This thread is dedicated to all kinds of solo games.THE SHADOW KNOWS! edition.Resources: https://rentry.org/srpggPrevious thread: >>93243227Thread Question: Are there certain abilities/powers that you gave your character specifically to fit the solo experience?For me, my main guy can inscribe a symbol on a thing or person and use it as a conduit for his psychic powers. really helpful due to how flexible of an ability it is. like rolling an inscribed pebble down a hallways to see if anyone is there. Or combat wise, if there is enough inscriptions on a person, blowing up his head.Another one was an investigation system, if the character spent x amount of time studying a creature or environment, they get a bonus to rolls involving it. They can only be "Familiarized" with 3 things at a time though. Allows for a lot of flexibility and encourages recon and exploration.(Both in part inspired by the Old 1930's vigilante The Shadow, a psychic and an investigator)
Imagine playing this SOCIAL activity alone.lol. That's it, not even an lmao
>>93312267I know, Im a pretty crazy character.
>>93311560The Shadow is fantastic. I prefer the novel version over the radio one, but they're both cool Have a statblock for Gangbusters
>>93312839Early or late?I kinda like how the radio version was just a decent guy with a knack for psychology. I also like the mystery of the early novels, recruiting and making a network of informants from those who had nothing to loose and stuff.Was not the fan of the "Im all grim and violent cause thats cool" version some later comics did though.
>>93312839>Gangbustersoh shid, I didnt even know that was a system. Sweet that there is a shadow stat block.
>>93312904The early novels are the best IMO. I like him as a "man of mystery" whereas the radio version is all very cut and dry.>Lamont Cranston traveled to the east and learned the power to cloud men's minds!>Now he is a millionaire by day, and moonlights as The Shadow at night!Meanwhile the novels are all>The Shadow is a mysterious figure, a master of disguise and concealment, with unknown abilities>He's probably Lamont Cranston--->wait, no Lamont Cranston just came home from Africa to find a double has taken over his household>A double who sends him off with more money than he had for his last safariI love that some of the Shadow's feats are clearly stage magic (though world-class stuff) and others appear to be supernatural, but where the line really is is unclearI also like that most of the novel stories focus on his agents, and the Shadow only pops in from time to time to do amazing shit or a save the agent's bacon when things get hot. Keeps him mysterious.The novels are gonna hit public domain soon, here's hoping we get a good adaptation
>>93312267Imagine shooting hoops to practice. How absurd.
The Shadow is my favorite Batman, but my second favorite Zorro
>>93313034>I love that some of the Shadow's feats are clearly stage magic (though world-class stuff) and others appear to be supernatural, but where the line really is is unclearI love that shit, thats exactly the kind of stuff I want to do. unfortunately I found it hard to mechanize since its nature is so vague.Kind of reminds of of a lot of the magic In Tolkien, where the exact line where craft starts and magic ends is blurry:>'For this is what your folk would call magic, I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy. But this, if you will, is the magic of Galadriel. Did you not say that you wished to see Elf-magic?'Like when Aragorns helaing ability is at once called magic, but at another it just seems like he has little known of knowledge about herbs.Think the term is magical realism, but im not sure.I did the inscription thing, because that seemed like an easy concrete way to get across the subtle maybe magic maybe not? kind of thing (Besides blowing up heads ofc). Like you put it on the wall and THATS how you saw what was behind someone's back.
>>93313367Its almost like someone is peering behind and fudging the veil of apparent reality slightly rather than just summoning energy from some supernatural plane.And weither that peering is merely a mundane attention to detail that others simply miss, a deeper understanding of the universe on a more esoteric level, or maybe there is no difference between the two, who's to say?
>>93313367>magical realism"Magical realism" is fantasy written by people with Spanish surnames. It's a term that was invented because literari-tards wanted to say how good stuff like Miguel Angel Asturias was, without all the cognitive dissonance caused by decades of shitting on the work of American and British fantasy authors.
>>93313442eh, im not sure on terminology, the word just popped into my head.
>>93313367The one thing I was working on to try to get at that "Maybe magic maybe craft" was separating perception into 3 parts:-manipulate your awareness-manipulate others awareness-manipulate realityIncreasing your awareness to get at uncanny activities, decrease yours to be less impacted by things. Increase other's awareness of something to draw attention to it, decrease their awareness of something to having tit fall into the background. Then actually doing something like swapping the location of two items on a table without touching them. things that could plausibly happen, but how you went about it it is uncertain.Again, how id systematize something so broad while still being satisfying escapes me.
>>93313299That's completely fair.Sorry this turned into a Shadow thread.
>>93314051It's fine, fun is allowed.
>>93313569No big deal, I'm just riding a personal hobby-horse, because "magical realism!" is a trigger word for me
>>93314051The Shadow is cool though
>>93311560whats the WORST system people have used for solo? that didnt click at all for 1 person play.
>>93311560I think allies are important when solo roleplaying, not only to add power in combat but to have a follower means always having the option to question them for information.
>tqI gave lockpicking for half the cost to my dwarf engineer in wfrp because he should know how a basic lock works
>>93314356Reminds me of an article I read a few years ago where a "proper writer" insisted his novel about a man and his robot waifu wasn't science fiction because it had proper themes about the future and technology and stuff.Also "literary fiction" is the dumbest genre name and it's hilarious that it's the best term the supposedly serious book snobs can come up with.
