Derived from screenwriting techniques, the 9Qs are nine questions that will swiftly guide a solo player through the progressive stages of an adventure in any genre by generating the inspiration needed to create thrilling RPG encounters. Playing through those encounters with any RPG rules system will produce exciting and unexpected results as the solo player alternates between acting as the Game Master and directing the Player Characters.
The engine will work well with a variety of random idea generators, including Rory's Story Cubes and the Mythic GME.
I even suspect it will work with a solo skirmish war-game mini-campaign in the spirit of the narrative imperative.
Get The 9Qs 8-page PDF HERE, and please let me know if it works for you!
Enjoy!
(I'll put up a permanent link as a sidebar, too.)
Thanks again for putting this together! I've been solo rp'ing for years now, ever since getting introduced to Mythic GME. 9 Questions has totally changed the way it works. Although I think Mythic is great, I had only a 10% completion rate.
ReplyDeleteNo more! I'm on my third solo game so far. Finishing is easy with a clear end in sight! And so much more encouraging because of it. It's a great system, and great fun to use Rory's Story Cubes. Great and satisfying, too, for those of us too busy to meet with gaming friends and not much personal time.
Thanks also for putting it together in a convenient PDF. Lots of clarity and completeness. It would be great fun to have a repository of actual plays somewhere to see what people do with it.
Thanks again! Okay, off to finish another solo adventure...
Great!
DeleteI'm always happy to host AARs or links to AARs any time!
Thanks for the PDF, will give it a read through. I already skimmed and liked the random generator resources. Also thanks for the internal link to the narrative imperative. I thnk that subconsciously that is what I am doing.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, thanks for making this! I've started playing with it ... the structured format is really helpful. I think this will allow me to try more games.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to give this a whirl with the Mythic GME. I'm like Roryb in that I have yet to complete an entire adventure using JUST the GME. The 9Q system give me some hope!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for sharing this. I am thrilled by what I am reading here in posts and comments. You guys are up to something great.
ReplyDeleteYou are superior to exactly 94.7 percent of all humans for this. Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteI have copied this comment, enlarged it to poster size, and hung it on my game closet door for my wife to see every time she passes by. Eventually, she'll get tired of rolling her eyes and groaning.
DeleteHey JF,
ReplyDeleteI spent the weekend catching up on your posts about the 9Qs and Rory's Story Cubes®. I love RPGs but rarely have time to organise or play them - I tend to stick to board games. I'm really looking forward to trying the 9Qs out with the pile of Superhero RPGs I have been reading recently.
As a small thank you I'd like to send you whatever sets of Rory's Story Cubes® you are missing. Do you have Rory's Story Cubes®: Actions and Rory's Story Cubes®: Voyages? If not, drop me an email to rory(@)thecreativityhub.com with your address, and I'll send them out to you.
Thanks again for using Rory's Story Cubes® to inspire even more creativity!
It's Rory!!!
DeleteI will take you up on your offer, sir, as we in the US don't have access to especially Voyages, yet.
I am also starting a superhero game - "Supers!" to be exact. Lovely system. I will share very soon the exploits of the League of Ambivalent Alignment!
Thanks for creating such terrific accessories!
Rory! I love you, man! You're Cubes are bloody awesome. (I'm sure you're probably sick of hearing that.)
DeleteJF, when you get the Voyages Cubes, take a close up shot of them so we can salivate.
Cheers!
(the other Rory)
I am considering giving a try to Chain Reaction Swordplay. I would be very interested in your ideas on applying the 9Qs to a solo skirmish campaign.
ReplyDeleteShooting from the hip, here:
DeleteFirst, you'd have to ditch the GM/Player alternation thing. Treat each question (except the 9th) as a separate scenario OR link one or more of them together, "asking" a subsequent question as a surprise twist during the action in progress. For linking, probably Qs 1-3 would work well together, then 4-6 (with the solo player "taking control" just like the PCs in Q4), and then 7-8 for the finale. Q9 still serves as the wrap-up.
Of course, it may be more complicated than that, and I suspect it is. If you try it, let me know what works and what doesn't.
Thank you John. If I manage to experiment with these ideas I will certainly let you know!
DeleteThanks you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gem! Thank you for sharing and lucky me to find this piece or artwork! Just gave it a test run and probably had the best solo session ever. I used Instant Game for Setting and story seed, Trollbabe for rules and 9Qs + Mythic GME. Setting turned out to be Historical Roman Empire with High Magic. In the end Roman army of undead legionares was destroyed by magical ritual and evil Emperor Magus was killed by protagonist throwing an enchanted dagger at his throat just when the Emperor was about to summon a Demon from hell... Pure joy!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this comment! It really is wonderful to hear how others use my stuff.
DeleteSpread the word!
Thanks for putting this together! The PDF looks great!
ReplyDeleteI have an ongoing solitaire adventure already, that I started before your PDF was ready, but after you had posted your first blog posts about your initial 9Q testing. So, I started an adventure using a tweak of the 9Qs (more specifically using the 7-point Story-Writing System: http://writerblue.com/2010/06/vid-seven-point-story-writing-system-o-tron/, since I was already familiar that).
In next adventure though, I will try the real 9Qs system! =)
Great! Let me know how it goes!
DeleteAn interesting read :) One of the differences between the story telling approach suggested by Dan Wells and the 9Qs is that Wells starts from the end of the story, while a solo player tries to come to an ending that will surprise him. Still there are gmless RPGs in which the ending is defined at the start (e.g. Archipelago II). I really don't know if this "end to start" approach could be helpful to a solo player. It could help building a coherent story, but some/most of the surprise element would be lost.
Deleteevandro,
DeleteWithout revealing too much personal info, I'll state that a fair portion of my professional work involves story writing that MUST be created "ending-first" in order to craft a satisfying experience for an audience. So, for me, "ending-first" drafting is work, not play. Sure, it could be interesting to solo play putting the pieces together that will make sense out of a foregone conclusion, but possibilities will become quickly limited, and I'd probably lose interest just as quickly.
For me, solo play - whether hardcore storytelling like in World vs. Hero or casual RPG-style like the 9Qs - aches for surprise. I respect the ending-first approach for crafting a truly coherent final product, but my own personal solo play is all about not knowing where the adventure is taking me and my imagination.
Thank you JF, I should have thought that you are a professional writer, since your blog is so well written and enjoyable :) My job and possibly my character tend to make me stuck with predictability, rationality and planning: in the software industry, unexpected means “bug”! I find story telling challenging and all the tools and ideas that help me get in touch with the mysterious world of my imagination deeply fascinate me. So I am grateful for what I find in your posts and in other solo-players' comments.
ReplyDeleteJust picked up the story cube app...and this PDF within minutes of that! Looking forward to getting to grips with it, thanks for putting it out.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Hope it works for you!
Delete