Trying out Note Quest

I thought I'd try out a solo game today that has had some good reviews in a few places. It's called "Note Quest", and is a fantasy game that takes you on an adventure using procedural mechanisms a similar fashion to Four Against Darkness.

The first step is to generate a character. Which is done with a couple if 2D6 rolls.

My first roll gave me a Human with 20 HP. My second roll turned my blank Human into a Locksmith, able to open locked doors, and with an additional 2HP, bringing total HP to 22. I also got given 10 torches and a dagger that does 1D6-1 damage. The torches are a clock, if they run out while the character is underground your PC is dead.

Three more rolls and I was going into a dungeon called "The Sanctuary of the Broken Rest".  I named my character "Jon".

Jon opened a trap door and descended to a door which opened onto a corridor with two doors. This first move burns a torch. Jon opened the first door to another staircase which he then descended to another door. Beyond the door a short corridor with two more doors.

Jon opens the door onto a small room with another door at the far end. The walls of the room are lined with statues but one plinth is no mere statue. It turns out to be a Sentinel Angel. Jon attacks but rolls a 1 which the -1 for a dagger reduces to zero. This 1 on the die activates the Angel's Sorcery ability. The Angel does 3HP damage but sorcery adds 1D6 (2 in this case), and Jon is reduced to 17HP. Jon fights back and his dagger brings down the Angel.

Wondering what the Sentinel Angel was guarding Jon searches for a hidden door (burning a torch in the process) but instead of a door, find a dart trap that stings him for 1HP, reducing him to 16HP.

Open the door at the far end, Jon finds a room lined with pillars with a splashing fountain in the centre. Worse, three fungoids move out from behind the spray of water. Jon attacks, inflicting 2HP damage on the first beast. The 3 of them attack back inflicting 2HP each reducing Jon to 10HP. He attacks once again, but only inflicting 1HP which isn't enough to kill even the first fungoid. They attack once more pounding Jon back to 4HP. Jon realises he can't win this fight and runs for the surface!

So there you have a session report. It is very simplistic and mechanistic, perhaps even more so than Four Against Darkness. The fun is what you make of it, the story once again is what you inject into it. The rules themselves are pretty bland, and I feel like its a stepping stone for first time soloists to get onto the ladder of game complexity.