|
Majin posted:Perhaps gamebooks are what I’m talking about. Are they discussed in this thread as well? If so, are there any major ones I should look into first? (Like the already mentioned Fighting Fantasy?) Yeah, you want gamebooks. There are a lot of them, but everyone thinks of Fighting Fantasy first because it’s one of the oldest series and there’s a lot of them. One of the authors, Steve Jackson, did a series called Sorcery that retains your character through the books, and everyone says it’s good.
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2024 13:32
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 21:46 |
|
|
Thanks all for the suggestions, will definitely check out Fabled Lands, etc. I was doing more looking around and stumbled across Cages of Fear, What Lies Beneath and Destiny Quest. These are also starting to look like what I’m talking about as well. What Lies Beneath even has a sort of incremental rogue-like setup for rolling new characters if/when you die.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2024 13:48
|
|
|
Has anyone looked into the fabled lands guy's vulcanverse stuff? It sounds bad to me.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2024 17:48
|
|
|
Steam Highwayman, Legendary Kingdoms and Expeditionary Company are recent gamebooks that are supposed to be sandbox-y like Fabled Lands. (I haven't had a chance to try them out, because they're physical-only.) I played the DestinyQuest books, they're more like Bioware RPGs in tone and structure and they're pretty fun.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2024 18:33
|
|
|
90s Cringe Rock posted:Unlike Traveller (1977), you can't die in character creation. Are you saying it's hard?
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2024 05:27
|
|
|
Majin posted:Thanks all for the suggestions, will definitely check out Fabled Lands, etc. Thanks for posting this because What Lies Beneath looks like it's up my alley. I agree with the other suggestions that you are likely looking for gamebooks. However solo rpgs that are more self contained games than strictly journaling prompts is an interest of mine so I'll make a list of the ones I've found here:
I've read and reviewed Across a Thousand Dead Worlds on my blog here: https://nightmarethoughts6.blogspot.com/search/label/Across%20a%20Thousand%20Dead%20Worlds
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2024 10:20
|
|
|
GreenBuckanneer posted:Are you saying it's hard? Well, it may be a month. May be longer. Hopefully not longer than the supplies and air last. Maybe there's some at the site! Or fewer people to return.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2024 21:32
|
|
|
Chakan posted:Yeah, you want gamebooks. There are a lot of them, but everyone thinks of Fighting Fantasy first because it’s one of the oldest series and there’s a lot of them. One of the authors, Steve Jackson, did a series called Sorcery that retains your character through the books, and everyone says it’s good. You can still play them online, if you want to give some classic 80s RPG nonsense a go, from the days when people played Talisman for fun. girl dick energy fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Mar 2, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2024 21:33
|
|
|
Helical Nightmares posted:Thanks for posting this because What Lies Beneath looks like it's up my alley. your blog posted:If this set up sound somewhat familiar, it may be because you have read Gateway by Frederik Pohl. SOLD! Gateway is one of my favorite books.
|
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2024 22:34
|
|
|
girl dick energy posted:I still have a lot of nostalgia for Lone Wolf's frequent jank and occasionally batshit writing. This is great, thanks! I taught Talisman at a few conventions when FFG released their edition a while ago and I still distinctly recall some people learning 3rd ed and yearning for the old days of 1st ed, lol. I love some RNG jank more than most, but woof that game sometimes.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2024 03:21
|
|
|
I have a solo module for 5E I should probably try at some point to see how that works
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2024 21:17
|
|
|
Chakan posted:This is great, thanks! I taught Talisman at a few conventions when FFG released their edition a while ago and I still distinctly recall some people learning 3rd ed and yearning for the old days of 1st ed, lol. I love some RNG jank more than most, but woof that game sometimes. (It’s not a coincidence that I’m also in love with Gen 1 Pokémon and other janky retro RPGs.)
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2024 21:47
|
|
|
girl dick energy posted:I admit I’m biased, I like seeing old, flawed systems in general, especially ones made by a single person mostly left to their own devices. Stuff from before there was really any established best practices is always fascinating to me, so the flaws add to the experience instead of taking away from it. I don’t know how the experience will be for someone who doesn’t have that perspective. I'm not well versed in RPGs in general, but I will sometimes leaf through old stuff to see what they tried to do, and how they tried to do it. This is fun to do with any game genre. To me, RPGs, especially solo ones, represent an exploration into imaginary possibilities, summoning lands and creatures into existence, then seeing what's out there. RPG rulesets and mechanics are frameworks for that exploration, and looking through them is like looking at worlds that were once possible. In any game genre, you see refinements upon old systems, and lots of times, they're clear improvements on old ones. A refinement or simplification will be successful and enjoyable enough to set a new standard, upon which newer systems are built and refined, and so on. And sometimes, maybe often, interesting and creative (if not actually good) mechanics are left behind and forgotten, and a whole method for experiencing a given world is lost. That stuff can be fun to dig up and think about again. It's great going back to what feels like a huge, forgotten well of creativity. (It's also great to go, "That's pretty cool, but I'm so happy that I don't have to play it that way.")
