What are folks experience with Solo PBP?
- Thread starter Krug
- Start date
Brother Shatterstone
Dark Moderator of PbP
Krug said:
Well I've never ran one but I know that both Jarval and Isida are each running one for me... Jarval is on a temporary leave and Isida has lots of cool stuff going on in RL so I don't see them reply to this thread anytime soon... There are a few other solo games floating around I think so maybe those DMs will jump in for a better answer for you.
I've talked to Jarval a few times about it, mainly cause his time is shorter on ENworld of late and I asked him if it would be better to end the game for the better good of ENworld. (He runs three other PbP games also, so less people are out of a game.)
Anyhow, his reply was that the game gave him the option to use books that he never could really use before.... Basically it's a truer sense of freedom for the DM, you do not have to worry about pleasing a group of players all wanting something different from the game, and you only have one.
Here are Jarval’s words:
Jarval said:
For the player it has the same great sense of freedom, there’s little worry in upstaging other PCs, having the plot revolve sticking around their character and what not.
It's a great way to play, and the game can go so much faster.
Krug said:nope not accepting applicants yet..
We'll talk later...
Oh and if there are books you want to use I either have them or will look at getting the,. 
Last edited:
Ghostknight
First Post
Well, I have recently started a solo game. It is different from a group Pbp, but it is also nice in that you can explore a character/concept that would not work well with a group.
Its fun, but I think a lot more work for the DM- he now has to structure the adventure way more carefully (normal CRs are for a group of four- now there is only one character- how does that translate out- on top of that he needs to make sure the encounter is one the character can win or at least survive- one character means far fewer options and way too easy for the character to end up facing something he cannot hurt or survive!)
Its fun, but I think a lot more work for the DM- he now has to structure the adventure way more carefully (normal CRs are for a group of four- now there is only one character- how does that translate out- on top of that he needs to make sure the encounter is one the character can win or at least survive- one character means far fewer options and way too easy for the character to end up facing something he cannot hurt or survive!)
Brother Shatterstone
Dark Moderator of PbP
GK, I agree with a lot of what you said, I DO think it is more work for a DM, at the very least I think you would be updating more and such, but just because there is only one PC does that mean that its a gruop of one.
With Jarval, my character has a party of 4 NPC with her, sounds like work to me but Jarval I guess loves it and just sees it as part of the normal DMing job of RPing NPCs.
With Isida, we are still new into the game, it actually spun out of another one of her games, and it's only my character in her significant other though he’s a 17th level cleric and she’s a 15 level character so the options aren’t quite so limited.
It's more work but Jarval really has me convinced that he likes the freedom it presents. Do something crazy that you’ve never been able to do and have fun.
With Jarval, my character has a party of 4 NPC with her, sounds like work to me but Jarval I guess loves it and just sees it as part of the normal DMing job of RPing NPCs.
With Isida, we are still new into the game, it actually spun out of another one of her games, and it's only my character in her significant other though he’s a 17th level cleric and she’s a 15 level character so the options aren’t quite so limited.
It's more work but Jarval really has me convinced that he likes the freedom it presents. Do something crazy that you’ve never been able to do and have fun.
Brother Shatterstone
Dark Moderator of PbP
Awesome.Krug said:
That was for there profiles so you know who I was talking about... (Though neither one has a CS account.)Krug said:Thanks for the links to the games Shatterstone will try to follow 'em.
Here are the links to the games...
The character in this game was a concept that I really liked, but it was flawed and my epic level character was quite weak... With the release of UA and gestalt rules I asked Jarval to run a solo game feature a lot of UA options, and the GR's BotR and a campaign setting that Jarval loves that's really just very out of print chose your own adventure books that barely made it out of England.
Jraval's "Strife in Sokara" IC OOC RG
The character in this game was the predecessor to the above character, I didn't quite like how it turned out, and since it was a very vile game, as in Book of Vile Darkness, I figured I could play the sweet version I made above. Anyhow the character’s story really starts in Vile Darkness and then moves off to her own game. No spoilers from me though so you’ll have to read it if you want too.
