This thread is all about solo games and campaigns. Apparently nobody bothered to make the new one.Rune Soldier edition.>Old thread >>96465762Resources: https://rentry.org/srpgghttps://infinityweavers.link/re-up/solo-rp-toolkitMore threads:https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/search/subject/%2Fsrpgg%2F/Thread Question(s): At what point does solo turn into novel-writing? Is that something you enjoy, don't? What can you do to prevent/promote it?
>TQ:I think when you're writing more than just bullet points. I'm here to play a game, not write a novel.
Since if is the spooky month, anyone got recommendations for spooky games? I'm aware of Call of Cthulhu and Vaesen as horror games with solo resources.
>At what point does solo turn into novel-writing? Is that something you enjoy, don't? What can you do to prevent/promote it?I simply don't write that much down. I keep a single "Campaign Notes" .txt file that's filled with mostly boring technical details, like the current weather and how many days must pass before I roll for more random weather. How many goblins are in cave x. Travel distance between town y and z. My character sheets are the same bland data dump in another .txt file. NPCs are lucky if I write more than four sentences about them!
>>96762765Couldn't you just run a spooky campaign with any game? Just add undead!
>>96763316He might want baked in sanity mechanics.>>96762765Kult 2e isn't inherently built for solo play, but since its loosely based on pbta most solo resources should carry over.
Imagine playing this SOCIAL activity alone.lol. That's it, not even an lmao
>>96727531Juice seemed pretty decent, I'll test that one out for a bit, thanks
>>96761554>Thread Question(s): At what point does solo turn into novel-writing? Is that something you enjoy, don't? What can you do to prevent/promote it?I never write my roleplays in a novelistic style.My logs are always more like a list of actions and effects with most of the creative stuff being held in my head.Ironsworn systems are ofc an exception but I don't think they lead to writing that would actually be good in a novel. Too much constant fucking up, you'd end up with one of those annoying stories where a protagonist can't walk between towns without it being an ordeal.And even there every 2nd/3rd line in my notes is stuff like "Action 3, Challenge 7 3 Burn momentum Weak Hit" so it's not exactly great reading.
>>96763316I like those games. But as>>96763609says, I like to have gamified stress in horror.
Anyone got experience with Space Aces? I've just skimmed through it a bit, but I liked the large amount of tables and such. But I think the character creation is way too bare and thin. Not sure if I want to mix it with something else. The d20+d6 didn't seem too bad
>>96761836Yeah it should just be short descriptions of what happens in the game for later when you return to the game so you know what's going on.
I was thinking it would be easy to generate random encounters but then the story wouldn't make sense so now I'm not sure what I'll do. I just need to avoid doing the GM work somehow and letting an AI take that place is very tempting.
>>96770930You could always make it a side quest, re-interpret whatever came up, or just disregard it.
>>96761554>>96766307Ironically, I feel like a solo rpg could be a decent way to force a first-draft through writers block.Even if you end up editing it heavily it still works as a starting point.
>>96773795I'm gonna probably try it soon. Just on the fence as to whether I just use mythic to set scenes or if I use the full chaos engine and storyline system for the whole thing.Ironically I'm gonna have to play a solo rpg first to get back into practice for using it all.
>>96766710I have not played the newest edition, but played TNG. It is a neat but indeed very light system. From what I've heard they made the mechanics somehow even more streamlined in the new edition.
Going to be playing Dragonbane this weekend, what am I in for?
I'm pretty out of practice and feeling uninspired. I tried getting two games off the ground but both ran back into the ground. tonight, I will have someone with a gun walk into the room.also anyone tried the new Riftbreakers yet? I skimmed the core rules and some of the tables and it seems sort of fun. I'm gonna try to give it a whirl soon
How fun is "Iron Valley"? I'm looking for a cute time.
>>96779398It's alright. Pretty much just Ironsworn without violence
>>96777490Pretty fun condensed BRP experience.
>>96774336No more stats, just one career path alá BoL. And a towel I don't know what to do with. I kinda hate how the how-to-play and character-creating section is formattedStill on the reading phase, but I added 5 stats, mostly inspired by the original, even if it is just a plus or minus on the d20 though
>>96780313>And a towel I don't know what to do withIt is a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reference.
>>96780366Oh yeah, that makes sense. It's been so many years since I read that
>>96761554>TQI just do bullet points. I play solo games a but like board games though with lots of combat and rolling.
Sigil & Shadow is pretty cool urban fantasy game for solo play with the unofficial solo supplement. Really quick and simple but engaging, and really adaptable and flexible. It does not have it's own setting, which means it fits into a lot of different occult/horror vibes, but does require either making a setting or using preexisting one. https://pulpum.itch.io/sigil-shadow-solo-modeI would also recommend grabbing the small supplements the game's creator made outside Osprey Publishing for $2.https://chaosgrenade.itch.io/echoed-invocations
>>96770930Its not like everything needs to advance the story.
>>96761554Reminder that if nobody saw you playing, it didn't happen and you're just day-dreaming about having a game going.
>>96783913nobody saw you playing over discord either anon
>>96783913It was real in my mind
Do you lads like to separate GM work & gameplay? I'm usually making content at the same time I play a session, with very little prep work. It has the downside of frequent interruptions, but the advantage of me as a player not knowing exactly what's happening next
>>96770930The random encounters become the story.>roll goblins in a bugbear lairWhat the FUCK are goblins doing here???Hmm....
>>96787253>Bugbears are giant, hairy cousins of goblins who frequent the same areas as their smaller relatives.Also>They have no compunctions about eating anything they can kill, including humans, goblins, and any monsters smaller than themselves
>>96787310Is this the reason you just came up with, or actual "lore" or whatever?It was just an example.
>>96787328It's from an ADnD monster manual.
>>96783913I've heard of codependence, but doubting your own existence without other people to verify it is another level. Seek help.
>TQI like writing in a log style,each quarter of the day gets a few sentences. I keep weather info and rolls on another notebook. I usually play combats first and then summarize them after the fact.>>96787028I use mythic, so it's a mix. Often I just look up interesting creatures for the biomes I'm close to and come up with stuff on the fly. It can interrupt the gameplay, as does interpreting some of mythics rolls too. I often get stuck with homebrewing systems and finding stats for creatures and that's the number one killer of my games
Never really played an rpg before, is the stuff in the op all I really need to learn how to get started?
>>96783913I'm gonna try doing this next session. I realized last time that it took me over an hour to do a single combat round, because of all the journalling. Time to dial it back a bit.
I've been wanting to try to get back into solo again, after a hiatus. Been jumping through different systems, not quite settling on oneWhich system do you people prefer?
>ran Mythic and Savage Worlds together for a while>among other reasons along with the cognitive load scaling up too much over time I ended up quittingI kind of want to get back to it but when I remember just how much I had to do, making and printing out statblocks, writing every little thing down, combat sessions stretching on way too long and ending up unfairly stacked against myself, shit made me wanna kms. How exactly do I get back into it without torturing myself? Hell I even thought about acting as DM and emulating a player because at least then I spend less time interpreting the oracle.
>>96789036If you've never played before you're probably best off with a procedural game like 4 Against Darkness, Notequest, or Barbarian Prince. Once you're used to playing, take more time to imagine what's going on and use inspiration tables to add details. If those details suggest different results from the game mechanics then change the mechanics to match. Once you're used to that you should be able to learn and play whatever RPG you like.
>>96790169I'm using a very simplified Mythic GME>no chaos, chaos rank fixed at column five>no scenes>no random events>no word pairsOver time I've come to rely on oracles only for yes/no questions, and for fine details I use random tables.>>96790189>at least then I spend less time interpreting the oracleThis is why I stopped using word pairs, too much time spent scratching my head and wondering, "How am I supposed to use this?".
>>96790433How do you spark ideas without word pairs?
