Solo RPGs: How to Get Started (Advice for Beginners)

[@wacoglee]

What a great video. So often these solo videos tell you how to do it. They are instructional. You have that to some degree. What I really love though is that you explained your journey: both the pitfalls and the joys. Heartfelt and honest. Love it dude

[@the-quantum-quill]

Wow, thank you for your kind words 🙏. I really appreciate it. Sharing my story is what I was going for. I definitely have a few more of these kinds of videos to make, so I'm really grateful that they are resonating with those who find them.

[@andrewmitchell2278]

I don't know that I've ever seen such an introspective video on KZbin about anything before. Super helpful to hear!

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@andrewmitchell2278 hey, I’m glad it helped! Solo gaming is very introspective (great descriptor), it’s a great way to get to know what kinds of things you enjoy in these games.

[@cymrodave]

Excellent video😊. There is definitely something special about solo role play. I recently started playing strider mode for the one ring and it blew my mind. I’ve played in groups but it never clicked. It’s right what you say, solo gives you the room to be creative. I’ve started keeping a diary for my character, as a way to flesh out the journey and a great way to flex your creative muscles. I would say people who are interested to try solo roleplay might like to try the one ring strider mode, it’s rules light and the system has a lot of structured mechanics like hex crawl travel and councils which help add structure when your first starting out.

[@the-quantum-quill]

Yes! I'm so happy to hear that it has clicked for you and you are benefiting from it. An added invitation from me is to take that creativity you are experiencing and consider how you might integrate it into future group play. I am also interested in Strider mode and have printed off a copy to try it out in the future!

[@drivers99]

I’m playing a co-op Starforged play by post and I totally get what you’re saying about finding your creative side because I felt the same way and am seeing how creative I can be. In my mind I’m playing solo but the other players’ creativity is delightful to combine with mine. I think that campaign is fizzling out though so I might make the plunge into truly solo play next.

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@drivers99 awesome, this makes me so happy to hear others discovering this. Do it! I think you’ll be surprised at where your creativity takes you!

[@UntoldRelic]

Seriously, thanks for the positive reinforcement. Not so seriously; For me, it's all about getting the ball rolling. I don't worry about having a unique beginning. Can't think of a cool start off point? Fight rats in the basement of the local tavern for all it matters. You will quickly arrive at a "yes and..." or a "no, but...". Still nothing? Then keep up the tropes. Are there rats in the basement? "No, but you see a trail of dirt leading behind the kegs. There is a waist high tunnel dug ino the wall." Even using tropes is being creative. You want to be the chosen one? Go for it. You want to be the conflicted healer? Loner edgelord? Have at 'er. Eventually the plot unravels as you go. I also advise liberal use of retconning.

[@bradutterstrom4105]

Great video. Love the inspirational approach

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@bradutterstrom4105 thank you 🙏 I appreciate you letting me know

[@steve74it]

Thanks. One can feel your emotion sharing your thoughts. Very inspiring and motivational.

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@steve74it thanks for your kind words Steve, I edited out a few parts but feel like I should share a bit more: solo roleplaying and realizing the power of the creativity mindset really catapulted me out of a state of depression and changed my life and outlook 1000% for the better. I believe I discovered something really meaningful that can help other people realize the power they have within themselves to do similar. It’s definitely an unexpected and different take on these kind of games and this hobby but I think it’s a message worth spreading and I’m really glad to see that it’s resonating with others.

[@yourseatatthetable]

NPC Negotiation Chart 01-07 - NPC is against it. -25%(-251) 08-15 - NPC becomes annoyed -15% 16-23 - NPC seems bored with the offer -10% (-51) 24-30 - NPC shows hesitation -00% (-11) 31-38 - NPC seems uncertain +00% 39-46 - NPC stalls and holds for better offer +5% 47-54 - NPC indicates that they are looking for more +10% 55-62 - NPC shows interest but plays it down +10% (+51) 63-70 - NPC finds it agreeable +15% 71-78 - NPC is pleased with the offer +10% (+101) 79-86 - NPC accepts; asks is there anything else? +15% (151) 87-94 - NPC immediately agrees +25% 94-00 - NPC agrees and fixates on the proposal -20% (-201) 1 - In addition to the temporary modifier listed add this modifier to the negotiation base for the rest of the event and yes, they do stack in this case. An example of what I am talking about. My system uses a d100 percentile but can easily be converted.

[@the-quantum-quill]

Took me a moment to wrap my head around it but I like the negotiation system and the price changes / modifiers affecting shifts on outcome.

