This thread is dedicated to all kinds of solo games.The black Prince Edition>Previous thread >>96297793Resources: https://rentry.org/srpgghttps://tayruh.github.io/solo/solo-roleplaying-toolkit.htmlMore threads:https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/search/subject/%2Fsrpgg%2F/Thread Question(s): How do handle wars and mass battles in your solo games? and what was your most memorable battle or war you fought in your solo game?
>TQI like them abstract and simple. Whenever they happen they tend to be background events to the party anyways.
>>96465762>How do handle wars and mass battles in your solo games?I would probably do something similar that Bandit's Keep Actual Play does and use Chainmail for mass combat.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBmb1_vQPIcI haven't got the chance to have a large scale conflict yet.
imagine engaging in a social activity alonelolmaybe even lmao
I hate people and want to play by myself, leave me alone.
>>96467604you've literally been doing this for an entire year nigga
I wana get into solo games so I can have my elf autism without screens. I’m admittedly pretty retarded when it comes to mechanics and running combat encounters. >tried OSE and thought it was confusing but idr exactly why, It’s been a minute.>Tried using my hazbro hotel books and shit was exhausting to flip back and forth through, and the combat wasn’t satisfying. I don’t have the MM either and just used OSE MONSTERS which could have been part of the problem. >Tried mazerats for like a minute,but felt like a man with a rolling pin instead of Conan or whatever. The shield splintering thing is cool I guess. Chat gpt says I should get Scarlet Heroes. It sounds up my alley, and I recognize the cover from these threads but things are tight and I’m scared to commit to the 40 fucking dollars it costs. Any alternatives? Do I pull the trigger on SH anons?
Imagine playing this SOCIAL activity alone.lol. That's it, not even an lmao
>>96469206SH is worth it. Just grab it from the OSR trove, see if you like it, and buy it later.
>>96469206There are ways to get scarlet heros without paying 40$, and if you end up liking it then you can buy it, go ask the PDF share thread
Pretty new with solo rpgs, my first game was labyrinthus. Thinking of playing hunter the vigil solo. I really dig the whole wandering monster hunter vibe, modern-day witcher kind of thing. But I’ve heard the game leans more into investigation and mystery, and that the combat system’s pretty deadly and not all that exciting. From what I gather, fights usually come down to: figure out the weakness, prep like hell, and then either you stomp the monster or get stomped. Is that about right? I’m cool with that for big, dangerous stuff, but I also want to actually throw down with monsters sometimes. Scrappy, close-up fights that could go either way, not just surgical takedowns. Is that something the system supports, or would I need to hack it (or maybe look at a different game) to get that kind of action?
>>96468205He’s lonely.
>>96469926I have no idea but that sounds cool so i hope someone answers your question
>>96470266He should try playing a solo rpg
>>96469206You could try the absolute minimum of the Scarlet Heroes system - attacks damaging HD instead of HP - with OSE or Basic Fantasy. I used Basic Fantasy with that for a sort of Sword of Convallaria style game and it worked out alright
>backed the Fighting Fantasy boxset campaign on Kickstarter>PDFs of Choose Cthulhu and The Fantasy Trip finally got uploadedGood. Now only for the boxset itself to finally ship.
>>96469206If you only need the solo rules they are free and separatehttps://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/114895/black-streams-solo-heroesI've done Keep on the borderlands with just b/x and this. Its enough
>>96469206Try Starforged, or Ironsworn for fantasy stuff. Instead of combat being fiddly and needing tokens and monster stats, it's narrative focused with combat revolving around achieving objectives and a progress tracker.
Does anyone have any solo resources that gel really well with GURPS?
Just reposting this from the last thread:>Guy behind Veiled here:>Sharing this here as I promised I would a few threads back;https://mega.nz/file/id51UZqa#9pZoBcVtOF3vssbZ4kON2WN9XAbGvSi-TStiB9nKTxY>While not a solo campaign it was an experiment in using oracles and questions in an actual group campaign/solo elements to try and create a more referee-based OSR style campaign where I was the arbitrator rather than the person designing the content.>All in all it went very smoothly once players got used to it. I don't know if it'd work as well if players could ask questions/knew the behind the scenes mechanics, but hell, it was fun.>Also I might be starting a Substack, just to let that one guy who goes by Shokol know, I'll be going by 'Some dude with some dice' and when it's got a few posts on it I will shill it here just the once.
Things might have escalated a bit more than I expected. A rematch with a gang enforcer has just ended with me spilling his guts all over the place.
>>96465762Anybody know of any resources out there appropriate for 40k Rpgs like Dark Heresy?I've got the books but anything else that could help solo play would be great.Like dice charts, random tables, solo procedures etc.
Anyone play kal arath?
>>96476404Mythic gme? I use some other oracles, but the premise largely remains the same.
>>96469926You're probably better with Monster of the Week or something like that for this, or look into older versions of Hunter the Reckoning if you're married to World of Darkness (HtR V5 is basically just a worse version of HtV with a similar powerlevel and general approach)
>>96474311There is this blog that has materials on using GURPS in GMless fantasy games, but a lot of it is applicable to GURPS at large.https://thecollaborativegamer.wordpress.com/
Speaking of GURPS, I can't believe it took me this long to realize how solid rules (ultra)light system GURPS Ultra-Lite is. It just can't do magic, but I do magical enemies as ranged combat except with IQ.
>>96477903thanks anon
>>96478598I'm curious what your games are like.
>>96476436Hmm, it's only $5. Might give it a go.
>>96469206bro, learn 2 pirate pdfs and buy a printer or don't.google any game book preceded by pdfcoffee: and boom free content
>>96469206You can get the Scarlet Heroes PDF for like 15 dollars and just print it out if you're insistent on not using a computer/tablet. Even the soft cover isn't $40.
Any news from Drow Anon?
