Easy and cheap fantasy RPG rules for solo play
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 มิ.ย. 2024
- So much to play! How to start??!! 4 easy and cheap fantasy rulesets for solo RPG sessions
get SOLO GAME MASTER'S GUIDE:
US customers: tinyurl.com/yckpsrxe
UK customers: tinyurl.com/ykarakda
get WANDERINGS: tinyurl.com/5cj3d4jc
vids mentioned:
Creating story in solo RPG: • Creating Story in Solo...
Solo RPG tutorial: • Solo RPG tutorial (the...
NPCs in solo RPGs: • NPCs in solo d&d
See also: Easy and cheap fantasy rules playlist for individual vids on the rules mentioned in this vid
#solorpg #geekgamers #fantasyrules - เกม
Help support the channel:
Donating: paypal.me/geekgamersDeborah
Get SOLO GAME MASTER'S GUIDE:
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
Hey, thanks for the kind words about Basic Fantasy RPG! Much appreciated!
Thank YOU for offering so much to the RPG community!
You play solo? What oracle do you use?
Yo an actually well structured presentation without useless platitudes in an RPG channel? SUBBED
there’s another method that works, and that is “the fog of war” concept; meaning you don’t know what’s ahead because you’re mapping as you go. tables permit some control over the unknown circumstances based on environment, but only enough to guide you (town, forest, grasslands etc.)
Thank you for reminding what I already have on my shelf. I have much more confidence now than when I first began watching your videos and now starting to solo play.
Shane Ellswood So great to hear, on both counts. Thanks for watching!
I’m definitely becoming more of a solo gamer and dipping toes in rpg realms. I think 4AD and D100 has greatly helped me get in that direction because of no board, so your imagination starts to work. The Scarlet Heroes system maybe what I go to. Even if I didn’t play it, reading it sounds fascinating
Ironsworn was my first experience in solo play. Found it very easy to use and love it so much that I'll be using that system for a solo Tales of the Demon Lord game. Going to have to check out Scarlet Heroes too. Can never have enough solo tools. Thanks for the helpful video!
Glad you enjoyed and yes Ironsworn is fabulous. I have yet to use it as a tool in other games but that is on my list of things to do...
@@GeekGamers01 I'm so interested in that video.
Thank you for the great overview 😄 when you said "if you like character creation ..." I thought "... make your monster more deadly" 😆😅
Me and my friends used to play in the 80's. I have been wanting to play again but have no one to play with. Thank you for the information!
Enjoy! It’s not the same as playing with friends but offers a lot in its differences.
every solo game that i create uses (d10)’s. the primary purpose for these dice permits true percentages + a truly random rolling ability. there is some difficulty generating the percentages but they are precise in nature.
Basic Fantasy's the reason i got into solo ttrpgs and ttrpgs in earnest in the first place whilst 5e kept me in it for non-solo reasons and now im being a gm w/ an existing adventure using 5e.
Cool video, great suggestions. My number one solo tool has got to be Maze Rats... a 30 page pamphlet, lite rpg that is mainly random tables to generate ideas, and it basically has everything you need as far as types of tables. They may not be exhaustive, each table is essentially a d66, but it’s all there in a little package. I always have it near whether I’m using the system or not (its a very good, clean system) if only to roll up something quick. And the spell system is very cool and evocative: roll up two words, put them together and there’s your spell. Love it.
drawcomics Great suggestion. I have heard of that but didn’t realize it was quite that. Will look into it.
Just last night I watched a bunch of your videos on solo rpg's and seeing a new one today is awesome! Love your videos, keep up the great work!
Trevor Porter Thanks so much and that’s great to hear. Much appreciated.
Another excellent video, thank you. It was good to see you reference Scarlet Heroes. I use it, or a variant of its rule set, for 90% of my solo RPG gaming. It’s an awesome set of solo rules. I don’t use SC itself but the solo rules provide an excellent framework to play the games I love. I’ve turned the urban adventures to Warhammer Fantasy and even Traveller sci fi RPG. They’re that versatile with a little imagination (something gamers have in abundance).
