9 Tips for Solo RPGs
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2024
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9 tips for getting your solo rpg on.
Voice actor Trevor Devall plays tabletop RPGs solo-style fulfilling the roles of both player and GM.
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I've never said this to anyone, but I'll tell it here. I found out about RPG Solo with your channel and it was a way that I could play RPG, because in a group I'm unable, because I can't speak (literally). So I play by myself only thinking and writing. Thanks
I have voice/throat issues too, and I understand what you must be experiencing. It is so much fun to play out an encounter or event and then journal what occurred and what was said by my PC, and the NPCs involved.
Sounds like fun! What's your guys' campaigns about and what's your party like?
Thats cool that you still found a good way to play for you.
You know there are some methods and groups where you could play in stuff like discord or roll20 using purely written format. I have found such methods allow me to have more of a voice in groups and thus my characters grow more and i very much enjoy it
@@phnxfeather I've been planning a solo Harry Potter/Hogwarts game for a while ☺
Just chiming in to agree with Sekunri, you'll probably find a lot of entertainment in Play-by-Post text-only games, and there are plenty of those on discord servers and on roll20 in my experience. No voice required!
One thing to remember on #9, Man vs Man isn't always physical conflict! Conflict can be social as well - convincing someone to help you, or give you something, for example.
My old English class also had a fourth type, Man vs Society., but that tends to be a more overarching theme than the conflict of an individual scene...
People who have studied screenwriting know about beats, scenes, and sequences.
You can make a beat, which is an action reaction unit, by rolling a random table to create a scenario, and the characters can react with an action checks . That is one beat.
You can string 4 or 5 into a scene, and the sequence can be 4 or 5 scenes with a major adventure goal at the end (slay the bandit leader, assassinate the corrupt CEO, etc). Each scene must have a goal the characters want, which they will try to achieve with violence or charm. Each beat is an attempt to achieve the goal.
Some beats may result in an easy victory for the characters, but as we are random, that's life.
It is a good way to structure an adventure.
#4 Trust Your Instincts - I've learned to respect the "GUT FEEL", or the "1st thing that pops in my head sort of" that the oracle suggests. This has lead me to awesome and really interesting situations that may be a detriment to my characters but overall creates a fantastic memorable experience. One time my Novice characters (using Savage Worlds which I love - thanks to you, Trevor!) entered the first area of a cavern and the oracle suggested "I remove something from the scene" and boom - the first thing that I thought of was the "ENTRANCE".Yep, there was a landslide of boulders and my characters are trapped. There's NO way out, baby - or is there??! I knew this was going to be highly dangerous for the party - but oh well, let's do it! Now to find an EXIT, amidst the unknown dangers that lurk within its shadows.
Interesting ! Can you tell me which oracle did that suggestion and where can I get it ? Thank you.
@@altabob1 I use the Solo Adventurer's Guide - D&D Solo Engine by Guilherme Bento. It's amazing! Quick and streamlined. Super handy :)
@@manilapcgaming7217 Thank you ! bought the bundle with legendary characters.
1:20 - Be Your own audience
2:08 - Don't use too many suplements
3:33 - Use a system you know and like
5:24 - Trust your instincts and the oracle
6:49 - Decide what style of game you want
8:38 - Make a record of what happened
9:46 - Focus on what you are interested in
10:32 - If unsure, start in the middle of the action
12:52 - Always have conflict
Counterpoint to #3, Using soloing to learn a new system is a a lot of fun. Mythic magazine #6 has great advice on how to do this. That being said, until you're familiar with playing solo it is a good idea to stick to a system you know.
Great comment. My only solo roleplay experience is trying to learn Ironsworn - a great game, but learning it while learning solo probably wasn't the best choice.
@@EternalRanger337 that’s where I am too! How did it end up working for you?
The problem is learning through solo is the only option to learn any system for me. I never played in a group or alone before, so I don't know any system at all very well. Now I try learning Ironsworn by playing it. But I think reading the most important rules before playing was definetely necessary.