[@yourseatatthetable]

@@the-quantum-quill I'm not totally happy with it but it works. The basic idea is that both the PC and the NPC have a base number for a Stat, in this case, Mental Stat (MATT) so a negotiation is MATT vs Matt (in D&D it could be Int vs. Wis). What isn't shown is a list of modifiers for the event. For example, if the NPC (in this case, a guard) has support (other guards, live CCTV, etc, they gain a modifier. If they 'loose' that support somehow, it's a negative modifier. I also baked in an increasing harder success curve so that after a few questions or suggestions, the negotiation will stall or stop. Combat works in a similar manner, but also has modifiers for terrain, conditions, weather, home or abroad, etc. Then there's a two charts. One is for NPC movement, the other NPC Response (I think its called): Perhaps the NPC goes on the offensive, advancing aggressively, or, perhaps they choose to evade; or retreat. I have PDFs of my game if you'd like a set. The elevator speech is "Game of Throne set in Space". A world builder game that got way out of control, heh. the play testers would say "Can I talk to the ship's captain? How do we do that? I don't know how many videos I have on my YT channel showing me playing it. I tell people, not so jokingly, that Interstellar Frontiers, a box of paper and pencils, and you can ride out most end of the worlds settings in your nifty bunker.

[@yourseatatthetable]

@@the-quantum-quill Part of a chart for incoming merchant traffic for a star port: 74 - Nothing to worry about. 75 -Independent merchant ship arrives 76 - Guild merchant ship arrives 77 - Gypsy Sphere arrives 78 - Nothing going on 79 - Roll on Syndicate Chart 80 - Roll on Cult chart, twice 81 - Nothing to worry about this cycle 82 - Roll on Pirate chart 83 - Nothing 84 - Roll on Smuggler chart 85 - Roll on other Ship Traffic chart 86 - Roll on Star Marshall’s chart 87 - Light Scout (Hull I) arrives seeking repairs and general maintenance. Sorry, I get worked up a bit over the topic...

[@hartr33]

Good instructional video for beginners!

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@hartr33 thank you!

[@aliceanaya7800]

Great video!

[@the-quantum-quill]

Thank you Alice!

[@DrBrille]

Thanks for the video. I recently ordered a copy of Mythic (coilbound version), and I’m looking forward to trying it out! Recently I’ve played Knave solo, but I always end up in lots of procedures generating room after room, and it slows down a lot. I hope Mythic is more narrative and flows more

[@the-quantum-quill]

You're welcome :) Thank you for watching it. I think the mindset that "Prep is Play" can help if you feel like you're getting bogged down in room generation. There are also some neat card-based tools like Axebane's Deck of Many Dungeons or the Game Master's Apprentice that can quickly speed things up.

[@Timikator]

I'm still not sold on solo OSR games (i.e. dungeon crawling) because I think they take a lot of time during the session to generate content. Haven't tried them yet, though. Mythic and similar tools (TREY, Motif) are more inclined to story-based solo experiences. You still have to roll dice. TREY is better than Mythic on this because it groups multiple die rolls together: yes/no question to the oracle plus details (quantity, number, difficulty, etc) in a single roll.

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@Timikator You’ve reached the right channel for solo OSR :) I’m also a fan of pbta for all of the great GM skills it teaches but OSR is the style of ttrpg that speaks to me. There is definitely a lot of prep and generation both before and during but rolling and interpreting that stuff ends up being a big part of the fun for me. I’ll check out TREY, I haven’t heard of it before. It’s now on my list to check out along with PUM.

[@shawnmf2004]

Nice overview of solo rpgs

[@Ray47nl]

I like playing OSE advanced. I have played some pre-made adventures and also some completely random table based games. Now i own a copy of The Halls of Arden Vul, a 1100 pages Multidungeon adventure and i want to start a new solo campaign based on OSE advanced and with making use of Mythic 2e as an oracle, the book of random tables and On Downtime and Demesnes for in between dungeon fun. I think i will use 4 characters but i am wondering if i should keep a log for all characters seperate or one log for the who group, since it is such a large campaign, even if broken down in smaller parts.

[@the-quantum-quill]

3d6 down the line here on YT (You may have watched) is doing Aarden Vul and it looks like a trip based on the few episodes I've seen. I don't have a lot of experience running solo multi-character games outside of 4AD, but its something I want to try in the future with S&W.

[@Ray47nl]

@@the-quantum-quill I have seen some episodes and i like the way they play. Playing as a solo campaign will be very different ofcourse but the good thing is that you can tackle it in small parts. But with a campaign like this i think the logging and keep everything together is the biggest thing to think about.

[@ToothacheAZ]

Nice video. I have found AI helpful for certain tasks, mostly brain storming. Tell it about your game and have it come up with 20 possibilities of what happens next. But yeah don't let it run the game. Many have tried and it's just not capable of a decent consistent story.

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@ToothacheAZ for sure 👍

[@bookworm_and_tea]

I've never done solo RPG before but am interested in increasing my creativity for DMing and roleplay in general but I have a question... Do you usually do it all in your head or do you RP aloud?