If you are looking to ideas for upcoming videos, I would be very interested in seeing a video on Dungeon World as I was toying with the idea of picking it up. That said, I always enjoy what you post,
Andy Simmons Yes great point about the WQ material. I’ve done vids on it and probably also used the SH tables. Also I have done a Dungeon World vid already. Will post link when I can or just search geek gamers +dungeon world
Great, timely video during the lockdown. Need to go through Scarlet Heroes solo, as I got side tracked by Starfinder.
Guillaume Pages Thanks. Yes I felt this might be appropriate for folks sitting around maybe bored with their board games...
just immediately subscribed. Amazing videos you have online. Watched your Scarlet Heroes video first, now this one. Binging :) Thanks for making these videos...
Thank you for saying they are binge worthy ;)
Glad you are enjoying the content. More RPG goodness to come, I promise.
Excellent video! It’s so nice to watch your videos again - I’ve missed them, and your mother’s famous crochet hook pointer. The pandemic plus a few difficult circumstances waylaid my gaming for too long.
Glad to know you are able to watch again and thank for the love for my moms crochet hook. She passed away since I started the channel so it’s even more important to me now.
When everyone started to ask me to be a game-master, I did solo-play all the time. I was a popular game-master because I ejected players who diverged from lawful-good role-playing. And then I got a job and a girlfriend.
Three years later we have Harper’s Quest 2 to really streamline getting into solo play!
I would truly like to see a video from you on the Savage Worlds RPG. Yes, there are several videos on it already, most notably a series from Trevor Devall with his Me, Myself and Die! channel. But it would be great to see a different take on it. Just a thought.
Keith Mathews Thanks for the comment and suggestion. It’s on the (ever growing) list
@@GeekGamers01 Excellent :)
I use Pathfinder 1e because its my favorite system. It's definitely not designed for solo play, but it works well for me, especially since I have a lot of the splat books which unlike DnD 5e actually do give a lot of tools to use for hexcrawls and dungeon crawls, and building NPCs. I also use some rules and inspiration from Basic DnD, as well as some of my own stuff.
I can't say I would recommend it to someone looking for a solo system, but I absolutely enjoy it and its my system of choice for a solo RPG
Thanks for a great video again. I need to get those "Treasure awaits" game-books. I love pre-programmed adventures. Take care in these crazy, unusual times.
Kent H You too, Kent, and thanks for being such a loyal viewer. If you like preprogrammed stuff definitely do look into these as you will probably like them.
Kent H See comment above just left by someone else. Precis is offering Treature Awaits on a sale on their site.
I so appreciate your videos, I struggled with my own solo system years ago but I abandoned it
Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you are finding use in the vids.
Would be interested in more videos about Ancient Odysseys and learning more about the game. Some of your other content that I've really liked in the past is where you take novels and literature to kind of help you create the world or background for an adventure. Would be interested in more videos about that, too.
Thank you so much for the suggestion and comment. I will think about how I could do that or show that beyond just putting a book or books back into a vid.
I'd definitely take out Ancient Odysseys again. It's a cool and fun system to use.
Great stuff! Thank You for doing this. Just ordered Scarlet Heroes and Ancient Odyssey (both books). Mostly a historical wargamer and baseball sim person (both almost exclusively solo), but looking to broaden my gaming interests. Introductory solo RPG was exactly what I was hoping for. Thank you again.
So glad you enjoyed the vid & I hope some others on the channels will be useful too.
I've been watching quite a lot of them this last week. Great stuff.
Couple questions though..
Can Scarlet Heroes be used in conjunction with the old D&D Basic pre done adventure modules (Keep on the Borderland, Isle of Dread, etc)?
