Beginnings

Solo-A-Module Month

Spencer 2018-07-04 5028 Comments Off on Solo-A-Module Month
Community

Solo-A-Module Month If you weren’t aware, some of us inadvertently spawned an official Solo-A-Module Month over at the Lone Wolf Roleplaying G+ group, giving March a thematic focus on soloing published modules, sharing tactics for doing so, and publishing actual play reports. As you may know, my first solitaire role-playing experience was an attempt to solo a module, and, while it was entertaining, it wasn’t nearly as meaningful or immersive as the free-form, emergent play I’ve experienced since. I’d always hoped to return to module play with a better strategy for bringing it up to snuff with those emergent play…

What the Heck is OSR, Anyways?

Spencer 2018-03-04 4580 Comments Off on What the Heck is OSR, Anyways?
Featured

I’ve posted about my role-playing roots here before, but to give a quick recap: I’m basically a n00b. I actually got started out reading DragonLance novels, which naturally lead into D&D miscellany, but other than a few feeble attempts to play at a relatively young age and a few more feeble attempts at NWoD as an adult (interspersed with some Shadowrun in the intervening years), much of it is new to me — even the old stuff. My D&D-specific gaming experiences lie almost solely in the 1994 boxed set of The Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game, though I recall reading through…

The Big [Solo Campaign] Bang

Spencer 2017-12-04 5894 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…

Rolling Solo – Chapters 4 & 5: Still Learning & Aeryn Reborn

Spencer 2017-09-14 8393 2 Comments
Rolling Solo

  Once again I’ll be combining two “chapters” from my notes, Chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 is a bit of me just rambling on, so if you’re interested in the Actual Play portion, jump down to Chapter 5. If you don’t know what solo role-playing is, or aren’t familiar with the Hero Kids game, you may want to check those out first. (Yes, I did use a kids’ RPG for my re-introduction to tabletop games and as my launch pad for solitaire play.) Chapter 4: Still Learning Time for Round 2! I’m going “off-module” this time and I’ll be…

Rolling Solo – Chapters 2 & 3: “Tutorial Mode” and First Solo

Spencer 2017-09-09 9656 1 Comment
Rolling Solo

  Welcome back! If you didn’t read Chapter 1: Beginnings or aren’t familiar with solo roleplaying tactics, you may wish to check that out first, as it will give you some startup information on what follows below: my first solo “actual play” report on this site, which also happens to be of my first ever solo play session! I’d done my research and knew roughly what to do, but it was my first attempt, so I’m sure I made plenty of mistakes and could’ve done things differently or better in more places than one. None of that changed the fact…

Rolling Solo – Chapter 1: Beginnings

Spencer 2017-09-01 45628 2 Comments
Resources

So, I’m going to try playing a pen & paper role-playing game by myself. Crazy, right? You need a Game Master (GM) and at least one player — probably more, to make it interesting — don’t you? Otherwise, it’s silly talk?! Apparently not! What is Solo Role-playing? With a little help, one person can fulfill both the player(s)’s and GM’s roles for most any role-playing game! How is this possible?!, you ask. Some of your duties as GM simply get outsourced — to chance. You relinquish control of certain outcomes and the answers to certain questions, just as you would playing…

Prologue, or Something Like That

Dice Pool
Spencer 2017-07-29 4437 Comments Off on Prologue, or Something Like That
Family Gaming

ometime around age 10 or 11, I was turned on to my first Fantasy novels by some friends. DragonLance — The Legend of Huma, by Richard A. Knaak, to be exact — was my introduction to the genre, so that setting became my bread and butter and I soon devoured nearly every title under that banner, though RavenLoft, Forgotten Realms, and even the odd Greyhawk, Spelljammer, or Dark Sun paperback crept its way into my hands. Published by TSR, Inc. (you know, those D&D people before Wizards of the Coast), the DragonLance novels were commissioned to help realize the world and…