Today, I saw an ad on Facebook for what appeared to be a standard game. It then transpired to be a “Solo” RPG. I had no idea what these were. I then discovered this channel. After watching this I am about to purchase something called “The Wretched” a Sci Fi solo RPG. Your tips were excellent. It’s a whole new world I never knew existed until this morning. 👍
Tip 3 is huge. My first solo RPG was using 5e D&D, which I knew and liked sort of well, but not as well as 4e. I chose it because it was "simpler", but half way through my first adventure, I got sick of and frustrated by the 5e system and converted the game to 4e. I had much more fun and the game went on for quite while before I shelved it to try another game.
Great tips, Trevor. I think I’ll make up a table that allows me to randomly generate those 3 types of conflict, then use Rory’s Story Cubes to generate the details. When it comes to Man vs Man I’d add that the conflict is something contested. It doesn’t have to be physical combat. I’m thinking racing to achieve something, or politically outmanoeuvring an opponent.
Counterpoint to tip 3: solo play can also be a valuable way for a GM to explore a new system that they don't know. Yes, you'll be slowing down the play by constantly looking up rules you don't know, but it might be better to do that by yourself than with a table full of friends who also don't know the system.
Definitely an ideal way to get a new system down before grouping. Plus, like everything else, you will get better (and faster) at it the more you do so. Payoff on the backside for a little extra work on the front. Better to spend that extra time for only yourself rather than yourself and a bunch of friends waiting on you.
It's hos I learned Pathfinder 2.0
Very good advice. I really like the brevity of this segment. Perfect as a starting primer when someone asks me "how do you solo?" After that, they can watch how you do it with episode 1 of the Savage Worlds series.
These tips are so valuable coming from someone like you. A great gift for your audience Trevor. I will come back to this video a few times I'm sure 😃 thanks!
I cannot thank Trevor enough about sharing his solo RPG games. It is daunting to figure how this all works as well as learning how to play d&d 5e. But with Trevor's numerous videos (amazing stories if you do not like reading books) and so many how to videos for d&d, it all came together. My first trial run was my character was looking at a dungeon entrance. And it went from there. Trust the Oracle. On my, does it really work. You may not see what the Oracle is telling you at that moment. A major tip that I use when I would roll for random verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc. I would write down the verbs and walk away. Within a few hours of mulling it over, an idea would hit me which would branch my story arc into a direction I would never had thought of. Many times my final end game idea of what I think my solo rpg game would involve, never pans out that way. It truly is an amazing experience.
This was very helpful. I definitely needed most of these tips lol
The most priceless one for me is remembering that I'M THE AUDIENCE
Thanks to Trevor and his vídeos I started a solo game with The Witcher TRPG and the tools from first season. I have no one who to play with but wanted to know more about how the game works. Although I’m going slow and making a lot of mistakes I am journaling every session and having so much fun playing as well as reading back the journal entries . All I have to say is Thanks again to Trevor and keep on with this wonderful project.
Can't help notice the Burning Wheel books on the shelf behind you. Sneak peek into the next Sage's Library episode? :D
There’s some brilliant advice here. Thanks, I needed a little inspiration to get going. I have a feel that I’ll come back to this video time and again. Might I also suggest that social conflict is another good way to progress a story? Unlike talented self, we probably wouldn’t be good at talking to ourselves but there are lots of skills for communications and reaction charts that can be used. Thanks again for sharing this.
Thank you the reminders, especially 8 & 9. I tend to worry too much about my character dying early and subconsciously avoid too much conflict, only to have the narrative bog down. I'm reminded what I love about your sessions, the crazy scenarios your characters get themselves into, and then the epic dice roles that get them out!
All of these tips is also very useful, if you do a lot GM improvisation in group games. Which is what I tend to do, partly because I'm a bit lazy with my game prep. But also because, I just like the randomness and not always fully knowing what is going to happen, even as the GM.
