How I Solo Play Tabletop Role Playing Games: magehammer’s Method.
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- I have seen a ton of videos on how to play RPGs solo. I thought it was time to share my methods--or madness, you decide--how I do it for those interested.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Thanks for watching!
#sologaming #solorpg #basicfantasyrpg
Great video explaining your process and methods! I have a theory that we don't lose our imagination as we age but "reality" intrudes and keeps us from letting the imagination run wild. We start to limit our imaginations with "that's not realistic" or "it doesn't work like that" instead of allowing our minds to wander and having those great flights of fancy we had when we were younger. Like you state in the video, just have fun and let the creativity flow. Thanks for sharing your process.
Thank you, Todd! I think your idea that we limit our imaginations is an astute one.
I completely agree. George Bernard Shaw stated something very similar, "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing". Maintaining our inner child is a tough one when life happens. I find that RPG is the perfect way of retaining this childhood and creativity.
Hear! Hear! I agree completely!
I love the idea of the popsicle sticks! I sort of gave up on my erasable map because it was so stained! I happen to own an insane amount of popsicle sticks that are useless though! I'm going to totally use that trick!
I'm also a sewer, and have a cutting mat. If you want an inch grid, they work perfectly! I used mine all the time before I invested in a name brand one.
@@nicoleh3703 Thank you! I'm glad you found some inspiration from my games!
You had me at Basic Fantasy! All the best in your solo ventures!
Thank you!
Best wishes for your solo endeavors as well!
Magehammer, great video. I think it is great that you showed how you play when you are not on camera. Because this is something I also try to convey to my viewers: That role playing on TH-cam is something different than if you are by yourself on the kitchen table. And thanks for sharing your journal. From the impressions I get from places like reddit I think that this "how do I actually do it" is the most difficult part when starting out. It was for me. I have found my way, but it took a while and trying different methods to get there. When I play by myself I also use journals, hand written, not as detailed as you showed, short sentences with bullet points, but it is different from playing on camera. Thanks for sharing and game on!
Thank you! Your how to get started video was one of the main motivators for this video! I love our solo RPG TH-cam community. You all inspire me in my own games.
Keep on rolling dice and playing games!
@@magehammersgametable Thank you! But you also were one of the channels that inspired me to finally take that leap to TH-cam. I watched your Tiny d6 pulp series, that was great. And Basic Fantasy as well.
@@Solospelunking Thank you! Always good to know I'm not screaming fruitlessly into the void!!
Mate this is gold. And your style just happens to be precisely what i have been doing, right down to the decision making die. Love it!
Thank you! Glad to meet you!!
Always great to meet a kindred spirit!
I'm a huge fan! I love your style. While I've been solo RPGing for some time now it was really your Tiny Cthulhu series that kicked-off the "ah ha!" moment for me and got me going with this solo thing. I trekked off and went around the world trying many different systems, oracles, random tables, and tools but I've found that keeping things as simple as possible has been the key for fun and longevity. It's a easy to get caught in analysis paralysis - what is the best system? what is the best setting?, etc. And feeling like, if I don't get everything right its not going to feel satisfying and worth the effort. But it's all about telling a good story and unless a tool is serving that than it just isn't worth it. I hope others watch this and find their way into this wonderful hobby. Thanks for being such a great guide!
Wow! Thank you! I'm blushing. It's always good to know that others get something positive out of what we put out into the universe. I am so happy to be a part of your gaming journey! Thank you for being part of mine!
I love watching your videos because of everything you just went over here. I'm glad you use the minis, the maps, the play area, and the character voices and interactions! Plus the fact we are friends IRL and watching you play on TH-cam is like being at the table with you again. Have you ever heard of or checked out World Anvil? That seems like something that is right up your alley. I think you are going to be buried with a set of dice!
And thank you Chris for all your support.
And I’m glad you look fondly on our IRL experiences after I killed not a few of your characters…😂
And I have seen World Anvil, and I am a bit too old school for that and will stick with my ancient tech, Google Drive for managing my campaign world. 😂
I absolutely better be buried with some dice!
Very helpful. Appreciate that you took the time to provide the nuts and bolts in how you layout your solo process. Excellent suggestions and ideas. Much needed for us beginners. Keep them coming!
Thank you! More solo sessions on the way!
Awesome video! I also love the old examples of play from the TSR days. I don't know how well it would work as a video, but I'd definitely read your example of play if it were a blog article, or otherwise posted somewhere.
Thank you! I have a gaming blog... That may be a possibility, to post an EoP Session there...
Love it. When I'm solo role-playing off camera, I approach it exactly the same way. I've written entire novels through solo games.
I thought I was the only one! It's always good to find a kindred spirit!
@@magehammersgametable So true! Gives me ideas for a reply video. I'll be sure to tag you in it, whenever that's up!
