So, I wrote up the rules for running a solo game using GME and Once Upon A Time and I figured I'd share it here. I put it through a few more playtests, though I haven't updated the ruleset to reflect that.

So, I wrote up the rules for running a solo game using GME and Once Upon A Time and I figured I'd share it here. I put it through a few more playtests, though I haven't updated the ruleset to reflect that.
http://boardgamegeek.com/article/16115673#16115673

I am looking for beta testers and commentators for my next release BOLD - book of legends and deeds. It's a generator that creates "waylays" which are essentially discrete story elements, usually a conflict. I've been using it in solo play to create an adventure using three waylays arced under a common theme, and it's worked quite well so far.

I am looking for beta testers and commentators for my next release BOLD - book of legends and deeds. It's a generator that creates "waylays" which are essentially discrete story elements, usually a conflict. I've been using it in solo play to create an adventure using three waylays arced under a common theme, and it's worked quite well so far.

Anyway I want to keep the document private for now. So if you are interested email me at zach dot best shift-2 gmail dot com. I'd really appreciate the feedback.

This is a post that I put on RPG.net and Thunderegg's Facebook page. You guys have all been supportive, so I'm posting it here, too.

This is a post that I put on RPG.net and Thunderegg's Facebook page. You guys have all been supportive, so I'm posting it here, too.

So I'm hard at work writing Species and Societies. It's going to follow the same general format as Character Webs. There is a section for rolling up new species, which can be sentient or animal. There is a section for detailing cultures and their governments. There is a section for creating the local political context by defining the relationships between two or more cultures. I will include a section showing it in play, of course.

I'm opening the forum to you, reader. What would you like to see in this book? I'm considering adding a section of OGL text, showing how the species rolled can be made into PC races (it's already sort of easy to do that). Is this something that you want to see? If so, which game systems would you like included in that section? Note that even with the inclusion of game rules, this book is still going to be universally useful, no matter which system you run. Is there anything else that you want? I'm easy; I like feedback and I like satisfying customers.

Also, is there anything that you can think of that would facilitate your solo adventures?

Solo RPG and "Just Writing": A thought experiment

Solo RPG and "Just Writing": A thought experiment

I wonder if some of you would indulge me and carry out this thought experiment for me:

Imagine you have an RPG group, and that you play regularly. You actually gather physically in one place to game on an actual table. It can be any RPG you like.

Here's the twist: there are a couple of restrictions on how you can communicate.

1. You have all agreed that you will only roleplay and communicate by writing stuff down in one notebook (or electronic device) you all share at the table.

2. You can only write things in character or in an authorial voice.

3. The only OOC communication allowed are written questions to the GM. Only questions about the world and NPCs that can be answered with a 'yes' or a 'no'.

4. The GM is an actual human but wish only contribution will be to answer yes or no questions. This is the only way in which you get to know what happens in the GM controlled world. (Basically, if an idea embedded in your question matches what the GM has in mind or appeals to her, you get a 'yes' and that means the idea is true in the fictional world)


Does this still feel like role playing? Has it crossed into the realm of a collaborative writing exercise? Is that in itself not roleplaying?

Tell me what you think.

I set up a new RPGGeek Guild based on solo roleplaying.

I set up a new RPGGeek Guild based on solo roleplaying.
http://rpggeek.com/guild/1999

In the last couple of days I've been thinking of Drivers.

In the last couple of days I've been thinking of Drivers.

I'm thinking that maybe my focus on creating a monomyth driver is a bad choice on my behalf. What I'm looking at is a 4-act driver.

In simple terms the 4 act is broken down thusly:
Introduction
Reacting
Acting
Closure

I would say more but at the moment I've got a busy week upcoming and have many emails to reply to.

I've only started using the term #lonelyfun recently. For a while, I resisted it because it sounded kinda sad, and not very empowering. It seems to have caught on some, though, so I guess it's part of my vocabulary now.

I've only started using the term #lonelyfun recently. For a while, I resisted it because it sounded kinda sad, and not very empowering. It seems to have caught on some, though, so I guess it's part of my vocabulary now.

Still, every time I see or use lonely fun as a term this Akon song starts playing in my mind: Akon - Lonely :)

Apocalypse World style moves for solo engine

Apocalypse World style moves for solo engine

I'd been thinking about this and someone else has actually tried it independently:

http://www.story-games.com/forums/discussion/19594/an-idea-for-a-solo-tool-/p1

I recently discovered the concept of the "Heroes Journey", which I figure would make a great framework for a solo game. I introduce the concept on my blog: http://www.risingphoenixgames.com/blog/the-heroes-journey/

I recently discovered the concept of the "Heroes Journey", which I figure would make a great framework for a solo game. I introduce the concept on my blog: http://www.risingphoenixgames.com/blog/the-heroes-journey/
#hero   #story   #myth  
http://www.risingphoenixgames.com/blog/the-heroes-journey

I know a few people here play Pathfinder. I'm running a Pathfinder Society game next Friday. More info here:

I know a few people here play Pathfinder. I'm running a Pathfinder Society game next Friday. More info here:
http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0ataw
http://paizo.com/events/v5748mkg0ataw

Hi peeps I'm wondering if I can impose upon you some more!