>Thread Question: Are there certain abilities/powers that you gave your character specifically to fit the solo experience?Limited clairvoyance through dreams. That way I could use GM knowledge as my PC. But I also used the oracle to make sure things were happening as I foretold them. In the end it was a little bit too meta and I dropped the idea, but it worked while I was using it.Oh, and you guys have a solo tool. It's old and hasn't been posted in years, but it's good if you don't have any idea what to play. The genre table is pretty cool.
>>93317511Clearvoyance seems like a good in universe way to do GM nudging where there is no real separate GM.
>>93315998I mean, IDK the specifics, but I do think you can notice when something is more puply, or more literary. And you are often times not looking to read one when you are in the mood for another.
>>93315400>not only to add powerFor me, combat wise its not so much about power as it is interesting interaction. If you only got one consistant "Piece" to move it can get kind of boring, while adding even just a secound exponentially increases the options that "Your side" can do regularly in combat.
>>93314363I did an AU 90s The Shadow movie short solo campaign (only 4 adventures) using Margo Lane as The Shadow and the ghost of Lamont Cranston as her mentor with original enemies. It was fun. It didn't follow the movie. Margo never met Lamont while he was alive, he found her because of her psychic abilities and decided to teach her. Her main nemesis was a scientist werewolf. He could talk in wolf form (with a posh English accent) and used gadgets, vehicles and stuff.She had an ally that was a kung-fu chick with the power to use Chi to hurt and heal. I just wanted more fisticuffs, my Margo was using a crossbow most of the time.Weirdest and best fight was The Shadow and Husheng (kung-fu chick) versus 12 wolves that Ainsley (the were-scientist) had mutated using Atomic Power to make them as intelligent as the dogs in Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.
>>93318769>more literaryBut "literary" is a shit term to use for that property. Literature is just written work. So "literary" literature is what, more written? People whose whole job is studying language can't come up with a better term than that?(I also think the distinction is largely snobbery rather than any real reflection of the content or quality.)
How many of you have made or are making your own system? Not just a system specifically for soloing, like what Mythic is, but an entire game system, or even just a hack of another one? Even small modifications are interesting to me, so don't be shy if your system is 90% BRP or something. I'd love to hear what you guys are working on, and especially the features/mechanics you've added in to make it better for solo play.I'm working on a hack of FUDGE right now, because I like FUDGE dice, it's pretty easy to work with, and the core of FUDGE seems very adaptable so far. My hack is based on late-medieval to early-Renaissance stuff, mostly the Wars of the Roses era of England, but with some wiggle room to be set a little later, in case I want zweihanders, more advanced firearms, goofy fashion, etc. Also, it has very grounded fantasy elements, but I haven't really fleshed those mechanics out yet.I am doing this for a couple main reasons. Firstly; I am never, ever satisfied with rules as written. I make modifications to every game I read, whether they be very minor, or complete overhauls. Secondly; I haven't found an RPG that represents this time period in the way I want. I have found a few that are set around the same period, but I don't like the rules themselves.
>>93319375I don't have time to make my own system. I barely have time to read existing material.
>>93319375Nah I'm happy with adapting a good generic system for different games
>>93319375I do. thats a prime reason for me to do solo. experimenting with different ways to illustrate things, and seeing how different mechanics or principles incline gameplay this way or that.Maybe taking away this one sub system increases flexibility, but decreases the amount of interesting dynamics that are relevant. Maybe this one dice system is good for illustrating consistancy, while this other one does a better job getting across a sense of chaos. Maybe one meta system encourages a bit of combat risk taking while another incentivizes social interaction.Maybe one thing feels all together too crunchy, or another all together too fluffy.Its amazing what you realize what you tend to do/dont do with a slight shift in framework.
>>93315550That seems logical.Though maybe you could headcanon most dwarves being so autistic about rules and honor that they get a natural malus that reduces it back to a flat no bouns."Lock picker" Is definitely a dwarven insult.
>>93319375For my solo games, I strip D&D 5e down to the bone. Abilities and skills all the same, proficiency is a flat +3, each class gets a single Class ability (fighters=Extra Attack, Clerics=Channel Divinity, Wizards=spells up to 3rd level, Rogues=Cunning action, etc).
>>93324036ARA is my shorthand for Advantage/Resource/Ammo for any sort of extra resource tracking
I really don't like using oracles. I know how they really work. You're essentially just making a suggestion and then rolling to see if you use it or not.
>>93322948I get what you mean but he's an imperial dwarf and they can straight up be thieves. I imagine picking a lock it in front of a karak dwarf would lead to an interesting discussion.
>>93319375I'm slowly hacking bits of Five Parsecs to play a Not!Shadowrun setting. The plan is to run the game as a gang in a suburb like Redmond doing gang shit. Maybe run a half dozen gangs and build up the 'burb as a campaign setting
>>93319375I did that even before solo. Right now I'm experimenting with cards. Like a poker hand that stays the same as the character's attributes and a pool of temporary cards. Using a temp card of the same suit as one of the permanent ones gives better odds. The number of temp cards acts as survival points, when you don't have any and can't draw new ones, you can use your permanent cards, but the consequences are really bad in the long term. Like using your permanent physical card could mean you lose a limb, for example.
