2:27 And one thing to note is that he always asks question that can lead into conflicts, so that's why his story is always engaging. So don't afraid to give your main cast a lot of trouble because the story will be interesting if there's a conflict, whatever big or small.
@@devandevelopments1577 Yes, it can go very wrong indeed. That's why Trevor start the #SimonSucks thing in season 1. But on the other hand it's also makes the story interesting and can engage both the viewer and the player too. Although I notice that Trevor also use some system called bennies which is a system to reroll the dice and it's reset each session making you motivated to continue the story daily. So if you feel your character is in life-threatening danger you can use that kind of system.
Great suggestions and also good points! I think those discussions are REALLY helpful and you gain more insight into how OTHERS play their games. It is my personal belief, that there are always new things you can add to your collection of tools at your personal disposal.
Asking questions for sure is important. I mean, it's a fundamental player (GM and Protagonist) action in any adventure game. I don't always go for the yes/no. I'll set up a temporary random table of 3 or 5 outcomes and then roll on those. Sometimes it's a linear chance, just one die, sometimes it's weighted with a modifier like Mythic's Chaos Factor, but I call it Tension. The least favorable outcomes are balanced against the desired outcomes and then there's the 'oh-didn't think that would happen' outcomes. So like using your door example. "is the door locked" my table would be 1 or 2 No. The door opens easily. 3 Yes it's locked and rusted solid. 4-5 Not locked but there's an odd oil around the keyhole. 6 Yes it's locked and looks like it's been picked before. Takes a little more effort but as you can see, it can inspire more questions and open more threads.
Geek gamer points out in her book "Solo Roleplaying", that asking too many questions can at some point lead to narrative dead ends. The questions don't add NEW pieces to the overall direction of a story. It only adds details. That's the reason she suggests to mainly use common sense and logical consequences. Meaning, you should switch perspective and jump into the role of your character. With the current situation and your chatacter's background - how would he most likely react? Go with this answer. Another book Geek gamers points out in her great book "Solo Game Master's Guide", that when asking too many questions it can at some point lead to narrative dead ends. The questions don't add NEW pieces to the overall direction of a story. It only adds details. That's the reason she suggests to mainly use common sense and logical consequences and only rely on oracle tables, of you need some means of inspiration. Meaning, you should switch perspective and jump into the role of your character. Taking into account the current situation you created as a GM and your chatacter's background: How would your character most likely react? Go with this answer. Another great book is from Tom Scutt named "DM Yourself", where he not only highlights the importance of a detailed background for your character, so you can better ask yourself the above questions suggested by geek gamer, but also underlines the importance of defining some basic behavioural rules for your character. Examples are, if your character REALLY checks all doors for traps, if he is more cautious or moving swiftly through the dungeon. Think about the consequences, if time is a critical factor and the character would first stop and listen at every door, so that he isn't surprised by possible enemies. Write down those behavioural rules. The reason for it: It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between your knowledge as a DM/GM and the knowledge of the character you are playing. You as a gamer taking on the role of the DM might know, that there is a terrifying dragon waiting behind the next door, but your character wouldn't be aware of the fact. Would he REALLY double check on the door and listen for possible clues on enemies or would he be more likely be surprised when he simply opens the door and walks in? That's when you can look at your predefined behavioural rules of your character. Add in your detailed background story! I can highly recommend both books: - "Solo Game Master's Guide" by Geek Gamer - "DM Yourself" by Tom Scutt You can buy a digital copy via DriveThruRPG. I am not getting payed for this nor do I gain any benefits by advertising their work. It was just a great resource for my solo gaming sessions, which I would like to suggest to anyone interested in solo roleplaying. Especially, as I have just pointed out two tidbits from those books, but they offer so much more, that I think they are totally worth buying.
I largely agree with the sentiment of not getting bogged down in superficial detail, however their is a difference between asking questions that allow you the player to visualise the world and asking questions to give the character inside information...if that makes sense. At some point you have to ask questions to fill out the space and a point where you roll with what info you got. I guess that point is just where you are having fun. I'd also push back a little on the developing a detailed back story. I find at the start of a campaign a generic architype of a character is serviceable to get the ball (or dice...hehe) rolling. It's then during play that points of decisions occur which courses the character to change, grow or corrupt in ways I didn't anticipate (which is fun). Basically if the most interesting/dramatic event in a PC's life happened in their back story...why should I care about a less interesting point in their story?
The thing no one talks about is evaluating a question. Even this video contains a bad premise "The reason I ask this question is because dungeons contain a lot of locked doors". Sure, great. But what about the "Not a Chance" questions? When do those come up? I don't really know. There's also something more fundamental about driving the tension through a well defined conflict that is a much more important skill that kills me. Things like, Arn wants to "investigate/test Simon's character" or "How will (current scene) direct Veil's further efforts and opinions of Edbert?" and how the hell that translates into action. Things which questions are harder to give satisfiying even guesses toward and require you actually have an iota of inspiration/creativity (which I do not).