>>96790433I was more thinking of the ttrpg system. Thinking of trying Legend in the Mist. Word pairs is something I find work 1\3 of the time. I did find myself spending way too long trying to make sense of things. Sometimes it did work as a charm, and took me in places I didn't foresee >>96790189Swade is the first system I used for solo, and while I really like it, and it is super customizable, it's a bit bloated? I struggled with balancing encounters, they tended to be too easy for me, at least for my combat focus spear and shield character
>>96790683I didn't think of not using SW. If anyone has any system suggestions that capture the same feel while being a bit less bloated I'd like to know too.
>>96790631I use one of the free AI to help interpret things when I'm too tired to make two random words make sense in the quest. They usually come up with something good enough to use or at least give me more to consider to come up with something workable myself.
>>96790683Chronica Feudalis has a similar step-die system to Savage Worlds, combined with aspects similar to Fate. It is a grounded medieval system first and foremost, but feels easy enough to homebrew and hack. I am currently playing a Harnworld game with it.
>>96792640Feeding things into AI seems like the opposite of reducing workload in this case.
>>96789036It can help if you watch a person play to understand what to do. So I recommend YouTube as well.
Are there historical solo rpgs? I'm interested in roman times.
>>96766307>>96773795ronsworn is great for generating stories. When you refine it you filter out the times your character trips and breaks his spear and add mundane parts.I'm taking a break from Ironsworn because I'm basically writing my journals out in full prose at this point and it gets hard to avoid planning plot beats ahead of time.
The sheer size of OP's>Resources:is drowning.
>>96802039It's not a solo game but Mythras has a roman setting. That's one I've run solo myself, there's a site with an enemy generator so you can offload some of the work there. Biggest downside is that combat takes a while but it is fun.
I recommend using programs that automate the boring parts of looking up oracles, like Tayruh's Solo Toolkit, RanDM Solo or the One-Page Solo Engine app.>>96790433Is this the One-Page Mythic or are you using your own simplification?
>>96803436I hope that is a good thing.
>>96803436My word, I hadn't looked through it until now.
>>96790631>How do you spark ideas without word pairs?I'm a pretty shameless copy cat. If I see something in any other kind of media that I like I'll use it in my own solo games. I'll even rip off random things I see in real life. For example, I might handle a question such as, "What does the barkeeper look like?" by simply deciding on the spot that he looks exactly like the random stranger I saw at the grocery store. I find this technique of just using the first random thing that comes to mind and running with it, much faster than using word pairs to inspire something. Anything from plot hooks, to monsters my PC encounters, I just steal & steal some more>>96804669It's my own simplification
Do any of you who own books think it's easier playing with them than PDFs. Considering getting the Sundred Isles ones while they're still in print.
>>96809189Books are easier than PDFs but PDFs can be searched for keywords easier.
>>96809189Real books are so much easier flip to book marks and just more pleasant to use. Reading a dense pdf on a phone is miserable and a laptop is way too much screen space for a ttg. I nice tablet might be okay. I have an old e reader and it's much to slow for rulebooks
>>96808742>I'll even rip off random things I see in real life.I never thought of doing that, probably because I live in the Philippines.
>>96809189when rules related to the same thing (example: combat) are scattered throughout the book, the pdf version is easieryou should probably stop using the book after a while once you've got your cheat sheets and tables out of the book
Never played an rpg before, solo or with others. Already have a few in mind, just want to know about dice. Are there brands I should or should not buy?
>>96812253dice are dice. get a set that has good color contrast and you'll be fine otherwise.
>>96812253>Already have a few in mindwhich ones?i got my D6s with numbers so it's faster to read and add them up, happy with them so far2 sets of 2 different colors that way the ennemy get their set and you get your set is what I've seen, i only have the player set will get the ennemy set when I can,
>>96812253I've got some with numbers printed on them and others with pips. You can buy individual dice the exact color you want. That's what I did for Ironsworn.
>>96812352yeah those colors are very nice, red for damage rolls I like
I'd just like to say that the best part about SRPGs is that you can actually do a decent villain campaign without it being "Bunch of low impulse control retards patiently wait for the perfect moment to stab each other in the back without any particular benefit to be gained from doing so"
Does anyone have opinions on TREY solo engine? It is supposedly a good match for d100 games.
>>96812757I'm reading over what I can see now on scribd and it seems like a pretty decent all in one book package but there's nothing jumping out to me that isn't already covered by the staples like mythic and UNE
>>96762765>>96763316Does Mythic's genre rules work well? I've glanced at them but never really gotten into it.
>>96790189Don't use SW maybe. I've never even played it because i'm too retarded to understand it or I find it too bloated because I see a rule and know I can implement it in a simpler or easier way.>making and printing out statblocks, writing every little thing down, combat sessions stretching on way too longMy initial thought is you're doing it wrong. Condense your notes and avoid systems that require intense statblocks or crunchy combat. Maybe that can be done with SW, I dunno.
>>96766307I'd read a novel or short story about a protag having a really shitty afternoon trying to get from one town to another. I watched a short documentary recently about a guy who cycles over a small mountain to visit his deceased friends widow. One of the funniest things i've ever seen.>cycles there a few times a year>half the trip requires carrying the bike on his shoulder>he's got whiskey hidden away all along the trail, in streams, under rocks etc>by the time he gets there he's three sheets to the wind>It's blue hour, getting dark>knocks on her door>she's not in
>>96813459Skimmed the same through now that I learned ti is uploaded there. And yes, agreed, seems like a good condensed system but nothing revolutionary. Also not necessarily really seeing where the good match for d100 games some reviews talked of come from, probably from the authors previously making d100 games and resources which the reviewers use. However it is simpler than Mythic which I do like, and story tokens seem like a fun idea, so I might give it a try.
>>96814132What system do you use? I'm open to suggestions on something that doesn't make me wanna pull my hair out.
I know this sounds kinda stupid for solo rpgs but has anyone found a good way to do a more social game.I want to be interacting with loads of NPCs and not just doing the questgivers in an otherwise desolate wilderness thing that ironsworn has going on.
>>96814879I use B/X derivative stuff generally. I've done a bit of Traveller as well.
>>96812737I'm about to begin an AD&D 1e campaign built around proper assholes wanting money for this exact reason.
>>96814945You can use progress tracks for relationship drama. Convincing someone, seducing someone, impressing them, etc.
>>96814945The latest Mythic Magazine (#58) has a bunch of stuff on generating NPC dialogue
>>96818054What is it like? Does it involve interpretation still.
>>96814945Did you take a look at LET'S TALK! and KEEPING CONTACT! solo rpg tools?
>>96814945maybe i've gone completely schizophrenic but i use a random phrase generator and try to get some "vibes" on what the NPC is trying to say. i unironically took inspiration from watching Terry Davis doing the same thing with his bible phrase generator in the Down the rabbit hole video about him.
>>96814945I use Üne to generate my dialogue.For example: Friendly NPC conversation bearing: celebrationfocus: last storyIn my current game I have just brought in a prisoner, so the NPC is probably celebrating that. If I don't have anything to celebrate, I use Mythic to come up with something
Do you talk out loud to yourself when you do this?
>>96821369No more than when playing vidya.
>>96821369I'm one of those internal dialogue brain people, or whatever it was called. I narrate my entire game session in my head without speaking aloud.
>>96818054I should probably start reading mythic magazine desu
How do you make your solo games feel more "real" though?
>>96822831Whaddya mean?
>>96821369I don't think talking out loud is normal but speaking to yourself under your voice is.
>>96822831there's nothing more real than a proper combat system with depth
>>96809189Nah, a tablet is a much better investment.
>>96822831When my character takes damage, I hit myself. When my character get's a fatigue level, I run until I'm fatigued. When my character dies, I kill myself
>>96828979Subtle way to brag about your characters never dying.
>>96809189I like books but they are bulky and expensive. Quality varies with books.A good 10inch+ tablet is a top tier. I've got mines synced with my desktop library. I've wanted a vertical monitor for a while.Probably depends on a case by case basis.