>>93325161What don't you like about them? What process do you use to replace them?
>>93325257>DiscussionThats an interesting term for a lynch mob.
>>93326957Not him, but random tables and idea generators are a good substitute. You don't roll to determine if your idea is true or false, you roll for the idea itself.
>>93318996IDK anon, if I am in the mood to chip away at moby dick, thats not the same mood I go to read warhammer, and vis versa. And I read both.Not that its a strict divide, but you can definetly assess when something is a more casual read or a more advanced one. And I dont think that is just a buzz word difference. And that doesn't make a book good or bad either way.
>>93327331I don't know how you can read what I wrote and think I mean there's no difference.
>>93312267You do realize solo started in 1975, one year after the first D&D game came out, right? And that it was created by the same guy?
>>93327331>moby dickIt's not really 'literary', it very pulp. Most snobs who use literary unironically wouldn't consider Moby Dick as such just because it has some action and a big ass special colored whale.
Someone asked for cyberpunk tables last thread.
>have plenty of solo tools and engines>end up using my minimalist version every time even when starting with another oneIdea Generator: Draw/roll a random letter. Let it inspire a word/idea. Also works for naming people and things. Combine with Yes/No or Option1/Option 2 oracle if needed. Oracle: Yes/No or Option 1/Option 2: 1D4. 1-2= Yes-Option 1. 3-4= No-Option 2. Likely= Yes-Option 1 on a 3. Unlikely No-Option 2 on a 2.Random tables: Make a 3 to 6 choices table. Assign odds (1-3=Encounter, 4-5=Clue, 6=Trap for example). Roll a D6.
>>93327356you said it was largely snobbery, while I think it has more basis than that.>>93327417Not really, its mostly long soliloquies on the nature of man and the absolute, the nature of the unknown and unfamiliar, and stuff of that ruminative sort, rather than all that focused on an adventure proper. Not that a more adventure focused book cant be advanced either.
>>93327874You think literary snobs read the books they hate on?
>>93327906IDK, many probably don't.I just know I can tell that some things are more casual and some things more intensive.
>>93327874>you said it was largely snobberyI mean the reason it's considered a distinct genre rather than just something books have in different degrees. For instance long books aren't considered their own genre (no, "doorstopper" is not a genre).
>PC tries to impress a badass innkeeper/village leader by starting a fight just so he can 'save the day' and get a room and meals for free >NPC sees through the ruse and throws him out the village as the troublemaker he really isThis is when I realized I am playing an asshole opportunist who is deluding himself into thinking he is the hero of the story.Now that I figured it out, I'm gonna lean more into that part of the character's personality. Manipulative asshole who thinks he's a hero and can get away with anything because of it. Should make the adventuring more fun.
>>93327104Depends on the circumstances. Like who cares about a locked chest found in a bandit lair or jailed villagers in a cultist hideout.
>>93327397didn't Tolkien himself used some solo ttrpg tricks to write?
>>93328620>Like who cares about a locked chest found in a bandit lair or jailed villagers in a cultist hideout.A dwarf might.Not that its certain ofc, but in setting, its definitely a possibility. A lot of the fun of Warhammer dwarves is their autistic dedication to strict conduct and the legalism of something, even if the situation might make most humans more lenient.Like if a dwarf swore to not move from a loadstone until a battle is finished, but their family was endangered so they went to save them before it ended, that would be considered a broken oath, even if the reason was understandable.But that's just a possible way to take that, and like you said, empire dwarves aren't as legalistic (comparatively), so they are even more likely to be ok with it.
>>93328633nope
Any recommendations for good solo dungeon crawlers? Not even an RPG necessarily
>>93331182have you tried 4 against darkness or d100 dungeon?
>>93312267>>93331104
Need some help. I've got a capeshit solo game I've been running. Need some suggestions for quick one-shot villains and adventures my boy can do. All the main factions I have are currently rolled or oracled to having long term deep plans that are using small-time villains as fronts to sow chaos. Any and all stupid/silly/gritty low-level crooks and villains and bad things welcomed
>>93331540You can pick whatever silver or bronze age villain of the week from spiderman/batman/fantastic4
>>93331515I know what you're getting at it's just a huge leap
>>93331540powers: PsychicName: The MENTAL GYMNISTwas planning to use the name for a goofy hero, but works just as well for a goofy villian.
>>93331515Probably used something like Ironsworn,What a hack.
>>93331819names kinda self explanatory, but basically he tries to justify whatever conceptual pet project that currently holds his autistic interest.ofc, he considers "Mental gymnast" to be a serious alias describing his potent mental abilities, on both a natural and supernatural level.Kinda a play on the "Im trying to prove something!" villian. with some pants on head philosophy for why hes killing babies or some shit. But makes up some new ingenious often completely different philosophy every other episode.
>>93329053>A dwarf might.no dwarf will, most of the time they don't even care about human laws
I'm having trouble with setting the starting incident in Ironsworn. I've gone through character creation multiple times but never actually started playing. Does anyone have any tips for actually getting the ball rolling?
>>93328633>>93331515Pretty sure GRRM is much the same.
