Solo Game Master's Guide now in Paperback! order from Amazon: shorturl.at/vFMQ2 order from Modiphius: shorturl.at/npsL1 order from Modiphus UK: shorturl.at/kqsMN Get RANDOM HEXCRAWL book: tinyurl.com/5cj3d4jc Get RANDOM DUNGEONS book: lfosr.com/product/a-place-underground/ Enjoying this content? You can support the channel by donating on PayPal: paypal.me/geekgamersDeborah
I have two solo campaigns in planning, based on your videos: Scarlet Heroes, where a novice mage apprentice is searching for his late master’s Artefact, where it will be created in parallel with each mission; and Forbidden Lands, using the Organic Towns Kickstarter. Love your material!
Great advice, as usual. Although I have and would use Forbidden Lands, I would follow your advice here with any system, as you mentioned it could be applied. I love solo play, as it really works my "author mind". Your advice here, for example, is a good mental exercise at plot building and character creation. Your approach of creating a setting with conflicts in play before creating and introducing characters makes sense and tickles my fancy to roll some dice!
Hi! Twilight 2000 4th edition from free league publishing has included rules and concepts for solo play for the T2k setting, the rules are also useful for anyone wondering about how to set up such a game type for most any pen and paper rpg.
Great stuff. My personal tip for Solo RPG is to remember everything in front of you (rule sets , dice , lore, map, character sheets) are tools to help you create story and gameplay. And like any tools, they are there to serve the users so don’t be afraid to use them in any way you see fit, even if it means modifying the tools. A large part of the Solo RPG fun for me is to discover how to use these tools more efficiently. I.e. an inventory sheet on its own is boring, how about introduce a rule so that you always have to risk your items when rolling a challenge, that way you will introduce tension and dilemma where inventory tracking itself becomes the tool to drive story forward. (A Torch in the Dark did that superbly if anyone is interested to see how to turn boring inventory tracking to an excellent story creating tool)
Any video from you is insta-watch. I love your channel! And your solo-tips are always interesting, I hope to overcome my nervousness and start it one day!
Been running my own solo RPG for a few months now. I'm using the B/X ruleset along with the DMG and another tool to auto generate local settings. For example I generate a village with random buildings, characters and some random "drama" taking place. Then I generate a random quest or quests with objectives to defeat the baddies impacting the village. For the quest details I use the 1E DMG to generate a dungeon and trimmings. For all the rest of the role-play interactions, I just roll chance die for outcome. So far it has been working pretty well.
Hi! What tool are you using to "auto generate local settings. For example I generate a village with random buildings, characters and some random "drama" taking place." etc? It sounds interesting.
@FaeKitty I'm using a free PDF called, "Old School Encounters Reference". I have it printed and spiral bound. It has lots of tools for generating random wilderness and town stuff, names and descriptors for the locals. It can even generate quests and quest hooks for you.
Great video! I am a long-time tabletop RPG player ( since 1980 ) and I have played solo off and on the whole time. I only recently discovered your channel searching for reviews etc. on Forbidden Lands. I have since bought the game and am now playing. Great game! Really enjoy your take on solo gaming, keep up the great work.
Leaving the door open to imagination is the main theme that runs throughout your content, and it's the single greatest take-away. Using whatever materials you have as a springboard, have confidence in your creative mind to do the rest. No need to wait until you acquire X resource... It is wholly feasible that one could create an entire campaign with no external props at all. What is the conflict in this story? Close your eyes, spin around, and open them--what's the first thing you see? A woodpecker on a tree... What could that mean? Environmental destruction jeopardizing a tribal nation's survival, flocks of giant ravenous birds suddenly descending upon a town, a forest of sorcerous treefolk with bird familiars plotting and scheming across an entire continent... There's no limit. If you're tentative and waiting until you feel ready, cut loose and start without your ducks in a row. Play it fast and loose and call it a "practice session". You'll be amazed by what's possible if you let your imagination off the chain.
Such wonderful advice on character creation! Usually its create a character and then try to fit them into your world. This way a lot of the background work is already done making it so much easier to fill in the gaps. Seeing that map and the hexes I’m also getting ideas of using the D100 world builder as a tool for exploration and location development. Thanks so much for sharing 😊
This is a wonderful video. Most of my solo play has been working through published adventures. This is very helpful to get started creating the adventure from scratch.
