Is there a comprehensive list of solo RPG and resources available somewhere? Did anyone develop a classification of the different types?

There's so much from fiction writing that can be used within solo RP. Writing my last comment I was reminded of Themes.

There's so much from fiction writing that can be used within solo RP. Writing my last comment I was reminded of Themes.

At their core themes are short sentances that describe what the story is about. There are many different ways to write themes. 3 simple examples are:
X leads to Y
X vs. Y


These themes help frame conflicts, story ideas, and even the characters.

Love vs. Honour needs different characters than Duty vs. Honour.

Love vs. Honour needs a person who loves and is deeply touched by honour (a Samurai falling for a peasant girl).

Duty vs. Honour is where a man has to choose what is more important to him and follow through. A Samurai who has a duty to his Lord but his honour forces him to protect someone weaker against his Lord's wishes.

Keeping this theme to mind during the character's adventures can lead to a more uniformed story which could help make things easier when you come across strange oracle results. A forest and cave Rory's story cube results in the Love vs. Honour could mean a cave in a forest where the two main characters meet. Or it could be the Samurai having to dig deep into the untamed regions of his mind to discover who he is deep inside.

Lately I've been experimenting with pictures (specifically, old illustrations and engravings) as a random idea generator. I've written up three posts on the subject, the first being a general overview, the other two an example of generating a campaign setting, and (Runequest 6) character creation using random pictures. The first post is linked in this post, the other two follow it directly.

Lately I've been experimenting with pictures (specifically, old illustrations and engravings) as a random idea generator. I've written up three posts on the subject, the first being a general overview, the other two an example of generating a campaign setting, and (Runequest 6) character creation using random pictures. The first post is linked in this post, the other two follow it directly.

I've played through the first 13 scenes of a RQ adventure with Mythic and using the picturesfor randomideas, and it's going well so far. I'll get them typed up and posted soon.

But for now, I hope this sparks some ideas for people.

I thought about this based on Geoff Osterberg 's last post sharing the blog post. A lot of discussion has been had on trying to emulate that feeling of having a GM with loads going on behind the GM screen. I know that Alex Yari and Kenneth Norris are big on looking at the theory of solo playing a GM, etc.

I thought about this based on Geoff Osterberg 's last post sharing the blog post. A lot of discussion has been had on trying to emulate that feeling of having a GM with loads going on behind the GM screen. I know that Alex Yari and Kenneth Norris are big on looking at the theory of solo playing a GM, etc.

Anyway, this Musing stems from the fact that I am next up as GM for my group. I am going to try something new, which is use Atomic Robo RPG's Brainstorms to push the adventures. Brainstorms are where the GM provides "unexplainable phenomenon" and the players use their Aspects to create facts and ultimately a hypothesis about it. We have a science guy, and occult guy, a crime guy, an espionage guy, etc. so I am hoping that Brainstorms push in wildly creative ways.

What this means ultimately is that I don't have much behind the curtain. Certainly I will be the ultimate decider of "what is real", but the players are going to have a huge amount of world control. 

This got me thinking further about how a GM preps a campaign. A bad GM will do it in a vacuum. A good GM considers the strengths and flaws of the PC's. The best GM asks what kind of stories the players like to play. Again, the GM is not this Chinese Wall of the world. He has to become contaminated with the player's investments. 

I think this idea of "GM control", especially one we try and "emulate" in solo RP is a farce. It's just as contaminated in a conventional gaming group as it is in solo RP. 

I would say though that solo RP has the benefit of pushing creatively towards stories that may never be told at the table because each solo RP'er knows that any story vector is open, whereas a conventional group needs to maintain interest. A story of love or heartbreak will never, ever happen with my conventional group, and that's a pretty classic story.

I think many here would agree that the most difficult part of solo gaming is emulating something that feels like a more traditional play situation. How do we avoid knowing that the NPCs are going to do in advance? How do we generate a world that we can still be surpirsed by? How do we avoid revealing the man behind the curtain, when we are the man behind the curtain?

I think many here would agree that the most difficult part of solo gaming is emulating something that feels like a more traditional play situation.  How do we avoid knowing that the NPCs are going to do in advance? How do we generate a world that we can still be surpirsed by? How do we avoid revealing the man behind the curtain, when we are the man behind the curtain?

This blog post over at The Gentle Art of Gaming isn't necessarily the full answer. For one it's aimed at solo wargamers (which I do also when an opponent isn't available) but I think it is a better way to tackle solo roleplaying. The gist of the post is this: Regardless of what ruleset or theme we use, ultimately we're playing a game of pretend. 

Looking at it that way, we may be able to get around the emulation problem. Perhaps knowing it all in advance won't break the game, and their is enough inherent randomization in the dice rolls to surprise us and force us to adapt and discover new options. 
http://shiftymushrooms.weebly.com/getting-the-most-out-of-solo-wargaming.html

Does anyone know mechanics to model and simulate NPC emotions and actions?

Solo Game Draft

Solo Game Draft

I've been brainstorming a solo game based on some ideas I got from the thought experiment I carried out recently. The game tries to fictionalize inside the premise the act of content creation via the Tarot as an idea generator or randomizer, so you take on the role of a purported psychic reading a remote situation via the Tarot.

The link to the document is here. Be warned that the document is an HTML file so in order to get the correct formatting you need to download it. Otherwise you'll see all the ugly HTML markup.
  https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B_7MzENQrZSxQ2thSk0tbzgtMEk

You can get some background on my initial thoughts about the  game itself at this story-games link: 

http://story-games.com/forums/discussion/19683/first-attempt-at-solo-game-design-brainstorming-ideas-/p1. 

Thanks!

#solorpg   #lonelyfun   #solitairerpg   #solorpgdesign  
https://drive.google.com/#folders/0B_7MzENQrZSxQ2thSk0tbzgtMEk