I'm trying my hand at another solo Let's Play. I've finally gotten around to playing Kingdom from Lame Mage, maker's of Microscope. So far I'm really enjoying it.
I took the suggestions some of you gave for my previous attempt and incorporated how I used the oracle to shape the sessions. I've also included the character sheets and kingdom set up in their own posts. Suggestions, questions, and critiques always appreciated.
Cool beans! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThat's probably my #1 "game I want but keep forgetting to get" game. Thanks so much for posting an AP of it!
ReplyDeleteAre the "players" of your own invention or part of the system? I've been tinkering lately with an idea for "players" but it just sketches them in; I love how real yours are!
Tam H they are mine. I've toyed with the idea before. With kingdoms the rules go out of their way to talk about the distinction between players and their characters, so it seemed like a good time to implement the concept for my solo play through.
ReplyDeleteI really like it; mine are just a collection of tags and a few charts! Do you find it's easy to "play" each player based on their personality?
ReplyDeleteI handle it as a series of filters. Certain options for a scene are eliminated by the Oracle, then by the character motives, then by their bonds, then by the player preferences. From what is left, the best choice has been pretty clear so far.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm going to add your last comment to my notes on that project, just in case I pick it back up again, ha. My notion was that a lot of that stuff would develop in play (there's a trigger and die roll to see if a new tag is added to a player), slowly being revealed over time, but the "base" of one tag plus some numbers feels anemic. I find your character write ups very appealing; the right length, depth, and focus. I want to replicate that using d6s, haha.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I find story games hard to play solo.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Where can I get these cool character portraits?
P.P.S. Adding your blog to the list of resources on http://dieheart.net/solorpg
Sophia Brandt Kingdom has worked well, but I know the feeling. The last story game I tried to solo was Microscope, and I've never managed to enjoy it. I think it's the scope, in Kingdom everything revolves around a primary problem (The Crossroad) until it's resolved. In that way the game itself acts as a partial Oracle, letting you know what each scene is going to be about.
ReplyDeleteThe portraits are made using the MiniMe app. Here's the link for the website: lovebyte.us - Home
I use the Android version, and it works great. I have no experience with the iOS version.