Secondly, do these publishers, for these rules sets, publish their own pre programed adventure modules? Thanks for all your great work!
Glad you are enjoying the content. I haven’t been keeping up with Scarlet Heroes to know what has been released but I would go to the main website for it to see. My memory is that there is a lot of fan-made content (at the least) and perhaps some of that would be modules-but I don’t know.
As to using KEEP or any other pride d&d module… that could work I would imagine- again bearing in mind all the things you’d need to do to translate a module for solo play….
Doing a general vid about those issues has been on my mind for a while….
You could also check out Goodman Games’ (re)publication of d&d modules with the original * the modules redone for 5e-meaning they would also work with something like Old School Essentials if you went that way.
This is another vid on my long list….hope this helps & thx for watching.
PS: I just looked up to find some "Adventure Anthologies" for Scarlet Heroes... these are collections of short modules for the system.
Thank You so much for pointing me in the right direction!
I just started playing Scarlet Heroes , I hesitated because of the price but I'm glad I picked it up...thanks for your first video on the game, it got me off the fence. If anyone is interested in the More Treasure Awaits supplement for Ancient Odysseys and want the printed version, the precis intermedia website has a sale on it in the promotions>clearance section. It is half price, but "scratch and dent". The one I received was shipped promptly and looks good as new, maybe some slight yellowing of the pages (printed in 2013).
Chris M. hey there thanks for the comment and the pointer for folks toward the Treasure Awaits material. I’m glad you found my Scarlet Heroes vid to be of use. With that book and an interest in doing more solo RPGing I’m sure you will be turning to it’s random tables in the future even if not playing it’s rules.
This is a good video and I think the nest logical conclusion is easy and cheap non-fantasy rulesets.
Psyga315 Thanks and yes you are right but I’m not sure my knowledge is great enough to make that vid
Love these videos. Something that feels a bit intimidating is approachable now for m.
Well what a nice comment to read. Thanks!
Great video as always! Just a side question, do you, like I do, listen to music to match the theme of what you're playing? As in medieval bard music I find is particularly nice for adventuring 😁 if you do, any suggestions?
Great question and yes I absolutely do. Afraid I just hit up google with some relevant terms and see what I get on YT so I can't offer any suggestions...
Thanks for the videos. I am using a solo low level dungeon crawl with Fantasy Grounds (very expensive solution) to learn how to use FG.
Have you tried Tiny Dungeon? The mechanics are super simple.
This is a great list with easily affordable fantasy rpgs. I currently have Basic Fantasy as my starter since I previously had Dungeon World but not anymore.
Daniel Mendoza Thanks. Glad you enjoyed.
This looks pretty darn neato.
There are very light universal rule sets that could be used along with a 1d6 as your yes/no oracle. So1um Expanded Edition is a free rule set that also includes instructions to get going soloing with the 1d6 oracle. This would be for the beginner & it's what I used going from never played a RPG to actually trying stuff out & actually playing as much as I could.
Maul xx Thanks for mentioning this ruleset which I have not heard of. I will look it up!
Thanks for the Great video on Starting Solo RPG's. Some suggestions i might offer: Try looking at Mythic Game Master Emulator, the Conjectural Roleplaying GM Emulator, Perilous Intersections, v. 1.0, and The Covetous Poet's Adventure Creator and Solo GM Guidebook. I believe these are all on DrivethruRPG.
Also other beginner friendly soloRPGs:
Bivius RPG.
USR 2.0 (Unbelievably Simple Roleplaying).
"3Deep" (2nd Edition).
Modiphius Freeway Warrior 3: The Omega Zone Solo RPG Book.
plot ARMOR is a roleplaying game in which you play the PROTAGONIST of a mecha-anime.
The Artefact is a story game for one player, designed for contemplative solo play.
Stranded is a solo RPG about wilderness survival in an isolated and hopeless scenario.
and i have to mention: "The Quiet Year is a map game. You define the struggles of a community living after the collapse of civilization, and attempt to build something good within their quiet year." which is a really goof solo game.