>>93332596GRRM is a veteran tabletop player. He cowrote the Wild Cards series of novels, which were based on a supers campaign that he GMed and in which most of the other writers played. Tolkien OTOH is just talking about how stories can surprise you when you start writing them, there's zero evidence that any dice were involved, and he would probably have thought the idea a bit vulgar
>>93332535What have you got so far?
>>93333104I've made a guy who's been laughed out of his village for some reason and wants to get back at them. He's gonna tame a horse in the wilds and come back as a horseback archer after having a couple achievements under his belt.I could make his first quest to find a horse and tame it, I guess. Still having trouble making an incident to start from.
>>93333574Go find your horse bro, you don't need an incident
>>93311560Ironsworn is very interesting, you probably could use AI to generate a quest line as a rough draft of the adventure.
>>93331540
>>93332535I like to begin on a journey. Not just in Ironsworn. You're a wandering knight/lonesome cowboy/etc.You can postpone the inciting incident in Ironsworn until it make sense. So do a journey with a nebulous end goal (reach the next settlement, whatever and wherever it is) and when you have a miss or weak hit, use the event as your inciting incident and swear that Iron Vow.My last game wasn't Ironworn, but I did this and ended up being rescued by a ranger after stumbling on an orc cave. The rest of the adventure was my character trying to pay his debt to the guy by helping him out in protecting the nearby village from a curse turning the forest into an eldritch sentient thing little by little. At the end he left them and went back to traveling alone seeking new adventures.
Are there any rules-lite systems you guys use for solo play? I've been looking at what's out there, but I'm curious if any that you guys know of are better for solo play than others, or even just what rules-lite systems you guys prefer.I read Risus, and it seems like it'd be cool, but I get the feeling it's too loose for solo play (or at least the way I like to play solo).
>>93334560So1um. There's a few hacks out there (So1um enhanced, with alternate oracle and lots of random tables. So1um extended with vehicle battle/race, armor/weapon having tiers of HP damage, exploding d6 so there's less ties and a possibility of succeeding at tasks of an almost impossible level of difficulty, as well as a simple alternate combat system based on So1um's first version) and it's super easy to hack yourself. You can create a character in 1 minute or less and begin play right away. But it is pretty loose. Combined with the same author's Hex Tool and Dungeon Deck it makes for a very good and easy solo experience.Freeform Universal. It's my favorite rule lite system. Very good for solo as details, descriptors and conditions tags make soloing easy. You just tag scenes, locations and NPCs with a few words that have mechanical and/or narrative impact.There's a 2nd edition, but it's not finished. There's also a more crunchy hack called FUBAR,
>>93334560>>93334637
>>93334560I liked Risus for solo play, but it's only really good for one-shots. It's not deep enough to even do more than two or three sessions in the same story, in my opinion.
>>93334647
>>93334651
>>93334658
>>93334669
>>93334676
>>93334649Are there any similar games that are better for long campaigns? That was actually one of the things I noticed while reading Risus; it explicitly says it is good for long campaigns, but it just lacks any form of meaningful character growth. Of course, the PDF itself is very short, so maybe I just wasn't putting the dots together, but seeing your post kind of confirms my own thinking.>>93334637I will give these PDFs you're posting a look. Thanks.
>>93334690Solo FU based on Mythic.
>>93334695Here's how easy it is to create a setting book using FU.
>>93334701
>>93334708and last pdfat least they're all pretty short except for this one. But this one isn't even finished. Lots of good ideas in it though
>>93334692For So1um, you just need the one page version. You can add some things from the 2 hacks if you want more crunch or randomness. But as someone who has always a hard time starting a game, So1um is the game that was the easiest for me.
>>93334737I appreciate the recommendation and also you posting lots of material. Thanks again. The system definitely seems interesting.
>>93334692No him, but the few times we played Risus we gained a few reroll dice after each session and a few cliché dice after each adventure. Never played it solo. Isn't there a Risus Companion that has rules for advancement?
>>93334795That's interesting. And yeah, there's a Companion book, but I haven't "bought" it yet. I'll give it a read soon.
>>93334768It's not perfect, far from it, but it is easy and takes only a few minutes to learn.Oh, and I found the Risus Companion.
>>93334811Very nice! Thanks, man.
>>93334811This is the free older version. Not sure about the changes they made to the new cashgrab one.It's so weird that Risus in now costing money.
>>93334830Ah, okay. I'll try to find the full one later, but this version is still very useful for now.
>supposed to create surrounding hexes when doing an hexcrawl>don't do it so that I can have an experience like when I used to play old point and click PC games when you traveled from one screen to the next without knowing what to expectI'm not 'playing it right', but it feels so good.
>>93335117Sometimes playing it wrong can be right! (but as a general rule most people should try "doing it right" for a little while before they jump to "doing it wrong")
>>93335171Agreed.
>>93335117why are you british?
>>93332256Eh, MIGHT.For the specific example he gave, chest in a bandit layer/cultist hideout. Dwarves aret TOO keen on respecting the rights of lawless/chaotic entities, they're prime concern is their own laws. Just saying it might be an indivigual dwarven quirk that takes that to the extreme of ALL locks. Like Old Grumblebeard in particular prides himself on never having picked a lock even though being a master lockmaker, because as a young shortbeard he swore "never to be a lockpicker", so his personal pride is wrapped up in it in particular. even if the great staff of some high king of the dwarves was locked in some cultists' strongbox. SO the party has to figure out a way to coax or get around that particular oath.I guess thats what I meant, dwarves are really into pride.