Ive already created a tabletop rpg called cards and cobolds, but now im thinking about making a solo ttrpg where there is a paper dungeon master system.
1: You roll a number on the dice which coresponds to the number of the event.
2: You read the event and immerse yourself within that scenario.
3: This will take index cards and dice.
Thanks for this Trevor, incredible advice. I do get decision paralysis sometimes due to the million of books of random tables I own, haha. I also used to take super detailed notes of my gameplay, down to the roll results and everything, but I ended up working on book keeping more than actually playing. Now I just use bullet points to describe the most important things and it works great!
My 3 tips for starters:
1- Start simple, the rpg you know, the gm emulator for yes/no quetions and 2 tables for complex quetions (verb+noun)(this is on the video, with the to many table/books).
2- Just start, the hard part is just to start. The logic carry your story so dont overthing about that at the start.
3- Scenes, think like your seeing a movie. Your caracter start in a scene , do/resolve something and go to another scene. Each scene have one "objective" and after that you move to other scene to resolve another "objective". If the scene doenst have one "objective" that means that scene doenst need to be (well i think this is one of the tip in the video to).
What's nice with this video is it's good advice for group play as well
Thanks, Trevor. I've almost abandoned a Starfort campaign because it was going to a place i thought uninteresting. After watching this video I've decided to go back there and change things, so that I"ll just go and play what I want. It seems pretty obvious, since I'm my only audience, but, somehow I had something holding me and wasn't able to do it until I've heard this from an amazing player like you.
For solo games, I actually enjoy avoiding most of these conflicts and action scenes.
Usually, I just want to feel what a normal day is for these characters. What their 9-5 day is like, outside of the normal crisis situations that happen when the plot forces it's way in.
The fighting tournament in DBZ before the villain crashes the party.
THIS! has been the definitive video to show someone who wants to SOLO rpg game ...... theres literally dozens and dozens of videos basically describing the breakdown of how their playthrough works .... but if the abstract fundementals are ignored, well then ALL the books/supplements/dice/gear/maps will just be overwhelming/sit there. and it will be hard to simply GET STARTED! The last tip works well, JUST TAKE ACTION! worry about the dice charts less than what YOU want to do. This has given me the nudge needed lol thanks!
I definitely agree about using too many supplements! I like Tricube Solo and the Game Masters Apprentice deck because each packs a lot of oracles into a small, convenient package that I don't have to flip through.
I liked this video after just seeing the channel name. That's brilliant.
Thanks so much, Trevor. After watching your season 2 and being a constant DM for any session in which I play with others, I decided to solo play Ironsworn. It devolved into a travel montage most sessions and I didn't enjoy it, while recognizing I was slowed by learning a new system. With your tips, I can see what I need to change to enjoy the game again (quality notes rather than quantity notes, conflict, more oracles to inspire my imagination and perhaps starting over with a system I know well). I'm sure that I'll now be able to enjoy future solo roleplay.
Fantastic tips! This hobby can be an amazing creative outlet for those inclined. Thanks again for being the master in this corner of the RPG world!
Top stuff here; really useful! I'm thinking of starting a One Ring solo game once those Strider rules come out for it. Have an idea to pick up a story thread from my now defunct group campaign which should give a really strong narrative and lots of conflict.
I started doing this and I am having so much fun. I am currently playing three heroes in a solo campaign and write down what happens at the same time. It‘s like writing a book while rolling the dice😂
Thank you for this, especially point #9!! Awesome!
Great tips! I forget to add conflict sometimes. Explains why some of my games just...stop...
Yeh something I learnt sooo long ago is that conflict is so so key for driving a story forward. Seems to be a general rule with games, movies, shows etc that conflict is such an important driving force. Sometimes the players might complain about the conflict there in the game, but it gets so important.
Rule #9 is so spot on. Some of my adventures as a GM tend to devolve into boringness because I fail to have conflict and many of my solo adventures did the same. I'm glad I watched this one and stuck around to learn this tip. In fact, it's something I will be incorporating into my writing as well, as many times my stories peter out for a lack of conflict.