I definitely found these tips helpful, and realized that some of them I'd already been doing unconsciously in my Starforged play. Some of that might be due to the system itself - creating the "world" that the game is set in defines a setting that informs individual stories, and that in turn suggested to me what kind of character I wanted to use. Ultimately the group gained three new PCs, each had been a contact, "quest-giver" or even in one case someone originally designed as an obstacle to the main PC's goals. But the way the rolls went as play went on, each became more than just a supporting character and really took on the role of a central part of the story.
Thank you so much for this video! I just purchased Forbidden Lands and want to play solo as well as with my son. The way you present the information and film the video it is so clear and concise. Great job and happy to have subscribed to you.
Once again, thank you for another excellent (and informative) video. I'm really looking forward to getting more details about your upcoming solo RPG book! That sounds amazing!!
Great video. Have you looked at the steps of the hero’s journey (Joseph Campbell) - they have some great events (like appearance of a mentor etc) that could make for great steps for rpgers as they loook for the next step. These are the steps that happen in an adventure novel of course
Sometimes my algorithm hides your new stuff from me for a bit. Always glad when you come back around (Gaming channels have same-name syndrome, and I am scatterbrained) you have a solid approach to the way you game and I appreciate seeing your methodology. Both helpful and interesting. Thanks for sharing!
I find this advice super helpful even for GMed gameplay, as I often try to plat more collaboratively. Awesome like every other video you produce! Tysm! You should also def check the Apocalypse Oracle solo engine! It pairs super well with ICRPG or Dungeon World and I would love to see you play/comment on the latter 💖
I've found that when using OSR rules, my characters die so easily that spending a bit less time on all of these steps and quickly thrusting them into a simple one-shot is the thing that keeps things moving. Too much back-story, too much lore, too much of anything... then they get wrecked by some dogs and I'm disheartened to start the process over. I guess what I'd say is that if you're using a more modern ruleset that is more forgiving in terms of HP and aims to foster growth, then it makes sense to do more world-building because you will see the characters move to higher levels. No idea if this will be helpful to anyone but honestly, less is more in a lot of cases (learned this from the Lazy Dungeon Master's Guide). I'm going to try your "environment first" approach next time :)
I see that as a perspective. For me, even if the character dies I like knowing a lot about him. Really depends on what, as a player, you’re looking for. That’s what makes solo RPG so great. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Appreciate your tips and guides. I am just started getting into solo RPG and I am torn between Symbaroum (love the dark settings) and Forbidden Lands (solo friendly as mentioned). Which one is a good start ?
They are both great. FL will be easier in the sense of it being a more conventional fantasy theme... with Symbaroum you’ll need to invest some time reading the source material to get the most out of it. It’s worth it but perhaps more of a barrier to entry
Seriously, when you are going to launch a brand line of crochet hooks as a channel merchandise? A crochet hook acts as a pointer, a movement tool, a measuring stick, a bookmark, a page turning assist and more.
I wanna play solo the star wars games ... d6 , d20 e FFG , any insights ??? fantasy has so many tools to use , but sci-fi if has these tools i not aware , sorry , my english is not that good!!!
Solo Game Master's Guide now in Paperback!
order from Amazon: shorturl.at/vFMQ2
order from Modiphius: shorturl.at/npsL1
order from Modiphus UK: shorturl.at/kqsMN
Get RANDOM HEXCRAWL book: tinyurl.com/5cj3d4jc
Get RANDOM DUNGEONS book: lfosr.com/product/a-place-underground/
Enjoying this content? You can support the channel by donating on PayPal: paypal.me/geekgamersDeborah
This is great, thank you! Hoping to explore more solo RPG stuff next year.
I have two solo campaigns in planning, based on your videos:
Scarlet Heroes, where a novice mage apprentice is searching for his late master’s Artefact, where it will be created in parallel with each mission; and
Forbidden Lands, using the Organic Towns Kickstarter.
Love your material!
Oh that’s great to hear! Glad the channel is helping you be so productive.
Great advice, as usual. Although I have and would use Forbidden Lands, I would follow your advice here with any system, as you mentioned it could be applied. I love solo play, as it really works my "author mind". Your advice here, for example, is a good mental exercise at plot building and character creation. Your approach of creating a setting with conflicts in play before creating and introducing characters makes sense and tickles my fancy to roll some dice!
Hi! Twilight 2000 4th edition from free league publishing has included rules and concepts for solo play for the T2k setting, the rules are also useful for anyone wondering about how to set up such a game type for most any pen and paper rpg.
I have the digital files of that game but haven’t had a chance to look at them yet
Hi! do you have a link to the Twilight 2000 solo play? Thanks!
