Solitaire Gaming

Black Blade of the Demon King – Session 1

Spencer 2018-03-12 5084 Comments Off on Black Blade of the Demon King – Session 1
Actual Plays

  The Session Zero post will give a little more background, but here I’m attempting to solo a published adventure module with a standard party of four D&D characters, continuing the story of Vincent & Shira. Yeah, Yeah…. I’ve not really resolved the “debt to crime lord” storyline or the thing with the “alien orb”, so I’m not sure if this would be placed before or after that, time-wise — obviously I didn’t think that through too much, but I like these characters (we go way back) and I want to play them so nyyyeeaaahhhh! One thing I do want…

Thoughts on Soloing a Published Adventure Module

Spencer 2018-03-09 10448 2 Comments
Resources

My first solo play session was attempted using a published adventure module (the Hero Kids “Basement o’ Rats” introductory adventure). I had fun — I was able to use a simple d6 yes/no mechanic to pose questions and emulate GM responses — but I also had enough foreknowledge (and inexperience) that it was too confining compared to more free-form, generated-on-the-fly sort of play. And that’s the problem, right? Modules are published for GMs, so they’re chock full of great stuff that absolutely spoils things for the players if they come into such knowledge before the proper time. As a solo…

Black Blade of the Demon King – Session Zero (a Module Solo Experiment)

Spencer 2018-03-09 5445 Comments Off on Black Blade of the Demon King – Session Zero (a Module Solo Experiment)
Actual Plays

Gosh, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted an actual play. Mostly, I just haven’t had time to play, though I’ve managed a few sessions with the kids (actually trying to play-test my own kid rules! … but I digress). I’ve also been distracted by real-life happenings, like Christmas, birthdays, work woes, and trying to relocate (I’m not sure which is worse, trying to buy a home or trying to sell one). Excuses, all, I suppose. Anyhow, I have at least been pondering on and reading about RPGs, so the desire and anticipation have been building for some time….

The Big [Solo Campaign] Bang

Spencer 2017-12-04 5915 Comments Off on The Big [Solo Campaign] Bang
Solitaire Gaming

Thanks to work, family, and general life happenings, I spent most of SGAM thinking about solo gaming, rather than actually engaging in it (I squeezed in some Four Against Darkness plays, so I suppose it wasn’t a total bust.). I did manage to find some time to read through a few interesting texts, however, which have me contemplating something bigger than I’ve endeavored to undertake before: a solo campaign, complete with world building and all that jazz. Namely, continuing Vincent’s story. KABOOM! When you think of the Big Bang, you likely picture in your mind a black, empty space, crammed full of…

Review: Four Against Darkness – A Solo Dungeon-Delving Game

Spencer 2017-12-03 19480 Comments Off on Review: Four Against Darkness – A Solo Dungeon-Delving Game
Reviews

As you may or may not know, November is Solo Gaming Appreciation Month! Or, SGAM, as it’s often and lovingly referred to, it’s an entire month dedicated to the teaching, sharing, and enjoyment of solo– erm?  What’s that you say? Yes, it is currently December. (*frown*) Yes, I do realize I’ve missed it. Uh huh. Right… Well, I don’t care, it’s my blog and technically I did play solo in the month of November… I’m just now getting around to sharing it! So what!  *storms out of the room and slams the door* Just kidding, I came back. So, How’s About a Review?…

Four Against Darkness Compatible Game Board

Spencer 2017-11-23 45059 Comments Off on Four Against Darkness Compatible Game Board
Resources

Lately I’ve been playing a nifty little dungeon-crawling game called Four Against Darkness. Some might call it a board game instead of an RPG, but whatever it is, it’s a solo game designed for one player to delve into a randomly-generated, old-school style dungeon — using only a pencil, paper, and a few d6 dice. I’ve been enjoying it, but I won’t get into the details here (stay tuned for an actual play / review post). Instead, I just wanted to share the 4AD Game Board I’ve created for use with Four Against Darkness — in both 20×28 and 30×42 sized grid-flavors!…

Rolling Solo – Appendix A: What Now?

Appendix A: What Now?
Spencer 2017-11-23 12728 2 Comments
Resources

So you read through the Rolling Solo series and learned how to engage in solitaire role-playing — great job! I hope you enjoyed it. But, if you were left asking yourself questions like “That’s it???” or “Now what???” or “Help!!!!?“, I don’t want you to think I’ve left you hanging. Wisps of Time got your back. But, what should I do now?? If I haven’t said it enough already: whatever you want! It’s up to you! But, if you’re like me and often want or need a little more direction when faced with such an open-ended response, I  have some suggestions for you. First,…

Rolling Solo – Chapter 6, Part III: Vincent Versus the Volcano

Vincent Versus the Volcano
Spencer 2017-10-08 8840 3 Comments
Rolling Solo

  Firstly, apologies for the title — when I sense and alliteration, I always go for it. It’s automatic. Nextly, I’ll reprise what’s happened before this post, as usual: For this final installment in the series, I’ll be using an old-school-inspired “sword & sorcery” game called Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells (Pay What You Want) alongside the Mythic Game Master Emulator — the “gold standard” of solo engines. Chapter 6 has been broken up into 3 parts: Mythic GME overview, SS&SS overview, and this, the Actual Play example putting the two together. If you’re only interested in the action, you’ve…

The Wheel of Fate: a Mythic Fate Chart Alternative

Spencer 2017-09-28 10790 Comments Off on The Wheel of Fate: a Mythic Fate Chart Alternative
Resources

The Wheel of Fate is a volvelle representation of the Mythic: Game Master Emulator’s “Fate Chart”. A volvelle is also known by other names: wheel chart, “dial-o-matic”, info chart, dial chart, calculator, and more. While the term originally referred to such tools created for astronomy (and became rather popular in the Middle Ages up through the twentieth century), volvelle seems to be the universal term for them now. You’ll find them employed for everything from baseball stats to oil filter selectors. To use the Wheel of Fate, one simply turns the “dial” to indicate the current Chaos Rank, and then…

Rolling Solo – Chapter 6, Part II: Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells

Spencer 2017-09-26 10989 1 Comment
Rolling Solo

  I’ll be using an old-school-inspired “sword & sorcery” game called Sharp Swords and Sinister Spells (Pay What You Want) for my final solo play in this series. As talked about last time, we’ll also be stepping up to the Mythic Game Master Emulator — the “gold standard” of solo engines. Chapter 6 will be broken up into 3 parts: Mythic GME overview, SS&SS overview, and an Actual Play example putting the two together. If you’re only interested in the action, you can jump over to the actual play. If you don’t know what solo role-playing is, you may want…

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