>>93335724in your specific setting, sure
>>93335811No, I war describing Warhammer fantasy specifically. Its pretty obvious that dwarves dont care about the honor of thieves and againsts of chaos. Its more about their own internal laws PLUS their individual oaths.
>>93334560>Are there any rules-lite systems you guys use for solo play?i've used tricube tales. It went well, but after a couple of sessions i was thirsting for something a bit more mechanically complex.
>>93336462this is the one i was trying to remember when anon was asking for something just a bit more complex then risus. Cause that was my exact series of steps, risus felt a bit too one note and tricibe seemed like just the next step up in terms of complexity.though I also felt it was a bit limiting in premise.
>>93334560I've had fun with lasers and feelings
>>93337135I wanted to expand on this.The thing I like about risus is that I think you definetly CAN make a character in a well described way with 3-5 tropes/careers/archetypes etc that triangulate what they are all about. However, I do like how tricube attaches those things to concrete subtypes: brawny, agile, crafty, so it feels less wishy washy when and to what extent you can apply those archytypes, I also like how tricube goes on provide you a more specific ability in its "perk" and to a lesser degree a flaw in its "quirk".What I dont like about risus is how wishy washy its tropes are, "If you apply your trope in an inventive way you get a bonus!" seems a bit too inconsequential. and What I dont like about tricube is that its architype (esentially trope in risus) are limited to 1 and that it only has 3 concrete "archytype types" (Brawny, agile, and crafty). Crafty specifically I think is a problem cause it encompasses both achademic knowhow AND social tact, which I think is a bit wide when physical activities are separated into brawn and agility, I think the system would work better with a 4th concrete subtype "graceful" or something to separate the non-physical activities.I thought of doing this to mash them up instead, list about 3 archetypes in descending order of prominance that represents your character, each with a subtype in parenthesis and the bonus you get.>Ranger (brawny3), Herbalist(crafty2), officer (graceful1)Then write down 1 or 2 base specific abilities like>Shooting expert, Stimulant herbThen write down a flaw>Addicted to stimulantsto kinda cut the difference between the two.
>>93338252for tricube tales what I did is steal the approaches from LIGHT and useForce / Forceful - powerful, emotional, sweeping, destructiveFlow / Flowing - reactive, quickly, nimble, effectiveFocus / Focused - methodical, practiced, surgical, patientI found this also helped with not approaching every problem with your most optimal stat, too.
>>93338398I can see how that can be more widely aplicable.Being forceful in battle, or in conversation.OFC that begs the question of how to quntify them when they go head to head. when a force tier 3 is up against a flow 3 tier 3.My solution is that I like to pick a "Prime modifier" for a situation. physical, dexterity, Intellect, grace, and if the architype fits, but the subtype doesn't, they get a half modifier rounded up. Like a ranger trying to convince a police officer might appeal to their common law enforcement experience. so he can use half his ranger stat rounded up if his archetype(subtype) was ranger(physical3) instead of ranger(grace3).And likewise if someone has an appropriate subtype, but not an appropriate archetype, they also just use half of that skill rounded up. like Snakeoilsalesman(grace3).
>>93338574>begs the question*raises the question
>>93339005No, I want anon to beg.
>>93339005>>93339034*braises the question
>>93339909I would consider this an acceptable compromise, kek
>>93337525huh, having 2 opposing stats on one scale and rolling under/over based on the situation is quite neat, never seen that before.
Anyone have any recommendations for running Pendragon solo?
>>93340652Some anon did it some time ago. He said it went well. The stats/rules of Pendragon are pretty solo friendly.
>>93340587Pendragon did that shit really well, with virtues vs vices determining how your character acts.
Snow/winter/arctic hexcrawls?Anybody got one?
>tfw new NPC is in need of an herb I saw on the other side of the hexmapAt first I was like no fuck it I'm not going all the way back there just to come back here again even if the potion is needed to save the day.But then I realized I could just take a ship and have pirate adventures while journeying in a totally new environment.Quick, to the general store! I need rum, an eyepatch, a pegleg, a hook, a rude monkey and a saucy parrot. And a ship, I guess...
I don't know which thread this question would fit into, but I don't want to make a new one. I know a lot of others in this general design their own systems like me, so any advice would be appreciated.I am thinking of using a 2dX system, where the dice sizes you roll are dependent on your attribute and your skill. If your attribute is d6, you would roll a d6 along with whichever die your skill is, so as you level up, your die sizes grow, and you always roll both, so having high dice sizes in both is what you want (the dice are usually not the same size, as attributes and skills would increase independently of each other). I know this isn't a new concept, but that's the gist of what I'm working with right now for the basic dice system (I've already designed a lot of other stuff for the game).My question is this: would using "weird" dice, like the ones from DCC (pic related) be worth it? I am only playing solo, so I don't need to worry about players buying fancy dice. The reason I ask is because they have more dice, like d3, d5, d7, etc. Would a jump in dice size that small, like from d6 to d7, even be noticeable during gameplay if you're always rolling 2 dice? I feel like if I make the system use these smaller jumps in dice sizes, levelling up won't be as cool, because, for example, d6 to d8 is probably more noticeable than d6 to d7, even if you're rolling 2 dice every time, but I don't know *how much* more noticeable it would be.