I'm not quite sure what your trying to say but let me try to give you a response: Give yourself more credit. Your probably more creative then you think. Further, in SOLO play the only person's expectations you have to live up to is your own so telling your self you have no creativity only effects...well yourself. To your two main points, I don't use "no chance" rolls very often. Your right, if a task that is so improbable we as players won't even think to ask. And that's ok. But if you do think of it or you want to make a "no chance" roll you can; the tool is there. It's not knowing when to ask questions, it's choosing if you want to ask a question. Second, I recoil a little at the phrase "well defined conflict". While it's fun to have well defined player character and well defined rules, this is a dice game; the "plot" is literary open to a random generation system. The narrative is NOT clearly defined ahead of time, it will not be as focused as a lean tv show, and the only value events will have will be what you ascribe to them. This may sound weird but it offers a unique experience to that of a "defined" film or book can not. In film; when the mentor character dies it's because the narrative requires it and their is an ease for the viewer cos it was meant to be. In my detective RPG; when a witness died on my watch, it wasn't because a well defined plot demanded it, it was because of the choices I as the player had made. For a moment my lizard brain thought I had killed some one. Obviously I hadn't but then I could feed that brief feeling into the character and their choices moving forwards. Let's see a well defined narrative do that.
Trevor is brilliant and his channel is "undersubscribed". Using the Mythic GME is simple enough, but you're right, it's all about the quality of the questions you ask, which determines the "quality" of the yes or no answer you get. :) I struggle some with a problem you reveal with the locked door example. "Is the door locked?" No. "Okay, I open it, what do I see?" Mythic is no help, and if I simply answer from my own imagination I don't get surprise. So now I need a generator instead of an oracle.
With Mythic, the surprise comes from "Chaos" and the dice. "I open it, what do I see?" is the wrong question. You always go in with expectations in mind. What do you EXPECT to see? Always follow your expectations until Mythic throws a curveball. Roll doubles in which one digit is at Chaos factor or under, and now you modify or completely replace your expectations. SURPRISE! This is where tables can come in handy.
2:27
And one thing to note is that he always asks question that can lead into conflicts, so that's why his story is always engaging. So don't afraid to give your main cast a lot of trouble because the story will be interesting if there's a conflict, whatever big or small.
Amen, but the real hard thing with diving head long into that conflict is working with the dice rolls when they go wrong. Some times Very Wrong
@@devandevelopments1577 Yes, it can go very wrong indeed. That's why Trevor start the #SimonSucks thing in season 1. But on the other hand it's also makes the story interesting and can engage both the viewer and the player too. Although I notice that Trevor also use some system called bennies which is a system to reroll the dice and it's reset each session making you motivated to continue the story daily. So if you feel your character is in life-threatening danger you can use that kind of system.
Great suggestions and also good points! I think those discussions are REALLY helpful and you gain more insight into how OTHERS play their games. It is my personal belief, that there are always new things you can add to your collection of tools at your personal disposal.
Great video! Me Myself & Die is awesome!
Trevor is from Texas. He said it in one of his videos when he was talking about moving.
Cool. I couldn't remember at the time.
Asking questions for sure is important. I mean, it's a fundamental player (GM and Protagonist) action in any adventure game. I don't always go for the yes/no. I'll set up a temporary random table of 3 or 5 outcomes and then roll on those. Sometimes it's a linear chance, just one die, sometimes it's weighted with a modifier like Mythic's Chaos Factor, but I call it Tension. The least favorable outcomes are balanced against the desired outcomes and then there's the 'oh-didn't think that would happen' outcomes. So like using your door example. "is the door locked" my table would be
1 or 2 No. The door opens easily.
3 Yes it's locked and rusted solid.
4-5 Not locked but there's an odd oil around the keyhole.
6 Yes it's locked and looks like it's been picked before.
Takes a little more effort but as you can see, it can inspire more questions and open more threads.
Thanks for the video!
Geek gamer points out in her book "Solo Roleplaying", that asking too many questions can at some point lead to narrative dead ends. The questions don't add NEW pieces to the overall direction of a story. It only adds details. That's the reason she suggests to mainly use common sense and logical consequences. Meaning, you should switch perspective and jump into the role of your character. With the current situation and your chatacter's background - how would he most likely react? Go with this answer. Another book
Geek gamers points out in her great book "Solo Game Master's Guide", that when asking too many questions it can at some point lead to narrative dead ends. The questions don't add NEW pieces to the overall direction of a story. It only adds details. That's the reason she suggests to mainly use common sense and logical consequences and only rely on oracle tables, of you need some means of inspiration. Meaning, you should switch perspective and jump into the role of your character. Taking into account the current situation you created as a GM and your chatacter's background: How would your character most likely react? Go with this answer.