Isida's "Of Vile Darkness" IC OOC RG
Isida's "Maiden of Pain's Redemption" IC OOC RG
Last edited:
Jarval
Explorer
Hi Krug, just been directed to this thread by Brother S You've been given a fair amount of background on my game, but I'll probably repeat a fair amount of it. Brother S, thanks for covering for me while I was away
As has been said, I'm running the Strife in Sokara game for Brother Shatterstone. It's set in the world of Fabled Lands game books (an English series that died an unfortunately early death), with the Book of the Righteous pantheon and cosmology. We're also using a fairly large raft of variant rules from Unearthed Arcana.
I'm really taken with solo PbP games, for various reasons. From the player's perspective, it means you can have your character in the limelight all the time with no worries of upsetting the other characters. It's much easier to follow character specific goals. You can go where you like, when you like, picking up on or passing by plot hooks as you see fit. And you can play much more exotic or specialized character concepts with no worries about game balance.
From the DM's perspective, it means you've got much more control over the game. You've only got one PC to focus on, which gives you a lot more room for basing adventures around what's personally important to that character. You can run freeform improvised adventures more easily. You can give the PC the companions they need for the adventure, without worrying about having a permanent party structure. For example, in my Strife in Sokara game, Brother Shatterstone's character is normally accompanied by two NPCs, a holy warrior (a BotR paladin variant) and a cleric. But for the current part of the adventure, they needed some other skills that weren't covered by any of the party, so I brought in more NPCs to cover the gap (to be specific two Mormekim holy warriors and a locksmith). I don't intend to make most of these NPCs a permanent part of the party, but they did provide vital skills when needed. Because there's only one PC, I could still keep the focus firmly on the player, without worrying about the NPCs stealing their thunder.
Another advantage for the DM is the freedom to use whatever books you want. When you've got a group of PCs, it can sometimes be a little tricky to introduce new material into the game. If you buy a sourcebook on divine magic, the wizards and sorcerers might feel they've now got fewer options (and are therefore weaker) than any paladins, clerics and druids that the group might have. In a solo game, there's much less comparison going on between the main character and the NPCs that there would be between a group of PCs.
Note that I don't consider solo games superior to group games, they're just different. You do miss out on some things. In a solo game, there's none of the spontaneous banter and intra-party role-playing that you get with a full group. You don't have the group problem solving skills, being entirely reliant on just one person to figure out all the puzzles you throw at them. And you've only got two people putting their ideas into the game, rather than the five or more that make up most groups.
As for time, it can take more work to run a solo game, but OTOH, you can also set the pace to suit yourself more easily. For the first month or so of the Strife in Sokara game, me and Brother Shatterstone were posting four to seven times a day, and the game was flying along at a rate far faster than any group game is likely to achieve. However, recently I've had less time to devote to PbP gaming, so I've scaled things back to one or two updates a day from me. After my exams in October, I should have plenty of time again, and I hope to pick up the pace once more.
The amount of time and work it takes is also somewhat dependant on your personal style of DMing. Myself, I like nothing better than making and playing characters, so having a world full of NPCs is great for me. I'm intending the Strife in Sokara game to be less action focused than a standard D&D game (although there's still likely to be combat aplenty at times), allowing me to do what I feel I do best, play NPCs. For me, writing dialogue takes less time than writing descriptive passages, and certainly much less time than writing up a combat update. Any solo game is going to involve the DM in more character interaction than a group game, as every comment made or question asked by the PC is going to be directed towards an NPC. If you're going to run a solo game, you've got to enjoy writing dialogue.
Picking up on a point of Ghostknight's, if you're running a solo game as a truly solo game (that is, one PC and no supporting NPCs in the party), as a DM you are going to have to put in a lot more work on combat encounters. The CR system is very, very heavily biased towards a party of four, to the extent that even a three character party can struggle with what by the numbers seems to be an appropriate challenge. If you've just got the one PC, avoid creatures with insta-kill abilities. Even things like a ghoul's paralyzing attack can be deadly to a single PC with not support. Conversely, so attacks are less dangerous. Any attack with a large AoE is much less depleting on resources to a single PC than it is to a group. Drop a fireball on one person, and they'll take damage. Drop a fireball on a group of four, and the amount of healing magic you're going to need has just quadrupled.