Adding a Tip: if you wanna try a new system, try it soloing it. It doesn't hurt if your objective is acquire an understanding of the mechanics of the characters, the fighting, level system, difficult, etc.
The book-keeping can be relaxing in this case if the Solo is just an excuse to put your practice into action.
I did it with a System I've never ever played and I loved and it helped me a lot. I simply read the system until I got a grasp of the rules and jumped into Solo with CRGE and that's it!
Amazing tips! I hate that I had to learn all these the hard way but love that new people into the hobby have them now.
Keep doing the oracle's good work, brother
Tip 8 is nicely summed up with: just play blades in the dark.
Half of that book is the author reminding you to "skip to the action", and I'm here for it!
Thank you for the simple simple starter tips for solo RPGing. I bought some books and other materials some time ago, but I never could get started. These tips helped a lot.
Great advice! I play Zozer Games’ HOSTILE Solo RPG, which is the game of gritty horror style sci-if movies of the 70s and 80s.
Absolutely excellent video! These tips really inspire me as does your enthusiasm.
I would add: Be wary of, but don't be too afraid of, railroading. It doesn't have to be random rolls and oracle tables all the time. If your character is heading from X to Y, and half way there, you're thinking "Wouldn't it be cool if Y was #####?" don't think you have to throw away a great idea because you've "solved the mystery" before you've Asked the Oracle. The point is, *you* know, but your *character* doesn't.
Think of all the movies you've seen or stories you've read where you know more about what's going to happen next than the characters do. Hitchcock did this all the time. When it's done right, you're not spoiling the surprise or spontaneity; you're building suspense. You can see it coming, but you can't stop.
Brilliant advice, all tips are very good and welcome!
Thanks!
An amazing list of tips! All VERY useful. I really love your channel.
How'd I miss this? This is awesome!
Great tips, great channel, for newer people I'd recommend the oracle 'MUNE' and '5 room dungeons' for structure, and for recording information google sheets, theyre quite straight forward to use, hope you're good and life is treating you well 👍
I’ll have to check that out!
Here's a video idea: offer some tips specific to certain systems (ironsworn, d&d, dominion, etc.)
Hey, you answered my "Why Savage Worlds?" question 🙂
100% agree to Know The System/Rules and Like It... and it is FUN!
Another GREAT video! Thank you!!
Fantastic tips, thank you! Definitely new to the hobby format and could use all the advice there is to give.
Very good tips and nicely provided. I like this special videos between the main stories.
A great list of advice! Thanks a lot.
Fantastic episode! Thanks for this. It will definitely be on my list to show to people who ask about how to get started with solo TTRPGs
These are all great advice, and #9 is an interesting one. I couldn't put together why in solo it should be good to always have something interesting happen (and in traditional GMed games), but that section explained it very well. It'll be one I'll keep in mind a lot.
Very helpful.
Some insights I've never thought of thanks.
Awesome tips love the idea of starting in the middle of the scene.
Awesome video. Very insightful. Thanks.
This was great! Not only is this great for solo RPGs, this is great for prep minimization as well.
Love your stuff #9 was a great tip just what i needed
Thanks for the tips.
My two major problems are :
Festival, find a system I can play alone. I want to play some Star Trek or Marvel adventure. But for both all systems I try have something I didn't fully understand. And for Marvel also a lot of issues about balance for characters. I tried many time to create a system and fail. For example, I recently stumble on Ironsword and try to adapt some of what I read (Not really read all because not enough invested) so I tried to adapt idea from there and other I had. But I don't think it works.
Second issue is where to start. I speak for the univers. If I start in 1960 some character didn't existed yet, If I start later I have to find an event who have enough impact for a change in the history. Too much character I love or want to see in another way, I can even change their origin and power. And What team to do when you really love all the characters and choosing is heart breaking.