Another great book is from Tom Scutt named "DM Yourself", where he not only highlights the importance of a detailed background for your character, so you can better ask yourself the above questions suggested by geek gamer, but also underlines the importance of defining some basic behavioural rules for your character. Examples are, if your character REALLY checks all doors for traps, if he is more cautious or moving swiftly through the dungeon. Think about the consequences, if time is a critical factor and the character would first stop and listen at every door, so that he isn't surprised by possible enemies. Write down those behavioural rules. The reason for it: It is sometimes difficult to differentiate between your knowledge as a DM/GM and the knowledge of the character you are playing. You as a gamer taking on the role of the DM might know, that there is a terrifying dragon waiting behind the next door, but your character wouldn't be aware of the fact. Would he REALLY double check on the door and listen for possible clues on enemies or would he be more likely be surprised when he simply opens the door and walks in? That's when you can look at your predefined behavioural rules of your character. Add in your detailed background story!
I can highly recommend both books:
- "Solo Game Master's Guide" by Geek Gamer
- "DM Yourself" by Tom Scutt
You can buy a digital copy via DriveThruRPG. I am not getting payed for this nor do I gain any benefits by advertising their work. It was just a great resource for my solo gaming sessions, which I would like to suggest to anyone interested in solo roleplaying. Especially, as I have just pointed out two tidbits from those books, but they offer so much more, that I think they are totally worth buying.
I largely agree with the sentiment of not getting bogged down in superficial detail, however their is a difference between asking questions that allow you the player to visualise the world and asking questions to give the character inside information...if that makes sense. At some point you have to ask questions to fill out the space and a point where you roll with what info you got. I guess that point is just where you are having fun.
I'd also push back a little on the developing a detailed back story. I find at the start of a campaign a generic architype of a character is serviceable to get the ball (or dice...hehe) rolling. It's then during play that points of decisions occur which courses the character to change, grow or corrupt in ways I didn't anticipate (which is fun). Basically if the most interesting/dramatic event in a PC's life happened in their back story...why should I care about a less interesting point in their story?
Well spoken!
The thing no one talks about is evaluating a question. Even this video contains a bad premise "The reason I ask this question is because dungeons contain a lot of locked doors". Sure, great. But what about the "Not a Chance" questions? When do those come up? I don't really know.
There's also something more fundamental about driving the tension through a well defined conflict that is a much more important skill that kills me. Things like, Arn wants to "investigate/test Simon's character" or "How will (current scene) direct Veil's further efforts and opinions of Edbert?" and how the hell that translates into action. Things which questions are harder to give satisfiying even guesses toward and require you actually have an iota of inspiration/creativity (which I do not).
I'm not quite sure what your trying to say but let me try to give you a response:
Give yourself more credit. Your probably more creative then you think. Further, in SOLO play the only person's expectations you have to live up to is your own so telling your self you have no creativity only effects...well yourself.
To your two main points, I don't use "no chance" rolls very often. Your right, if a task that is so improbable we as players won't even think to ask. And that's ok. But if you do think of it or you want to make a "no chance" roll you can; the tool is there. It's not knowing when to ask questions, it's choosing if you want to ask a question.
Second, I recoil a little at the phrase "well defined conflict". While it's fun to have well defined player character and well defined rules, this is a dice game; the "plot" is literary open to a random generation system. The narrative is NOT clearly defined ahead of time, it will not be as focused as a lean tv show, and the only value events will have will be what you ascribe to them.
This may sound weird but it offers a unique experience to that of a "defined" film or book can not. In film; when the mentor character dies it's because the narrative requires it and their is an ease for the viewer cos it was meant to be. In my detective RPG; when a witness died on my watch, it wasn't because a well defined plot demanded it, it was because of the choices I as the player had made. For a moment my lizard brain thought I had killed some one. Obviously I hadn't but then I could feed that brief feeling into the character and their choices moving forwards. Let's see a well defined narrative do that.
Trevor is brilliant and his channel is "undersubscribed".
Using the Mythic GME is simple enough, but you're right, it's all about the quality of the questions you ask, which determines the "quality" of the yes or no answer you get. :)
I struggle some with a problem you reveal with the locked door example. "Is the door locked?" No. "Okay, I open it, what do I see?" Mythic is no help, and if I simply answer from my own imagination I don't get surprise. So now I need a generator instead of an oracle.
With Mythic, the surprise comes from "Chaos" and the dice. "I open it, what do I see?" is the wrong question. You always go in with expectations in mind. What do you EXPECT to see? Always follow your expectations until Mythic throws a curveball. Roll doubles in which one digit is at Chaos factor or under, and now you modify or completely replace your expectations. SURPRISE! This is where tables can come in handy.