Hints and Hijinx Solo+

A Solo+ mystery game system By Pandion Games

You can find additional templates at: pandiongames.itch.io/hintsandhijinx

Hijinks, tricky and/or humorous behavior; noisy and mischievous merrymaking.

Hints and Hijinx Solo+ incorporates rules and ideas from:

● Breathless, and Firelights by Fari RPGs

● GRANDMOTHERSHIP by Armanda Haller

The Hints and Hijinx system is a purpose-built ttrpg system that's easy to design mysteries for, &
puts the power of deduction in the hands of the player!

This is coupled with a clue system, where the players overcome challenges and complication
with their skills and use special actions to gather clues and understand their meaning. Skills’
dice rating degrade after use, making overcoming complications, and finding future clues more
difficult if players don’t rest.

After their investigation is complete, the clues they gathered are used to make a hypothesis.
The more clues the player can string together to create their hypothesis, the larger the dice they
roll to see if character’s plan to solve the mystery is successful. From the hypothesis, players
formulate a plan to solve the mystery and a montage unfolders as each player rolls to
implement the plan.

Like Choose Your Own Adventure books of yore, the goal of Hints and Hijinx is to provide a
structure that players can be familiar with to go on a myriad of mystery adventures. When a
player sees the Hints and Hijinx logo, they take comfort in knowing how to play, coupled with the
excitement of new mysteries and the twists of each game.

License
Hints and Hijinx is released under CC-BY 4.0 License, meaning you can make whatever you
want so long as you credit Pandion Games. Include the following text in your game:

This work is based on The Hints and Hijinx System, product of Pandion Games
(https://pandiongames.com/), developed and authored by Andrew Boyd, and licensed for our
use under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

1
Differences Between Solo and Solo+
There are some core differences between the Solo and Solo+ rules to allow for more traditional
multiplayer experience. Below is a summary for those already familiar with HnH Games:

● Designed for multiplayer with a traditional GM/Player combo, but still supports solo play.
● The number of skills are increased from 2 to 6
● Skills are rolled in pairs, summed, and compared against the value of two drawn cards
(Ace =1, King = 13)
● Beaten cards are collected by players can be used for bonuses.
● We’ve introduced Stress as a health mechanic.
● Determination mechanic grants new abilities to players as Stress increases, at a cost.
● Actions are specific moves players can take with dedicated outcomes
● There is a free flow between locations and dealing with complications now, rather than
the simpler ‘visit one location, solve one complication”.
● Moving between locations is done with the Travel Action, with possible bonuses or
negations while a montage of travel plays out.
● Each location has a complication/event table, instead of a shared complication table.
● Gathering a Clue and Understanding it are two different steps.
○ Understanding a Clue takes you to a table of leading questions the player can
answer about the mystery. The split is optional in your own game. Simply remove
the Understand action and Clue Question table.
● Players still determine the end game by composting their Hypothesis together.

Hints and Hijinx System Logo

2
Hints and Hijinx Solo+ Game Template
This template can be copy and pasted. Update the tables, questions, and phrases to fit your
themes and mystery. We have bolded, italicized, and underlined areas that need to be
changed.

At minimum, changes are needed in the following sections:

● Introduction (pg 4)
○ Your what your game is about!
● Make Your Character (pg 5)
○ Character Specialties, Starting Item, Character Questions, Setting Questions
● The Investigation (pg 14)
○ What location players should start at.
● The Deduction (pg 15)
○ Questions to consider when building their hypothesis
● Locations, Clues, Clue Questions (pg 17-18)
○ Locations and a d6 to d20 event table for each
○ A list of clues they can discover
○ A list of questions to answer for understanding a clue.

3
Introduction
Introduce the mystery’s narrative! Who is the player? Where are they at? What sparked
an investigation? What questions should the players be thinking about?

Gather Your Equipment

● This book
● Character Sheets
● A set of polyhedral dice per player
● A deck of playing cards, shuffled, jokers removed.

Guide and Characters

One person is the Guide, the rest are characters.

Guide

● Guide and enliven the story.

● Present challenges to the group.
● Be a fan of the characters.
● Ask the players questions and fill the world with their answers.

Characters

● Narrate your actions.

● Give everyone time to shine.
● Fill the world with your ideas.
● Take risks, rise from failures.
● Work with the Guide to build the story together.

4
Make Your Character
To create your character, write down their name and their specialty, assign their Skills, choose
an Item, and then answer 2-3 questions from the Questionnaire.

By default, Skills are a d4 die. Assign a d10, d8, and d6 to three skills your character is good at.