Tell us about your most recent session anons!Looking for good stories and inspiration
>>96822831Real life time = campaign time
>>96829564>A good 10inch+ tablet is a top tierany recommendations? are there some that give like 3 days battery life with an pdf open on it?
>>96829829I just got a Fire 11 on sale, the Fire 10's were on sale for half of that price too.pros>runs well>screen is big enough for every rulebook I've checked>I've got SyncTrayzor and Obsidian running on it for desktop paritycons>can't debloat it but you can circumvent/ignore with fire toolbox. e.g. buying the cheaper version with ads and then removing the ads with fire toolbox.>not recommended if you're one of those zoomers or phoneposters who can't into technologyI can possibly get 3 days out of it but I don't have the screen on a lot. I maybe have the screen run time at 1-3 hours a day. Doubtful?
>>96829770I'll post my two recent sessions because they were short and months apart. They're from my test game for my own system for running games in TES. Nothing exciting has really happened yet.>Makrub the Orc diplomat arrives at the gates or Bruma in the wee hours of the morning. He's travelled South by wagon for a few days from Riften. He's under orders from his Lord to try and secure diplomatic ties between Riften and Bruma through pacts, whether its trade or military support. Anything really.>At the city gates, a guard halts him and doesn't let him through, alerting him to the fact the city is in lockdown due to a high profile escapee from the dungeon.>Makrub manages to persuade the guard to let him in with talk of important diplomatic matters, taking a note of his name and giving a promise to let his Lord know how good of a job he's doing. (Makrub probably won't mention this dumb guard to the Lord of Bruma.)>With it being late Makrub heads to the Jerall View inn to find a bed for the night. Outside the inn two merry Nords are blocking the door. They're having a dispute over one wounding the other during a friendly brawl they've presumably just had. Makrub manages to sneak past unnoticed.>In the morning Makrub heads to Castle Bruma to try and gain an audience with the Lord. On the way he overhears rumours that the escaped prisoner has been believed to be caught but it's complicated by the possible use of magic to alter his appearance and they are not entirely sure if it is the right person. They're holding him anyway until they can find out.>Two guards staring out into the distance refuse to let Makrub into the castle to meet with the lord. They openly tell him the Lord is far too busy dealing with other matters, mostly relating to the high profile prisoner. The city is still in lockdown.I'll continue the session later today after some food. Next is exploring effects the lockdown and see where this escaped prisoner and diplomatic thread takes me.
>>96815375How does B/X compare to Savage Worlds generally?
>>96831853I wouldn't know, I can't get to grips with Savage Worlds so I can't really speak about it.I really dislike crunch or big inelegant rulebooks. I even find B/X too much sometimes, which most fa/tg/uys would probably find laughable.What kind of genre are you trying to run?
>>96831986For a while? Fantasy, DnD style stuff. I'm now realizing SW even says the amount of crunch is up to you. You don't HAVE to run with minis and maps and whatnot. My issue really was that I insisted on adding as much crunch as possible when there are Quick Encounters, Dramatic Tasks etc. for this specific purpose. I'm really thinking about running a stripped down urban fantasy game...
>>96829564Vertical monitors are great for reading any pdf. Had one for work for lease review and ordered one for my house after the first week of using it for all my ttrpg stuff. Now on to 4 monitors using 2 for references to what I am playing/running, 1 for my note taking, and 1 for everything elseIf people are on sure on them and you are running double monitors already get a stand with am arm that can rotate from horizontal to vertical
>>96832017If you're comfortable with SW and the system is flexible enough then why not just go for it. Any depth you 'need' can be substituted in with oracle stuff while you ignore the official rules in favor of speed. I've had a friend from 5e have similar issues getting used to B/X.Not sure about urban fantasy, maybe another anon does.>>96832018Hell yeah. I use an old tv for a second monitor and it takes up half the desk so i've not got much room left. I could maybe get a stand for it.
>>96832017I use a tablet with a graph paper app thingy, which I make dungeons/maps, and write short summaries of on the side, I find that it works decently well. I think Swade is flexible enough that you can make it as simple as you want. I still like the dice system that it uses, even if exploding can be a bit.. explody. I like creating and fleshing out characters, which Swade also does really well. And it's easy and fast to make some gooks to fight, the more complex monster you can look up decently fast. But I hate looking up rules, or checking some abilities. I tend to run in fantasy/historical stuff, and having a core rulebook, fantasy rulebook, and maybe some previous version of Greco-Roman / Musketeer / whatever supplement gets really tedious to look up things.B/X feel a lot more built around a party of multiple characters, and you need to tweak some stuff to make it work with less. And you don't really get a lot of character customization, which is fine. I like B/X a lot, and it got a lot of easy neat system for a bunch of iconic things. But I think you kinda need to make a party unless you want to import other systems to it
>>96829770From my modern fantasy zombie apocalypse campaign>Our survivor is sleeping in her parent's house, Emily is now the sole living resident. She's been on her own for ten days now.>Dawn arrives but it is both too cold and too dark to do anything. She hides in bed for another two hours.>After an hour or so of mundane prep. and breakfast, it's time to go looting for food & supplies.>Venturing outside reveals a random encounter with some deer on the highway, but nothing comes of it.>Our survivor arrives at an unexplored nearby house. It's a small mobile home with a single vehicle out back.>Knocking loudly at the door and listening reveals a zombie moving around inside. Door is unlocked.>Our survivor engages the zombie, and pops it in the belly with her machete. The zombie woman lands a solid blow on our survivor. Emily takes advantage of her speed and retreats outside.>The zombie pursues, but she finishes it off at range with a magic spell. Time to search the house.>Former occupant was a gang member, searching the house turns up bags of weed, meth, and meth making equipment. Our survivor scores a pair of hiking boots and some food.>Back at home to unload weight and eat lunch. Emily ventures out again, this time to hit a house to the North.>This house has only a single malnourished cat inside. Doors are locked however. A locked sliding glass door reveals an obvious entry.>Repeated rock chucking defeats the glass wall. Why bother locking your doors when you have glass walls? Larger two story house, this one takes three hours to search in full.>Jackpot, Emily turns up a hatchet, a sheathed combat knife, two magic runes written on paper, and a pile of misc. food supplies with other goodies.>The cat fled the house rather than interact with Emily. Good luck kitty!>Back to base to enjoy this rare loot. Emily is now trying to figure out exactly what new spells she can learn from these two runes.
What do you guys use to represent characters? Looking for recommendations of figures or even tokens.
>>96835384https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb32Oq7xdhE
>>96835384I use Dragonbane and Pathfinder pawns. I don't want to deal with paints and miniatures, at least not yet.
>>96829770Running a medieval spaghetti western>PC is an ex-herder, current rowing bountyhunter>a petty horse thief has stolen a horse from a wealthy farmer and has a bounty on him>track him down easily, but he notices this>fail to see his ambush but manage to beat him and break his leg>bring him in, get my reward and get to stay at the farmers house, see his family>lot's of trouble around the place>next day get to the market and stay at an inn>fight breaks out with co-conspirators of the horse thief>the farmers daughter is at the inn and get's help from town militia>2v1,I'm unarmed but hold them of>get my arm broken when help arrives>militia doesn't like me for fighting, but get a pass this time>have to leave town next day with a broken arm>at least the farmers daughter is nice and helps with healing my arm>I guess I'll try to find another town to get bounties
>>96829564The worst thing about real books is that they fall apart or pages fall out. No wait, the worst part is that you have to pay to replace them.
Star Trek Anon! As far as I know, you don't play Captain's Log. What GME do you use to play STA core game?
Thinking about running a very slimmed down Mythic with Savage Worlds with heavy focus on using Quick Encounters, Dramatic Tasks, etc. to avoid crunch. One of many campaign ideas I have is heists. You guys got any general ideas on how to enhance things or keep things fast and loose?
>>96839310>ywn have a stoic, kuudere Vulcan wifeWhy even live? Just to suffer?