>>93344082I use this thread as my dump for when amatuer game design isnt up.Anyways, I kinda think the distribution of just going up by even dice is fine. Its seems slightly less extreme then adding an additional whole die which a lot of systems do (Like west end star wars or risus, where you could have 2d6, 3d6, 4d6, etc as your roll)You could do funky odd dice if you want more incrementality tho. cause on average that would increase your roll by 2, which isn't insignificant, but also not completely necessary.
>>93312839>>93311560>>93314037I love The Shadow, but it makes me want to buy a 1911 in .45 ACP and every time I do I regret it because they always, always jam like pic related even with fancy ammo and magazines and professionally polished everything. Anyone who says they don't is lying or should by a lottery ticket. Seriously, work this into your game. >Jams on dubs or critical failures or something.
>>93347834To be fair, the Shadow's guns are custom built, and larger than standard 1911s
>>93343948Time to steal a ship, anon.
>>93347834I use BRP/CoC so it's already a part of the game.
>tfw thief ally did a thief thing out of nowhere and got caught>must now sidequest to break him out of the city jail
>>93347834was the two 45's in the original stuff? I listened to the radio drama, and dont remember it, but I only read a bit of the old short stories.I personally am not the biggest fan of 45 akimbo, it seems to 80's 90's action hero for me and it seems a bit silly for The Shadows more "in the background" aproach.
>>93353672He wasn't allowed to straight-up murder people on the radio show, but in the novels it was twin 45's and a whole lot of bodies There was a revival of interest in the pulp era stuff starting in the late 70s, and another uptick at the dawn of the 90s, which is why you see that showing up.
>>>/lit/23597857
>>93354585>Someone on /tg/ yelled at us to move to /lit/That person was retarded. Solo gaming goes back a hundred years, if that's not traditional gaming, I don't know what is. It's wargaming illiteracy, I tells ya. Even in the TTRPG space, solo gaming existed right from the dawn in the 70s.
>>93354652>Someone on /tg/ yelled at us to move to /lit/?you autistic?
>>93354761>>93354652it was probably himself or he just made it up as an excuse to shitpost on /lit/ and then link it here as a way of saying "solo play no make cents you go to /lit/ now"ignore him
>>93354652This.Even ignoring historical precident, we spend a solid portion of these threads discussing mechanical crunch, so we should stay on /tg/ on that account too.I'm not even against having a sister-thread over there for storytiming and so-on, but the implication that 'people' complained so we're 'moving' over there is what sours it for me.
>>93354837I'm among the first to call a lot of our material "writing with dice", but it still doesn't really belong there. Though I'm not sure what does these days other than frogs.
>>93354585>/lit/
>>93355211stop feeding trolls
>>93354652>>93354837You guys are retarded and taking obvious bait too seriously. thats almost the sole reason why they keep posting it on /srpg/ cause you do this instead of this >>93312597
>>93356323When I said "that person was retarded" the "or trolling" was implied. I was disapproving of the other anon rising to your stupid bait and making a /lit/ thread, that's all.Also, get a hobby, anon. Maybe take up tabletop gaming
>>93356347NTA but he is obviously not the guy who posted bait. he is calling you out for feeding trollsthe problem is you respond to bait because you're retarded. you can make "arguments" against bait posts all you want and all it does is show how stupid you are for not being able to tell it's just bait and it also plays right into the bait, because that's what bait is meant to dostop feeding trolls
>solo, diceless, freeform role-play with no prep
>>93356586literally me when I have a schizophrenic episode and create a work of art I then sell the next day for the equivalent of 3 years middle management salary for JP Morgan.
Is there a better way to deal with unknowns then chaos dice and similar systems? I kinda get a little paranoid when I roll chaos dice all the time to see if things are different then what they seem.
>>93358466I guess you could use the improv technique of Yes And.
>>93354585Anon, when I asked if you were going to make a thread there last thread I was giving you snark and not actually telling you to make a thread to migrate over to
>>93311560>giving your character super powersjk Glad you're having fun anon.I hit things with weapons until they're dead. I have a donkey cart near the dungeon exit for hauling loot ala TES Daggerfall. One time a dude paid me for goblin corpses so I went full GOBLIN SLAYER and made enough to buy a slightly less dickhead of a donkey. We ate the old one.
Favorite genre/setting you never get to play in social games? You can also name some resource books for them if you want. Musketeers (At Rapier's Point for Rolemaster)Ancient Egypt (Valley of the Pharaohs by Palladium. GURPS Egypt)Ice Age (GURPS Ice Age)Robin Hood (Robin Hood for Rolemaster. Merry England for BRP)GialloNon-Lewd Romance
>>93361071>Ancient Egypt (Valley of the Pharaohs by Palladium. GURPS Egypt)this.
>>93334692Have you taken a look at PDQ? Base version is free. I quite like the setting/genre specific rules for sword&sorcery in jaws of the six serpents.I haven't done much soloing, but it seems functional.
>>93360101That donkey didn't deserve that.
