After Alex Yari asked about solo gaming during his commute I've been kicking the idea around in my head. I don't have a long commute, and the commute I do have occurs behind the wheel, but I would like to get to the point where my solo gaming can be done comfortably on the couch rather than at my desk with my various tools laid out.
The thought I've seized upon is adapting LARP rules. It is a bit foreign to me, having never participated directly, but I've read a fair bit about the hobby. LARPing by necessity requires the players to sort a lot of things out for themselves due to the fact that they are creating the story to a degree that may exceed typical tabletop game. Additionally the game runner(s) may not always be on hand when the action takes place.
I haven't had a chance to try it out, but it might work if I used something like this larp system I found called "You Are Your Own GM" in combination with Mythic GM Fate Chart (as the Objective Third Party thar YAYOGM calls for on occasion.) I may use it to expand on my mini game I've mentioned before, "It Began Here".
Because LARPs are played on the move in physical space, they typically involve conflict resolution mechanics that are intentionally quick, handy, and designed to be mobile. I'm still kicking the whole concept around, but I thought I'd throw it out the the community to see if anyone else has any ideas for how to evolve this from an idea and into something useable for us all.
http://www.interactivitiesink.com/larps/broadway/doclib/Players/YaYoG%20Summary.pdf
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
After Alex Yari asked about solo gaming during his commute I've been kicking the idea around in my head. I don't have a long commute, and the commute I do have occurs behind the wheel, but I would like to get to the point where my solo gaming can be done comfortably on the couch rather than at my desk with my various tools laid out.
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I've had a similar thought, but more inspired by those micro-games like Ghost/Echo and Lady Blackbird — the idea that there are big questions that need answering. These questions the GM typically poses to the players.
ReplyDeleteWhat is to stop us from doing this ourselves? In other words, not answer things by consulting oracles, but supplying answers (could be in the of a twist, complication, or reason something exists) when its prompt is asserted by the fiction.
For example, my character just infiltrated the secret enemy facility and stands to discover its purpose. In a story game, the GM might even ask the players, "what do you find here?" Naturally, I answer a military droid factory and then move the game along.
I think this works fine, so long as answers are interesting and present complications. It also speeds things up. Some people might have a problem with this approach.
roryb bracebuckle
ReplyDeleteI'd love for you to expand on prompts asserted by the fiction.
Got a busy day. I'll think on it and post hopefully tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI'll take a crack at it until roryb bracebuckle is able. Mind, this may not be what he had in mind but it's what it made me think of. Also, this does come from non-solo play as well as solo gaming , so it's mileage may vary. My primary hobby, on the days I'm being honest, is world building. Before I ever start running a campaign or playing a solo session I like to build up the foundation of the world I'm playing in. Sometimes it's pretty simple (what time of day is it? Who are the people in the room with me? Why are we all here?) other times it can get fairly elaborate (history covering hundreds of years for the primary cultures, important NPC back stories and motivations past and present, pantheons, etc.) The reason for all of that is so that I can build that internal logical cohesion I think I've mentioned before. I want whatever happens next to make sense for what has come before.
ReplyDeleteOnce the structure is built, each session I play alone or run for my group builds on the fiction. But these additions don't happen in a vacuum. If my hero wanders into an inn in the home city of the Big Bad guy, who is a showy and boastful sort, I don't need to roll on any Oracle to know that he's likely the one on everyone's minds. So when I start poking around for local gossip, the fiction prompts that Big Bad is going to come up. Adding in things like "who's in the room" will prompt what kind of gossip I'm going to get. If it's a local harbor master then I'm likely to here about the mercenaries he's been recruiting from overseas. If it's a blacksmith I might hear about the types of weapons he's commissioned.
In these situations the Oracle might give me an idea of the situation in the moment. But I don't need many rolls to come up a lot of story and plot hooks.
Also a book called "Never Unprepared", written to help GM prepare for sessions also has a section on improvising that might be of use here.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.enginepublishing.com/never-unprepared-the-complete-game-masters-guide-to-session-prep