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2024 23:01
|
|
|
Helical Nightmares posted:Thanks for posting this because What Lies Beneath looks like it's up my alley. Thanks for these, a lot of them look super interesting. I actually did a playthrough of the Drifter yesterday, but had an insane luck streak that gave me a session where I picked up 1 bounty, turned it in for a higher than posted reward, found an abandoned stage coach with a cache of $260 and then stumbled on an escaped prisoner whose reward pushed me over $300 and I won the game without any hardship or a single round of combat, lol.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2024 23:32
|
|
|
I'm keeping an eye on Substratum Protocol since it sounds interesting
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2024 23:51
|
|
|
Chakan posted:This is great, thanks! I taught Talisman at a few conventions when FFG released their edition a while ago and I still distinctly recall some people learning 3rd ed and yearning for the old days of 1st ed, lol. I love some RNG jank more than most, but woof that game sometimes. Talisman is awesome because of the jank. It's also one of the few games I can think of that gets better the more add-ons you use. I sold off my 2nd edition nearly full set (no dragons) for a silly amount of money though, so I can't play anymore.  Reminds me - I wonder if the iPad version still works.... might have to scratch that itch.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2024 01:27
|
|
|
Sundered Isle kickstarter is up, and already super-triple funded! 
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2024 16:17
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:Sundered Isle kickstarter is up, and already super-triple funded!  drat, I missed the backer number hitting 666. Knew I should have screenshotted first then back it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2024 16:28
|
|
|
I've already got the digital versions of Starforged, but I think having something physical would be nice and encourage me to actually play it. Do I need to go all in and get the deluxe rule book and have it next to me the whole time I play a session, or can I get by with the reference book and just use the PDF for the full rules as needed?
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2024 21:20
|
|
|
Mercury Hat posted:can I get by with the reference book and just use the PDF for the full rules as needed? That's pretty much what I do
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2024 21:38
|
|
|
Cool sounds good, thanks. The deluxe book would be nice to have but I just imagined what the shipping on a 400 page hardcover might be like and decided maybe not, lol.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2024 21:56
|
|
|
Mercury Hat posted:Cool sounds good, thanks. The deluxe book would be nice to have but I just imagined what the shipping on a 400 page hardcover might be like and decided maybe not, lol. They have a little chart for how much shipping will be!  I think my big splurge purchase next month is going to be the complete set, as having it in physical will work wonders for hanging out downstairs away from the computer and just playing.
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2024 22:01
|
|
|
Mercury Hat posted:Cool sounds good, thanks. The deluxe book would be nice to have but I just imagined what the shipping on a 400 page hardcover might be like and decided maybe not, lol. It’s not as big as you think it is. It’s a half size book.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2024 02:08
|
|
|
I haven’t played any solo games for a while (I blame buying a steam deck) but I got a mystery package in the mail and it was physical copies of Notorious and Outsiders from the kickstarter - I’d kind of forgotten it so nice surprise. I’m reading through the Notorious book while on a multi-hour workshop thing for work (that I don’t really need to be in or speak in) and I’m excited to play. Obviously no comment on how it plays yet but the books are printed on nice paper stock and everything seems clear and straightforward.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2024 02:54
|
|
|
StrixNebulosa posted:I think my big splurge purchase next month is going to be the complete set, as having it in physical will work wonders for hanging out downstairs away from the computer and just playing. The physical book also feels super high quality, it's great.
|
|
#
?
Mar 13, 2024 09:54
|
|
|
I hope this isn't inappropriate, but I thought people here may be interested in this kickstarter. I HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH THIS KS ALTHOUGH I HAVE BACKED IT. It's past funding, so I'm also not trying to drum up supporters to make it successful. ANYway, I backed this because it would be perfect for solo RPGs. I plan to use it as a random map generator - as I move hexes, I let it generate another hex. If I can get past the  I would love to even 3d print out the tiles and have a physical board for the campaign. The room generator would be great for building interiors as well!Just a thought. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingdomoftiradom/master-of-realmstm/description
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2024 15:14
|
|
|
I know it's not solo tabletop/boardgame but thanks for the heads up on Fabled Lands being on steam. Picked them up and blew an evening playing. Anyone know when the 5 parsecs from home bug hunt physical books ship?
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2024 07:57
|
|
|
chainchompz posted:I know it's not solo tabletop/boardgame but thanks for the heads up on Fabled Lands being on steam. Picked them up and blew an evening playing. According to the product page: "SHIPPING IS EXPECTED TO START END OF APRIL 2024."
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2024 14:26
|
|
|
Oh, derp! Thanks.
|
|
#
?
Mar 16, 2024 15:52
|
|
|
Crescent Chimera just launched a KS for their new solo RPG Astroprisma It's already funded, but has anyone played any of their systems before?
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2024 17:17
|
|
|
I don’t think they’ve actually made anything before this?
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 21:00
|
|
|
Cthulu Carl posted:Crescent Chimera just launched a KS for their new solo RPG Astroprisma Don't know em. I hope they put out a version that's easier to read though, goddamn those fonts murder me for some reason.