>>96476436>Anyone play kal arath?I've bought all the books but I still haven't gotten around to playing it. It looks like a simple OSR inspired game and a lot of cool sword and sorcery barbarian flavor in the setting. I'm going to start a game when my Scarlet Heroes campaign starts getting boring
How do you guys run combat?I'm looking for something like a behaviortree for enemies. Before I've just played against my self, but it feels less like a game and I want some randomness and unpredictability to it.Currently doing a sort of bountyhunter and monster of the week style game in Myhtras.
Do you guys have a favorite sci-fi setting that you like to play in?
>>96487142That should be easy to write yourself.Alternatively there is this: https://rnd-diversions.blogspot.com/2015/10/making-npc-decisions-with-mythic-gm.html
Legend in the Mist has a GMless mode for co-op and solo. Anyone tried it yet?
>>96491603I learned a bit about this game. It's really simple, which is good. I must have these acorn dice when they're available.
I should have never switched from solo to playing with a group... My solo games and campaigns were so fun and consistent. Playing with other people complicates things way too much. Even when things are going good they have a tendency to whine and argue with each other.
>>96493353My group is pretty good, the only issue I have is that one of my friend's wives is a total bitch all the time. Constantly complaining and whining about everything we do. She nags at my friend until they leave. But if we try to play without them she gets pissed. She's a bitch if she's there and a bitch if she's not. Horrible conundrum. I never thought I'd say this because I love my friend, I've known him since 5th grade, but I hope they get divorced.
>>96493353Is there a solution to this?
>>96492376>>96491603buy an ad. Well, I guess you've already done that. I see this advertised everywhere. Anyone who's not a shill actually tried this yet?
>>96487831Yes. My 2 homebrews. They're terrible, but I like them.
>>96496727>Is there a solution to inherent human nature?No
>>96487831STAR TREK ADVENTURES
>>96496804Where have you seen ads? This is the only place I've seen it mentioned.
>>96498364They're all over >reddit right now.
>>96487831STAR WARS ADVENTURES
I picked up this ttrpg book at a con called Perfect Draw based around TCG-related anime. I might try it out for a solo game, because my friends sure as shit won't touch it.
>>96505145Checked it out, and it's a "Powered By The Apocalypse" based game.
Self guided goal setter or passive reactor to random encounters?
>>96467604Yo mama's a social activity and I do her alone all the time
>>96507400My mother is dead.
>>96487142When handling NPCs combat decisions, I extrapolate their combat tactics from their character personality/background. For example, a cowardly goblin; thus in combat he will use dirty tricks and try to flee the moment odds are no longer in his favor. In practice this means that when I set up a combat encounter, I assign every NPC a one or two word tactical style before initiative is rolled.
>>96507356Proactive all day every day.Speaking of which, Veiled-anon here. I've started my Substack.https://somedudewithsomedice.substack.com/p/the-eternal-kingdomAnyone got advice on how to hook people in? I swear I'm going to do a minimum amount of shilling here because that'd make me an absolute sack of tools.One problem I might have going forward is I can't use half as many images on substack because of copyright.
>>96507356I need to be better at setting goals for characters. My current character has the goal of "get money by exploring dungeons", but that really isn't enough if the money just accumulates without purpose.
>>96510052Do something like basic game of Traveller, where the ship debt is a concrete driving force for making money.
>>96487142The Monsters Know What They're Doing provides pretty comprehensive guides to both individual fantasy monsters and an underlying methodology that can be applied to anything not covered by the blog.
>>96506400Yeah it is. What's wrong with that?
>>96511229I was just informing the thread about the game, not criticizing it.
Are there any neat and solo friendly more action oriented scifi systems that would still have roleplay aspects? Bonus for possibility of dungeon crawls in derelicts, ships and facilities. 5 Parsecs from Home is fun, but pretty much only combat and downtime is more of going through a checklist than roleplaying characters. Playing Traveller as a mercenary squad is currently in my mind.
>>96513935STAR. TREK. ADVENTURES.
>>96513935Space Aces. TNG is the best, newest edition went too light in being rules-lite.
>>96507590Perhaps look for free use images that fit the vibes you want? Also did you use the standard Ironsworn oracles or something else? I liked the phrasing.
>>96515805Cheers, I used the standard oracles for the most part, though some of them are custom made for the setting by me (Locations since most of the ones in the standard setting don't fit with the fertile crescent and race since I'm going for all custom races)
I do like physical character sheets but not physical books. I ain't made of money.
>>96519179same, but I've been thinking about springing for a laser printer so I can at least make physical booklets at home
>>96519642With the price of ink tank printer refills being so cheap, it seems silly to go for laser printing and toner carts at this time. Freeing yourself from proprietary refills is a really nice feeling too. If you need to print reams of disposable documents for work or handouts for classrooms, then sure, laser is the way to go.
>>96507532That's why it's not rape
>>96519179Physical books are nice and all when reading through them, but when actually playing, it is hard to come back from bookmarked PDFs.
>>96469926You could still get away with HtV; I play base Chronicles and focus on investigation and character bonds and it works fine solo. If combat seems too fatal, try something like the Defying Death rules from Scarlet Heroes to have a 'buffer' out of death.
Where can I buy classic rpgs like the first dnd?
>>96524139>first dndPhysical copies? Have fun paying 1,000 dollars on ebay. Or just grab the PDFs off the internet and print them out yourself, that's what I did.
>>96524139Drivethru
Mythic Magazine is at issue #57. I wonder if any of them are really good.I kind of regret buying the second edition of Mythic since I already have the mythic deck, which works fine.
>>96526040Might as well pirate them. It is not like the original creators or their estates profit from those sales anymore, and WotC's "we are so sorry and ashamed for this terrible racist and sexist product existing but please pay us for having it because we still love profiting from it" disclaimers tells everything of how they feel about the older stuff themselves.
>>96526695Wait what-- they put disclaimers? That's hilarious.
>>96526722>We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.