You tell that enjoying the game is a huge part. But playing alone isn't really if I don't share. And writing it, is well, a lot of works and I stop because I made more time writing all is happening than really playing even when both are link. And I'm not used to film myself, so no chance I will.
So it's seem than as been a GM for other, or playing in a tabletop with other, I cursed with my own self-deprecation issue, and lack of works. I love imagining succeeding, so much more, but it's part of the issue, when expectation encounter reality and are disappointing, That I'm disappointing. I don't like trying and failing over and over ... And I don't know why, I hope and try again and again.
So I would love to see you play a Solo Superheroes quest sometime to see how you handle it. Take care and keep going your video. I just discover your chanel, but you made a huge impact and fun time to see what happened, and you don't realize who you have an impact. Thank you again.
Great tips, very useful advice, thank you.
Thanks, I've put quite a bit of time getting into ironsworn but got lost my first time because I'm not used to solo play, only prepping. It's kinda like mixing prep and gameplay, but you don't have to edit or make things sound good to anyone but yourself.
As always, an excellent video from our entrepôt GM, host, and player.
Some real gems in here, thank you :)
Great video! Thanks for sharing!
Some excellent tips here, especially #9. Thanks
Great advice! A fair amount of these tips also apply to being a GM, as well as an active engaged player.
As someone trying to make their own game compatible with Solo play this has been a big help.
I started my game last night! I'm making it a journaling project too, and I'm really excited to play with this format. I'm using random books to pull inspiration for the relationship between my warlock and her patron, which should be nothing short of interesting.
So glad I found this channel. :)
Great video.
N°9 is really the gem!
Thanks. Practical and interesting advice that is system agnostic. Every solo player should see this and watch your videos.
Great tips! I'll keep them in mind whenever I get stuck.
The conflict tip was really useful, I never thought about that. Thanks a lot, this will help a lot both in solo gaming and with other players!
On a side note… it’s really nice to see how much enthusiasm you have while doing these videos, I bet you’re a very fun GM to have in game sessions✌🏿
This is awesome! Thank you for putting these together. I think about it, but never put words to these. When I first started solo role-playing, it felt just like pure journaling with decisions and resolution done by the game mechanics.
Hey! I recognize you!
Great vid, and excellent advice... which I look forward to putting into practice.
Great tips! Thanks and another great Vid.
Aaaah!!! I lovee the DCC funnel reference!
Awesome tips! Hadn't thought about the last one and it's really important great job.
For me it also helps a lot to think on your protagonists objectives and act on that. Sometimes we're stuck at "what should I do?" The answer many times goes at "what would my character do to achieve their objective". Step into their shoes, have them go the extra mile to chase the dragon, delve into underground temples to find the answers!
The 9th Tip is SO GOOD... I was expecting something like, "Have Fun," ... But was very pleasantly surprised, and delighted with this tip... I will use it. Thanks!
Dude, in all seriousness, this one video seriously made this whole topic clock. Such passion and concise description. You knew what you wanted to say way a head of time.
You sir are awesome and I am now. subscriber just because of your personality and passion. Thank you for what you do.
Loving your channel and i know I'm a year late but wanted to leave my like :)
I started RPGing solo as its hard to always meet with my group.
I'm using a mixture of D&D system and Dungeon World.
My story is called "The Last Paladin". It's about a young man that eventually earns favour from the gods that turned their back on humankind and he becomes a paladin at the end of season 1.
Season 2 is all about him rebuilding the paladin order whilst a past coming back to haunt him.
Great advice. Thanks for the time you put into your videos Trevor! I found these tips very helpful for my solo RPGing =)
I've seen this video so many times. It's LITERALLY so helpful after a bit of downtime, and this guy is SO. FREAKING. COOL. Thank!
Very nice. great thoughts and ideas.
Absolutely spot on. Wonderful advice and as an amateur writer who began as a journaling/crappy novel writing solo gamer, a succinct guide to story-crafting of any kind. Most especially, Tip #9.
