Solo Play in the One Ring Tapletop RPG

I've changed a lot since I was a kid. I'm certainly more outspoken and more confident, my entire moral & ethical code seems to have changed, what I value has certainly changed. Yet, somehow, through all of that, I've been anchored to The Lord of the Rings. I cannot get enough of the world, and it seems to have grown with me (more likely, I, through it).

Getting older, I find myself increasingly wanting to escape. Not forever, of course, but for fleeting moments: work is too stressful, the outlook on the world too dim, or sometimes I just need an opportunity to flex some creativity. I've always escaped: I've loved video games since I was very young. Mostly I love them for the story, the world, a sandbox to play in like I did when I was two. Recently, though, I've been frustrated by how limited they seem to be - constantly wanting to inject my own ideas into their plots and conflicts (again, more outspoken, and clearly - maybe even annoyingly so - more confident).

Tolkien's world continues to capture me, and The One Ring solo RPG (an offshoot of Dungeons & Dragons that I feel more 'at home' in) was the resource that allowed me to craft those narratives.
But how do you play a tabletop RPG solo? The publishers have developed a set of rules (beyond the Core set) that allows for solo play through random event tables, etc. that is cleverly named 'Strider Mode.' This was a great start, of course, but I wouldn't say I'm the most descriptive writer and I'm certainly not going to narrate myself on camera!

Instead, I configured a private GPT that uses the full texts of Lord of the Rings, the Silmarillion, the Hobbit, as well as the core rulebook of The One Ring, the Moria expansion and many of the Landmarks, a few useful how-to guides that I found online, and - admittedly - many of the locations from the Lord of the Rings Online. I then built out a chat where I asked it to play the Lore Master. It should help guide the narrative, create arcs, engage with me and however many 'player characters' I roll. It's certainly cheating and it's not writing I can claim as my own, but it has made "playing" the game solo quite fun.

I figure that I will use this to document those sprawling adventures and characters, all beginning in TA 2965, and a few notes from me on how (or why) I made some the decisions, how I guided the AI assistant when necessary, and notes on my characters (how I build them, upgrade them, scar them, and build them into proper heroes).

It mostly serves as a place for me. To come back and see how my storytelling has changed, where and when I'm getting less cliched, all while being the victim to a bit of the random chance that comes with AI and dice rolls.

The road goes ever on.
-Nick