Thanks for the comment and glad you enjoyed the vid. I've got all those supplements you mention and have used some of them in some vids across the channel. I didn't mention any of those here at the point of this vid was to talk about rulesets, not supporting emulators. That would be a different video.
Is the Covetous Poet’s Adventure Creator’s oracle as simple as MUNE?
@@jacobc8019 Someone else will need to answer as I've never used Covetous Poet's material
Have you tried MUNE? I love it’s simplicity.
awesome vid! Any thoughts on Savage Worlds? I came across it being an awesome system for solo play as well :)
You know, I haven’t used those rules. I should!
Basic Fantasy looks good/fun. Reminds me of good ol days of AD&D/D&D. Very cool they make it free.
Random Rick Reviews RRR Yes, I agree. It’s fantastic that the creators put so much effort and care into something released for the community.
Easy, tasty & crunchy dice for solo play
I use scarlet heroes its not bad but the urban world scoring system is a little confusing to use and setting threat levels and adding threshold and its easy to get lost in the solo side of the game the system is kinda fiddly but fun
Just picked up 3 of the books you recommended on amazon. The two games I was planning on trying were Tunnels and Trolls and Cthulhu. What are your thoughts on these two games? I started with the 7th edition Cthulhu DM guide and it was too daunting. Backed up and started with the starter kit which has a solo adventure in it....having a lot more success! There are two or three more solo adventures books for Cthulhu. Tunnels and Trolls seems to have been designed for solo play. There are a few cheap entry books for it too.
I've been reading through Cthulu 7th edition for solo play, and I'm finding that it is quite a bit of material. It is just taking me time. I did download a pdf from DriveThruRpg.com called The Solo Investigator's Handbook, which works with Call of Cthulu 7th edition. I just started reading it and it looks pretty good. It has an oracle, randomized tables, a time mechanic and examples. You will need to know CoC 7th ed though, as it is a solo system built on top of it. I'm thinking of picking up one of the systems mentioned in this video, something more rules-light.
Great questions. I love Lovecraft but the challenge with CoC is that there is just so much existing material it can be overwhelming. I've played the solo offering Alone Against the Dark(?) and I think there is another. Those aren't may favorite modes of play but it gives the experience a bit. As you describe tackling 7th edition itself as a soloist feels a bit too much for me. Some of the same challenges as tackling something like Starfinder, which I have talked about in a vid.
I did a vid using Silent Legions (also Lovecraftian). That is much more manageable for me and gives a similar feel. If you search on my channel for Silent Legions you can see how that works. Coincidentally (or perhaps not) its written by Kevin Crawford, author of Scarlet Heroes.
Tunnels and Trolls were among the first solo RPG adventures I played many years ago. I've never been a fan of the CYoA style, as those are, though I do appreciate their offerings and dedication to solo play of that sort. It was one of the things that got me interested in doing solo RPGing, albeit in a different way.
@@GeekGamers01 Cool! I will go looking for the silent legions video.
Great video! Looking into Scarlet Heroes now 🙂
Dungeon World is my favorite fantasy rpg but I can't find your review of it. Can you share the link?
Thank you and more (solo) power!
Glad you enjoyed this vid. I removed my Dungeon World video as I no longer want to support that creator.
Ordered Ancient Odysseys - both books - while watching this 😇 Also the combat kit from DriveThruRPG😁 Ty ty for an awesome show 😃 Love how you explain the games and the playthroughs 😃 And ty ty soooo much for all the solo
RPG ideas 🥰 Looked into Scarlet Heroes - but $75 for an RPG, nope 😟
Glad you enjoyed the vid and I hope you enjoy the books you got. Scarlet Heroes is also at drivethru in pdf as well as physical form for far less than $75…
@@GeekGamers01 Ty ty for the info 😃 Did some digging around and found it for $35 - Ty ty soooo much 🥰 Keep up the awesome work 🥰
What do you think about World of Dungeons? It takes the same 2d6+stat mechanic, but leaves the interpretation of the outcome to you. It seems less constricting than Dungeon World’s set of moves, but is compatible with the list of monsters and spells.
tramfan No opinion I’m afraid as I haven’t heard of it.