I use Microsoft Excel for my tables and Oracle. I programmed it to randomize different words, scene dressings loot that I find etc. Simply hitting the delete key, I can figure out weather, random events, obstacles, NPC desriptions, names and motives etc. It makes it much easier than using tables. I simply design it once hit delete, and play. Let me know if you want to learn basic functions in excel if you are interested in making your own. I can show you in about 2 minutes. Trevor...this might help your gameplay as well. It certainly helps speed things up. No more flipping thru books. I can even make it for you if you want. I like doing this stuff.
Thanks for the offer, very generous! I like flipping through books though, so I’ll stick to my old school ways ;)
Another great vid Trevor (now't new there) that has got me thinking
Clapping!!!...I like this..I like the form and the tone...you have one more subscriber
Good advice, especially about being your own audience…i’m not very good at that. Due to real life being a time vampire, haven’t had the chance to follow the latest series yet. However, just a quick note to send my best to you and community . Will be catching up on the rest of the brilliant content when I can.
Ha …I haven’t watched your video (yet) but immediately noticed your decorative panels back there..Saw a ad for them literally yesterday lol.
Thinking about using them for a wall in a rental of ours here in Fl.
It's very rare that I see a video that feels like it was created personally for me haha. Every part about not knowing how to start or what to do and all that was exactly me.
There's a way to avoid tables. Use Story Cubes instead! Since I use them, I don't need more weird tables (well, I admit use them rarely ;->)
I agree, i use also gm's dressing dices, dungeon morph dices or various custom tarot decks. No need to flip pages and pages with those tools !
Cool! There is a lot of tools that spark the imagination, and that's all you need, just a little help to make the story continue
Awsome episode great tips
The tips were very helpful
You forgot tip 10, tip 10 is listen to your 9 tips again! They are brilliant tips thank you 👍
This was a most excellent video, great information and advice...Thank you
Trevor what game systems are you currently running in your home games?
'Just start' is a great rule for life in general.
I think another rule is "expect it to be messy and awkward at first, maybe even requiring a re-start"
Your video is by far the best video I've found on CZcams on Solo RPG. I'm a beginner on D&D and I have a group to play with (although our DM is too busy with other TTRPG:s right now so we haven't started our campaign yet, but I'm super excited!) but I really want to play solo as well and start my own game. Because of 1) learning more about it for when I'm actually going to play with a group and 2) because I just enjoy spending time with myself, my characters, and my own imagination. And I'm also very shy and want to do a solo adventure before putting myself out there in an offline group. Btw, I'm writing a novel and I'm thinking about using RPG as a tool for storytelling when I feel stuck in my writing. I mean why not? I just wanted to leave a comment to say that I really did appreciate your tips! And I've now subscribed to your channel as well! Thanks for this video.
Great video!
great video! I found it only today but it's really helpful!
Anyway it's probably me but solo games that work better are those that are more narrative rather than OSR: you can have fun solo playing Mork Borg, Into the Odd or Troika of course (they're also simple and rules do not get in the way still they lose a bit of charm played alone), but I actually found more enjoyable those like Ironsworn, Cyberpunk 2020/RED or Ova, etc
I like the idea of solo play, but I also like playing with a group around the table. But since the D&D OGL drama at the beginning of the year, I have started collecting more systems that I want to play (and even writing one or two of my own), and now I want to do some solo play so I can understand the system before I introduce it to a group at the table. I think it would help cement in certain aspects of a game system in the GM's brain so they can actually run games, to your third point. No one wants to get bogged down, but also tons of people don't want to jump between systems, especially when they have already spent time and money to get into one. So as a GM that wants to introduce and play some of these new games with my groups, being able to run the game and get a feel for it can be invaluable. If a rule doesn't feel good in solo play, it probably won't feel good in a group, so it can at least be something to consider when running a game.
Thanks for the video, a lot of great tips here! I will definitely be using them in some of my adventures.