>>93363597Truth & Justice is a great system that my group is using currently. I'm a big fan of PDQ/PDQ#
>>93361071My wishlist is pretty small for a forever-GM: Sandbox fantasy with stronghold building (D&D 3e, ACKS, Pathfinder 1e)High-powered Sorcery & More Sorcery(almost any non-rules lite)Ghostwalk (3.5 Ghostwalk campaign book)
>>93354652What was solo gaming, pre-70's? Did they use dice, or was it more like journaling? I am really curious about this.
do any of you use meta-currencies in solo play? like fate points in the fate system, or some other form of limited resources used to alter the game somehow? i was thinking of giving myself (1 character) a single free re-roll (so only once per session) to be used on literally any roll made, or maybe just to alter a roll that the character causes themselves (like an attack they make, but not an enemy's attack). is this a bad idea?
>>93365745Wargaming had solo play going back decades before. A lot of it was playing out battles with Your Dudes, and working out a story about what happened, and feeding that back into the subsequent scenarios.
>>93365760>is this a bad idea?nah, go for it.
>>93363759She didn't put out like my new one
>>93366453>>>/mlp/
>>93365760My dude gets to choose an extra life or an inventory storage bag that holds 50lbs weightlessly every time he successfully completes a dungeon. He's never completed a dungeon because he's trash.
>>93366462Nah I like my donkeys to smell like shit not like cupcakes or whatever the hell mlp ponies smell like
>>93366488believe me when i say mlp ponies smell like shit as well. i found out the hard way
I'm giving my solo RPG card making another go. Basically trying to make custom decks of cards that I can use while playing that are made specifically for me and what I need to solo play. Right now I'm trying to keep things pretty generic. So for dungeons for example, here's a general card layout>Room Type>Difficulty >Generic Enemy (if there is an enemy)>Generic Feature(s)>Prompt WordsSo for a sample room it might be >Normal Room>Very Hard>Denizen Spellcaster with a Plan>Magic Water Feature>Snake, Tunnel, Ruby, Sawblade, Eyes, Cedar, Hatred, Father, Frost, Summer, Veil, Scant...Basically packing the rest of the card with prompt words to roll on or just decide to use for inspiration.
>>93366686I have a deck of D&D branded playing cards from Bicycle and I use whatever monster is shown on the card for random encounters.
>>93366686as you describe it, it sounds like it would get repetitive fairly quick but there would be nothing to stop you drawing multiple cards to randomise it up. (draw a card to find out the room, ignore the rest of the info. draw another card to pick the enemy etc,)
>>93367127Oh that's cool. I've got to get me those.
>>93368122If you can find them. They're not sold anymore afaik
>>93368070I guess, though things are intentionally very generic on the card. A spellcaster with a plan could be a lot of different things for example. Anything from a drow priestess scouting for her slaving group, to a good druid who is just curious about someone encroaching on their land.
>thief ally always making trouble for me and only thinking of himself>main enemy henchman is honorable and even helpful at timesI kind of want to go work for the bad guy now.
I'm kind of lost.So, I'd like to try some solo game in book format, something like choose your own adventure but with dice rolling and similar RPG mechanics.I did read online that there were some old "Fighting fantasy" books that apparently worked like that, but seemed to be for young audiences.How good/bad is that assessment?I don't care about stuff being high literature story-wise, I just want it to be fun and "fantasy" (whether d&d like, or more sword and sorcery style, or Tolkien, plus anything in between).But I'd rather not play something in electronic format.I'm 34 in case that's relevant.What should I check out?
>>93370156Fighting fantasy is fine, its not childish if thats what you mean. It is quite basic and of the time mechanics wise and very linear but they have mostly been reprinted so easy enough to get,Also look into 'Fabled Lands' and 'Destiny Quest' for more modern CYOA books with newer almost 'open world' feel.
>>93370156Tunnels and Trolls has lots of solo modules that are like CYOA. D&D has a few. So does Call of Cthulhu.Fightthing Fantasy and other gamebooks are fine and have mechanics that can be crunchy (like Fire*Wolf). Not to be confused with ruleless CYOA books.Some gamebooks are base don ttrpgs and have striped down versions of the rules. Like Forbidden Gateway being not!Cthulhu and having very similar rules, but very minimalist and using only d6 and no skills, to Chaosium's CoC.But some books with almosy no rules are also great. The Virtual Reality series is great. There's an Aztec fantasy setting one that is great. You can even become immortal in play and it's supported by the book, not ignored.As far as series. The Cretan Chronicles, The Way of the Tiger, Saga of the Demon Spawn (Fire*Wolf) and Golden Dragon are great. Golden Dragon has an Egyptian-theme book that is so fucking hard.Oh, but be aware that some gamebooks have been reprinted with modified art and font that suck ass. Like Way of the Tiger. Great series, really bad new versions. The series even has city state rules for when you become a King and must tax your people lol and mass combat rules.But these new editions have such amateur bad looking art it's unreal. This is why I have my old physical copies and pdf versions to play so that I don't mess up my physical book too much. My dad bought them in the 80s and gave them to me when I was 12.
>>93370156>>93370336Runequest has a few solo modules. Dragon Warriors has a lot of fan made ones on itch.io.I think Gamma World has one.
>>93370202>>93370336>>93370374Thanks!