>>96838793they don't consume power to operate
>>96790433Do you still use threads?
>>96840111I do not use threads. When I first started solo gaming, I used all of Mythic and its features, but now I just use the Yes/No Fate chart
>>96822831Bust out the maps and miniatures. Add oracle dice and cards. Anything physical you think could add value to your game play experience.
>>96818054Is there an archive of mythic magazines?
>>96839310I use the captain's log oracles and tables one's, and i also have ai assist with designing extended tasks, but for DOING things, I just use the full rules wherever possible.it helps in the STA is cuilt around mission briefs being for an 'episode' / 'two-parter' of a 'show'. the mechanics of tests also help, in that the difficulty of tasks are almost always predetermined. a hazard 3 electro mag navigation hazard to the ship has set rules in the game, I don't have to come up them.SO instead of 'playing' my 'character' I am running 'characters' through an 'episode' and more so writing the 'script' of the captain's log of it.thanks to how detailed sta characters are, It is rather simple to keep them acting withing their idioms.then its simply a case of making sure you never mary sue / gary stu any character and they never asspull a magical 'right' answer to the 'problem' currently facing them that they do not KNOW.for example, while the CAPTAIN is highly mentally resistant to the tilikaal's mental fuckery, the crew are unaware that some of the crew have fallen under the influence of them, thanks to the hazards they've been charting, investigating etc. so the characters currently do not know some of those abord ship have been suborned. and they've not got any reason to be suspicious thereof, etc, because they don't know nothing about them. they're still just beginning their exploration of the expanse and haven't learned anything about that.
>>96842987Cool thanks, you are doing more of a player simulation, I dig that.
LLMs are so close to be the perfect tool for solo RPG, I cannot wait, and at the same time I know my life is over as soon as context is cheap enough to actually run hundred hours campaigns without lorebooks.
>>96847436you can already ask one to act like a GM and use it in voice mode
>>96847436seems kind of shit to me
>>96848811If they ever figure out how to give them a memory that's longer than a goldfish's, I'll check back into them.
>>96847436There are fundamental issues that an LLM will never be able to get over that your own brain can.It's always going to want to suck your dick for example.Do you want a DM that never really challenges you?
>>96844996yep. more of a 'what would these people actually do?
>>96849176>It's always going to want to suck your dick>picrelHardly fundamental when they've been rigorously trained as yesmen
>first mythic question of new game>random event: ambiguouslol, way to make me do as much thinking as possible immediately
>>96847436>as soon as context is cheap enough to actually run hundred hours campaigns without lorebooks.Context is their fundamental problem. It's the most expensive part and it gets exponentially more demanding the more you have.Hesitant to say that anything in computing will never be solved but you'd need a transformative leap to stop it being a problem.(And even then they'd need to get better at knowing what past details to give weight/attention to)
I used to have a role playing group back in the day but ended up dying down. I've tried getting my gf into it, but I've had no success, mainly because there's no interaction and it's always her against my story, and I have almost no experience. Not interested in playing with random dudes on my lgs at this point, so I want to dip my toe into solo RPG. Which systems would you recommend for someone who's never ran a succesfull campaign?
>>96851487Basically >>96790314
You guys playing horror themed games for spooky season?
>>96809189I've been a book purist for a long time, however I am getting a lot of mileage out of pdfs these days. I view them on two 27 inch monitors and print out selections as needed, or even in entirety if needed. Books are honestly kind of shitty in comparison.
What are some good systems that are setting agnostic and aren't too crunchy? I kinda don't want to play GURPs just for solo play lol.
>>96849176You can absolutely get chatbots that fucking kill and eat you, so I don't see why a DM with proper prompting wouldn't. The main issue as player would be the temptation to just not stay dead.
>>96856541too bad it seems pretty good for that it's a pretty good rabbit hole to get into
Considering getting ker nethalas. Is it a good option for a 1st timer? Heard good things about it
>>96858584I mean, I'm sure I could shave off some GURPs stuff to make it easier to solo play, but the idea I had for the narrative had was going to have characters from multiple kinds of settings, so I didn't want to have to use like seven different supplementary books
>>96859412Interesting, like different settings with different technology levels? Im doing fantasy now. I learned the system and gonna playtest it with different "hairy" encounters carefully crafted.
>>96859611no, the setting would be somewhere between high fantasy and eldritch horror, but the characters themselves were going to be plucked from different settings. so like, you'd have your bog standard fantasy warrior, some cyberpunk kid, an urban character, and an anime protagonist trying to figure out where they are and trying to escape the pocket dimension they're all stuck in.
>>96862427Start small and go from there; ker nethalas seems coolI read Gurps Lite and got hooked but It would take more work than I'm willing to put out to try and adapt it to a generated setting or one that exists, without it being spoiled completely from trying to make it ready to play as a solo campaign. Isn't that the same thing for most solo stuff though? The GM is you so most surprise and plot is already known before you play. Am I wrong?
>>96856541OVA is really good generic system.
>>96855084No. I'm always playing spooky games. Even my fantasy games are set in a Ravenloft-like setting.Sci-fi too, Alien/Event Horizon/Pitch Black type of games.I blame my parents. I asked for the Chill ttrpg as a kid and got DragonQuest instead. So I used almost exclusively the horror monsters in it when playing. It's influenced my way of playing. Not that I'm complaining, I love horror, but when I try something else it becomes horror sooner or later. Even superhero games.
>>96761554TQ:>start writing an encounter>write about 20 pages of dialogue and discussion and planning and shit>fights are just "X attempts to swing at Y but misses"I need to get better at my action scenes.
>>96847436The best use for LLMs is as glorified random table rollers.They will never have good context since, as the other anon said, it gets exponentially more expensive to make them remember things.I found that the best use for them was to open a chest or find some magical artifact and have it tell me what the loot was. It came up with shit once like"A magical staff of growth that constantly pulses with life, making healing slowly better around it. If held in hand and activated it will bloom, causing 2d4 fruits to blossom, that can be eaten for +3hp each, but activating the staff alsos causes the user to grow tumors and plant tendrils from the holding arm, with the severity growing with how often they activate it"You can't roll shit like that from a table, and you can't always come up with it, that's where I think AI works best.
>>96864940checked it out and yeah i like this system a lot, especially how you can create your own custom attacks, thanks for this anon, gonna be trying this out soon!
I'm not sure about solo rp. Is it a good use of my time to pretend to be another person by myself?
>>96870954If you don't want to play solo RPGs, why are you in the solo RPG thread? Is that a good use of your time?
>>96870991I already play...
>>96761554>thread questionI like to keep notes in the first person to give myself context for later sessions. Just enough to remind myself, nothing crazy. I think that's the trick is to limit yourself to smaller descriptions.
>>96842147>archivecurrently on newvola
>>96870954It is already the norm for you: might as well gamify it...
>>96870954It's better than video games or tv
>>96873589I think it's the prep time that's killing me.
Outside guy here. I'm curious why someone would play a single-player TTG. Why not just write a novel? If you're both DM and player, how do you uncover secrets and balance against yourself? Part of what makes TTG fun to me is bouncing stuff off other players and the interactions between the players.Perhaps it's an acquired taste.
>>96875460It's just so you, so you can prep just the amount you need to get the game rolling.>>96875777Oracles. There is whole set of tools for doing this and keeping the game surprising. In some ways it's better than playing with a group as the only ego present is yours.
>>96875800I will say that with the advent of generative AI, it seems like it'd be easier to generate random content and fill up the background characters and world details. Do SPTTG players use AI a lot?
>>96875864I've found AI to be lacking, unless you put significant effort into curating the context, some people really like it though. Great thing about doing it solo is you use what works for you.
>>96875777I don't want to write a novel, I want to play a game. Given that, why do you think I would be better off writing a novel than playing a game?Randomness can substitute for secrets in most cases. Even if the GM is a separate person.I don't like people, so the social aspect does not appeal to me.