>>96526735>this is doubleplusungood>we are still going to sell it, thoughCorpo hypocrisy at its finest.>Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strengthGag.
I really like Goblin's Henchman's dungeon and cavern hex flowers as simple dungeon crawls. The wilderness and world hex flowers are neat too, but can make drawing a proper world map along with the adventure confusing.
>>96526649They are my favorite resource, almost all of them have some inspiring tools or ideas.
>>96532231Are there a few you rate highly?
Melee is simultaneous. Only the first row of combatants can attack, except for polearm/spear attacks from the second row.Each figure may move up to one length of a pen in normal terrain. Difficult terrain halves movement. Very difficult terrain allows movement of up to 1/4 of a pen. Fast or slow combatants move farther or shorter than one pen — come up with your own rulings here.
>>96534213cont'dFirst, Missles are fired, second, spells are started, third, combatants move, fourth, spells started in step 1 now take effect; fifth, archers who didnʻt move and havenʻt been engaged in melee may fire again, sixth, MeleeUsing light weapons: roll 1d6 for every 3 men Using medium weapons: roll 1d6 for every 2 men Using heavy weapons: roll 1d6 for every man Using superheavy weapons, or mounted: roll 2d6 for every man. Attacking heavily armored opponents: 6 is a kill Attacking opponents in medium armor: 5, 6 kills Attacking opponents in light or no armor: 4,5,6 kills 1 hit kills a normal being. Monsters and npcs can take a number of hits depending on how many humans they’re equivalent to. E.g. A bear that’s as powerful as 4 humans can take 4 hits. Hirelings die first; player characters only start taking damage after their hirelings have died.Check morale with 1d6 when a unit has lost 3+ figures, when a unit has lost more than half of its members, when a unit is attacked from behind or in the flank, or when friendly units are routing nearby.If the unit rolls higher than the its morale number, it is routed and immediately turns in the opposite direction and moves as far back as it can. It will continue to do so till it reaches the end of the playing field; at that moment, itʻs considered defeated.Morale numbers: under fireCivilians: 3, Soldiers: 4, Veterans/Elite Soldiers: 5, Heroes: 6Morale numbers: routing/otherCivilians: 2, Soldiers: 3, Veterans: 4, Elite Soldiers: 5, Heroes: A leader might be able to rally fleeing troops; roll 1d6 and stay at or under the leaderʻs Leadership Skill (1=uninspired, 2=typical, 3=talented, 4=superb, 5=tactical genius).Modifiers to Morale: Attacked in flank -1Attacked from behind -2Leader close by +1Double ranks (formation wider than deeper) +1Triple ranks (formation wider than deeper) +2Lost half or more figures in unit -2Witnessed the loss if their leader in this turn -2Lost a general -3
>>96534218What rules are this for?
I give up bros. Too many oracles, too many possible games, too many possibilities. The setup is a nightmare when you're racked with indecision.
>>96537401That's why you just pick a game and start.Here: Barbarian Prince - Ultimate EditionGo play.>Bu-It's free, go fucking play nerd.
My medieval fantasy character is now dating Doja Cat>Playing a normal fantasy campaign>Character is a dumbass medieval peasant who ascended to hero status by adventuring>Through my adventures, find an device that alters the path of interdimensional travel through portals. (So if a portal goes to a specific plane, you can alter it to go to an adjacent plane. If it goes to a dimension, you can change it to go to a similar dimension.)>Through a specific set of portals, my character travels to our real world>After some wacky "Fish out of Water" hijinks, my character goes on some pretty funny adventures>Still completely out of touch with our world. And he's completely illiterate>While walking around in his full armor and gear, he runs into a random encounter in a big city>Roll up the random encounter, and get "Celebrity is being harassed by paparazzi">I go to a website that generates a random celebrity, I choose "Current Celeb" and it initially gave me some guy I never heard of before>Do it again, and it's Doja Cat>I swoop in like a valiant knight and save her>After role playing waaaay too long, she is now his girlfriend>I am now going on interdimnsional adventures with a big booty sex goddessSolo games are great.
I've been experimenting with solo. From PC facing only to full GM with NPC 'players'. My latest game is part GM, part main PC, part sidekick PC, part main villain, part main henchman. Each 'chapter' has a scene from each character's POV. It's pretty easy to keep the knowledge of each one separate. When I can't, I use an oracle or their stats/skills and treat the PC as an NPC to determine what they do.My main problem is always that if I don't use some structure (number of chapters/scenes/rooms/hexes decided in advance, for example) I wander aimlessly and never finish my games.But I never decide in advance what will happen like the tips on creating Vow track in Ironsworn. The most I do is determine when to ask if a twist happens or make difficulty go up as the adventure advances.So far here's a few things I discovered:Full PC POV, not being the GM at all, is what takes me the longest to play. Very immersive, but time consuming.1 PC and GM and it's harder to separate between PC knowledge and GM knowledge than with multiple PCs and GM for some reason.Separating a campaign into different adventure styles is better. 1st adventure is an Hex Crawl, for example. 2nd is a mystery in a village. 3rd is a dungeon crawl. 4th is a big battle/war. 5th is political maneuverings. 6th is a chase and final boss battle. I don't determine all the styles of adventures in advance. But I would determine the number of steps in the campaign or I would never finish it.
>>96540699Sounds interesting. Keep us updated on how experimentation goes.
Just immediately put three characters through a meat-grinder. I've generated a small dungeon that should be relatively easy for a long adventurer to overcome, but one after the next, they keep immediately dying.Hopefully someone will break eventually break through!
>>96540259Dr Who meets Don Quixote, sounds cool anon.
>>96514499Is the newest edition good?
>>96540259Your character dies of hypergonhorrsyphilaids
>>96542882No. No content. Everything is for 1e.
