functioning.

Their rocky/mineral biology needs relatively cool temperatures. Even human-preferred ranges are a bit hot for them but better than the non-terraformed surface.

A side effect of the Tartan Corp’s terraforming is region over the ruins is now getting cool enough that the Tritons were starting to stir and interact more with the outside, making a treacherous alliance with the Tartan Corp.

Acting on the Triton’s request, the Tartan Corp has been carrying out attacks on the Kionites who are, in part, trying to get the humans to leave.

Someone going by the sign of a white spider has been hacking into Tartan Corp robots to cause them to go crazy. An act which has brought in the attention of the government who sent the Havikmannen.

Unfortunately, Willem Havik and Natum Vijf accidentally let the Tritons out who are now trying to kill off the humans and take control of the terraforming center. If Willem and his crew take out the terraforming, the Tritons will be driven back into hibernation but the humans on the planet will die. If the Tritons aren’t stopped, though, they will return to their galactic conquest.

Wishlist

I think the first thing I need to do is figure out how to get Willem back with either Roos or Nate. He’s supposed to be the focus character and he’s been trapped out of the story for too long.

I also want to try and get more details about the old wars and the factory because those will help inform other campaigns in the Slice.