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Now that I've put a few dozen hours into playing a number of systems solo* I've come to a few realizations: 1) It's fun! It may not be for everybody, but there is a lot of entertainment to be had 2) It takes some work, but the work is really play. Don't think of creating the backstory, setting, possible events, etc... as getting in the way of adventuring; just as a different phase of the game 3) Some form of journal is necessary. Rolling dice and moving characters around on an overworld or dungeon map is meaningless without context and keeping a record of events makes them real 4) Using regular pre-written adventures works well and is preferable to solo adventures, which tend to be too limited, but putting the time into world & campaign building is great too 5) Running both sides of a combat encounter (especially in a more tactical system like PF2e) is fun & rewarding as long as there is a way to balance the cognitive load (e.g., smaller party size) 6) Random tables can be very helpful, but having too many is a recipe for indecision 7) All of that money buying a bunch of rulebooks and adventures wasn't a waste!  I've also tried running systems both physically and digitally and for PF2e I think using FoundryVTT is a huge advantage because it takes care of so much of the optimization, but for lighter systems using a pencil and paper and dice offers a great way to get away from the computer. * Ironsworn, Pathfinder 2e & various OSR/NSR systems (OSE, Basic Fantasy, Cairn, Mork Borg, Scarlet Heroes, Broken Shores)
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Nov 9, 2023 23:49
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Zapf Dingbat posted:How do you handle prewritten adventures? Angrymog basically gave the same advice I would: Angrymog posted:My take on pre-written adventures is that I read the entire thing first, turn some sections into mini-games/add conditional rules to them (e.g. places where you search things), and make some sections gamebooky choose your path things to stop me just exploring every avenue. Also adding clocks for time pressure/NPC schemes etc. I'll add that I haven't tried out GME yet, and generally just use a simple expanded d6 yes/no oracle or a percentage for how likely something is. I also haven't worried too much about adding in big plot twists or extra NPC conflict and tend to go with the flow. In some ways it's treating the adventure more like a video game level that I'm trying to experience & complete. HopperUK posted:What's your favourite unexpected or cool thing you ended up writing in one of your games?? This is a great question! One thing that sticks out is playing Cairn with the Follow the Bones solo system where a hireling was too successful in using a spell to force open a door, which blew the door off its hinges into the wight guarding it. In the ensuing fight the PC managed to defeat the wight, but the hireling took critical damage from the wight and knew they only had maybe a dozen hours before they themselves turned into a moss wight. I wasn't expecting both the feelings of crushing melancholy and grim determination that this would cast over the rest of the adventure, which had mostly just felt like a mysterious, and only slightly foreboding, walk through the woods before that.
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Nov 10, 2023 18:46
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Doctor Zero posted:GME? Oops, I meant I specifically haven't tried Mythic GME (Game Master Emulator) yet.
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Nov 11, 2023 06:51
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