>>96545162Wait, I just took a look at the game, so for solo you only need captains log? Do you even use other books? How do you personally do it ? I'm interested
>>96545934I run the full game solo. I am currently running a crew of an excelsior through the Shackleton expanse campaign.You ONLY need the captains log for solo play, but that reduces mechanics a ton. I like the full rules. Because it lets the character's who aren't exactly simple simon motherfuckers, to come up with 'alternate solutions' and take the 'mission briefs' in whole other directions, by undertaking Extended Tasks I design.For example: after encountering the gravimetric 'waves' fuckery of the expanse, the logical vulcan captain and the ever curious Haitian scientist decided it would behove the ship and crew to come up with an actual permanent solution.So they spent three months mapping everyone hazard they could, charting and learning how to deal with them.And then they turned sciene lab 3 and computer lab 3 into an auto-correcting modeller. It duplicates everything they did already automatically, so they can ignore it themselves when they encounter those effects again.They were successful enough they can now ignore hazard 1-3 of the effects they've encountered, reducing h4 and h5 to h1 and h2. But they have to encountered something like it before.The solo play 'captains log' is super reductionist. I would recommend maybe buying A book or two, and then stealing the rest.
Yarr harr harr. I mean. Anna's archive.The bonus points is that the full rules books for 1e as well as giving you more shit, have extra mission briefs in them.For example, the book for creating your own ships and shit, utopia planetia, also has a bunch of mission briefs for doing all sorts of engineering stuff.
https://tayruh.github.io/solo/solo-roleplaying-toolkit.html Dead?Shame, it was one of the best tools.
>>96547641analog pencil and paper chads keep winning
>>96546061Do you use any gme to play or use the captains log rules but adapt it to the full rules to solo?
>>96547641What was it?
>>96547641Gal who actually knows Tayruh. Dude throws out hot takes for fun, and gets super-annoyed whenever someone disagrees with him. So when our entire server came out against him saying "life sucks, we're just distracting ourselves till we die" he threw a massive bitchfit and deleted everything.Not gonna lie, it was really uncool. Lost a buncha respect for him. At least the PUM Companion is a good stand-in.Maybe he'll return, maybe he won't. Just wish he'd act his fucking age.
>>96555104On that note, y'all got a list of the oracles he included? Might make it myself.
>>96547641Somebody asked for it in the pdf share thread and I uploaded a copy of the github repository. Extract the html, it works offline.g0f /d/t5jca9
Are there any good collections of medieval non-fantasy random tables for rolling, or systems that would have them? Sure, just using almost any medieval fantasy tables and just ignoring fantastical results would work, but I am aiming for a historical game.
>>96556102https://infinityweavers.link/re-up/solo-rp-toolkitWent ahead and threw it on Neocities. At least till he comes back.
>>96556102>g0feh?>>96556555Thanks Anons.
>>96556119Modern and SciFiWWN Silent LegionsWWN Cities Without NumbersAugmented Reality (free, in itch.io)Central Casting Heroes Now and Heroes of Tomorrow (great for lifepaths)Zozer Hostile SoloCity of Crime for The Vigilante Hack (very good)Solo Investigator HandbookEnglish Eerie 2nd edLittle Town (this one is fantastic)Dark Streets & Darker SecretsWelcome Aboard CaptainCalypso (itch io)Historical Realist (kinda):A Ghastly Companion to Castles, Mansions & Estates (300 pages of tables for Victorian Gothic)Aria RPGMiseries and MisforturnesWolves of GodOrbis Mundi series, not many tables, but it's just an amazing resource for historical play.gf /d/9xBQLN
>>96557346Thanks. I'm going to shill the system I'm going to use quickly. I came across Chronica Feudalis a while ago and it seems really good and flavorful for historical games. It is a system utilizing small dice pools of (usually) 1-3 dice, and uses dices from D4 to D12, and D20 for some special occasions. Characters have skills, tools (everything from weapons or clothes to animals or retinue) and aspects they can use for challenges, and each of them have value of a die. If any die in challenge is over target number (4 is the default), it is passed. Aspects of characters can also be invoked for character's detriment, which grants points of Ardor that can be used to improve results.The characters are created through a lifepath system, where starting skills and equipment is determined by three mentors the character had prior to adventuring, and Aspects of characters should also reflect that life.
>>96560088Neat system, thanks for sharing. I like the lopsided dice pool idea, especially with mechanics where not just the highest is useful. I ran mythic bastionland recently and it does something similar with combat, you might want to check it out.
>>96560545I have been thinking of checking Mythic Bastionland out at some point. Also, I got pic related lined up as a medieval game I want to try out. It is newer version of Maelstrom from 1984, a percentile dice system that has even better looking lifepath character creation and also looks like it might work quite well with solo some medieval tables and resources to supplement lack of GM prep. I'm just not in mood for fantasy for now. Maelstrom's setting is pretty interesting, as the PCs are investigators working to unearth supernatural horrors under a noble patron in early Norman Britain. It also has an adaptation set in Roman empire.
>>96560088Sounds nice.Check the Aria RPG in the gf link. It has a ton of info that could be useful.For that type of campaign, why not using Harn? It would adapt perfectly to medieval Europe and it's the gold standard of "realist" medieval systems.
>>96562338I just keep getting filtered by crunchy systems by the time I need to deal with complex NPCs. I don't mind PC crunch, but prefer enemies and NPCs as quickly generated.
>https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/535790/single-player-mode?src=hottestCyberpunk Red solo rules is out
In some games you get a quest marker to point you the right way. Alternatively you can receive info (notes, dialogue, etc.) which you then use your brain to understand, and then make connections to come to conclusions about possible actions you can take next. So if you're struggling to come up with something to do in your adventures, like a situation where you've no objectives, then you need more info about the game world.
