A Solo TTRPG Adventure: What it (sort of) Looks Like

[@justinblocker730]

The biggest issue I have with solo adventures is: Being solo (shocking) I'll play with the solo rules, but instead of making 1 lone traveler I'll make a team of adventurers, usually the plucky heroes: Knight, Healer, Thief, and Wizard (guess what classes they might be in D&D) .

[@asquirrelplays]

Honestly, from the few examples I've seen/heard of other people playing Solo, they generally bring a group of adventures with them instead of just one character. I chose to go with just 1 simply to have less to keep up with while I was getting a feel for it. Next one I plan to use about 3 characters.

[@artistpoet5253]

I do this but use the 'five man band' trope.

[@rayraffiki1856]

Nothing wrong with that. If you're looking for a system like that Four Against Darkness is a solo dungeon crawler where you control four characters. It also has supplements like Four Against the Great Old Ones, Four Against Ragnarok and Four Against Mars for all sorts of different settings and stuff

[@BenjaminMarra]

Great video! Solo RPG sessions are very immersive and a lot of fun. I think you nailed it.

[@asquirrelplays]

Thanks! I've been enjoying it. It's certainly a lot easier to run, and all the players conveniently have to go to the bathroom at the exact same time I do!

[@AdlerMow]

I love solo rpg. It is a "whole body exercise" to imagination, it makes you a better player and a better gm at the same time. I actually prefer coop instead of trad gaming, because of the no prep, and none one "owns" a character, with makes a entirely different feal to it. I developed a method using tarot cards for inspiration and a 2-12 scale with modifier and up to 4D6 to throw, that describes what happens with 7 degrees of success/outcomes. It sounds complicated but it's not, you learn in minutes. Once you taste rules light, solo or coop mode, there is a good chance you won't want to play trad style anymore.

[@asquirrelplays]

One of the players in the campaign we just finished used a tarot card deck to determine (at times) how they would react to a situation. Like if they weren't sure if they should believe someone or not, they'd pull a card and attempt to interpret it and act accordingly. Or if they were about to head out for a journey and the card said it'd be smooth sailing essentially, they wouldn't prepare very well because they assumed it would be easy (even though the player knew it wouldn't be). It was a lot of fun. Haven't done a coop yet, but I'd like to. I've said it before many times, but D&D 5e feels VERY "Player VS GM", and that is just not fun for me and why I've dropped it. There's a Mausritter Play by Post I'm in, and while technically there is a gm running it, he's extremely open to ideas and making things in the world the players want, so maybe its semi coop? lol

[@nnickplays9713]

That was a good intro

[@asquirrelplays]

Squirrel Dances to Wii Music - 10 Hours

[@justinblocker730]

Would watch a 10 Hour video of squirrels dancing.

[@AvenueStudios]

Agreed haha

[@GleefulKraken]

3:54 Glee stopped questioning your sounds a long time ago

[@asquirrelplays]

science sounds

[@AvenueStudios]

What a fun 'Totally Not Fallout' adventure 😂 Might be a fun stream to do with chat and see a story unfold itself

[@asquirrelplays]

Definitely considering it. I know I'm gonna use these tables and solo adventures to come up with map ideas when those streams pick back up.

[@AvenueStudios]

Love it! Look forward to it:)

[@aidanstokes3]

I've never tried solo, but it looks fun :) I think that the doctor was growing mushrooms in the lab to have a sustainable source of medication and food, and it worked! But, the extreme amounts of radiation in his patients caused the spors to mutate inside of them. The lab was overrun and radiated due to giant burrowing beetles claiming it as a den. The doctor is a skeleton because he was a ghoul and didn't have much on him in the first place lol

[@asquirrelplays]

Oh ho ho! A theory! I like it. If you enjoy TTRPGs, I would certainly recommend giving it a try at least once. It certainly doesn't take near as much as time as a regular game (prepping and/or playing) does, so it's not like you'll be out a whole lot of resources. Even if you don't enjoy it, it seems like a decent way to brainstorm and come up with adventures to use with a group. And if you do enjoy it - then you can go on the adventure yourself and reuse it and GM for a group. And when they struggle you can say "I didn't have near this much trouble when I went through this dungeon" 💀

[@aidanstokes3]

I love it

[@crallsfickle2994]

Solo is very different than group play. One could love one and hate the other. I love both though. I’ve had so much fun and learned a lot about playing through solo.