[@the-quantum-quill]

Hi :) Usually its a combination of in my head and tracking written elements with maps, NPCs, objectives, and short bullet points of what happens from scene to scene, etc. Sometimes if I need to think through things, I will talk through it out loud because it can help lead me into the next thing. I have an actual play series I am demonstrating a way to play where I talk through my thought process (all done out loud) if you'd like to take a look: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nnOWeH2qeJmMpK8si=XHgNdQ26DVzGLq5b

[@bookworm_and_tea]

@@the-quantum-quill thanks for the reply ! I just found your channel, been trying to find alternative ways to DM for a duo campaign (2 players with DMing done a bit by me but mostly by random tables). So that's interesting and I'm finding cool stuff from your channel!! Will definitely watch the rest of your videos, love your channel already. 💖

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@bookworm_and_tea thank you! For two players, check out “duet games” (1 player + 1 GM) and also “GM-less Co-op” games! (Ironsworn is a pretty good place to start).

[@andysimmons2648]

This is a very good inspirational video, thank you for sharing it. I dip in and out of solo RPGs quite often. I did try Chat GPT to help with soloing at one point but found it quite restrictive. It’s great to help with prepping group games but I just use it for the odd prompt in solo games. Out of curiosity, did Buergar ever win Lady Luck’s hand, or is the story still ongoing?

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@andysimmons2648 Buergar’s story is still ongoing :) thanks Andy for your kind words. I agree it works fine for a prompt when you need it (I always struggle with naming stuff) but I also do enjoy that spark of thinking of something cool and filling in the blanks when I’m able to so I try to lean away from it more often than not.

[@jayteepodcast]

I played 1000 year vampire its a great game. To be honest Chat gpt is great for random tables and recording history. I had more fun with Chat gpt and i can put it down and pick it up while others solo games i forget where i left off.

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@jayteepodcast I picked up TYOV at a con a while back and am looking forward to getting into it, planning to make a video (or two) about it as well. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts here and I’m glad that it’s enhancing your game for you 😊 I wrote a bit more about why I feel like I used AI incorrectly for solo play and how it hindered me especially starting out. It’s a (very powerful) tool like everything else that can enhance or detract depending on how it’s used. I generally don’t use it but that’s just preference, I like to sample using different tools and tables, I don't think it means the quality of my gaming is better or worse for it. I think solo play with AI tools warrants further discussion and some more mindful takes on it especially as its going to get more popular and easy to do in the future.

[@markhall3323]

I followed a somewhat similar route and when I put it all together in a custom GPT - using the knowledge section to hold a few documents - then my solo RPG moved not just to another level, but literally to another world. It’s a profoundly creative and immersive experience making and exploring a place that you can visit, building up characters, places, history. It’s like watching and directing a movie or writing and reading a book all at once the same time. I had some moments like that using Mythic but with the GPT it’s like the best of those moments all the time. Just saying.

[@the-quantum-quill]

Your opinion on this is valid, and also very welcome. I realize my own experience with AI tools for solo roleplaying won't necessarily be reflective of everybody else's. I appreciate you sharing yours with me. If theres a guide or instruction on how to set up a custom gpt to tailor to playstyle, I'm sure others would be highly appreciative of it too.

[@nickanswulf]

@markhall3323 I’m with you 1000%! I feel like the vast majority of people trying to use AI to GM on KZbin are “doing it wrong” in that a.) the prompts are usually pretty basic/bad, and b.) people are trying to force things instead of adapting to its strengths and treating it as a new medium. Without turning this into a long post, I would just say to people to start thinking of AI as a Mythic Emulator on steroids instead of a traditional GM and you are on the right track. Or maybe think of the experience as a new form of entertainment that’s a hybrid between solo RPGs, choose your own adventure, creative writing, world building, and reading. To your point in the video Quantum, I think with a different approach it enhances (and demands) your creativity - instead of being a replacement.

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@nickanswulf hey I love the thoughtful approach here about it and I think your opinion is valid and worth exploring. And I am no stranger to admitting a different approach and mindset can completely change something for the better. I think my experience fell under B where I was trying to use it as a creative crutch to do all the work for me (also running out of context tokens trying to force it to take the role of GM). I like the thought of it helping springboard creativity rather than act as a proxy for it. I wrote more about this in an article that’s linked in the video description. I do want people to realize that it’s easier than they think and very fun to experience coming up with ideas on their own using traditional solo tools and then riffing on those ideas to expand them. I think that’s why I would stand by recommending that newcomers don’t immediately use AI to replace learning all of the cool solo tools that exist out there like Mythic and how they work. But yeah thinking it’s all one way or the other is black and white thinking and something I’m prone to doing sometimes (see my OSR video) so this is something I’ll definitely revisit in the future with another video on.

[@castor_the_casual]

Damn 😢😢😢

[@the-quantum-quill]

You good friend?

[@castor_the_casual]

@quantumquillrpg your video is good great in fact. It hit me hard because I've always had trouble with ttrpgs but with solo play I might have a shot again. So thank you

[@the-quantum-quill]

@@castor_the_casual hey you're welcome. I made the video for a reason and I'm glad you found it. I feel learning to talk with ourselves is one of the most important skills we can learn and solo play is a great way to practice doing that.