It is a free download from the Dungeon World website.
Random tables. That’s my language. :)
Dungeon crawl classics is for you
I just acquired Scarlet Heroes, it's fantastic! I prefer sci-fi though, do you know if something similar exists in a Sci-fi setting?
John Pritchard I do not but I’m curious too. Maybe someone else will have an answer.
Not sure, but maybe Scarlet Heroes can be synthesized with the same author's sci fi RPG, Stars Without Number? SWN has tons of random tables you can use with the framework of Scarlet Heroes.
The old edition of SWN is available for free, so you can check it out : www.drivethrurpg.com/product/86467/Stars-Without-Number-Original-Free-Edition
be interested to see scifi version for solo play : have you seen / played Solo by Zozer games?
Greyhame Avandhat Thanks yes i would like to do that kind of vid but my knowledge base isn’t ask deep. Maybe some day. And no I don’t know what you have mentioned but I shall look it up.
Hey thanks for the vid. Though for me i have a question. What if you want to make up your own rules and your old world. How could some one do that?
Great question and so many answers it should probably be a video of it’s own! The short answer would be that the easiest way would be to rely on the work of others-get all the best random tables you could and start rolling. Connect your answers with narrative and you are building a world (or a person or a task or an object or whatever).
HAve you ever conisdered Fighting Fantasy particullary Advanced Fighting Fantasy for solo RPG? Drive thru RPG has a free getting started pdf for it.
ToME Tabletop Gaming I played some of those years ago when I was younger but it’s not my preferred way.
@@GeekGamers01 advanced ff is slightly different to the gamebooks and is tailored for gm and solo play
ToME Tabletop Gaming Ah I see. I will have a look, thanks for the tip
Step 1: fill two cups with dice. Ok, I'm ready!
Need to ask u a question. In BFRP, is there a possibility to level up or enhance the ability score or the ability bonus or do they always stay the same ??? Thnxxxx !!
There are new stats for 20 levels in the core rulebook.
How do I get all the cards in that wallet?!?
Have you seen the vid I did about the wallet? m.th-cam.com/video/kaCM-QQwBQA/w-d-xo.html
I really liked the game system tweaks Scarlet Heroes made to the OSR type system, but I absolutely do *not* like the world provided nor the monsters. My thinking is that to do a traditional fantasy game, take the rules tweaks for solo roleplaying from Scarlet Heroes (the PDF is relatively cheap at $15) and then use the Basic Fantasy monsters and other adventures (which are all free in PDF format, mind) to create your own world or use one of the many resources provided for free on their website.
You make some great suggestions for play. I didn’t like the Red Tide either as a setting.
I was thinking of adapting the scarlet heroes system to be usable in the forgotten realms setting but with ascending AC and any other modern QoL changes. Might use basic fantasy's morale system as well.
can you do a video or perhaps you have done one already on how one can use existing campaigns for rpgs in a solo way if possible - that Birthright game seems so appealling to me but how does one get into it, would it be different to ones normal approach to d and d solo, - and alos Call of Cthulhu - can one play this Solo?
I have not yet done a video about working with an existing settings - if that is what you mean by campaigns. I could think about that no it is not typically what I would do.