Right, I think that's a plenty long enough post to expect anyone to read. If you've got any more questions Krug, feel free to throw 'em my way
You've been given a fair amount of background on my game, but I'll probably repeat a fair amount of it. Brother S, thanks for covering for me while I was away As has been said, I'm running the Strife in Sokara game for Brother Shatterstone. It's set in the world of Fabled Lands game books (an English series that died an unfortunately early death), with the Book of the Righteous pantheon and cosmology. We're also using a fairly large raft of variant rules from Unearthed Arcana.
I'm really taken with solo PbP games, for various reasons. From the player's perspective, it means you can have your character in the limelight all the time with no worries of upsetting the other characters. It's much easier to follow character specific goals. You can go where you like, when you like, picking up on or passing by plot hooks as you see fit. And you can play much more exotic or specialized character concepts with no worries about game balance.
From the DM's perspective, it means you've got much more control over the game. You've only got one PC to focus on, which gives you a lot more room for basing adventures around what's personally important to that character. You can run freeform improvised adventures more easily. You can give the PC the companions they need for the adventure, without worrying about having a permanent party structure. For example, in my Strife in Sokara game, Brother Shatterstone's character is normally accompanied by two NPCs, a holy warrior (a BotR paladin variant) and a cleric. But for the current part of the adventure, they needed some other skills that weren't covered by any of the party, so I brought in more NPCs to cover the gap (to be specific two Mormekim holy warriors and a locksmith). I don't intend to make most of these NPCs a permanent part of the party, but they did provide vital skills when needed. Because there's only one PC, I could still keep the focus firmly on the player, without worrying about the NPCs stealing their thunder.
Another advantage for the DM is the freedom to use whatever books you want. When you've got a group of PCs, it can sometimes be a little tricky to introduce new material into the game. If you buy a sourcebook on divine magic, the wizards and sorcerers might feel they've now got fewer options (and are therefore weaker) than any paladins, clerics and druids that the group might have. In a solo game, there's much less comparison going on between the main character and the NPCs that there would be between a group of PCs.
Note that I don't consider solo games superior to group games, they're just different. You do miss out on some things. In a solo game, there's none of the spontaneous banter and intra-party role-playing that you get with a full group. You don't have the group problem solving skills, being entirely reliant on just one person to figure out all the puzzles you throw at them. And you've only got two people putting their ideas into the game, rather than the five or more that make up most groups.
As for time, it can take more work to run a solo game, but OTOH, you can also set the pace to suit yourself more easily. For the first month or so of the Strife in Sokara game, me and Brother Shatterstone were posting four to seven times a day, and the game was flying along at a rate far faster than any group game is likely to achieve. However, recently I've had less time to devote to PbP gaming, so I've scaled things back to one or two updates a day from me. After my exams in October, I should have plenty of time again, and I hope to pick up the pace once more.
The amount of time and work it takes is also somewhat dependant on your personal style of DMing. Myself, I like nothing better than making and playing characters, so having a world full of NPCs is great for me. I'm intending the Strife in Sokara game to be less action focused than a standard D&D game (although there's still likely to be combat aplenty at times
), allowing me to do what I feel I do best, play NPCs. For me, writing dialogue takes less time than writing descriptive passages, and certainly much less time than writing up a combat update. Any solo game is going to involve the DM in more character interaction than a group game, as every comment made or question asked by the PC is going to be directed towards an NPC. If you're going to run a solo game, you've got to enjoy writing dialogue.Picking up on a point of Ghostknight's, if you're running a solo game as a truly solo game (that is, one PC and no supporting NPCs in the party), as a DM you are going to have to put in a lot more work on combat encounters. The CR system is very, very heavily biased towards a party of four, to the extent that even a three character party can struggle with what by the numbers seems to be an appropriate challenge. If you've just got the one PC, avoid creatures with insta-kill abilities. Even things like a ghoul's paralyzing attack can be deadly to a single PC with not support. Conversely, so attacks are less dangerous. Any attack with a large AoE is much less depleting on resources to a single PC than it is to a group. Drop a fireball on one person, and they'll take damage. Drop a fireball on a group of four, and the amount of healing magic you're going to need has just quadrupled.
Right, I think that's a plenty long enough post to expect anyone to read. If you've got any more questions Krug, feel free to throw 'em my way
Brother Shatterstone
Dark Moderator of PbP
Wow awesome post Jarval! Thanks I appreciate that!
