I'm a solo roleplayer and played eXtreme without a GM or other players. While the system is designed for group play with a GM and doesn't have any dedicated solo support, the system is really easy to run solo. There are still some things a solo player can use, such as a table with story starter ideas. You'll need to bring your own oracle though. Rolls are player facing. You don't need to design dungeons, stat out antagonists, or traps. Those things are all combined into the equivalent of an extended test, with failures and partial successes either complicating things, or hitting your health pool. eXtreme is low crunch and narrative leaning.
The presentation I have mixed feelings on. It is light hearted, pokes fun at the 90's comic scene, and generally feels like someone trying to welcome you into their game and make you feel comfortable. There is a lack of capitalization at the beginning of sentences that will trigger some people. The art is really good and flavorful.
Character creation is quick and easy. For people that like random character generation, there are tables for you to roll on. I wound up with this:
Code Name: Web Shriek
Role: Hot-shot
Origin: Darkness Charges you/Sunlight weakens.
Power: Instant skill mimicry.
Weapons: Bow and arrow (yet somehow no quiver)
Costume Flair:
- Three extra cyber arms (replacing your right arm)
- Fingerless gloves (but only for two fingers)
- Bandana (worn over your face)
Quirk: Weird Allergy
Drive: Fame
Most Prized Possession: Incredulous Amount of Loose Pogs
Nemesis: Irontree
- They've confused you with their old high school bully.
All of which was rolled from the tables. Now, I favor a dark and serious tone for my games. I remember rolling "fishnet stalkings" and "massive chest" for costume flare and after having a chuckle rerolled.
The game has archetypes/playbooks similar to what you find in Powered by the Apocalypse. Also similar to PBtA, the game has a mechanic for tying your character to other characters. This is called "Tropes" and plays into things like Wolverine's headbutting with Cyclops and his crushing on Jean Gray. While playing solo, my character didn't have teammates. I assigned these Tropes to NPCs that I wanted to interact with regularly. That could easily be teammate NPCs. For me, it was my character's corporate doctor/scientist/handler and his corp assigned PR agent.
I only played two sessions of eXtreme, as I was just intending to try it out. Not run a lengthy campaign. The first session was great. The second session I made the mistake of letting the oracle results (something used to aid in playing RPGs solo) take me in a direction I didn't like. I lost the mood at that point, but that negativity had nothing to do with eXtreme. In the future I will likely come back to the game. Thank you for making this easily accessible Fabudaddy.