My perspective is that any rules set - including Call of Cthulhu can
be soloed. I have not done a video on C of C -yet
@@GeekGamers01 i think what i coming to realise and accept is that there is a different experience to be had in solo play and that the minutiae of things that might go on between a group can be metagamed and it will be other areas where ones own ingenuity and imagination and the use of solo systems like the many on dtrpg will shape things.
and applying all the rules of a particular fantasy world and having then the will and ambition of a character come up against these can produce something unique
i got the "old school solo" pdf on drivethru and its excellent as means of getting one used to what solo adventuring demands and that ones imagination as to what happens is not being dictated entirely by random tables but more probability based rolls and that are sometimes following where ones imagination goes and not just leading
@@divinuminfernum Yes I've done a vid and written in my book about the "mindsets of the solo GM." They are quite different than that of a regular GM and certainly that of a player sitting down with friends to play. Once these mindsets are in place, any ruleset opens up for solo play.
@@GeekGamers01 yes I would like to get your book when I have spare money for it
The problem i have with basic fantasy is lvl 1 encounters, the weakest monster can 1 hit any character, either i have to play as a party or start at higher lvls, wonder if you have any advice.
@Santiago Fantoni Yes I do: if playing with just one character, start them at level 4 or at least level 3 to simulate 4 characters at level 1. You may still be at disadvantage with monsters but less so.
@@GeekGamers01 thank you for your time, may the rolls be on your side.
Check out dungeon crawl classics
Yes I have it, as well as MCC. Tho DCC is cheap, I wouldn’t characterize it as “easy” given the need for non-standard dice.
Cant understand why you say Ironsworn is not on the list becouse is not easy and yet you recomend Dungeon World that uses the "same system" but gives you no words for solo play. Same goes for Basic Fantasy, cant see how that will be easy for new players without any other material.
Eduardo Rodrigues Obviously lists are subjective, first off. Second, as I discuss in the vid, Basic Fantasy solo is a massive step up from the others before it in the vid and will need supporting material. As to Dungeon World and not Ironsworn that’s based on the fact that the “world” and characters of Dungeon World is going to be more familiar to many players familiar with common fantasy RPGs and for me that makes its mechanics easier to grasp. In Ironsworn you need to learn the world as well as the mechanics.
How about solo sci-fi RPGs? Any chance of integrating the solo RPG with a board game?
shitmandood I’m not so well versed in sci fi RPGs to make a vid on the best of them for solo.
I’ve done some vids integrating board game components with RPG and some even using the rules of RPG and board game. Was there a particular combination you’d like to see?
shitmandood I haven't tried it yet, but I think Mothership might be a good option.
@@GeekGamers01 I was thinking of Traveller and maybe using the AH Stellar Conquest board game as the integration piece, perhaps as a sector of the Traveller solo RPG, maybe with updating/modifying the decks.
I only thought of it from watching your videos. Would you be able to do that one or something similar? Although that might entail using ship combat but perhaps it could just be handled in the board game, but might end up in PCs dying a lot in combat (or escaping their ship to the nearby planet in an evac shuttle or pod).
Today I watched your other walkthrough of Hulks and Horrors and now have an understanding of your approach to solo sci-fi as well (ignoring spaceships, etc). Pretty interesting.
@@matthewconstantine5015 I have this game. I'd forgotten about it & need to check it out. I have some of the expansions for it too in physical copy.
@@GeekGamers01 Another good one if not Traveller would be Stars Without Number and a board game like Stellar Conquest.
You haven't played enough Four Agains Darkness to even have a option, If you had you would know 4 AD is one of the best for someone just starting out. I really just think you don't like 4AD THUS YOU NEGATIVE REPORT HOW SAD! Scarlet Hero to start out with is a crazy way more complex LOL at you :) !
As I mention at the outset of the vid, 4AD is not something I'm even discussing in this vid so your comment confuses me. This video talks about the best rulesets that I consider to be less scripted than 4AD, so I didn't assess 4AD at all. I do happen to like 4AD and have done two vids on it (plus a vid on Four Against Mars, which I also like). I also didn't discuss d100 Dungeon here--that to me is the appropriate game to compare to 4AD, if you are interested in doing comparisons.
This is the saddest video title i`ve ever read