>>96868345Playing Tunnels and Trolls made me better at them. The game is hit or miss on a lot of stuff, and it's humor is not everyone's cup of tea, but the stunts mechanics is easy. Decide what you want to do. Roll for it. If you succeed, your stunt is a success: you cut the bad guy's hand/decapitate him/push him over the cliff/trip him/disarm him/etc.Harder and lethal stunts have a harder saving throw (lethal stunts might have been a house rule from our GM).I found it more intuitive and creative than having a list of moves you can make. A list mean picking the safest option most of the times. T&T stunts means picking the coolest option you can think of at the moment.
>>96870954Play as yourself/the GM then. It's fun. And good practice.
>>96877400>Given that, why do you think I would be better off writing a novel than playing a game?Investing all that mental energy into crafting a world and characters. I would want something to come of it. When you're playing with other players, there's a social aspect to it. When you're playing a vidya game, you're not dumping out the creative energy; you're enjoying the story and characters someone else made for you. With a solo TTG, nothing comes of it, at least from my perspective. >I don't like people, so the social aspect does not appeal to me.That's fair. I just think it's a pity that the world you enjoy will never be shared with others.
>>96878394Your perspective is lazy, shit and influenced by muh social media clout.Playing a game is it's own reward. Creative games are not for the lazy.
>>96878394>it's a pity that the world you enjoy will never be shared with othersWhy? Are you a zoomer who only exist if he has likes on social media?It's solo. The point is not sharing with others, it's having fun. Sharing can be helpful, but if you play just to post, it's not really solo, is it? It's just another version of play by post, but the game is you reading comments to boost your ego.
>>96878394I don't find it's a difficult investment of mental energy. Same way light exercise helps wake me up rather than exhausting me. Trying to write for other people does tend to be draining, even when it's just shitposts.
>>96878550>Your perspective is lazy, shit and influenced by muh social media clout.Cool it schizo.>Playing a game is it's own reward. Creative games are not for the lazy.I enjoy sandbox vidya as much as the next guy. It seems like a much more labor-intensive affair for the TTG equivalent. Crab meat. Too much work, not enough payoff.>>96878579>Why? Are you a zoomer who only exist if he has likes on social media?Hardly, I'm not saying you need to have a Twitch channel or shill your slop on some social media network. My idea is more "I hope you have some friends in meatspace, someone to share your content with". Conceivably, you could monetize your creative output by publishing the story or a blog of sorts online, but that's on you. >The point is not sharing with others, it's having fun.If you're not sharing it with others, I hope you're having fun. Far be it from me to dictate what someone else finds to be fun. >>96878614To be fair, I'm not familiar with any SPTTG system. Perhaps the games on offer have been effectively streamlined to maximize fun while reducing superfluous maths. I don't know if most of the SP content is mostly premade or generated by the user. The lack of context on my part for this medium is probably the root of my confusion.
>>96878812Some people love being creative. It's not a drawback, it's a feature. But if you are not into it, there's plenty of random tables out there that are more complex and specific to use. Solo was part of the hobby since 1975. But back then it was more about dungeon exploration, so easier to solo. D&D had solo rules in 75 in The Strategic Review magazine (by Gygax) and in the 79 in the DMG. And more rules in the 1984 module Midnight on Dagger Alley.Anyway, with these rules, dungeon generator, etc. it's very easy to delve with no need for creative input except for the choices you make.Something new, like Ironsworn, is more creative oriented. But it's not that hard. It's mostly just more time consuming than a roguelike/video game. A little more than being a GM with others, but not that much.You can also play a party, then split them up and play all their stories, something that is hard to do in a group. Or play the bad guys. Or play as the GM and use the solo tools to decide how the PCs act.You can also mix it up. Play as both GM and PC. It's not that hard to separate player and PC knowledge. If you have trouble, just use the solo tools for those moments when you're not sure what the PC or the GM would do.It's also a good way to test modules. Amateur or not. You know your players, so it might reveal a flaw in the module that you didn't think of.
>>96878812I doubt it's a matter of unfamiliarity. You just think elf games are work that needs some sort of payoff to be worthwhile. To me, elf games are their own reward. But I enjoy them as games, not as creative writing exercises.
>>96878923Interesting. >>96878951>I doubt it's a matter of unfamiliarity.You're free to think whatever you like.>You just think elf games are work that needs some sort of payoff to be worthwhile.Anything worth doing will require some work. That's part of the satisfaction of a job well done. In this case, the payoff is the fun to be had from the SP game.>But I enjoy them as games, not as creative writing exercises.I enjoy the more creative writing aspects of TTGs, so perhaps the SPTTG aren't for me. At least not the conventional offerings anyway. More combat-focused stuff completely misses me. 40k & Warhammer style games with armies smashing into each other are cool, but not my idea of fun.
>>96879086>Anything worth doing will require some workNonsense. There is no "satisfaction of a job well done" here, because there is no job. Just games played for fun.
>>96879191>Nonsense.You didn't take the time to learn the system you're using?You haven't done any research into your hobby?You don't take care to organize your materials and ensure you have as much fun as possible?Did you even bother to read what I wrote? Rhetorical question, get better bait.
>>96879266What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Spending time on something isn't "work". You can't understand why I enjoy playing games because your entire mental framework is completely wrong.
this is my best knight so far (after my maul knight)feel free to grab it and run with it, sword is supposed to be a greatsword but it's not that long
Anyone in this thread can recommend any solo RPGs that would be a good fit for a warlord goblin campaign, I've only played scarlet heroes and runecairn before so I'm looking for something that might have fun domain mechanics and good mass combat alongside the normal dungeon delving stuff, also if anyone would have mechanics for tech advancement if those even exist. I like the idea of playing a game where i start as a slightly more intelligent monster kind and try to wrangle a bunch of creatures into ruling a region.
>>96875777The process of writing a novel requires different skills. I've read about both. In one you need a premise for your story, in solo RPGs you don't do that. You come up with content on the fly and the game goes wherever the dice say. It's pretty different.
>>96882502>>96875777They are certainly separate activities with their own challenges, but they can work hand in hand.Novelization can be done afterwards. Since imagination will become structured and reinforced. I've seen it best done when it is character focused and follows from careful note-taking during play. In this way, the solo games are like a long form brainstorm as much as they are improvisational gaming.Not all of the actions need to be translated, just those which are relevant to or useful for the stories
TQ: I use to go full novel writing for my solo games, it was fun enough but it also took alot of time and energy to do. recently I've adopted a more daydream like method, I only take bullet notes and act out the scenes and dialogue in my mind. am used to doing this thanks to my habit of playing pretend conversations with characters in my head. it's actually my favorite form of daydreaming. Personally I think am starting to prefer this new method better.
>>96875777There are no gaming groups in my town, certainly none that I know of and I can't commit the time to go find one and play regular. To be honest I don't really want to associate with these people anyway. I'd like to play some TTG with miniatures to paint up but it needs to be mostly solo or co-op against the game. I don't mind whether it's a campaign book, app driven or encounter cards.
I wish there was a solo rpg that used tarot cards in the rules.
>>96888883I wish there was a website I can use to search for the things I wantYes, there are games that use or incorporate tarot decks but you'd have to look them up yourself
>>96889231Oh boy there are so many, I wonder what people actually use hmm.
>>96889241Pick one and report back
Any not-too-simple, but not-too-complicated hex-crawl tables/books you would recommend for OSE?
>>96890018this is the one that I know of, for tableshttps://ko-fi.com/s/5851af1b82might be others if you tryhard google
>>96890120Thanks for the suggestion. I ended up looking at the OSE trove and found something in there
>>96890018scarlet heros I find to have tables that run the sweet spot of not too simple like some ultra lites and not to complex like some full scale games.
Speaking of hexcrawls - what depth of mapping do you do for your games? Stopping in the middle of play to draw out a proper map seems like it's gonna kill momentum, but there's not much room for "draw the map out in advance and reveal it as you go" when you have complete knowledge of what you've created.
