27-page PDF (Letter + A4), plaintext edition, printable log sheet
Quiet on the Ridge — A Solo Journaling RPG for the Last Operator on the Line
Two dice, a pencil, and twelve nights alone at the top of a dead telegraph line. Thirty-six transmissions come up the wire; you decide which to relay, hold or answer, and write what it costs you.
Look inside
Real pages and screens from the files you download.
About
You are the operator at Nine. The last station. Voices come up the wire and stop at your headset because the line ends with you. You listen. You write it down. You decide what to do with it.
Quiet on the Ridge is a solo journaling game played over twelve nights (or fewer) at a radio station on a ridge. Each night you roll the dice for a transmission, write a log entry in your own words, and choose: relay it north into unknown territory, hold it and keep it quiet, or answer and speak back as yourself.
Your station runs on two numbers. POWER starts at 12 and mostly goes down—it is everything you can spend: fuel, heat, charge, and whatever is left in you. STATIC rises as you answer, because talking to people is personal and personal is loud. When POWER reaches 0 or STATIC reaches 12, the line ends with you. Or, once you have done the twelve, you can choose to walk down the mountain on your own legs.
Inside: 36 transmissions on a d66 roll, each with a prompt and three costs. 12 entries on the Static table that fire at thresholds and change how the game works. 12 Memories that surface at the key at two in the morning and take the noise down a notch. Three endings — each with five prompts and an epilogue written from years away. Two printable sheets: a Station Log for the whole run and a Night Page for each shift. Everything works with dice, a pencil, and paper or a text file.
Letter and A4 PDFs (27 pages Letter, 26 pages A4), a plaintext markdown edition, and the Station Log as a separate one-page PDF.
What's inside
- 36 transmissions (d66 roll): each with a prompt and three decision costs — relay, hold, or answer
- 12 Static table entries that trigger at thresholds (3, 6, 9) and change the game's rules mid-play
- 12 Memories: short prompts that lower Static and surface pieces of the operator's past
- Three endings: Signed Off, Walked Down, Answered — each with five prompts plus an epilogue
- Two printable tracking sheets: Station Log (one per playthrough) and Night Page (print as many as needed)
- Letter + A4 PDFs, a plaintext markdown edition for notes apps, and the Station Log as a separate one-page PDF
FAQ
How long does it take to play? One to three sittings of 30-60 minutes each, depending on how much you write and how many nights you play before an ending triggers.
Do I need other people to play this? No. It's designed for solo play. A two-player variant is included: two operators at two stations on the same line, rolling once and writing separately, with relayed entries passing between you.
What if I don't like a prompt? Skip it and roll another. Skipping is a legal move. You can also rewrite any prompt, or swap a transmission for one of your own.
Can I use it in a stream or video? Yes, including monetised streams and recordings. You just can't resell or redistribute the files.
Do I need to print it? No. The plaintext markdown version works in Obsidian, Notion, or any text editor. The game doesn't care if you roll physical dice or print anything—only that you write.
Are there content warnings? Isolation, grief, duty outliving its institution, and waiting for someone who may be dead. Other people's emergencies overheard and never resolved, a read-out list of names, one scene where a medicine and its dose are spelled out over the air, and a drawer you may decide is empty. No gore, no violence on the page, no self-harm. A Safety and Tone section is up front, and skipping any prompt is a legal move.
AI disclosure
Written with substantial AI assistance. All content is original; no third-party game text, names or trademarks are used.
Licence
Personal use. Print it, write in it, use it in your home games and in games you stream or record, including monetised ones. Do not resell or redistribute the files.