[Soloing TTRPGs] General Discussion [+]

[Thierry-Advent]

How do you handle traps? I would anticipate them coming up from a ‘random event’ in Mythic GM Emulator; do you similarly have them appear at random? Or do you sometimes have pre-defined but hidden traps?

The dungeon is 100% random. In the picture you can see a stack of Monster tokens (from D&D board games). Some of them are random traps mixed in with the monsters tokens. I flip a card (D&D board game) to determine the type of trap. I use Monsters cards deck, by type, for monsters. Hidden traps can appear on a door, a chest or a secret door, on a roll of 1 on the d6 oracle.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

absolutely love the hand-written charsheets

Thanks! It brings me back to the 80s. Makes the characters feel more alive.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

001
This weekend, I'm learning how to play Forbidden Lands. I purchased the box when it first came out but wasn't ready for the system back then.

Day 1 Morning
Vordanh, the elf hunter, has set himself to ambush roaming goblin bandits on the trail. He is half hidden in bushes behind a rocky patch of terrain. He wins the opposed sneak roll, shoots (short range) an arrow and deals 2 damage (to strength). The goblin has no armor. He is broken and falls on the ground. Critical injury: 56 ruptured intestines (lethal). D6 Oracle: Are there more goblins following the first one? Yes! d4 = 2.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

Forbidden Lands
002
Day 1 Morning (continued)
It was a shooting war. Elven long bow against goblin slings. Voranh had the initiative. The two goblins inflicted one point of Strength damage to Voranh, who collected a three short swords and nine silver coins from the dead creatures.

Day 1 Afternoon
The elven hunter returns to The Hollows, his village base camp in the Belifar region of the Forbidden Lands. He keeps one short sword for himself and tries to sell the other two to Ness the blacksmith but fails.

Day 1 Evening
He pays 2 copper for a spot to sleep in the Dead Man’s Hand Inn dormitory. During the evening he tells how he ambushed and killed three goblin bandits, this morning (Empathy 1 success). Impressed by his tale, two patrons of the inn buy the two short swords for 4 silver each. Olam, the owner, requests 1 silver per transaction taking place in his Inn. Voranh pays. (Coins total: 20 silver, 6 copper)

Does Voranh attract a Companion, with his tale? D6 oracle = 6 yes + and. Sindria, a human fighter and Brollo, her minstrel halfling friend, are impressed by his ambush tactics and archery prowess. Brollo offers to treat Voranh’s wound (Healing). Voranh accepts. A bond is formed.

Day 1 Night
The three adventurer sleep near each other in the south east corner of the dormitory. D6? No event.

[Decision: Do I use the Companion rules or make full character sheets for the Sindria and Brollo? For the next session I will try the companion rules. Companions add bonus d6s to the main character’s rolls. Simpler for solo play.]

 

[doghead]

I have started Solo TTRPG gaming with Ironsworn. Generally I am enjoying it, but I do find myself spending quite a lot of time doing laps around the house (aka trying to work out what to do). That is when I miss having other people to bounce ideas off.

thotd

 

[Thierry-Advent]

I have started Solo TTRPG gaming with Ironsworn. Generally I am enjoying it, but I do find myself spending quite a lot of time doing laps around the house (aka trying to work out what to do). That is when I miss having other people to bounce ideas off.

thotd

Story Decks are very useful for that.

 

[doghead]

Story Decks are very useful for that.

Ironsworn has a built in mechanism for prompting ideas and answering questions called Oracles. The thing i find challenging is interpreting them. Sometimes. Sometimes it just makes sense.

thotd

 

[Thierry-Advent]

Ironsworn has a built in mechanism for prompting ideas and answering questions called Oracles. The thing i find challenging is interpreting them. Sometimes. Sometimes it just makes sense.

thotd

Yes, it's not always easy but I find it gets easier the more you play solo.

 

[doghead]

Yep, that's the plan. I have just completed Session 11 of my current Ironsworn campaign, Kingdom of Ice. It was a bit of a monster, and I am not really sure what just happened. But everyone survived. So that's a win.

Down the track, I would like to have a go at running some other RPG's that look interesting. For those I will have to look at some form of GM Emulator. But for now the goal is to get my head around Ironsworn. Plus, I want to find out what happens to Becca. Why does Evileye follow her around?

That said, I was looking at some of the options on the Solo RPG List website. There a few free games designed to be played in a hour or two. I might try a few to add some variety. And perhaps it will help with the Ironsworn game.

thotd

 

[Jacob Lewis]

This is a [+] thread, posts your negative comments about playing games in solitary mode elsewhere.

General thread to discussed soloing TTPGs without a GM*, using a solo oracle system. It doesn't have to be an RPG specifically designed to be played solo. It can be a regular RPG you solo with a GM Emulator, a d6, a tarot deck, a regular deck of playing cards, etc. As long as you are having fun, you are doing it right.

*If you are playing 1 player + 1 live person GM, that is a duo.

My solo set up.
View attachment 439897

Thank you for sharing pictures. I love this setup! It is serene, functional, and free of distractions. What a wonderful spot to call someone's "Happy Place".