Great stuff. My personal tip for Solo RPG is to remember everything in front of you (rule sets , dice , lore, map, character sheets) are tools to help you create story and gameplay.
And like any tools, they are there to serve the users so don’t be afraid to use them in any way you see fit, even if it means modifying the tools.
A large part of the Solo RPG fun for me is to discover how to use these tools more efficiently. I.e. an inventory sheet on its own is boring, how about introduce a rule so that you always have to risk your items when rolling a challenge, that way you will introduce tension and dilemma where inventory tracking itself becomes the tool to drive story forward. (A Torch in the Dark did that superbly if anyone is interested to see how to turn boring inventory tracking to an excellent story creating tool)
That’s a great suggestion and thanks for the comment.
Brilliant content as always.
Any video from you is insta-watch. I love your channel! And your solo-tips are always interesting, I hope to overcome my nervousness and start it one day!
Ah so sweet! I really appreciate your comment and I do hope you try it some day!
Been running my own solo RPG for a few months now. I'm using the B/X ruleset along with the DMG and another tool to auto generate local settings. For example I generate a village with random buildings, characters and some random "drama" taking place. Then I generate a random quest or quests with objectives to defeat the baddies impacting the village. For the quest details I use the 1E DMG to generate a dungeon and trimmings. For all the rest of the role-play interactions, I just roll chance die for outcome.
So far it has been working pretty well.
That sounds like a great way to go and it must be working if you’ve kept the story going for so long. That’s really great.
Hi! What tool are you using to "auto generate local settings. For example I generate a village with random buildings, characters and some random "drama" taking place." etc? It sounds interesting.
The appendices from 1E AD&D really are a Godsend, I recommend anyone to have a look at them if you have the DMG at hand.
@FaeKitty
I'm using a free PDF called, "Old School Encounters Reference". I have it printed and spiral bound. It has lots of tools for generating random wilderness and town stuff, names and descriptors for the locals. It can even generate quests and quest hooks for you.
Great video! I am a long-time tabletop RPG player ( since 1980 ) and I have played solo off and on the whole time. I only recently discovered your channel searching for reviews etc. on Forbidden Lands.
I have since bought the game and am now playing. Great game! Really enjoy your take on solo gaming, keep up the great work.
Thanks so much for letting me know. It's always great to hear long-time RPGers finding something interesting in solo RPG.
Leaving the door open to imagination is the main theme that runs throughout your content, and it's the single greatest take-away. Using whatever materials you have as a springboard, have confidence in your creative mind to do the rest.
No need to wait until you acquire X resource... It is wholly feasible that one could create an entire campaign with no external props at all.
What is the conflict in this story? Close your eyes, spin around, and open them--what's the first thing you see? A woodpecker on a tree... What could that mean? Environmental destruction jeopardizing a tribal nation's survival, flocks of giant ravenous birds suddenly descending upon a town, a forest of sorcerous treefolk with bird familiars plotting and scheming across an entire continent...
There's no limit. If you're tentative and waiting until you feel ready, cut loose and start without your ducks in a row. Play it fast and loose and call it a "practice session". You'll be amazed by what's possible if you let your imagination off the chain.
Such wonderful advice on character creation! Usually its create a character and then try to fit them into your world. This way a lot of the background work is already done making it so much easier to fill in the gaps. Seeing that map and the hexes I’m also getting ideas of using the D100 world builder as a tool for exploration and location development. Thanks so much for sharing 😊
Thanks so much for the comment and using the d100 world builder that way would be great.
This is a wonderful video. Most of my solo play has been working through published adventures. This is very helpful to get started creating the adventure from scratch.
I definitely found these tips helpful, and realized that some of them I'd already been doing unconsciously in my Starforged play. Some of that might be due to the system itself - creating the "world" that the game is set in defines a setting that informs individual stories, and that in turn suggested to me what kind of character I wanted to use. Ultimately the group gained three new PCs, each had been a contact, "quest-giver" or even in one case someone originally designed as an obstacle to the main PC's goals. But the way the rolls went as play went on, each became more than just a supporting character and really took on the role of a central part of the story.
Thank you so much for making these videos!
Great video. Full of useful Information. Look forward to every video you put out.
Great video and advice - thank you for sharing your thoughts and learnings.
Thank you so much for this video! I just purchased Forbidden Lands and want to play solo as well as with my son. The way you present the information and film the video it is so clear and concise. Great job and happy to have subscribed to you.
So glad you enjoyed this video. Forbidden Lands is wonderful to play with kids-I have done so many times.
I am definitely getting Forbidden lands. I have had so much fun discovering all these different systems.
