Part Time Grue

In “Guide to Playing Alone” Kenny Norris  (free, link to DriveThruRPG) asks the solo role player to ask themselves, “So, who are you: Heart, Club, Diamond, or Spade?” The suggestion has been made that a solo role player can also use Bartle types as part of a player emulator. I’m going to ask you something different. Who are your NPCs? I believe that more immersion in solo roleplay is a desirable outcome and that it is achieved by assigning Bartle types not to a player object but directly to the character.  Bartle Types  are four classifications of preferred play styles and player motivations in games.  I also see it as a way of classifying participation in any activity.  Sports, professions, social interaction.  They do not have to be exclusive.  In fact, it could be far more interesting to give every character a score in each of the four suits. In a way this is going to act like the player emulator some solo role players are looking for.  But to ...

DM Yourself, by Tom Scutt First, credit to Tom Scutt's "DM Yourself"  (link to DriveThruRPG) as well as Ken Wai Lau's defunct website, "The Lone Crusader"  (link to archive.org) which the previous author credits. I'm throwing this out hoping it can help one fellow solo player deal with the gut churning conundrum of "I know too much. What do I do now?" In the 80s & 90s I called the mechanic default actions to curb my players’ penchant for saying things like “but I always have my great sword/minigun/velociraptor readied,” and “the ship is always running silent/cloaked with gunners at their posts.” In the 21st century I find it’s a good way to keep myself honest too. Read a little too far? Tempted to just 'guess' the book is cursed? There's a check for that. And a way to keep it in check as well. For each character, the player may list a number of simple default behaviours equal to their INT and WIS bonus plus one per level. Each ...

It's been more than twenty years since I was a member of an RPG crew. Since then I've played a bit of Skyrim, Fallout 3/NV/4. I tried Elder Scrolls Online but like all other attempts to get involved in online games I wasn't able to stir up enough interest. Just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic I was considering looking for either a local or online group. Then I stumbled upon solo roleplaying and remembered that I had attempted it long, long ago.  As I started out I found, and recalled from years prior, that trying to fairly determine what any non-player character would do in any given situation that wasn’t straight up combat or a skill test to be the most difficult problem. It's one thing to be a game master, as I almost always was, and making all the decisions for the NPCs so your players have a fun, exciting, interesting, and sometimes deadly, time.  It's quite another to be directing your ersatz avatar in imaginary fantasy land while at the same time portraying all...

Trigger Warning - This isn't really much about the dice tower. For years, I've wanted to get back into gaming. Before the pandemic that started, slowly, to be realized. I even seriously considered finding a group online or local. But, we've been home, my family that is, for more than a year-and-a-half. In 2003, my wife and I escaped SARS by the skin of our teeth. Landing in Canada, we were exhausted.  And typically when I'm exhausted, I get a cold.  I missed a day or two of work, and my colleagues asked upon my return to the office if I'd caught SARS.  It was the first we had heard of it. Then we discovered how incredibly lucky we'd been, travelling straight through the heart of ground zero. We weren't about to rely on luck this time. But, to a degree, we're lucky.  No doubt, by any definition, we're privileged.  A lot of what I do I can do from home. Some opportunities we had to sacrifice.  That we could afford to sacrifice those opportunities and s...