>>96893806I don't think drawing it out in advance is the right play. Making it up as you go is the right move.
>>96893806>>96893907I guess I'm the opposite. I draw my 19 point Hex grid out in advance according to the game that I'm playing so I can establish a local town / city and several POI to get a adventure starting. Most of the tables that I use is rather vague in descriptions so it allows further plot hooks and adventures.
>>96879948That's cool, how'd you make this?
>>96897026chatGPT drew it from my prompt and then I removed the background in GIMP
Does anyone have a suggestion as to the best system to use to alongside Battletech? I’d like to have a solo rpg to add some more depth to mercenary, house, and clan units between missions, with political intrigue, infiltration/spying, and non-mech combat. Given that the setting has, at least in part, a semi-feudalistic feel, I don’t need a specific sci-fi system. A fantasy or historical one should be easily useable, too.
>>96898928Traveller? I gather it was originally Traveller-based anyway.
>>96898928There's a battletech TTRPG. I think it's called MechWarrior?
>>96898928MechWarrior 2. Don't play 3, it's a mess.
Alternatives to Me, Myself, and Die for examples of solo play?
>>96903281https://www.youtube.com/@veiledspace They are a little produced, but still a lot of fun. Just play with your toys and talk in funny voices, if you get comfortable enough upload it to youtube so we can enjoy your playtime too.>>96893806What I do is I consider drawing the map part of playing and therefore not an interruption to momentum, but I enjoy drawing the maps. Just draw the stuff your character would reasonably know about and leave the details of populating the hexes for when your character gets there.
Does anyone have opinions on the solo mode included with the new Coriolis game?
>>96904174No.
>>96904174I'm glad they're doing this for games now.
Anyone got a method for just generating quests?
>>96903281Bandit's Keep's actual play.
>>96910988look at the tables for captain's log and the various generator tables in the STA splats.instead of generating 'an quest' STA goes about the whole thing totally differently. each 'mission brief' is actually generated as if it was an EPISODE of a ST show.so you have a whole bunch of A,B and even C plot matrices.try thinking about your play that way. instead of 'una questa!'think about it as if you're crafting a story of your characters going off to DO a thing, and other stuff can happen along the way / complicate / interfere with or even change tack or track of the 'quest' totally.use the game rules so you aren't being a munckin etc, and having OP mary sue's or gary stu's win at everything forever, but think less about the 'quest' and more about the story of the characters, how they would act, react, within the scenario.almost like a play or tv show episode etc you are 'watching'
i am explaining it shittily.uh... let's try again...so let's say you roll up a quest, go kill the goblins. simple.but you suck at dialogue and roleplaying 'in character'.but your character is a loner who works solo, and really really hates goblins. so he doesn't charge in headfirst like a retard to die he uses traps, poison, he has light chain and leather armour, a buckler and a short sword, he knows goblin nests will be close in and foul. so he fucking smokes out the nest first by blocking every exit but one and firing the last, taking the 15 goblins one by one when they come at the entrance.and that is how you get goblin slayer.
>>96912133Ok I'll check out the Star Trek game. I'd heard of it before but journaling doesn't suit me. I'll steal the mechanics though.
>>96915384go right ahead, steal the mechanics that work for you. anyone that says anything else is a cunt trying to fuck with you. you do you.
>>96918588Do you happen to know of a free journaling game like it?
>>96919375it is free. yarr harr harr. modiphius are commie leftoids and woke as fuck, sucking off nu-trek absurdly. so do not feel bad about 'aquiring' it upon the high seas
>>96761554Anyone have a go-to character build they like to play as? I tend to default to a ranger/cleric. An outrider for a monastic order. Has 3 basic abilities, 1 mundane, and 2 supernatural:>Studied strike: (mundane) take an action to study an opponent, on the next attack add d4 to hit.>Bless: (magic) bless up to 3 objects, they become magical for the duration, are resistant to negative effects, and deal an extra d4 damage if used as a weapon.>Attune: (magical) attune with 1 other creature or object, both parties can sense things from the others perspective and can add a d4 to mental and evasion saves.Its a very nice spread of combat and utility options that are applicable and interesting across various situations. (attuning to a coin or something is a good way to sneakily observe someone, blessing a soaked cloth is a good stopgap measure against poisoned gas, studying an unaware target can further insure a hit). The magic stuff is also the more subtle kinds of magic that I like.
>>96922793I like to goof around with characters built for pure stealth and see how far I can get creeping around a dangerous area before inevitably getting caught
>>96920166Oh well I guess I could. I meant alternatives though.
>>96922793I usually go for the melee focused clerics/priests in group games too.
>>96922793Wizard, because the potential to do anything is greatest due to magic.
I never tried the iron sworn delve game. And there's a ship sailing one too? What are they like.
>>96931434Every ironsworn game is basically a revision and expansion of the previous one. Really the only reason to play an older game is either love of the setting or if you're really tied to fights having individual enemies.Sundered Isles is an expansion of Starforged which was basically Ironsworn 1.5 in space and it adds a bunch of stuff I like. Feels like it's the best game for playing believable worlds with factions and stuff.
Mythic GME is so great. I prefer the mythic deck version.
>>96923989>>96926788>>96927411>stealth>fighter/cleric>magicruns the gambit it seems.
>>96941903We have enough for a full party. Ironic isn't it.
>>96922793Anything pre-medieval is shield and spear fighterFor classic fantasy I tend to go for clerics, the medium-armour mace'n'shield type.Anything later is fencer with rapier
Hello guys, I have two young kids who are currently too young to play RPGs, but I would like to play with them in a few years when they are older. I have never actually roleplayed but I've always wanted to. I would like to play a few solo games now so I can get experience so I can be a great DM for them when they're ready to play. Trouble is, I don't know HOW to solo RPG because I've never played ANY RPG and don't know what it's supposed to look like. Is there a How-To guide for dummies or some toolkit somewhere that I can use to learn??
>>96946907https://www.chaosium.com/rq-soloquest-the-battle-of-dangerford/
>>96946907You tell them a story and put them in it, incorporating their desires and giving regular opportunities for "what would you do". It's kinda like just regular kids' play, but you take on more of the role of the world.
>>96946907https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/101145/fundamentals-of-tabletop-roleplayingThis one is free.
>>96946907Roleplaying is easy to do. You just talk in-character and maybe do a funny voice as you pretend to be another person. It's really easy to grasp how it works. The hard part will be learning how the game rules of whatever game you choose to play works (Shadowrun, World of Darkness, D&D, etc).The players will want to have an idea of a goal. You can talk in-character all day, but accomplishing a goal and getting rewards is the "real" reason you play. Being successful in the face of challenges, that's a big motivator to learn how the RPG rules work so you can make an effective character.So on the one hand it's about playing a character and having fun with the pretending, then on the other hand it's about system competence, and finally it's about accomplishing your in-game goals.I want to try throwing you into the deep end. Watch this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9ag6U3a8eMHe's playing with a bunch of different game systems in unison to generate his game. He is using tools to ask questions and then rolls dice to determine the answers, which gives him material to play. See if this video makes any sense to you ( it's commonly recommended watching for new players) and then return here with any of your questions.
>>96946907It's anywhere from "playing a board game but imagining and describing events beyond the mechanics and provided descriptive text" to "telling a story with some structured prompts and defined conflict resolution mechanic". I suspect the sort of person that asks how to play solo RPGs is better off starting near the former.Pick a solo board game and learn to play it. Barbarian Prince is old and free, so a decent place to start if you lack other ideas. Once you're used to the mechanics use your imagination to supplement the text. Random prompt tables can help a lot here. Then take some of the things you've imagined and let them affect game mechanics in natural ways. Once you do that you're basically running a solo RPG, and can take out the board game mechanics for more general RPG ones.
As you can see we have no one true way to play a solo RPG.