Hi peeps I'm wondering if I can impose upon you some more!

I'm doing a little (2 question) survey and wonder would like to know if you could have 15 minutes of my time for me to help you with anything you want, what would you ask me?

Q2 is would you be willing to have a Skype convo as a follow up?

Ideally I'll prefer if you could post your questions in RPGGeek or RPG.net if not add them to the this discussion. I'll be willing to answer these questions for you, if you desire me to.

http://rpggeek.com/thread/1203920/survey-solo-roleplaying
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?731451-Survey-Solo-Roleplaying

Thanks guys! :-)
#lonelyfun
#solorpg  
http://rpggeek.com/thread/1203920/survey-solo-roleplaying

How Mythic GME got it Wrong

How Mythic GME got it Wrong

What follows is a draft of a (short) essay that will be posted to my blog sometime in the future.

My mind has been thinking about solo roleplaying terms recently. You might've seen it when I've started talking about avatars, heroes, and other related character terms. This post is not about that. This post is about: Solo Engines.

Mythic Games Master Emulator was my first brush with a solo engine. Though I didn't know it at the time. Forward a few years and I get into the whole solo roleplaying scene. Someone on the Lone Wolf group used the term solo engine. I do not know if they came up with the term or borrowed it from elsewhere but it seems to have stuck.

If Mythic called it a Games Master Emulator or GME why do I not call it by that name? Why do I prefer the term, and call it, a solo engine instead?

It's simple. There is no GM in a solo game. There is only the single player. In a social game the GM provides the framework of the game and helps drive the game (or story) forward. Linked to this the term GM Emulator makes people feel like you need a GM or have to wear 2 hats while solo roleplaying.

Solo Engine is a better choice because it gets away from using some of the terminology of social roleplaying. That terminology both helps and hinders in solo roleplaying. It helps because it makes solo roleplaying feel safer and is easier to pick up. It hinders because it makes solo roleplaying seem like a clone of social roleplaying. It is true that they share many of the same elements but there is a difference that needs to shown.

That's why I think the term Solo Engine is a better choice.

It gets us solo roleplayers away from talking about GM and Player. It makes us stop thinking that the GME will to do all of the 'work'.

We still have to do some of the work of the GM during the game. Some of the work of the GM can be outsourced to the Solo Engine. There is still some of the GM's work us solo roleplayers have to do.

Analogies are always good: a solo engine is like the engine in a car. Like a car engine the solo engine drives the action but needs inputs from an external force to make it go, stop, and change direction. The engine by itself is useless it needs a framework (chassis of the car) and a means of moving the framework (the drive system).

A solo engine helps you drive the adventure along with the rules. It helps drive the action but it still needs inputs and a whole lot more before its ready

I was reading this thread at RPG.net (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?730734-Blind-Man-s-Elder-Scrolls-or-Solo-Tabletop-sandboxes) interestingly enough about a blind RPG player who wanted to explore a world, in the manner of say, playing Elder Scrolls through solo roleplaying. I suggested context as a main component, and roryb bracebuckle echoed it. It got me to thinking.

I was reading this thread at RPG.net (http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?730734-Blind-Man-s-Elder-Scrolls-or-Solo-Tabletop-sandboxes) interestingly enough about a blind RPG player who wanted to explore a world, in the manner of say, playing Elder Scrolls through solo roleplaying. I suggested context as a main component, and roryb bracebuckle echoed it. It got me to thinking.

All of my solo roleplaying have been within some predefined world or genre. So I've always felt I've had context, but now in thinking I want to say there are two sides of the context coin. There is macro-context that permeates the world and will generally be true of all players in that world, but there is also micro-context.

Often times I create micro-context on the fly. The Oracle suggests an NPC enters the scene, so early on I might have to create an NPC on the fly. Locations, enemies, etc. are often times all created or at least taken from a template at a moment's notice. They weren't there before.

My next big experiment is to use Chuubo's to go through the Hero's Journey, or as much as I can, based on The Writer's Journey book. Chuubo's has macrocontext with locations, some NPC's (that could also be PC's), and some enemies. I think before I start I am going to at the very least flesh out the Archetypes to create more microcontext before I even begin.

Going back to that thread at RPG.net, the OP talks about world building, and I wonder how much world-building - creation of microcontext - could improve the solo RPG, or at least create a variation in flavor. Has anybody created a lot of microcontext before playing and then entered that world?
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?730734-Blind-Man-s-Elder-Scrolls-or-Solo-Tabletop-sandboxes

So I'd like to share some Actual Plays for a solo Stars Without Number game I'm doing, but I was wondering which format folks preferred for presentation:  A more 'mechanical' take, with rolls results, etc,  or a more narrative approach, the play session written up as a short piece of fiction?