Apothecaria: A Solo Journaling RPG Beginning as Myralyn
Step into a magical realm as an apprentice witch tasked with healing patients in the vast world of High Rannoc with Apothecaria.
My solo journaling RPG collection is always growing, yet there are some adventures I pause for years and miss. When I first tried out Apothecaria around 5 years ago, it was magical! Those few journal pages still exist, and I adore that time. With lots of new content that’s come out since then, I felt ready to return to High Rannoc as a new witch. To the journaling!
Game Overview
Game Name: Apothecaria
Publication Year: 2021
Designer: Anna Blackwell
Artist: Shanice Fagan
Publisher: Blackwell Games
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo
Prompts provide ways to build up a setting that’s partially defined, weaving intriguing mysteries and stories into a witch’s life. Yet there are patients to cure! A veritable encyclopedia of ailments and reagents are available to lay out a plan, race against time, and craft potent potions.
Preparing to Play and Setting Up for Fun
I own the print version of the main book, along with a couple of expansions. Checking in on the latest digital bundle, I was amazed by the amount of new content! One thing that’s always been tricky for me is flipping around the physical book to look all over for information. Across all of these books, the ailments and reagents number in the hundreds. So much!
As I double-checked to make sure I had everything picked up, I stumbled across an Obsidian Template and suddenly… There was the solution! If you’re unfamiliar with it, Obsidian is a customizable note-taking program or app. A vault stores everything in such a way that notes are linked, information can be searched and filtered, and even PDFs can be navigated.
Up until now, I haven’t found the best way to use it for any roleplaying. I prefer to avoid using anything digital when I write, but to keep this organized, I figured I needed a little help! So I ended up settling on a hybrid sort of play space where I track the details digitally but keep my usual blend of creativity going in a hand-written (and doodled!) journal. Such a great time!
This took a few days to set up and I’m still making little changes as I go, yet I’m happier than ever. My creative efforts get to stick with the creative aspects, while all of the precise details and bookkeeping lives on its own. I soon had a general idea of my character, the overall direction for this first week of play, and the seeds of an adventure that could go on endlessly.
Meeting a Patient
I chose my witch’s name carefully after mulling over some names. Ironically, it wasn’t until I started playing that I realized how close this was to Merlin. Unintentional! Ha!
Myralyn Eve was basically all I had to start with. The game sort of thrusts a player into the action without any specific guidance on a backstory. Yet I had her in mind.
I used a mix of my Tarot deck, StoryWorld cards, and Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game for inspiration.
This combination led Myralyn to her first patient: Annablissa, a ghost ailed by a terrible hangover. Oh, no!
The Freedom to Doodle
One of the more common statements I make at the start of any posts where I share a journal is, “I can’t draw.” But I’ve shifted away from that mentality to simply enjoy the art!
Solo journaling RPGs are personal, and the contents might never be shared. So please enjoy this doodle of a Skullcap, or a skull-shaped mushroom with a “jaw” that can unhinge.
I did this with a single color pencil, and even attempted to draw a scene next to it to capture Hero’s Hollow. So fun!
That’s what I think resonates with me: The way this RPG invites creativity through writing, doodling, or whatever.
One More Note About the Hurdle to Starting
When this was a single book that required a reasonable amount of flipping about, I never had to think about how to get started. Yet I picked up the entire collection and found myself with extra supplements, new locales, special side quests, and so much more! What I’ve learned is that I do best by simply starting, yet that often involves not feeling overwhelmed.
I always wonder if it’s helpful to write up my exact process for getting into a solo journaling RPG like this one. I’m always happy to share, and I’ll do so in a fairly short way. This is my list of when I plan to unlock and add in more content. It’s easy enough to move up the timelines, yet this means I don’t have to dread suddenly having 10 PDFs to look at all at once.
Others may enjoy adding in everything from the start, although speaking from where I am now, the original book has more than enough to keep an adventure going for ages! I’m more than excited to dive into the rest of the content… Slow and tiny steps, though. Another reason why I enjoyed this hybrid approach by using PDFs and just focusing on my creations.
Early Game (First Year)
- Bogle’s Night: The first or second autumn based on how the story is progressing and need for variety.
- Familiar Shelter: An event about a lost familiar or animal, or a desire to volunteer during downtime.
- The Modern Witch: The first week during the downtime segment unless the story indicates otherwise.
- Tinkers Troubles: A technology-focused event or story moment that would lead to the Workshop.
Middle Game (Second to Third Years)
- Maker’s Market: After several seasons with a higher reputation level or some level of crafting skill.
- Nightfall: Buy a light source from the Nightfall expansion booklet and have a desire to explore at night.
- Shimmersnow Valley: An event in Moonbreaker Mountain or winter-themed story moment.