[@asquirrelplays]

I enjoy the players a lot more in solo play.

[@BuilderB-dt1f8]

I am so using that in my next deep and/or existential conversation. “Words words etc etc important statement etc etc” *I interrupt* “AnYwAy DICE!” 🎲 (Roll)

[@asquirrelplays]

I just might use it next time somebody looks at their character sheet and takes too long to make a decision.

[@TheLegofan21]

Sounds like the GM was really annoying

[@asquirrelplays]

He was the absolute worst. 0/10

[@GleefulKraken]

Cause he's a neeeerd

[@TheIoPC]

Okay... That Akira slide/Same picture gag was choice comedy.😝👍 ~ Adam

[@asquirrelplays]

When I got on that motorcycle I knew what had to be done.

[@blackphidora]

Now that you got dat solo experience, you should compare and contrast with....Ironsworn 🤔

[@asquirrelplays]

I just went and looked it up. 270 PAGES MAN! You trying to kill me. I am but a simple squirrel. (I'll probably still check it out though)

[@blackphidora]

@@asquirrelplays I thought the same thing too, but what it brings to the table is a solid framework, a way to track longer quests and a lot of tables. You probably don't have to read the whole book to get started. I use the starforged version and testing it now in a co-op setting. I'll share my learnings when I get far enough into it to make a solid opinion.

[@juauke]

This was great, mmh a mad scientist experimenting with fungi which led to this infestation I've been into looking into solo play lately and you might be the one (together with @Scutifer_Mike) which will get me into solo TTRPGs I recently bought Crown and Skull and ICRPG Collector's Edition (already got a POD Master Edition softcover but couldn't resist when I saw they had it) from Runehammer; they might be a bit wordy for you but Gilhelm from Runehammer has really great ideas and I think that you could like it (they both have free quickstart) I also bought the full OSE collection (might have been influenced by Mike's solo play series). With all that, I really wanna try to do a solo One Shot of Crown and Skull (maybe flavored as Samourai/Ronin in Japan because it sounds cool 😎), also one of ICRPG Vigilante City adjusted to feel more like Runarcana (a TTRPG set in League of Legends world which could interest my friends and I xD) and if I am motivated enough, at least a small adventure of OSE Classic and maybe Advanced afterwards. PS: I'm too talkative when I'm excited

[@asquirrelplays]

Well I'm glad I could do my part. I've played as a player in a couple of ICRPG games and had a lot of fun. Not sure if the worlds we were in were the GM's creation or they used what was in the book. One was a sort of magical western, was pretty great. The second game was more of a fantasy setting. Anyway, I'll definitely add Gilhelm along with Crown and Skull to my ever growing list of things to check out. The list is growing much faster than I can work through it. Now - is Leage of Legends what Arcane was based off? I know nothing of the game, but that show was fantastic, and playing in a world like that would be pretty great in my opinion. 100% go Samurai.