@@JSilas50 Excellent! Can't wait to watch!
@@JSilas50 Thank you!
I do both solo games (I mostly use the toolbox) and play Dnd weekly. I have a game cafe near me, and every few months they do a 36 player game. I did one that was all deadly encounters, and you picked a pregenerated character at random. Once you died, you chose another of the 8.
I had a teammate who went through all 8 and had to double up.
Now I want to redo it as a solo game with the Deadly stats!
@@nicoleh3703 That 36 player game sounds epic! Thanks for sharing!
@magehammersgametable I've done 3 in total. One was a game where you had six islands and the DM would roll to see if you got attacked every day and night for the equivalent of a week. We kept on getting attacked by Displacer Beasts, so we pretended we made a hide quilt and hung it from our tower. I was a water elf and demanded we get some sort of water feature. We got a bath house and made it our tourist attraction. At one point we convinced ten soldiers to join us, so they just hung out in the bath house.
One island got attacked every night and every day. The poor island was attacked by rhinos two times.
That’s awesome! I love how much story comes out of the interaction between the game master and the players.
Or if you are playing solo out of whatever story you are telling whether using a simple or complex oracle.
Great video !!!
What expansion are you using in your deck of many Dungeons?
Ancient Elven Ruins deck is mixed in.
And thank you!!
Personally, I would really like to see you solo journal one of your sessions. I think it would be immensely helpful for ideas and thoughts in trying to formulate my own design of journaling. Any suggestions or guidance would be much appreciated.
I will put that in the queue! I am currently about to begin another solo campaign. After that, I may just try a journal campaign! Thank you!
Hey magehammer. You mentioned teaching creative writing. I'd like to pick your brain on something because it's something I'd like to improve on. Do you have any recommendations on a really good book or video series that teaches the fundamentals of grammar? Like when to use a comma and how to make your sentence structure more universally appealing. (If that makes sense.) I have looked and the ones I always find are too basic and not for native speakers. Thanks for your time.
Great video btw. I really like the idea of solo playing without an oracle. I'm going to have to mess around with that.
Hello! I really like this site and have used it with my English Language Arts students over the years. I like it because you can practice usage, and it will explain why you got it right or wrong. Hope it helps: alt.content.bris.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/courses/Study_Skills/grammar-and-punctuation/index.html?source_domain=www.ole.bris.ac.uk#/
Thank you very much. I'm taking a look at it now and it seems to be exactly what I was looking for. I went straight the the section on style haha. This is really great.
Excellent! Glad it is what you were looking for!!
In solo play, what would you find most important, player character agency focused rules, or rules for the generation of things happening to the character?
I think both have a role to play. Why choose one as more important?
@@magehammersgametable maybe agency isn't the word I'm going for.
I've noticed some games, like DND, tend to put focus on whoever is taking action, so when enemies are attacking me the focus is on them from a rules/dice mechanics viewpoint, unless I get a saving throw.
But other games like Palladium and Gurps put emphasis on both sides of a conflict.
At least one game comes to mind, the Saga system which was used for Dragonlance 5th Age, puts all the emphasis on the players for both attacks and defense. This keeps it feeling like the player is in the spotlight.
The few times I've ever tried solo RPG play in DND with a group of PCs it always felt slower around combat than normal with a group of players feeding off each other's energy.
@@bugslayerprime7674 My Six Dice Fantasy game has the defender roll Defense dice to reduce the incoming damage from an attacker. For that game, one of my design goals was to give a player something to do when they are being attacked. And that goal was a direct reaction to D&D and its many clones. I felt as you feel that the defender should do something instead of waiting until their turn to do something.
There are several RPGs out there where the GM doesn't roll any attacks and the players roll all the dice. Attack rolls and defense rolls. Have you played any game like that?
For my Delves & Danger game, I went back to the defender that has static defenses because it was the best way to explore a goal of mine which is to eliminate a roll for damage to speed up play.
@@magehammersgametable the only one I've personally played (as a GM) that put all the "rolls" on the players was Saga/Dragonlance. It's actually card based, uses your level to determine hand size, and hand size is your HP. Each hit temporarily reduces your hand size which reduces your options of what card to play.
The problem I have with this "player roll only" is it makes pvp impossible or at least very awkward. However, Dragonlance assumes everyone will be cooperative heroes, so there's no opportunity for pvp.
I've been designing my own game as well for many years, and it's currently in it's final stages of development for the core rules, and I'm turning my eye towards supplements, including a wargame ruleset, which is all about pvp, so I have both attack/damage and deflection rolls.
I look forward to your game’s release! Please let me know when it is available!
i have a rules light you might like .... maybe :)
Oh, yeah...?
@@magehammersgametable .. can i send you an email?