>>96562699I know exactly what you mean.I'm fiddling with Gurps right now because of that. The system can be very crunchy, but I got interested after trying a free app called GCShttps://gurpscharactersheet.comThe best part of that app is that it has a library with the digital stats of years of supplements and magazines. I can't believe the author built this.https://github.com/richardwilkes/gcs_master_libraryGurps generates characters buying everything with points (except disadvantages, which give additional points). And then you have 'templates', which are packages with a set of pre-bought elements, and which are used for fantasy races, backgrounds, occupations, personal interests and anything that could define a character. In the GCS library, there's about 2,000 of them (1,790 exactly, they have the gct extension so you only need to search the number of files with that extension). To build an NPC or a creature, you just create a new sheet, open the templates you want, and from those templates you drag and drop the packages into the character sheet, and the character sheet updates automatically. You can build a complex NPC in 30 seconds.
>>96565947Thanks a bunch, need to check that out if I ever get excited about GURPS.
>>96544576No, no. You misunderstand. This is a fantasy version of Doja Cat. One without hypergonhorrsyphilaids. It's quite a feat of suspension of disbelief, I know...
I have Fatal Frame on the brain and have started to think about running a game. FATE could work, but any other suggestions?
>>96562699Ironsworn is good for that. NPCs are just a few random tables of words and a progress track/difficulty level.
>>96568456Shortly after posting this I remembered that I have had Yokai Hunters Society on the shelf for ages and never got around to it.A read through and it's pretty great for what I wanted. 2d6 + relevant Path (attribute) + item bonus if applicable vs difficulty, default of 10. Combat is the same except it's vs an opposing enemy roll + their level. Damage is the difference between the rolls.It has something called the Curse Resistance tracker where you can roll a d8 with your 2d6, dropping your Curse Resistance if the d8 is higher than your current Resistance. Run out and every roll is at a Disadvantage (3d6, drop highest) until you can be cleansed.
>>96568456Under Ashen Skies.blackoathgames.com/under-ashen-skiesIt fits the tone, it's specifically designed for solo playing and it has tons of tables to generate and explore haunted places.
Wondering if the crunch is worth the extra time it takes to prepare.
To solo play rpgs, I light some candles and pour myself some wine before a session. It really sets the mood.
>>96568523It is not a solo friendly system out of the box due to the very "just go make things up" GM section, but Crimson Exodus/Fantasy Dice is one of my favorites for that. It is a mid crunch system regarding PCs, but majority of NPCs can be reduced to their weapon and armor, and them rolling 3dX (usually d6 or d8 for regular humans) in everything they can be expected to be good in, and 1-2 dice in other things.
>>96578297depends on you're taste
>>96581059What tastes good and is low effort to run
>>96581143so probably not then
>>96581160I only have like 2 to 3 hours to play daily.
>>96581143Iron sworn is a good choice for you i think, easy to use but you can add complexity as you like.
>I'll start tomorrow>tomorrow comes>I'll start tomorrow>tomorrow comes>I'll start tomorrow
I’m looking to get into solo rpgs. Is Parts Per Million a good start? I want to try either OSR (not OSE, I want to run Swords and Wizardry), Savage Worlds, Stars Without Number, or GURPS (I’m interested in Rumble Hearts by Notepad Anon, and it uses Not!GURPS). I’ve never solo RP’d before, and I want to get some opinions first before I invest time into this.
>>96582593I remember his GURPS supplement sucks, don't know about the others
My setting is going to be an underground prison arc tournament. Winner gets his freedom. Gladiatorial combat. Any good oracles for specific enemies and their strategies?
>>96582426https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0
>>96584730>HE WILL COME INSIDE USWhat ttrpg do you think Shia would play?
>>96584885Daggerheart
explain why you aren't just playing ironsworn over whatever stitched together home brew you're running?
>>96585933I tried it and didn't like it.
>>96585933Bad combat
>>96585933I don't like Powered by the Apocalypse
>>96582426Are you me? I spent literally all day yesterday just downloading inspirational pictures from pintrest instead of starting my game I've been planning for like a month now.All. Fucking. Day.
>>96585933Because I wanted to play an OSR game, and Scarlet Heroes is my favorite solo game.
>>96587729Preparation is play.
I played an incredible game over the past few days, and it's the second time ever that I've actually had a solo game come to an actual conclusion. Ever since I was a kid, I always had this unrealistic dream/sexual fantasy of being an explorer during the late 1800s/early 1900s and finding a tribe of sexy women. Right?So, rolled up a character and just went with whatever the story told me. Over the past week I have actually got to see what the narrative of that fantasy I've always had was, and it was really cool.Game started with being stranded on a deserted island with a bunch of big-titty women. Faced several trials and tribulations, (Including the idea that being in such a paradise would eventually grind on your nerves at times.) And then ends with my character, years later. He's standing on the island's only mountain, looking at his kingdom. His beard is long, his skin is rough and tan. But when he looks down at the village he built with his own two hands, he can see his harem of sister-wives and he is contented... Okay with never again seeing the outside world.
>>96587784When you're reading the rules, that's play.When you're thinking about playing, that's play.
>>96585933I dislike Ironsworn combat.
>>96590313I never understood that mindset. That's all just preparation for play. It's a different experience to playing. I guess it's a thing people use to feel better about not actually playing the games.
>>96591901Well, any part of the prep process that involves making choices is play (character creation, backstory writing, setting design). If learning the rpg rules is akin to a video game tutorial, then you can consider that part of play as well.
>>96584109Do you know any solo supplement that would work with GURPS then? Preferably a system-specific or genre-specific supplement, but I’ll take a GME if there’s none available.
>>96592373Anything will work; I had good success with Mythic and One Page Solo Engine. Why do you need something specific to GURPS?If you want to use d6s for everything there's a few GMEs thereIf you want something universal and flexible that's where Mythic is bestIf you are using a lot of crunchy rules you may want a super simple oracle like OPSEFor genre-specific stuff you'll probably have to rip from another game like Scarlet Heroes, Ironsworn/Starforged, FORGE, etc. etc.