- The Wild Highlands: The second spring or a story moment that hints at another realm of Fae beings.
Late Game (Fourth and Onward Years)
- Dance of Seasons: During the later years after the main events have mostly been explored.
- The Cursed Coast: At a time when a major side adventure feels appropriate, likely in a later season.
- The Dragon’s Lair: Further along in the story once all other content has been experienced in some way.
Let’s just say that the first content I added in, The Modern Witch, made the first week of downtime really exciting and added a lot, simply by expanding on the shops and the surprising items that can be found around High Rannoc!
Potion Creation
Such an exciting first week! Foraging for reagents is a process that begins with matching ailment tags and forming a plan. But events pop up unexpectedly…
And many ailments have short timers. Annablissa was apt to suffer gravely if a potion wasn’t delivered on time.
To have a little more fun, I grabbed a set of d2 dice in the shape of potion bottles. I’ve never had a use for them… Until now! The little bit of decor was delightful to add in.
Continuing on with the creativity, I wrote a little rhyme to act as an incantation to go along with the potion. So great!
River and Stone Cards
I actually had a trio of card decks on hand, even though just one is required! This gave me a chance to pick and choose, although this River and Stone deck felt quite perfect.
Myralyn spent a lot of time at Meltwater Loch, so the underwater scenes seemed most accurate.
Even better? After an ailment is treated, every week includes downtime to do practically anything that’s desired.
I ended up pairing downtime with Patchwork Potions. More on that when I get a little further into the season. It was amazing, and I couldn’t stop writing in my tiny print!
A Short Record of the First Week of Spring
Owing to the helpful format of my Obsidian vault, I kept a very short summary of what happened during the first week of play as Myralyn. I went on and on in my writing in a way that felt fun and interesting. Always love to let out my creativity!
- Turn 1: Hero’s Hollow 2
- Turn 2: Meltwater Loch Q
- Downtime Turn 1: Visited the Village to dine at the Copper Fox Tavern and met the tavernkeep, Fremington Hull.
- Downtime Turn 2: Visited the Village to explore Bits and Bobs and put the Auto-Bard on hold until the end of spring.
- The Old Witch Clue: First Steps J
- Downtime Turn 3: Met Dellasaurius Finster outside of Bits and Bobs in the Village and learned she is the queen.
- Downtime Turn 4: Foraged and found Wild Rose to plant in the Garden Plot and met Tweedy Wooster (Village K).
- Downtime Turn 5: Planted the Wild Rose in the Garden Plot and paused to appreciate the cottage’s outdoor space.
- Downtime Turn 6: Accepted an invitation to join Dellasaurius Finster in the Village for a quiet brunch.
That explains it all, but nowhere close to everything. There are story threads for everyone and even a seasonal quest to complete during and between ailments. Yet there were those quiet moments when Myralyn contemplated the cottage or enjoyed a meal with a new friend. I loved creating these details and watched as the world started to come to life.
New Week, New Patient
The book recommends coming up with the details of a patient once an ailment has been defined. I went a step further and pulled together a character from the cards.
Such a pretty assortment! This led to the discovery of Ruddington, a music box maker. His pristine appearance was marred by a terrible touch of Yeti Chest. The horror!
This was an eventful second week, partially owing to the lack of a timer, and partially due to… Literal events.
I couldn’t stop writing at times and kept wanting to draw another card just once more to see what would come up!
Robbed by Gull-Drakes
More doodles of reagents! This page was a lot of fun for the little drawings, but Myralyn’s visit to Meltwater Loch might have earned a top honor in my memories of solo RPGs.
An event resulted in a robbery by gull-drakes, which I imagined to be a cross between a seagull and dragon. So I reshuffled and drew another card. Different suit, same value.
Instantly, Myralyn was robbed a second time! It was comical and fit in with the story better than I expected.
The next event was great, and I doubt anyone else knows the secret to collecting Gas Weed without having it stolen!
Coincidental Fun
By the end of the second week, I had almost 5 full pages written. This is a large notebook, too, and I just kept going!
At one point, a character showed up and when I asked for a description, the Shoemaker card came up. So she wore very fancy shoes, in a very unexpected twist, but it all worked.
When Myralyn returned her home, I drew a card to find out what someone else called her or labeled as her main trait.
Shoe! That was a pretty definite result. I usually don’t take the exact card meanings literally, yet it worked here. Absolutely can’t wait to keep playing and creating potions!
Continue the Conversation
Have you ever played Apothecaria, or had an interest in it? Do you ever play solo RPGs with digital tools? This was a wonderful experience and although it took a little time to catalog all of the information I wanted to, I felt like I could be as creative as could be. Setting myself up to write and doodle as desired without a lot of overhead made all the difference!
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