● Make: trap, repair, build

● Break: pummel, wreck, destroy
● Dash: run, jump, flee
● Evade: hide, shield, obscure
● Think: observe, hypothesize, analyze
● Sway: charm, manipulate, intimidate

You’ll use these skills to overcome complications and discover the truth behind the mystery.

● d6 to d20 list of specialties

● d6 to d20 list of items
● list of 3 -5+ questions to define their character.
● list of 3-5+ questions about the setting.

5
Playing Solo
When playing solo, you play the lead investigator of the team. The team is represented by a
character sheet.

● Create your lead investigator by filling out the Character Sheet.

● Create your team by filling out the Team Sheet. This represents the combined skills and
abilities of the other members.
○ Who are the other three?

○ What are their personalities like?

○ Where did you first meet them?

○ How do you get along with them?

○ Assign a d12, d10, and d8 to three of the skills. The remaining are d6.

○ The Team does not start with items, but it does have an inventory you can use.

○ The Team can only use “Coffee Break” once per session.

○ The Team only gets 4 Stress. Do not apply Determination to them.

○ Apply Stress as normal to the Team. If the Team “dies”, reduce the max die of all
team Skills by one (to a minimum of d4), reduce the current dice to match if
necessary, and clear all Stress.

○ If the Team dies a third time, they are gone and only you remain.

● When taking an Action, decide if it is your character or the Team taking the Action before
rolling.
● Collect cards, roll skills, etc., as normal for yourself and the Team.

There are rolling tables, descriptions, and bits of lore throughout. Use them to build your story,
explore, and gather clues. If you have a question about the setting, use the Radio a Specialist
Action.

6
Playing the Game
Using Your Skills
When players attempt something dangerous, or they take an Action, a Skill Check is required to
determine what happens.

To Make a Skill Check:

● Determine the two skills that apply to the task or Action.

● Draw two cards from the card deck
● Roll the appropriate Skill combo for the task or Action.
● Sum the roll and compare it to the drawn cards’ values, with Ace = 1, and King = 13.

If the Skill Check is…

● Greater than or equal to both cards, it’s a Good outcome.

● Greater than or equal to one card, an OK outcome.
● Less than than both cards, a Bad outcome.

Players collect the cards they beat and put them into their hand. They can spend the cards by
discarding them to gain benefits.

When the card deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile into a fresh deck. If there are no cards left
to construct a deck, all collected cards are discarded and shuffled to create a new deck.

When using an Action, there is a mandatory Skill and an optional Skill.

Reducing Rolled Dice

Solving a mystery is hard work. Anyone who rolled reduces the current die of their highest rolled
Skill by one level to a minimum of d4. On a tie, reduce the highest rolled Skill.

d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4

Example: Make (d10) and Dash (d8) are used in a Skill Check and the result is Make 5, Dash 8.
The Dash die drops from d8 to d6.

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Stress
If a character faces a consequence as a result of one of their actions, they may take Stress. If
the character reaches 8 Stress, they are vulnerable and failing an EVADE or CONFRONT
Action results in incapacitation, or death.

Players can discard 2 collected cards to clear 1 Stress, or by using the Travel action.

Inventory
Characters can carry 3 items in their inventory.

Items can be used in place of a Skill of the player’s choosing during Skill Checks. Items’ dice
decrease the same as Skills when used. When used as a d4 item, the item breaks afterwards -
regardless if it was the higher result or not.

Player’s can use the “Repair & Heal” benefit to repair items even from a broken state.

Coffee Break
To reset all your Skills to their maximum die, you can say you’re taking a coffee break. This is a
brief break in tension. It can be done at any time, even during a fight.

When a character takes a Coffee Break, the Guide looks at the scene and introduces a new
complication.

Push
Once per Coffee Break, you can push yourself to the limit when performing an Action. Roll a d12
in place of a Skill’s die of your choice. If the outcome is Bad, reduce the max die of that Skill one
step; reduce its current die to match, if necessary. If the Skill’s max die is already at d4, take 2
Stress.

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Actions
Confront

When you want to defend or attack against something dangerous, roll Break + SKILL

● Good: It’s a full success.

● OK: It’s a partial success.
● Bad, EVADE.

Convince

When you want to convince someone or something to see things your way, roll Sway + SKILL

● Good: Your attempts are successful.

● OK: They are hesitant, but help. A complication arises..
● Bad: Your attempts have the opposite effect and may even become hostile towards you.
(Per MC: CONFRONT or EVADE)

Evade

When you want to get out of the way of danger instead of facing it, roll Evade + SKILL

● Good: You avoid the danger.