>>93370156One I liked was "Warlock of Firetop Mountain"Its easy to get into and self contained. very classicalrpg scenario, going through a dangerous layer finding social, combat, and exploration challanged.One of the first. CYOA style. you set out your stats and stuff at the beinging. has this one unique luck system where you can decide to do more/avoid shit by trying to roll under your luck, but that then lowers your luck score by 1, making it harder on subsequent attempts.
>>93370156There is also an AD&D one I remember from a Dungeon Magazine #12:
>>93370783
i have more fun writing rules and speculating how those rules would play out than actually playing any games. as i write the rules, i imagine scenarios in my head that use them, and then, once i'm happy with the rule, i move onto the next and do the same, until i get bored of the ruleset or notice something flawed at its core, and then i scrap it entirely and start over with a new dice system or other core feature to see how well it works in my head
>>93370156there's some in pdf trove, look for the solo link
Drow-anon hasn't posted in a while. I hope he and his waifus are okay
>>93334076I integrate chatgpt into my solo-play by just giving brief prompts. Feels fun like I'm a player with a GM, but I do enough of the work to ensure the adventure is to my liking.
I've been thinkering around gamifying harem fantasy as to make an interesting party/npc centered campaign. So far, my idea is to create a list of traits and assign them to party members or NPCs following these principles: -They can range from personality types to looks, jobs and associations.-They must have a direct mechanical effect in the system used for the campaign.-They can have one or two positives, but must be first and foremost hidrances and flaws. The idea is that these traits take the control away from the player and act like plot threads. Based on them, the player uses an oracle to generate a backstory-related adventure that will upon succesfull completion change the negatives into positives both mechanical and narrative.No idea if I should include some kind of loyalty/bond system, but imo this could be fun: basically making interesting character arcs via oracles. Also thinking that failing to solve a trait could either aggravate the flaw, take the NPC out of the game or just add a new one. Thoughts?
Hey, I just need a tool that gives you a game objective. It doesn't have to be specific like, "steal the declaration of independence." it just needs to have simple results like "steal food." or "visit the king."
>>93374810roll 1d61. Abduct a target 2. Assassinate a target 3. Gather intelligence 4. Plant an object5. Rescue a target
>>933751996. Steal an object
>>93375199Ok thanks.
>>93374810Beginning+Mission+Target+Complication
>>93374810Ironsworn milestones can be like that. Small goals as part of a larger end goal.In that case you use the main goal and how well you do at achieving the small goals as inspiration for the next small goals.
>>93374810>>93377269You can see the small goals as Locks, Keys & Rewards. For example: The Lock is the vagrant. The Key is giving him food. The Reward is the clue he gives you. There is an inscription in a strange language at the base of the altar in the abandoned temple in the nearby forest. Now you got a new small goal. Lock: The inscription. Key: Deciphering the inscription. Reward: Unknown.
Do you guys prefer your solo systems to be lighter or more granular?
>>93377783Lighter. Too much crunch/specifics and it's harder to make everything fit for me. Even with procedures I find it better to just use an oracle and my own player/GM experience than to follow specific procedures. But it's a me problem. I have trouble going off course when using specific results if they don't fit well with the context.
>>93312267Imagine caring what other people do on their own time.You sound like those sex police women at my job.
>>93379250stop feeding trolls, retard
>>93311560 game report I did. Started with a common nown prompt: “Sneaking through orc Cavarns”Used a dice system I call inference die: d12, 1-6 high inference eventuality, 7-9 modest inference eventuality distinct from high, 10-11 low inference, 12 unexpected.>Inferred that a thief would be likely to sneak through orc cavarns, rolled and got a 10, so not even second guess, but a low yet plausable one, picked a knight that was ambushed and left for dead in a pile of corpses.>Next inference was that there was some orcs in the next room gambling, got a 6, so yes.>not a sneaky type, so thought it wasnt a good idea to sneak through, so rolled to see if there was a second exit, inferring that orcs dont make secure checkpoints for their corpse pile room. got a 7, so no empty hallway, but a secondary inference was that there was a subterranean waterway.>am a hearty knight, so tried to swim, inferring there was a exit near by, 9, no, tunnel too long, needed to turn back.>wounder if something in corpse pile can help me, though inferring that its less likely then not, 8, found water breathing potiongetting long so skimming the rest>roll to see if orc comes to the pile given the time I spent, they do, hide in corpse pile with piece of scrap iron, orc rummages through pile and picks out a card, probably happy to have a literal ace up his sleeve for the gambling, doesn't see me and leaves. Drink potion and dive back into the pool, have time now since water breathing so look to see if anything was lost down here, probably only small stuff via bickering, but rolled and 11 and was surprised to find fine glittering chainmail instead of something like a ring. get it and swim to next exit, careful to just put my eyes above water to scan area, roll and luckily was clear. roll and luckily it was the exit to the cave, given orcs probably dont wanna drag bodies too far. Leave with my prize.nice, fun, simple.
>>93380036I like thinking in terms of inference instead of yes/no, or even yes and/no but etc, cause it inclines you to think of whats plausible in the situation and continuously develops it regardless of roll, rather than "interesting thing happens or it doesn't happen"
>>93374810>>93311560That reminds me.Ive noticed, when imagination doesnt strike, start first with common nouns.A this, A that. A cave A piece of sustenance.THEN, start on proper nownsTHE this, THE that. THE Waterfall cave, THE Wonka Bar.
red robin.
