Hello all! I'm new to solitaire play and just wanted to introduce myself. I gamed as a teenager, but eventually lost sight of the pen & paper scene to computer & online games. Now that I'm an "adult" with a demanding job and a family of 5, I haven't really played much of those in the past 10 years, either.

Hello all! I'm new to solitaire play and just wanted to introduce myself. I gamed as a teenager, but eventually lost sight of the pen & paper scene to computer & online games. Now that I'm an "adult" with a demanding job and a family of 5, I haven't really played much of those in the past 10 years, either.

One day, when playing with my kids, I realized how similar our pretend play was to role-playing, and then it occurred to me to try it out with them. They're only 3 & 4, so I searched online and found several systems aimed at younger kids (4-7 or 4-10) and started experimenting with a few and combinations thereof. They loved it! I loved it, too, obviously, as I continued to read more rule books, blogs, forums, subreddits, etc. At some point I discovered play-by-post (which sounds interesting, but also potentially very frustrating), which in turn led me to information on solo play. I don't know why it had never crossed my mind before, but once it sunk in, I knew I had to try it!

I used the Hero Kids characters and rules since I already had them memorized from playing with the kids, and tried out one of the simple d6 yes/no but/and systems (from John Yorio's blog) and tried to follow along with one of the Hero Kids prewritten modules, which was a great creative writing exercise for me, spinning up a back-story, etc., but it's hard to turn "basement of rats" into fun when you've already read the GM secrets in the adventure text, so about half way through, the fun factor wore off and I just played the mechanics through to the end and wrote a scene ending of sorts. I'm not sure I'd recommend trying to follow a module while attempting to avoid spoilers as a first effort (I felt very confined by it, having maps, number monsters and their locations -- though Hero Kids does scale encounters from 1-4 players -- text to "read to the players", etc.)

Now I'm making my first attempt off-module, carrying the same character/backstory forward (along with the Hero Kids rules so I can keep the emphasis on learning the solo "process" without learning new mechanics) and using the so1um system for answering questions and generating complications and difficulties. I'm also trying out some of the Adventuresmith app generators for fun, along with a Hero Kids monster generator that can be tuned to both location (forest, mountain, etc.) and number of players with a difficulty rating (e.g. easy, normal, boss encounter).

I keep interrupting myself to research more stuff (and post here, too, I guess!) so I've not gotten too far with it yet, but I'm still enjoying it and looking forward to trying new soloing tactics and RPG systems. I've already filled up half a small notebook with my ramblings and ideas.

I hope this hobby sticks (I do have ADHD, so who knows) as I really like the idea that I can carry it with me both in my mind and in a pocket notebook and return to the adventure whenever I can squeeze in the time.

Sorry for the long first post, but I do look forward to interacting with you all. The solo gaming community seems like a great one, very helpful and forthcoming with information and sharing their adventures. Special thanks to Sophia/diehart, as her blog and resource page have probably been the biggest help to me so far. Til next time!