>>96952777>Barbarian Prince is oldI wonder what the oldest solo rpg is
>>96946907have you ever tried playing one of those "choose your own adventure books"? They make them with dice rolling involved so it plays like an rpg.
>>96960420Probably Buffalo Castle for Tunnels & Trolls from 1977.
>>96761554Question.Are there any plugins or something for ChatGPT plus that improve the solo DnD experience? Maybe an inventory or character card plugin?
>>96946008>Anything later is fencer with rapierincluding sci fi space shenanigans?
>>96964412ask in ai forum idiot
>>96964412start with character card, then each session record changes via the GPTInventory / character card tracking:If you want dynamic tracking across sessions, you might link a Google Sheet or other spreadsheet and have the GPT output updates in a format that you copy/paste into the sheet.Solo-play scenario generation + NPC/encounter management:Use ChatGPT as your “GM” + NPC generator + encounter manager. Since you’re solo, you can ask the GPT: “Generate an encounter for my level X character in my campaign world, using the house rules above, including loot and inventory outcome.Optional: find or adapt an existing GPT for inventory/charactersTest and iterate: since you like refinement, after a few sessions you’ll probably discover tweaks you want (e.g., better item categories, quicker commands, custom card layout) — iterate the GPT accordinglyIf you like, I can look up and pull together a curated list of 5-10 ready-to-use GPTs/plugins specifically for solo RPG play (inventory/character cards/NPCs) and draft a prompt template that you can import into ChatGPT Plus and customise to your GURPS rules. Would you like me to do that?...so yes
>>96966079robot hands typed this
>>96968464typing was never involved except that the actual answer was more than the maximum character count for a post on here and half of it wouldn't have been useful because it was programmer oriented and I made the call that the person who asked wasn't one; even though chatGPT can literally turn you into a scripter in a few hours if you want to be
>>96960420Gygax solo rules are from 1975.
>>96964692I've mostly stuck to three things, Greek/Roman fanatsy, classic fantasy and (occult/fantasy) 1700s. I did try to start a Cities without Number, the character was much more of a Mirrors Edge runner, but spent way too long on making the city with it's district and characters. so never got started. I did try to get into Starforged when I was starting out, but my brain don't work with that kind of narrative/play
do they have real battles in the quests of /qst/? I don't know if you frequent that board. I couldn't find any nor did I look very long. My system is centered around battles and i was considering writing a quest there but not sure if my crunchy battles make sense for their format
>>96972633what is qst
>>96975443qst is where the quest threads that used to get posted on tg went a while back
>>96975443one DM DMs for a party and it's like play by post kind of
>>96972633You can try, what's the worst that could happen?
>>96976640>You can try, what's the worst that could happen?wasting time
>>96977226Time spent or wasted, it's trying that matters.
>>96970802Oh yeah I remember this, it's the advice to exchange dungeons by mail with other players. I'm glad that took off.
What is the next most popular gm emulator after Mythic?
>>96976640the quest is fully framed and 50% written I'd say, gonna accept only 4 players cause otherwise it'll be too hard to runwill use the GURPS rulesetexciting
Any recommendations for a good light solo RPG to play on Obsidian on my phone? I’m often out commuting or waiting for appointment times, I’d like something relatively simple to play.I’m looking at DURF, Troika!, Mausritter (Einzelmaus or Frog Errant)But I also hear Shadowdark is good for solo play, although I’m not certain of the simplicity. I don’t want to have to fiddle around with TOO many moving parts and numbers and maps and stuff as I’ll be playing using Obsidian on mobile.I know there’s tons of games out there that I don’t know about, so wondering if anyone has experience with the same thing and knows the best picks.
>>96984281Your own :)Pick pieces you like from around, from various solo tools
>>96985481Never reply to me again.
>>96761554>At what point does solo turn into novel-writing? Is that something you enjoy, don't? What can you do to prevent/promote it?What I like about SoloRPGs is the feeling of emergent complexity, where random details click into place and the story writes itself. Every time I tried writing an actual novel there was a lot more intentionality on my part setting up character development and story arcs. But I know that I am a better editor than I am an author.
>>96984281Probably crge of mune. Or the entirety of Ironsworn, but that probably doesn't count as just an emulator.Hijacking the question: what "story generators" are the most popular after the adventure crafter? Stuff with more narrative structure and trope/story beat focus then a normal emulator.
>>96989243I want to say off the top of my head "The 9 Q's".
Anyone have any experience with Lichdom? I missed it in the last sale and have regrets.
>>96884592This is what I do as well. Used to write a ton. Then I realized I am not actually going to go back and read all this stuff, It's really only relevant for 2, maybe three session after I wrote it down. Better to take bullet notes, and have a separate sheet for actual important lore and story details that you can flesh out like a wiki
>>96985427Notequest Expanded World is cheap and as simple as it gets while still being a game.
>>96937340Speaking of Mythic, does anyone recommend the app? Or is it only good for those who don't want to personally keep track of all the thread list, progress checks and such? Because I don't mind it. Also I haven't been on 4chan in a while, why is captcha getting so gay?
>>96995755I didn't even know it was a thing until now. $13 for the pc version or $3 phone app. I'll look more into it and then post again. The captcha's not that bad is it? I have a pass so I wouldn't know.
>>96995755>why is captcha getting so gay?They are using the 'create a problem, sell a solution' approach to fund the server costs?Because nobody "normal" clicks on 4chan ads...
Sharing some alien markings from my ongoing Starforged campaign. I was going to write up to describe them but decided fuck it, doing some quick art is cooler.
>>96999858
>>96999890
>>96999902
>>96999935
>>96999939I see a TIE fighter symbol.
>>96999959Funnily enough close but I used the Star Forge as a ref for a Megastructure, so, right setting at least
>>97000048So how do you use those symbols for your game?
>>97002709Basically they're part of the write up. Originally I planned to describe what the character saw but that would have been a long exposition scene with no tension.So I knocked those together and now the scene is focused on him trying to figure out what they mean.In setting they're effectively a plot summary of everything he could possibly need to know/that the Precursors would want people to know about what's going on in this particular area.Doesn't mean he'll interpret the whole thing entirely accurately though.
So what is the point of SOLO RPGs? Like the whole point of TTRPGs is getting together with people and essentially telling a shared story. Why play a solo ttrpg when you could just write a book or play those old Fighting Fantasy game books. To me it'd be like playing yugioh or something by yourself.
>>97004746They're games. Are you so baffled by the idea of single player video games as well? They're played for fun. If the only enjoyment you get from RPGs is socialising then you don't like them at all, you just like socialising.
>>97004784It's more so that the core of TTRPGs is interaction and ROLE PLAYING. You're bouncing interactions off of other people (either the DM or other players) which is non existent in solo. It takes out the RPG from the TTRPG and makes it more of a, well in my mind i'm just picturing it as closer to a jrpg with maybe some aspect of journaling. To me it just sounds like a writing prompt with some mechanic to combat. Like playing monopoly or clue or snakes and ladders solo.
>>97004922>the core of TTRPGs is interaction and ROLE PLAYINGI don't agree. The core of RPGs is having the fictional world take precedence over the stated rules: I don't need a specific rule stating that bales of hay can burn to know they can be set on fire. That's why RPGs use referees while most board games don't. (It's also why I don't consider CRPGs to be RPGs.)Nor do I think role playing is anything to do with interacting with other people. It's about making decisions for a character, as opposed to just making them as a player.Monopoly doesn't work solo because the game ends when one player is left. You can run multiple "players" yourself easily enough though, and I'm sure it wouldn't be any worse than regular Monopoly. Snakes and Ladders is a solo game no matter how many people are playing as nothing you do affects anyone else. Clue has issues solo because of secret information.
>>97004746>the whole point of TTRPGs is getting together with people and essentially telling a shared storyNo it's not. That's just the value (You) assign to it.
>>97005060Then how is it still a game and not just a writing prompt?
