I wish I had more time for games, but as a parent, my kids take priority.

I love the idea of pen & paper role-playing games, but I’m more of a quiet introvert.

I used to play regularly with my mates, but now I’m too busy with work.

 

Do any of those sound like you? I can certainly identify with all three, and that’s why I created this website. We all know that moments are precious and time is fleeting. The responsibilities, passions, and mishaps of life are constantly vying for our attention. If you’re a working professional, perhaps your free time is limited by your schedule. If you’re a parent, too, then you may laugh at the idea of having time for yourself, but you wouldn’t wish away one second of quality time with your children. If you love tabletop games, but struggle with the social aspects, will you ever find a means to play?

More often than not, time is the limiting factor that keeps us from our gaming hobby, but there are tactics we can employ — such as solo play, or solitaire — to make a place for games in our lives. Many of these ideas can also be implemented and enjoyed by anyone, even people who have plenty of free time to game with their friends (*shakes fist at you*).

This website is dedicated to those of us who have a passion for tabletop games — but can never seem to find the time or the means to play — by recognizing, stealing back, sharing, and cherishing those fleeting Wisps of Time.

Black Blade of the Demon King – Session 1

Spencer 2018-03-12 4995 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 10176 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 5363 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….

What the Heck is OSR, Anyways?

Spencer 2018-03-04 4497 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…

Hero Kids Compatible Encounter Generator 0.1.19 Released

Spencer 2018-02-23 3914 Comments Off on Hero Kids Compatible Encounter Generator 0.1.19 Released
Family Gaming

I’m not sure if anyone actually uses it, but I’ve updated the Hero Kids Compatible Encounter Generator web app (henceforth known as HKGen because that’s too much to type out every time…). It’s set up as an offline, responsive javascript web app using an appcache manifest. You don’t necessarily need to know that, but you should see a popup asking if it should reload any time you visit the page after the code gets updated. I actually had issue with this on my Android phone and had to go in and clear the cached data in the mobile Chrome browser…

What I’ve Been Up to Lately…

Spencer 2018-02-20 3047 Comments Off on What I’ve Been Up to Lately…
Uncategorized

Yeah, so… it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Not to worry, though! I’m still lurking, reading up on RPGs, making the occasional attempt at solo and family play, and getting beat up by the real world, as I’m sure you can relate. I’ve also been working on a few items I’m looking forward to sharing with you in the near future: An Adventure The first is an OSR adventure module. Or maybe it’s an adventure toolkit. I had inspiration from a short story called Winter’s Gate and I went in with the intention of creating something that could produce an…

The Big [Solo Campaign] Bang

Spencer 2017-12-04 5840 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 19229 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 44447 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!…

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