>>96592412>Why do you need something specific to GURPS?Honestly, no reason outside of thinking that specific systems are easier to use than regular systems for a first timer. It seems I’m wrong on that, so I’ll probably read and use Mythic.
Good old MGME. What would we do without it?
>>96584109SURPS works fine.
>>96585933I love Ironsworn and run group games for it, it's nice to try other systems and ones that are solo only
>>96592373See >>96477903
Has anybody used this OSR Solo Roleplaying Guide? Not the "OSR Solo" guide, which I found pretty disappointing and barebones. This looks better but I can't find it in any of the usual places. I guess the PDF's only $5 but still.
>>96560088I've been playing this, and yes, it is pretty fun. Really neat and simple system for low powered but not super deathly games.
>>96600852If a cheap file is available for something interesting I usually buy it. It's basically lunch money.
Behold, Sir Wulric Marr, Sanctioned Inquisitor, Sworn to House Thorne.
The great houses of the Ironlands, centuries after they all but stamped out those pagan Ironborn savages
>>96605717AY DIS NIGGA AINT GOT NO ARM MANE
>>96605717>>96605726I like these thought, its nice too see someone try drawing something instead of Generating Slop for their stuff
>>96605891I'm no artist lol. This guy is actually pretty good for me so I made him into a character sheet. He is a decidedly solo character, I won't be showing up to game night with this fuck show
Me old man gave me an ereader the other day when I was helping him with some stuff, he loads up books to read when he has downtime at work and said how I might find it useful when running games. I've been trying to disconnect from the computer more and an ereader not fucking up in sunlight and having a battery life more than 5 minutes has been real good for getting outside on a sunny day to do some solo gaming. I'll probably still keep some physical copies of smaller systems on hand cause I've had a few run ins with people in public interested in whatever the fuck I was doing or were also TTRPG players, it's cool being able to hand them a copy to play with.>>96606192Hell yeah, everyone starts somewhere and I've been using TTRPGs for years as a way to help adults and kids practice and develop their visual art skills. Don't overthink what is 'good enough' to call yourself an artist, just keep drawing and having fun with it anon.
>>96606505You game in the sun?
>start The Mist/Land of the Dead type game with zombies and other monsters showing up>play a firefighter>get bit by zombie in the first fight and nearly die>roll to see if it's a virus>spread via parasite injected by the giant flies that entered our dimensionAlmost died with my first character.
>>96606505Good for you anon. I actually got into solo RPGs and solo wargaming for the same reason - I work on a screen all day, and playing CRPGs (while fun) was starting to feel both limited and like I was a smelly basement dweller. Sitting on the porch drinking bourbon and rolling dice is SOVL
>96606505>Don't overthink what is 'good enough' to call yourself an artist, just keep drawing and having fun with it anontoday I had a revelation to just lean into my weaknesses and learn to draw in medieval codex style. It will be fun to go through my adventure logs and highlight key scenes in this style.>ereaderAbsolute game changer, even just for reading. I can comfortably read a thousand page book in bed. Mine is too old and slow to use with game manuals, unless I know the rules well and only need the ocasional reference. What model do you have?Imagine showing the monk who drew picrel an eReader with hundreds of books on it, after he had spent his life copying tomes by hand.
>>96609627Yeah? There's a number of lovely parks in my area, or I go sit out the back under my fruit trees, though maybe not as much in the next month or so since I'll leave most of the fruit for the local wildlife so it'll get messy. Low vitamin d is a sneaky mother fucker, if you can safely spend some time out in sunlight please do so, bringing a quick solo game to do a round of is an excellent way to force yourself to. Heck just go lay in a sunpatch in your house if you're an area that has a shitload of mosquitos or ants or something (I am very good at accidentally sitting on ant hills).>>96610971Awesome, being able to actually narrow down what you want to study is something I constantly have to help artists with, so you're doing better than most lmao. I have a little kobo clara colour I think? It's a lot lighter than I expected, and the texture of the screen is quite satisfying. It doesn't scroll smoothly like a tablet but the benefits far outweigh how it can be a bit clunky or slow at times in comparison.Ah, but if there is less time needing to copy the books it means there is more time for writing your personal notes and reading a wider variety of books to discuss and think on! There is also no true substitute for binding your own physical books, if you ever have the time and interest give it a look, you may even find some workshops at your local library or other community space. I run text games for groups and have done some small physical versions of the sessions to send as gifts over the years, lot of fun formatting and adding post-game notes and comments.
>>96465762>https://tayruh.github.io/solo/solo-roleplaying-toolkit.htmlThe solo toolkit is down. Does anyone had found a solution or is it gone forever?
>>96614102Check here >>96556555
>>96614360Thanks
>>96612421Ants in pants!
Here's my first crack at chronicling my adventures with art inspired by the codex mannesse. It's leaning quite cartoony and low skilled but I think it's a decent start.It depicts a recent chapter of my solo campaign where the pc rescues his friends from the bandits who had imprisoned them, but finds one friend has died in the battle.This rescue was made possible by convincing a forest fairy to spread the spores of quick blooming toxic mushrooms around the bandit fort to thin them out before the assault. I thought it was amusing to make the fairy the largest figure because she's actually more like tinkerbell in size. The implication is that the artist had never seen any of the people depicted, let alone an actual fairy.
>>96617866Kino. Ive been into calligraphy for a while and have attempted to do illumination/miniature illustrations for it with mixed success, I was just thinking recently it would be a good way to keep track of a solo game. Your stuff is inspiring and very cool, the concept is awesome and the execution is solid. Also making the fairy the biggest is unintentionally accurate to how it would’ve been illustrated anyway, not just because “we didn’t see it” (which applied to a lot of illustrators back then, monastic or secular) but more important characters were drawn bigger anyway. The Morgan Bible has Biblical kings towering over the “background characters”
>>96617895>Also making the fairy the biggest is unintentionally accurate to how it would’ve been illustrated anywayVery cool. I'll have to look into the how's and whys of this art instead of just copying elements from the paintings.I'd be interested in seeing your art if you have any handy.