[@juauke]

@@asquirrelplays Thanks for answering. You've been a great help. ICRPG Core 2e (French ed.) was my first ever TTRPG book buy (only into TTRPG GMing since the Christmas holidays)! It is awesome and has clearly the best GM section I have ever read! I have GMed (really badly tbh) for the first time with my family (my parents and my brother [except for the B&S one]): in order, a small dungeon dive in a Serpent-men tomb with Alfheim, the fantasy setting, a small one-shot where they were supposed to bring their chief's ashes to an altar to honor his legacy in Blood & Snow, the magic-less Ice Age setting and finally Last Flight of the Red Sword (in Warp Shell, the Sci-Fi setting). Those were great and FUN experiences even though I was not really good at GMing. I think that both could be from the book: they clearly could be Weird Weist and Alfheim. Sorry for the confusion, I was unclear (Brandish) Gilhelm is the head of Runehammer and he's the great man behind great books such as ICRPG, Viking Death Squad and Crown and Skull. He also owns and regularly does videos on his channel @Runehammer Games where he talks about GMing. It's unfortunate that your list is growing faster than you can check it. Maybe try ordering by priority and maybe find a short (or comprehensive) introduction to the rules (DMCraft, PaladinProse 3 videos series and Jface Games 2 videos introduce the system quite well in different manners) Yup, Arcane is sort of a prequel to the League of Legends universe (Runeterra) I have yet to watch it but I truly think that the Runeterra could be fantastic for an RPG (and I have found Runarcana, a TTRPG based on 5e in this universe which has a full rulebook at least for its .91 and I will probably take lore and adapt equipment, races and classes to an ICRPG LoL game) Thanks, I will definitely try it I will prepare something and will try it for real when I have received my Crown and Skull copy (in about 2 weeks; around the same time, I should receive OSE)

[@asquirrelplays]

@@juauke Definitely give Arcane a watch. It's a very well written show. The animation is awfully neat as well if that tickles your fancy. If you want some more solid tips for GMing, definitely check out some of GM Scotty's work. Some of his tips from his EZD6 book really stuck with me (on top of it just being a really fun game anyway). He's a great guy and I believe works with your Runehammer man. I have trouble keeping all the names straight. I'm the kind of guy that can't remember coworkers' names, but can see a person in line at the store once and recognize them 20 years later. Certainly not the most useful set of abilities.

[@juauke]

@@asquirrelplays you're not the only one telling me this, I will get to it soon (I will watch it with some friends starting next week if I can) I have seen small parts and it looks top notch (and I'm a sucker for good animation [big weeb here too hehe]) so I'll definitely watch it About EZD6, I have started prep work for a (at least initially) One-Shot where my friends created their custom characters (with custom classes: an Alchemist, a Fire-Air Elementalist, a Druid [shapeshifter-botanicalist] and an Intelligent Weapon [Warrior on the outside]) that I will do next week or the week after depending on everyone's schedule It will probably take place in a altered level-0 funnel for Shadowdark I have bought both the Core Book and the Book of Quests so I have them right here and you're right they're really good books I have also watched so DM Scotty's work and he's great too You're also right that Runehammer edited the EZD6 books so they're related Oh, I kinda relate to you I can recognize people I have seen 15- years ago (I'm in my early twenties so more is a bit complicated) but sometimes I cannot seem to recall their names and I feel extra dumb Faces stick more than names to me (maybe less than you) but I clearly feel you It is useful but it kinda feels like an incomplete skill xD

[@asquirrelplays]

@@juauke ohhhh custom EZD6 classes? Well, well, well, you'll have to report back how that goes. Or join the discord if you haven't already and share those juicy details.

[@Catlord98765]

It was Candleflame

[@asquirrelplays]

I didn't even consider that, but you know what, it makes perfect sense.

[@CavernadoLekkis]

You made a very fun solo reporting video! I guess, if you haven't died, you would have found scientist called Mario that was cultivating this mushrooms. 😅

[@asquirrelplays]

"It's a me!" (twirls moustache in an evil fashion) The twist we never expected.

[@CavernadoLekkis]

@@asquirrelplays BTW, NUTS is a perfect name for a RPG made by squirel! But you know what could it make 4x better than Tricube Tales? replace d12 by a d24!!!!

[@asquirrelplays]

@@CavernadoLekkisThe math checks out! And trust me, the temptation to use an oddball die that most people don't have was definitely there.