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2024 21:50
|
|
|
All right, it's been... three years, wow, since the OP was made and last edited. I haven't kept up terribly close with new releases outside of the Ironsworn ecosystem; what games do people think need a spot in the OP as recommendations? I know Wicked Ones is no longer available through DTRPG and I need to update that link, and the Sundered Isles standalone kickstarter just launched recently, but open to any other suggestions too.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 17:55
|
|
|
Also, can we feature any goon-made games? If you've published or shared a solo RPG, please let Skye know so we can link it.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 18:10
|
|
|
The OP has Delve but I would also strongly recommend Apothecaria by the same creator. If you need a blurb: Apothecaria is a journaling game about being a novice witch in a cozy fantasy setting. You search for potion ingredients across different locales, encountering events and inhabitants along the way. The author Anna Blackwell is actively supporting the game with regular expansions featuring new exploration areas and crafting opportunities. https://blackwellwriter.itch.io/apothecaria Goonmade self plug: I made a companion game called Patchwork Potions which works as an expansion for Apothecaria or a light standalone game. It gives you prompts that dovetail with Apothecaria as you gradually fill out a patchwork grid of colors representing your own story's themes. I was going to kickstart it for zinequest 2023 but fell into a deep hole of self-promotion apathy and just threw it in a big itch.io bundle to support trans rights. https://bespoketacle.itch.io/patchwork-potions
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 18:53
|
|
|
SkyeAuroline posted:the Sundered Isles standalone kickstarter While it will contain all the critical and core bits needed to play, its not actually standalone, you need a copy of Starforged as well, especially if you're unfamiliar with the system as the rules are not covered in depth in the Sundered Isles reference guide. Also SI makes use of various Starforged Assets but doesn't duplicate them.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 19:22
|
|
|
Let's see. I've played (leaving off Ironsworn and Starforged): *-Star Trek Adventures- Captain's Log: Solo Star Trek based on (but different than) their d20 system. *-Five Parsecs from Home: Sci-fi ship crew with miniatures. Gives me a real Firefly feeling *-Five Leagues from the Borderlands: As above but Fantasy-based. ... without spaceships. It's got a really neat mapping and exploration component. =-The Wretched: You wake up the only survivor on a doomed ship that an alien creature attacked. You blew it out the airlock, but now it's out there trying to get back in. =-You Will Die Alone Out Here in the Black: Space is death. You're a researcher and your life support is running low. Journal your end as you stretch it out as long as possible. -QuestCalendar 2021 and 2022: Neat idea but it's totally on rails. Couldn't really keep my interest since nothing I did mattered. -Star Smuggler: The Great-Grandaddy of all sci-fi Solo RPGs. Ever hear of the game Sundog? This is the game that the devs What I haven't played but own: *-Across a Thousand Dead Worlds: Play Frederick Pohl's Gateway. Really. More to it though with a pretty extensive destination exploration game and being able to revisit previous destinations. Looks really cool. Hope to play soon if I can manage to stop thinking about home brewing it to be more like Gateway. -1000 Year Old Vampire: you are a ... well, 1000 year old vampire -A Collection of Improving Exercises: By the 1k Vampire author. a drawing exercise solo RPG thing. looks really interesting. *-Fox's Floating Curio Bookshop: You are a cute fox and every season you float down the river to the next town and do.... fox... bookshop things. -Star Drifter: Open world sci-fi exploration. Looks cool. Gonna play it soon. Really. ... I will. Looks crunchy =-Micro Chapbook RPG: Comes in basic and advanced versions. Explore a grim dark fantasy world =-Micro Sci-Fi RPG: Explore a grimdark *-Micro RPG: The Mangrove Hospital Murders Play -Alone Amongst the Stars: It's like 2 pages and very basic.  *-Bucket of Bolts: Something Something Aluminum Falcon Star Wars -Of Moon and Leaf: I don't even remember buying this. -Pencilquest: Draw a dungeon and adventure! Pretty crunchy -Penciltown: Build a town and map it! Pretty crunchy -Standard Deck Dungeon: Roguelike and playing cards are dungeon tiles. -The Anomaly: The Wretched system meets Annihilation -Mothership: Not really solo, but there are 3rd party solo Rules - Lone Star =-Flextale Solo Adventuring Toolkit: Solo Fantasy RPG rules. Friggin huge. Basically the Random Dungeon generator from AD&D on steroids. And even more steroids. And Mega steroids. * worth putting in the OP IMO = may be worth mentioning everything else - up to you Doctor Zero fucked around with this message at 21:45 on Mar 21, 2024 |
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 21:12
|
|
|
I love Thousand Year Old Vampire, it's fuckin incredible.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 22:45
|
|
|
HopperUK posted:I love Thousand Year Old Vampire, it's fuckin incredible. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2024 23:09
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 27, 2024 21:46 |
|
|
Doctor Zero posted:=-Micro Chapbook RPG: Comes in basic and advanced versions. Explore a grim dark fantasy world Unfortunately her PDFs tend to be hundreds of megabytes because no-one's taught her to optimise them, but they were a nice change from 4 Against Darkness.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2024 08:56
|
|