My general interest is in structure and story in solo play. How to get enough of a coherent plot to keep my interest (at least through an arc) without making it a straightjacket or losing the mystery/excitement of not knowing what will happen next.

My general interest is in structure and story in solo play. How to get enough of a coherent plot to keep my interest (at least through an arc) without making it a straightjacket or losing the mystery/excitement of not knowing what will happen next.

It's been a pretty interesting journey so far. I've experimented with a loose "scene" and time-based structure, and then with a more "board game" feel with Acts and plot points.

I think I prefer a looser structure, personally, so I've started moving back in that direction.

Anyway, I put together a Lady Blackbird/Apocalypse World mashup over the holidays that pretty much reflects how I'm playing now.

It's light and fast, has plenty of direction for when things go wrong or need a push, and lets me make very custom characters easily. I feel like I'm getting ever closer to the "perfect" way to play for me (but heck, maybe I just like fiddling with ways to play). Probably a bit too "story time" for some people, probably not enough for others, ha.

I originally skinned it as paranormal romance (a bit facetiously), and I just finished, more or less, a science fiction version. Doesn't really matter too much, though, the core mechanics are not genre specific.

That's about it. :)
https://exposit.github.io/katamoiran/game%20design/secrets%20and%20shadows/2017/01/16/secrets-and-shadows.html