● OK: Take 1 stress
● Bad: Take 2 stress.

Prepare

When you want to prepare a barricade, make a trap, or otherwise make preparations, roll Make
+ SKILL

● Good: The preparations work as intended.

● OK: There is a flaw or delay, a complication arises.
● Bad: The preparations fail catastrophically. CONFRONT or EVADE.

Study

When you attempt to gather a clue, data, insight, or information, roll Think + SKILL

● Good: You learn something useful (and gain 1 Clue)

● OK: You learn useful information, but there are gaps in your knowledge. The Guide may
introduce a complication when acting on it.
● Bad: Your attempt to study has resulted in confusion. A complication arises.

9
Travel

Using the TRAVEL Action initiates a montage of the team making their way to another area, with
the character who initiated it taking the lead. Each player can describe how the travel goes and
something that happens. Were there quiet moments? Discussions among peers? A new
discovery?

When you take lead on going to another area, roll Dash + SKILL

● Good: You easily find your way. -1 Stress and reset Skills for all characters.
● OK: The path is difficult, but you make it. A new complication arises.
● Bad: The path is treacherous. Add 1 Stress for all characters, and a new complication
arises as you travel on.

Understand

Once you have a Clue, you must attempt to glean knowledge from it. The understanding need
not be based on raw data; it may be an innate feeling. You can take this Action once per Coffee
Break.

Knowledge is not physical. Once you have it, it cannot be lost.

When you try to understand a Portal Clue you have found, roll Think + SKILL

● Good: You absorb and understand the knowledge the clue held. Roll for a Knowledge
question and answer it on your character sheet. Consider the Clue and how you found it
when answering the question. Mark that the clue is Understood on your character sheet.
● OK: You’re close to comprehension, but the true knowledge eludes you.
● Bad: You’re incapable of grasping the intricacies of this clue or consider it not relevant.
Either discard it, or take 1 Stress to give it to someone else.

10
Benefits
When you beat a card during an Action, collect the card into your hand. You can spend these
cards in different ways to gain bonuses and benefits. After using a card, it is placed on the
discard pile.

Laying down a card vs. the Guide means the player lays down a card from their hand and the
Guide plays the top card of the deck. The values of the two cards are compared to find the
result. A tie goes the player. All cards are then added to the discard pile.

Repair & Heal

Discard two cards and choose to either heal yourself 1 Stress, or repair an item by 1 step.

Boost Checks

Before a Skill Check, discard two cards of the same suit to add +1 to the result of the Skill
Check. The modifier stacks for every additional 2 cards. The boost can be applied to your own
or others’ Skill Checks.

Gain Insight

Lay down a card vs. the Guide. If your card is higher, the Guide asks you a question about the
current scene or event, your answer becomes fact. The Guide adds “and…” afterwards. If lower,
the Guide adds “but…”.

Flashback

Lay down a card vs the Guide. If your card is higher, describe the flashback and how it helps
you in your current scene. If your card is lower, describe the flashback and how it hinders you.

Radio a Specialist

Attempt to radio a specialist you know. Ask them a question about the situation you would like to
get a detailed answer for. Lay down a card vs. the Guide. Try to initiate the call.

If your card is higher, the specialist picks up and can hear you and a conversation begins.

If your card is lower, the specialist isn’t available or the connection is garbled. The Guide
responds with only the few words you can make out before the connection fades.

(solo players can use the Specialist Answers table without a card spend as an Oracle Table:
Ask a question and roll 2d6, consult the table)

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Specialist Answers

2d6 Result

2-3 The answer is no, and…

4-6 The answer is no.

7 The answer is yes, but…

8-10 The answer is yes.

11-12 The answer is yes, and…

Hardboiled

Your time on the investigation is making you more skilled, experienced, and tough. Discard 10
cards to become an even better sleuth. You can only do this three times and gain the following
benefits:

● Remove all Stress

● Increase your Stress capacity by 1
● Remove any reductions to Skill dice maximums.
● Reset all current Skills dice to their maximum
● Increase the max die of one Skill by 1 step, to a maximum of d12.

Find an Item

Lay down cards vs. the Guide, up to the max you hold. The Guide draws a card for each one
you lay down. For each of your cards that wins, the item you find is of better quality.

● 0 cards: d4 item, complication

● 1 card: d6 Item
● 2 cards: d8 item
● 3 cards: d10 item
● 4 cards: d12 item

12
Determination
As stress wears you down, you become more determined and unlock abilities you never knew
you had. Abilities and hindrances unlocked at each level stack.

0-2 Stress | Everything’s OK

+0 to Skill Checks

The daily life of an investigator always has a little stress.