Once again, thank you for another excellent (and informative) video. I'm really looking forward to getting more details about your upcoming solo RPG book! That sounds amazing!!
Thanks so much! Details coming soon…
Great video, and very useful insights - thank you for all your content :)
An excellent video and some really good advice. Thank you for sharing it.
Really nice advice video, thank you for making this!
Excellent general advice for setting up a plot rich story setting
First to the comments!!…..love your content!
Very informative about how to solo game and seeing various RPG games.
Thank you so much! I really appreciate hearing that and thanks for watching.
So helpful. Thanks!
Great video. Have you looked at the steps of the hero’s journey (Joseph Campbell) - they have some great events (like appearance of a mentor etc) that could make for great steps for rpgers as they loook for the next step. These are the steps that happen in an adventure novel of course
Yes I Campbell is a classic and I discuss him in my SOLO GAME MASTER’S GUIDE. Glad you enjoyed the vid.
Wonderful advice, as usual!
Great game system. I just ordered it after watching your video. Thanks.
I hope you enjoy it! It is great.
Sometimes my algorithm hides your new stuff from me for a bit. Always glad when you come back around (Gaming channels have same-name syndrome, and I am scatterbrained) you have a solid approach to the way you game and I appreciate seeing your methodology. Both helpful and interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Add geekgamers to your search text, easy enough.
great ideas and examples thank you!
A really helpful video. Thanks so much.
This is so helpful. I would love you to do this exact same format for symbaroum. Take care and have a great day! Michael
I’ve been thinking of doing something like that. Thx for the comment & glad you enjoyed it. Will revisit this idea. Stay tuned!
Do you document/journal your adventure? And if so what method do you use?
I have a bunch of notebooks related to my soloing and also the channel where I keep records of sessions, video ideas, etc
I find this advice super helpful even for GMed gameplay, as I often try to plat more collaboratively. Awesome like every other video you produce! Tysm!
You should also def check the Apocalypse Oracle solo engine! It pairs super well with ICRPG or Dungeon World and I would love to see you play/comment on the latter 💖
Glad you enjoyed the vid. I've used the Apocalypse Oracle a little in a video (but I'm sorry to say, I can't recall which vid!)
@@GeekGamers01 I'll just binge your channel til' I find it (? haha tysm again for your content!
I've found that when using OSR rules, my characters die so easily that spending a bit less time on all of these steps and quickly thrusting them into a simple one-shot is the thing that keeps things moving. Too much back-story, too much lore, too much of anything... then they get wrecked by some dogs and I'm disheartened to start the process over. I guess what I'd say is that if you're using a more modern ruleset that is more forgiving in terms of HP and aims to foster growth, then it makes sense to do more world-building because you will see the characters move to higher levels. No idea if this will be helpful to anyone but honestly, less is more in a lot of cases (learned this from the Lazy Dungeon Master's Guide). I'm going to try your "environment first" approach next time :)
I see that as a perspective. For me, even if the character dies I like knowing a lot about him. Really depends on what, as a player, you’re looking for. That’s what makes solo RPG so great. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Appreciate your tips and guides. I am just started getting into solo RPG and I am torn between Symbaroum (love the dark settings) and Forbidden Lands (solo friendly as mentioned). Which one is a good start ?
They are both great. FL will be easier in the sense of it being a more conventional fantasy theme... with Symbaroum you’ll need to invest some time reading the source material to get the most out of it. It’s worth it but perhaps more of a barrier to entry
@@GeekGamers01 Thanks ! I will try out FL first.
@@YungJie Let me know how it goes!
@@GeekGamers01 Will do. Might take some time to setup and such.
Seriously, when you are going to launch a brand line of crochet hooks as a channel merchandise? A crochet hook acts as a pointer, a movement tool, a measuring stick, a bookmark, a page turning assist and more.
This suggestion has been floated... maybe some day. In the meantime, keep a look out for some books I have forthcoming in 2021
Sounds like a lot of work and little payoff in terms of interaction.
That’s why I prefer ttrpgs like Scarlet heroes where you don’t have to juggle with multiple books to have a good solo experience
@@dinkleberg684 never heard of SH but I downloaded the pdf and it seems well written.
All solo rpg tips videos are a waste of time. Just watch someone play an actual solo rpg session.
I wanna play solo the star wars games ... d6 , d20 e FFG , any insights ??? fantasy has so many tools to use , but sci-fi if has these tools i not aware , sorry , my english is not that good!!!
Perhaps Stars Without Number would have random tables that could be of use