A few days ago on the RPG.net forums, "King Stag" posted:
I do a lot of solo gaming (married father of two little boys....) and until now have always used things like Rory's Cubes and Mythic to make the story surprising and random. I am going to start using some modules from time to time and am looking for advice from some of you other solo-rpgers as to how you've added some surprise and randomness to modules.
I responded with a brief version of advice I've given before:
Try this:
The module is a document in the possession of both you the player and your PC, but the information contained within it may not be "accurate." Thus, you do not have to pretend you don't know anything. For every new encounter, roll on the Mythic Fate Chart (or make up your own probabilities - it's pretty easy) to determine the likelihood that your advanced info was indeed true. If it was, follow the module. If it wasn't, use Mythic, the Creature Crafter, or some other instant idea generator to replace the encounter with something new and play it out.
As certain kinds of encounters turn out to be "false," increase the likelihood that subsequent related encounters will also not be as they are described in the module. Keep track of the differences via a simple list. That list may well evolve the module into a very different adventure as you continue to play through it. Eventually, you will probably wind up replacing most of the final encounters to fit the previous changes that were made along the way.
With this method, you don't need to do any extra prep in advance. You'll be "rewriting" the module as you go along.
This is a relevant topic for me right now because, supposedly, the Crown of Kings adventure for Advanced Fighting Fantasy is about to release, and, if my lousy luck holds out, I won't be able to get anyone to play it, so I'll be solo with this big module.
If you have any more advice for King Stag, the RPG.net thread is HERE. Go over, see what others wrote, and help him out!
King Stag here (I check your blog everyday!). Thanks for all the help! I ended up getting Crypt of the Everflame for Pathfinder and am using a lot of your suggestions. I run a party of 3 and use a combination of your 9Qs, Rory's Cubes, and Plot Twist cards to keep things interesting.
ReplyDeleteExcellent!
DeleteOne thing I forgot to add, I bought the Paizo "Plot Twist" and "Chase" cards and they are GREAT for solo play. I am going to use 3-4 of the plot twist cards in each adventure to change up the story. The chase cards are great for chases obviously, but I am also going to draw a few per adventure as each represents an obstacle that can alter the flow of the story or the construction of the dungeon/city/woods. Have you used these in the past?
ReplyDeleteNever. I passed on them when I thought they'd be too fantasy genre specific.
DeleteWas I wrong? I like being wrong when it means I can get my hands on new game tools!
Hey John
DeleteHave you ever thought about a play by forum game for Crown of Kings or any other Advanced Fighting Fantasy module? I definitely would be in if you could scrounge up some other people. Advanced Fighting Fantasy would play easily by PBF don't you think? I'd love to play some Fighting Fantasy again. I got a good amount of use out of the old puffin paperbacks back in the late 80's.
I think the Plot Twist cards can be easily adapted to many genres. The Chase cards will be more limited but could work depending on the setting, it'll take a little more creativity but not much. A "broken portcullis" can become a "broken blast door", etc.
Delete@lj: I've never done play-by-forum except for World vs. Hero because it's a 2-player game with a fixed turn structure. Honestly, I've never quite been clear on how groups utilize a posting format for the RPG experience, but I'm totally open to learning. Any generally accepted rules/practices I could read about before trying? I'm interested.
Delete@TheON: you changed your avatar into one of my all-time favorite toys! Warduke! He was the antagonist to a lot of my early, unsophisticated, but oh-so-adorable solo gaming! (And thanks for the info on the cards.)
I realized yesterday I needed an Avatar so I went with the guy that pretty much single-handedly dragged me into rpgs....the great and fearsome Warduke! I had the action figure. Greatness.
DeleteHi JF, for play by blog check out Shelldrake @ http://zombiewargame.blogspot.com/ and this one by Bard http://westkingdom.blogspot.com/ they both look pretty cool. I followed the first round of the zombie one.
ReplyDeleteBard's was recommended to me once before. I'm going to give it a more thorough reading, and I'll definitely go through the other. Thanks.
DeleteAnother direction would be to use the Mythic GME as a player emulator. I use it this way all the time to great effect because the surprise and randomness factor comes from how the virtual players "react" to the situations presented as-is in the module. It's a lot of fun, actually!
ReplyDeleteThis is somewhat similar to my Press Gang Project, just without the pressing of real people. I saw player emulation done quite well a while back on the Mythic Yahoo boards with Caves of Chaos. Was that you, Mark?
DeleteAnd, just had a thought - Mythic rolls & decision-making could be alternately decided by the "type" of player being emulated as much as by the class of character the emulated player is playing, yes? (Did that make any sense in this little comment box? I'll elaborate some other time.)
Mark, That is a good idea. I have thought of using it that way for a PC or 2 in my party of 3.
ReplyDeletePretty much a scoop....the books are on their way to shops right now......
ReplyDeleteGraham!
DeleteConsider it purchased!
You could just get the Crown if Kings Sorcery! gamebook that originally came out. This module was originally published as a solitaire gamebook. I have the whole Sorcery! series and they are quite good.
ReplyDeleteThat was me with the caves of chaos. That was a lot of fun. It works best if you give each character a personal motivation, a thread, so they can really mess you up. Never forget that players will rarely do what you expect..... Dave
ReplyDelete