3-4 Stress | Heightened Senses

-1 to Skill Checks

Things are getting real. You start to pay much closer attention to your surroundings. Once per
Coffee Break, you can change a detail of a complication that arises.

5-7 Stress | Fallback to Instincts

-1 to Skill Checks

This is a lot. There’s very real danger here now and you know it. But you know your instincts
can keep you alive, and you’ll let them carry you. Choose a Skill to be your core instinct, its
die no longer reduces during Skill Checks or improves during Coffee Breaks. When using
the chosen Skill, the other Skill or Item always reduces instead.

8+ Stress | Moon Logic

Coffee Breaks only increases skills by 1 step. Skills can reduce to d0 (d4 →d2 → d0)

As your consciousness is strained, your mind is no longer trapped by silly things like logical
reasoning. It can follow threads of possibilities no matter how improbable. Automatically
succeed at the Understand Action while in this state.

Every time you take an Action, collect both cards regardless of the outcome achieved.
(Apply Good/Ok/Bad outcomes normally.)

13
Game Setup
Hints and Hijinx games are split into three stages: The Setup, The Investigation, and The
Deduction.

During Setup:

● Read the mystery introduction out loud to all the players.

● Work with players to talk about the locations in the game
● Draw the map together (optional)
● Build your characters
● Answer the worldbuilding questions
● Then move onto the Investigation Phase to start the game!

Drawing the Map

Using the locations provided, draw the map of where you are playing together. This is optional,
but fun. Label the map’s locations. When you discover a clue, mark where you found it and what
was happening at the time. Try to relate clues and locations together when you write about
them.

The Investigation
During the Investigation players will explore and overcome complications and events to discover
clues and attempt to understand what they mean. When they are satisfied with the number of
clues collected, start the Deduction Phase.

Players begin at LOCATION. Guide, roll on the complications table for that location to see what
is happening at the start and build the story from there. Remember to add in complications as
appropriate.

14
The Deduction
The goal of the game is to uncover what is really happening and put a stop to it. The team has
a shared Deduction Skill that represents how well they understand the mystery.

The Deduction Skill die starts at d0.

Piece Together the Clues and Form a Hypothesis

Players can only perform The Deduction once per game! They cannot go back to The
Investigation phase and collect more clues once they start forming the hypothesis. Make sure
they are ready to piece together the clues to find out what’s happening and take action!

Write a hypothesis of what has happened using as many of the clue’s answers as you have
found. Mark which clues were used. Once done, they’ll make a plan of what each investigator is
doing to solve the mystery, and then the ending montage begins.

For each clue the group uses in the hypothesis, the Deduction Skill die increases one step, to a
maximum of d20. Any additional clues incorporated adds a +1 modifier.

d0 → d2 → d4 → d6 → d8 → d10 → d12 → d20

For solo games, what makes sense when piecing together clues is up to the player, otherwise
the Guide judges how well a new piece of knowledge fits with the current hypothesis. Write
down the hypothesis.

Consider answering the questions:

● 3-5 questions to consider or answer while writing the hypothesis

Once the hypothesis is made, ask the players how they plan to solve the mystery (catch the
criminal, stop a conspiracy, etc.). This can be anything they can think of and can take place over
longer time periods. Encourage them to be as grandiose as they want.

What will each character do to enact the plan?

Set the Scene

Draw 2 cards for each player (or 4 cards if playing solo). The players can work together to
arrange the cards in pairs as they see fit, with each pair representing a Skill Check.

Each player then describes their character’s action to enact the plan and rolls the Deduction
Skill against their pair of cards. Set aside any cards they beat.

The End Montage

15
During Deduction rolls, and only during these rolls, players can mark Stress to increase their roll
result, gaining +1 for every point of Stress marked. If they mark all of their Stress, the character
dies or becomes incapacitated but the roll outcome still occurs.

Narrate each character’s success or failure as a montage playing out.

● Good: The task goes exactly according to plan.

● OK: The implementation is difficult and something unexpected happens. No one is sure
if it worked correctly or not. EVADE DANGER
● Bad: The implementation backfires, and something terrible happens. Take 1 Stress,
EVADE DANGER

If the players collectively beat over half of their cards, the team’s plan is successful. If they do
not, the plan begins to unravel and ends badly but spectacularly - success of the plan can still
be achieved but at a terrible cost or unexpected consequence. Tie the terrible outcome back to
the player’s hypothesis.

Epilogue

After the final montage, fast forward 6 months. Go around the table and ask the players to
describe how the world has changed and what their characters are doing now (if
applicable).