>>96617955Picrel is an autistic way to present this but I didn't want to clog the thread with tangentially related posts. The left is my own calligraphy with space for a block letter where illustration/illumination would go. I don't have any examples of my awful art because I used them as scrap for more calligraphy practice lol.On the right is another good idea I remembered for your codex, some manuscripts had "speech bubbles" with the speaker holding what they were saying in a scroll, or an angel holding it above their head. This gospel has the apostles asking "Mary, what did you see along the way?" and might be a good way to incorporate text into your record without having to fully write things out (or contextualize an event that is hard to draw)
>>96617866Absolute nectar.I love seeing journal doodles and art by players.
>>96617866That's awesome and I'm so happy you've shared this idea. I'll try my hand at it too.
>>96582426>alternate wanting to play the METRO universe with Deus EX>once I'm done with prepping for whathever game system I'm trying to run some custom made items and a character I lose interest and want to play the otherIt never ends because I can't ever find a longer period of time when I'm not busy with life
>>96618064Nice calligraphy. I'll have to practice that, even just by starting each new page of my adventure log with a stylized letter. Looks like a satisfying skill to learn. This thread is surprisingly supportive
Has anyone tried the cyberpunk red official solo mode? I've been interested in the game. I might check it out to try the game without committing to learn it for my friends
>>96504130Based
>>96585933'ate PbtA, simple as
>>96605717>>96605726>>96606192PVRE SOVL
>>96557346>gf...I know this is a abbreviation, but I can't figure out what site it's supposed to be.
>>96618064mirabile dictu, aliquis latine scribit et in hoc saeculo
>>96629116go (for the) file dot eye oh
>>96629557Thanks
>>96629116You need a girl friend to unlock this file anon, thats what GF means DUH
>>96631397why is it posted in the solo roleplay thread then... Surely you'd play with your GF instead.
What's your approach when you're stuck long term with regards to solo games? The last time I had much of any success with anything solo was a year or so ago with TYOV. I've intermittently been trying to get going again, but everything I've spun up has immediately crashed and burned regardless of the tools or system I use. Mixture of immediate loss of interest during setup or when getting the game off the ground, getting stuck in ways oracles don't help with, etc. I know the general advice is "if it isn't working, take a break and come back with fresh perspective", but I'm pretty sure "over a year" is longer than it should take to be able to do *anything*.Just looking for thoughts and what works for other folks.
>>96632714Jump in and have your character do stupid quests. He works at the general store but dreams of being a guard in the big city. When the delivery wagon is robbed, being young and full of cum, he sets out to take them out. Head that way and interpret what ever setbacks arise as the first thing that pops into your head. A dog runs off with his bow, he falls into a sinkhole and must escape a labyrinth, The god of thunder Raiden appears in a flash and tells him he is to represent his realm in mortal kombat. What ever pops up, do it. Worst case, you can scrap the character when you start having good ideas, or have this one wake up and it was all a dream.The hardest part is starting
>>96631496why ruin a good thing
conquered insomnia by weaponizing my autismi used to lie there for hours, frustrated about the time i was wasting. now i just close my eyes, relax and bootstrap something akin to a lucid dreami'll spawn a scene, a couple npcs, and just let the simulation run. when i get stuck on a plot point, i use my own body as the RNG. i'll hold a question in my mind, and a gut feeling literally determines the outcome. tummy feels tense? it's an ambush. feel a weird warmth? the artifact is in this room. i've got a whole open world soulslike with a custom magic system running in my head now. infinitely immersive internal larpit's changed how i see my daily life, too. i get now that everything i experience, the books, shows, people i talk to, is just feeding my imagination in the background. my brain just recycles all of it into the world in my head, which makes my normal, everyday life feel like it has a quiet purpose and is part of something biggernot sure if ascending or just going full schizo
>>96632714Solo games seem great for identifying motivation issues with people. Some recommended literature: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motivationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competence
>>96632714Other anon above is fantastic advice. Personally when I'm having trouble sticking to something long term I go and look at my backlog of other media I've been avoiding and start working on that, making notes on things I liked and didn't like about it, how I'd like to include techniques the creators used or things I need to learn more about to understand even if I personally do not enjoy it - why do I NOT like it? Then I can use that to start spinning up a solo game to practice things and make it my own. 9/10 me not being able to stick with a solo game is because I feel like my skills aren't good enough to create what I want leading to lack of confidence and motivation (why bother if it's going to be shit), so I identify that perceived skill weakness and work out how to build it up.>>96632998You're doing good anon. Many people do that, and many people should try and do that. You're paying attention to all the information you're receiving and interpreting it before using it to create something new. Especially with autism, where our brains just... don't work in a lot of ways and overwork in others. As long as you're still staying connected to reality and taking that information to interact with reality, you're doing fine, try not to overthink it and ruin the joy you're creating for yourself.>>96633003Ha you posted when I was typing, this is also a fantastic thing for anyone passing by to have a look at! Again, 9/10 for me it comes down to perceived ability to accomplish something. To quickly add on to this, I would recommend looking at the term 'eustress' as well!
>>96469206I miss guild wars 1
>>96632998Fuck I wish I had that kind of imagination still. My brain is a cold stone.
>>96632998I wonder if this is what the satanic panic parents were scared dnd was doing to their kids, like that movie Monsters and Mazes.
>>96633467i don't want to give the false impression that it's flashy and action packed like a video game. in reality, it's brittle, slow paced, and fuzzy. kinda like fishing, sitting there, waiting and hoping for a tug on the line
>>96633467I think it's something you have to practice in order to get better at doing.