>>97004746The point to keep selling RPG books.
>>97005178By there being a game? I don't understand why you think that disappears just because other people aren't in the room with you.
>>97005318Where you decided if your characters actions were successful or not and you decided if the enemies actions were successful or not. If it is all just you deciding how the outcomes play out, its not a game and just writing with extra steps. Thats not role playing, that just writing a first person perspective story with extra steps
>>97005656>Where you decided if your characters actions were successful or notNo. Have you never played an RPG before? Your perspective is baffling.
>>97005713I have, and I have seen much fudging of rolls on both the oart of players and DMs, often with the argument that it makes the story better. If you are both player and DM, you decided whether any action is successful or not and no one can call you out on fudging a number. If your character got a bad roll and would otherwise die in a solo rpg. Would you fudge the numbers so they survive or come up with some reason they don't die? If the answer is yes, you are just writing with extra steps
>>97005795Part of the reason I quit adventurers league is because they wouldn't allow characters to die past the first couple sessions
>>97005795>people cheat therefore games don't existYou can just not cheat.Besides, have you never played a video game with cheats? Does that turn them into a writing exercise?
>>97004746>Like the whole point of TTRPGs is getting together with people and essentially telling a shared story.All fucking theatre kid faggot retards like you should be whipped from the hobby.Fucking retards like you are why people play solo.
>>97007021Lol, someone got sand in their vagina
>>97005795The forever playoid:Doesn't learn the rules and just asks the GM.Refuses to play any system that's not their preferred DnD.Demands the GM fudge rolls to make the game more fun for them.Fudges THEIR rolls to "make the story better."At some point the GM realizes playoids like this aren't even useful for telling a shared story. Maybe playoids should do some self-reflection and think about why people would rather play solo than with them, and why paid GMs exist.
>>97007021What is the point then, retard?
Anyone ever try converting a PBTA game like Neon City Overdrive to solo/ironsworn.Not too fussed about the cyberpunk setting but I want to play something set in a city rather than the frontier.
>>97004922>ROLE PLAYING>you're bouncing interactions off of other people Nothing about the concept of RP necessitates input from multiple people.Hell if you actually play with other people you should be familiar with RP where it's basically just one player or just the DM who's doing any of that.
How do you guys start your solo campaigns? Do you start with a specific quest, or do you just drop your character into the world and let life take its course?
>>97008121To play a game by the rules without one or more retard(s) at the table playing liar's dice whenever a roll would make them diverge from their pre-written "story"
>>97008658Games are a series of encounters. Start with one and play it out. That'll lead you to another one and another one until you get bored.
>>97007813playoids aren't sentient people. just NPC robot animals chasing their next momentary adhd satisfying dopamine hit before moving onto 'next cool thing' once they destroy 'previous cool thing'.they're like locusts. or ZOMBIES.
Anyone tried soloing with Mythras/Basic/RuneQuest? No experience with the system, but there are a lot of things that seems fun with it, even if it seems a bit too crounchy for solo
>>96904174Bought the game on release but have not played it yet. Though from what I read they seemed pretty neat. IIRC the lore is a bit different for solo characters, but I can't remember the details. That's really all I can say about that.
>>96946907The Call of Cthulhu starter set comes with a "solo tutorial" which is a "choose your own adventure" kind of thing: you read about what happens, role dice based on what happens in the story "Turn to page X if you succeeded, page Y if you failed". It's good for getting a feel for it.Then there's the Dragonbane Core Set: It comes with the full rule book, dice, etc, everything you need really but also a solo mode: I found it AMAZING for starting out with solo playing. It starts out hand-holdy enough but it also forces you to think on your own at times. As someone who also had never played RPGs it was a great place to start.Also watching youtube videos of people solo playing. I recommend Man Alone on youtube. Personally I don't like him and I find him annoying, but his videos are great for giving you an idea of how solo RPGs are "supposed" to "flow". At least for when you're starting out.
>>97008658Sometimes I just drop them and play it like a survival game/"making a living as an adventurer game". Sometimes I have a campaign book and play that, whilst trying to play based on my PC/s/ not knowing spoilers. Sometimes I, at the start of the campaign, decide a goal for them. For example: in Twilight20004E my PCs were an adult and a teen, with the adult as the "protagonist", with the goal of getting the teen back to her family (if they were still alive)
Any recommendations on a system/game for a Zelda campaign? I been considering Dangerous to go Alone, but don't know how well would it handle in solo play.
>>97014273Heroes of Cerulea, it has an official solo supplement.
>>97014273This (upcoming) one is very inspired by (new) Zeldas, and that's pretty much everything I know about it:https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/two-little-mice/twilight-sword/launch_party?mc_cid=3415b91c89
>>97011803I like him, but he's a rambling retard most of the time, literally the worst person to send new solo players too.
>>97011803Been trying to listen to ManAlone a few times, he seems like a decent enough dude. But I have closed his videos so often when he rambles about something completely inane and not relevant the first 15 minutes of the videos, don't help that most of them are over an hour longI don't really like Trevor Duval, but, for me at least, his first season was a good showcase of a way to play solo. And probably shaped how I play it. I also like A Bad Spot, I like his style, but don't care for Ironforged
>>97014642I saw a shillthread here the other day and seems like another indie darling that lives and dies by aesthetics alone, which I couldn't care less about.
>>97011077Yeah (mythras), it's great fun but tactical combat can take a while (like an hour an encounter) at first and you have to house rule a few things like when to level up. I think I worked out some XP system in the end.This https://mythras.skoll.xyz/ is a godsend, saves having to stat anything up until you learn what a typical encounter should be.Biggest downside as someone who loves character progression is that there's not that many lists of prices and stuff in the books so if you care about things like better weapons you need to add your own economy stuff or bring it in from elsewhere.What makes me prefer mythras out of those is the combat system and the magic. If you want simpler combat the other d100 systems might be a better choice.
>>97009354This. I used to love the idea of rpgs but always hated playing with my friends. Then I realized it's because they only care about storyfagging and doing funny voices and following some preset "story" (which is always shit or incomplete anyway)
>>96766307>one of those ... stories where a protagonist can't walk between towns without it being an ordeal.sounds like botns
How do you take notes anon?I use mythic for my note taking, but I spend more time writing than playing. I have considered taking no notes but I fear I would simply forget what's going on.Maybe I need to bullet point more, I'm not sure what to do, I really like playing solo but writing puts me off returning to games because my sessions go about 1/4 speed as what I'd be doing non-solo.
>>97021003Well for starters, you have to keep track of time spent on tasks. You only have so many hours in the day. That means accounting your time in the notes. This is just a suggestion though.
>>97023189>How do you cut down on admin?>Do more admin
>You think you have enough beuracracy? You don't. You can always have more beuracracy. More forms, more e-mails, more things that have to be signed off on by at least two people from different departments that are always in meetings.
>>96910988the aliens d6 rpg had a nice series of tables for generating jobs. wouldn't be much work to interpret them into other settings
>>97023982The free league version?
>>97011077If you would like something less crunchy in d100 space, there is OpenQuest that I find rather solo friendly.There is also The Comae Engine, really rules light universal game system somewhat based on Mythras but streamlined to bare essentials. I like it how The Comae Engine changes attributes as Conflict Pools that basically act as multiple health pools for various kinds of challenges. It is great abstraction, but does require being fine with abstract systems.
>>97016687I keep going from system to system, not managing to settle on one. I really liked that shields looks a lot more like shields, and not just give +1, I like the skill system, but I'm not sure if the combat is too crunchy for me. Even if I think it feels more dangerous to go into combat, which is a good thing. I really don't get that feeling in d20 stuff. Some of the magic seems also great for solo, like Mysticism seems fun for a melee characters. I'll read more on Basic Roleplaying>>97025332Thanks, I'll check out Comae and OpenQuest. I don't mind heavy character building, but I am a but sceptical how much I should put into enemies/temporary companions etc