16
Locations
Build from the list below, or choose your own locations. Relate clues and complications back to
the location you’re currently at.

For each location, ask yourself:

● 4-5 questions to customize each location, or general guidance

● Location 1
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 2
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 3
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 4
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 5
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 6
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 7
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 8
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 9
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 10
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 11
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 12
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location
● Location 13
○ d12 table of complications or events related to the location

17
Clues
d66 Table Portal of clues (36), OR card draw (52)

Clue Questions
d66 table of questions relating to the mystery (36) OR card draw table (52)

The Map
A space for players to draw the map of locations and track where they found each clue.

18
Character Sheet
Name __________________________
Stress
Pronouns __________________________
[ ] [ ] +0 to Skill Checks

Specialty __________________________
[ ] [ ] -1 to Skill Checks, Change a
complication detail per Coffee Break
Skills
ASSIGN A D10, D8, D6 ALL OTHERS, D4 [ ] [ ] [ ] -1 to Skill Checks, Choose Skill.
No longer reduces or resets.
Make: trap, repair, build
[
max
] [ ]
current
[ ]|[ ] [ ] [ ] Coffee Breaks only
L1 L2 L3 steps Skills up by
1. Skills can be reduced to d0. Automatically succeed
Break: pummel, wreck, destroy Understand Action. Collect all cards of Skill Checks.
[ ] [ ]
Clues and Knowledge
Dash: run, jump, flee
[ ] [ ] Clue _____________________________
Evade: hide, shield, obscure
Knowledge _________________________
[ ] [ ]
__________________________________
Think: observe, hypothesize, analyze
[ ] [ ] Clue _____________________________

Sway: charm, manipulate, intimidate Knowledge _________________________

[ ] [ ] __________________________________

Inventory Clue _____________________________

Item ___________________________ Knowledge _________________________

[ ] [ ] __________________________________

Item ___________________________ Clue _____________________________

[ ] [ ]
Knowledge _________________________
Item ___________________________ __________________________________
[ ] [ ]

19
Actions
CONFRONT CONVINCE UNDERSTAND
Break + SKILL Sway + SKILL Think + SKILL

EVADE TRAVEL
Evade + SKILL Dash + SKILL

PREPARE STUDY
Make + SKILL Think + SKILL

Benefits
Repair & Heal Discard two cards. Heal 1 Stress, Flashback vs Guide. Describe the flashback
or repair an item 1 step. and how it helps or hinders you in your current
scene.
Boost Checks Before Skill Checks, discard 2
cards of the same suit. +1 to any Skill Check. Radio A Specialist vs. Guide. Attempt to radio
Stacks for each discarded pair. a specialist for a detailed answer to a question.

Gain Insight vs. the Guide. Guide asks a Hardboiled Discard 10 cards to become an
question about the current scene. Your answer even better sleuth. 3 times max.
becomes fact. Guide adds “and…” or “but…”.
Find an Item vs. the Guide, up to the max you
hold.. For each card that wins, the item is better.

20
Team Sheet
Member 02 Name, Pronouns, Specialty
__________________________________
Stress

Member 03 Name, Pronouns, Specialty [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

__________________________________
Clues and Knowledge
Member 04 Name, Pronouns, Specialty
__________________________________ Clue _____________________________

Knowledge _________________________
Skills __________________________________
ASSIGN A D10, D8, D6 ALL OTHERS, D4

Clue _____________________________
Make: trap, repair, build
[ ] [ ]
max current
Knowledge _________________________
__________________________________
Break: pummel, wreck, destroy
[ ] [ ] Clue _____________________________

Dash: run, jump, flee Knowledge _________________________

[ ] [ ] __________________________________

Evade: hide, shield, obscure Clue _____________________________

[ ] [ ]
Knowledge _________________________
Think: observe, hypothesize, analyze
___________________________________
[ ] [ ]

Sway: charm, manipulate, intimidate

[ ] [ ]

Inventory
Item ___________________________
[ ] [ ]

Item ___________________________
[ ] [ ]

Item ___________________________
[ ] [ ]

21
Guide Tracker Sheet
Member 01 Name, Pronouns, Specialty __________________________________

Member 02 Name, Pronouns, Specialty __________________________________

Member 03 Name, Pronouns, Specialty __________________________________

Member 04 Name, Pronouns, Specialty __________________________________

Member 05 Name, Pronouns, Specialty __________________________________

Member 06 Name, Pronouns, Specialty __________________________________

Clue # Description Location Found By Character Understood?

Final Hypothesis
# of Clues Used [ ]
Deduction Skill Die [ ]
Deduction Skill Modifier [ ]

22