I found out today that there is a fanmade standalone game based on the QuestGame System that Iron Crown Enterprises used in their excellent Middle-Earth solo gamebooks. QuestGame System in itself was intended to be a gateway to MERP. I have not tried playing anything with this yet but it does seem neat. I think ICE kinda missed an opportunity by not making a standalone QuestGame rulebook themselves. https://sites.google.com/site/ambarquenta/the-heren-turambarion/other-rpgs/the-middle-earth-adventure-game-meag
>>96635504woah I know I'm late to the party but I'm just now realizing that the "Pondering my orb" wizard was Saruman this whole time
>>96635534I didn't know that either. cool
Any guides on setting up a local LLM for solo rp? I want it to remember things, chatgpt does stuff fine for short term, but it forgets.
>>96636994Have you tried writing a prompt that says, "Please dump the current state of the game so I can copy and paste it into a new conversation and continue from there"? You can rephrase the prompt if something is missing or even ask how to make it better./g/ has a dedicated general, >>>/g/106729809But honestly, I don't think a local model is going to solve the problem. Would rather give a try to Gemini Pro, due to its much bigger context (1 mil vs 256k), at lmarena.ai for free
Between Crystal Chronicles and Final Fantasy Tactics, which do you think would be a more entertaining concept for a solo campaign?
>>96638958Cozy caravan adventures in the miasma and dungeon crawling with a very clear goal VS clan menagerie with more variety and mercenary vibe. Tough choice.
>Conman character runs into an advanced Precog during Starforged campaign>Worst case scenario since she's part of a group that's hunting him down and knows his cover is a fake>Manages to outright bullshit his way into the two of them working together by coming up with an excuse for why he's fully suited and not taking it off, as well as using one of his secondary fake identities that covers up the sins of the first oneAfter this entire arc is over and she has him exactly where she wants him, I'm going to roll to see if she knew exactly who he was from the get go and has completely outskilled him or not.Not a second before.
finally got fed up with google docs and rich text and everything and went on a journey. I wound up settling on silverbullet.md for my notes/gameplay/wiki/everything solution. It's a self-hosted notes app using markdown but you can script in lua to do lots of stuff. It's everything I've been wanting out of a notes solution(except kakoune keys but I won't be greedy). I wrote some quick commands to roll dice and started a little revenge campaign. would recommend if you're looking around for a recording solution for your games
To anyone looking for a good resource of oracles and sandbox generators, I recently stumbled on the Advanced Fighting Fantasy adventure creation book and so far seems pure solid gold: It's as if Scarlet Heroes was actually developed beyond the basics, with much more granular adventures and even town generators. It even has a simple social level mechanic for the sake of long term campaign goals. Only bad thing might be that it's quite married to the base system, but IMO adapting stuff shouldn't be too dificult or hard: Just replace the monsters and the skill checks for your system's equivalents and you are good to go.
>>96638958I'm biased for CC as I've done a shared solo world with friends in the past. Sometimes we'd use it for group games too, our solo adventurers stories told in taverns or gossip picked up on the road
>>96638958I've had a few sessions in a mercenary game that was Final Fantasy Tactics/Sword of Convallaria/Tactics Ogre; started with a group of 0-level peasants who were survivors of a raid on their village launching their own ambush on a enemy patrol who's come back to loot further. The survivors of that then split into two groups and the group that stayed (now earning their first level and becoming the player characters) looted what equipment and food they could and started their journey to the next town.
>>96638958I only played Tactics so, Tactics.
>>96639440Obsidian is also good.
Clash of Steel 2E is Deal of the Day in DrivethruRPG. Sword & Sorcery game with solo rules.https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/505035/clash-of-steel-2nd-edition
>>96633003You recognize this is useless shitposting, right?>>96633033It's almost never been "I don't feel like I could do this well" and is almost exclusively "I have no ideas on how to do this at all". I don't GM live games for a reason, my brain locks up badly and it takes hours or days to figure out a path forward in a game. Not because they're bad options I don't want to do, but because it presents *no* options even for simple shit. "The first thing that pops into your head" pops in days later and is generally still mediocre, but it means I can't get more than a few minutes in before I get stuck in place.Add on top of that the workload of doing the GM side *and* all the player(s)' side(s), and it makes a hobby that's great with friends into a nightmare solo.It isn't impossible for me - like I said, over a year ago I actually did have one whole ringing success that I so far can't replicate. But it is unpleasant to throw shit at the wall to see what sticks, and have the answer be "absolutely nothing". At least in a group setting there's people to bounce shit off of.
>>96648075What makes this stand out from other Sword and Sorcery games like WWN?
>>96649198It is thematic and gritty without being overtly deadly. It is a 2D6 system where tests are done to beat the universal target number and combat is done with simultaneous opposing rolls with opponent, so it is fast paced. Magic is inherently dangerous and corrupting as often in S&S, so spellcasters need to use their hit points as mana pool. It also comes with serviceable solo content and a setting right out of the box.
>>96649192It's going to be ok anon. Work backwards. What are we trying to do here? Break it into steps. If you can't summarize the steps, you should reconsider reading those links I posted.
>>96649192Have you tried taking a purely mechanical game like Barbarian Prince or 4 Against Darkness, but using inspiration tables to add atmosphere and detail? That way there's no pressure on you to be imaginative to keep the game running.
>>96649789He's tried nothing and he's all out of ideas.
>>96649789I have played 4AD, actually, quite a while ago. Also some of Blackwell's map games that are mostly mechanical + drawing (which I'm usually fine at). They "work", in that the procedures all function and I can get through the game loop, they're just rather rote and not especially satisfying. Doesn't help that I'm not much of a dungeon crawl fan, but I've played (non-solo) games outside the genres I enjoy that have worked great, so that's not really a disqualifier.
waifu PC or male PC who meets chicks?
>>96650262The one you think sounds more entertaining.
>>96650262Both. I'm currently deliberating if I should play next game as a solitary slime girl barbarian, or make her a main dude's companion. Not even sure of the system yet, got to find something that accommodates oozefolk.
