The Adventures of Konrad - Session 3 - "To Madrigal" (Solo RPG)

A mystery to himself, Konrad has a vision of his past: Dahlia, the giver of thistles, her hometown of Madrigal. What can it mean? Armed only with these glimpses, Konrad redeems the debt he is owed by Khrist. The pair set out on the long journey north to uncover clues about Konrad's origins. A comically uneventful hex crawl ensues.
(Feel free to suggest your favorite hex crawl mechanics)
Music provided by Erang: erang.bandcamp...
Miniature terrain by Shannon Ryan, Instagram: @sundaysours

[@TomeAlone]

Legit! Your the reason I'm now obsessed with solo RPG! I played my first game of of DND last week, had put it off for 30 years! I just clicked with your intro video and I finally understood how to go about my solo adventures. Safe to say I'm currently in a sci-fi setting invading an assassin stronghold in and abandoned prison. Loving it!

[@deliciouswetminionfart]

Which system are you using?

[@TomeAlone]

@@deliciouswetminionfart I'm using a mix. I took note from Swords & Solitude and got most of the books he's using, some still to arrive. But for my campaign so far I'm using: Tome of Adventure Design pdf, the MUNE system (for Intervention type, NPC interactions & table for when everything is not expected. Not all of these consistently but as and when I want to use them or if I can't think of a next logical step) & the Oracle table S&S uses as my main source for asking questions. I've also been reading DM Yourself as a guide to getting in the mindset and some useful tables. But Tome should have all you need. And I use my own books for starting items, inspiration, names of NPC's etc. Currently my favourites are Unlikely Stories, Mostly by Alasdair Gray & The Secret A Treasure Hunt (amazing book for RPG). I'm waiting on the big book of maps but for now I draw my own maps (very crudely) small and detailed for the main map then big enough to fit a mini for the rooms. I use imagination, logic, some books, dice rolls & tables to determine the room I've just entered. I then fit it to my sci-fi setting. Only today I used a random room generator which is great to speed that process up. Just spin again if it doesn't fit the narrative. The generator I used is: perchance.org/room-type

[@boatofcar3273]

By sheer chance, when I first thought of the terms “solo roleplaying” and put them into KZbin The Adventures of Conrad was the first video I clicked on. Thank you for being the inspiration of my new obsession 🙂

[@swordssolitude3861]

That's great to hear - Have fun!

[@wherethepulplives]

I love this format! You show everything, making it easy to learn to play my own solo sessions. The improvised tools you make on the spot help a lot with getting into the right mindset.

[@swordssolitude3861]

Thank you! New vid coming soon for a PDF adventure “module” :)

[@wherethepulplives]

@@swordssolitude3861 Sweet! Looking forward to it!

[@OverBlackSands]

Chris't is such a good name, I love it

[@crapphone7744]

Really enjoying your series, and thanks for the name thing. You avoid offending people of Faith like me but continue moving forward on hindered using your tools. I appreciate your discretion and thoughtfulness on that.

[@Sierra99]

Lovin it so far! I hope to see more soon

[@swordssolitude3861]

Thank you! I will upload a new session this week or next :)

[@Sierra99]

@@swordssolitude3861 Awesome!

[@seth7407]

Love the use of music

[@rolanejo8512]

Cannot find my Basic Fantasy but in Whitebox there is a higher percentage of Random encounters according to terrain. Swamped are 1-3 in d6. Forests are 1-2. That makes travel far more eventful. Loving the campaign.

[@swordssolitude3861]

Ah! I’ll have to refer to back to WB for this. Thanks for the info :)

[@rolanejo8512]

@@swordssolitude3861 page 71, table 34.

[@MARSHOMEWORLD]

So, I must begin by saying I've very little patience for watching real play games and whatnot. For me D&D has never been a spectator sport and I just am not at all interested in the showboating, and fake over-the-top reactions that people feel like they need to do one mugging for the camera Etc. However, I found myself engrossed and following along with all of your uploads for your resilient wolf man's Journey thus far. I've been playing D&D for 40 years now... Seems unimaginable to me at this point... But it is one of those pastimes that scales with the person's playing it, as in depending on where you at in your life and your life experiences Etc and those that you share the table with the game grows with you. It was totally satisfying at 13 years old and it kicks ass at 53. But I digress... in all that time I've never tried to play a solo RPG. Not that I remember anyway. Generated lots of characters and burned the Midnight Oil writing Adventures excetera but I don't believe I've ever even play tested any Adventure that I'd written using some self-styled characters to do a test run on my own. So I was utterly compelled and really enjoyed watching you throughout this process. Thanks for the uploads. Cheers. M.

[@swordssolitude3861]

Your comment really resonates with me. I can't watch Critical Role or any of the other celebriD&D stuff. And it's not because I'm a veteran or anything. I'm fairly new to tabletop, but I've always played "solo" as it were, be it in my childhood make-believe or my 18-35 year old solo music. I just don't like when the magic becomes monetized, bastardized, popularized, cauterized, etc. I think that solo RPG's are an untapped art-form that borders on mystical bliss. It's up to the player to let go and see where their imagination can take them. The greatest hurdle is getting over yourself and letting go. We do so many things on our own - why not this?

[@MARSHOMEWORLD]

@@swordssolitude3861 I may just give it a go. Over the past few years I have been doing more to embrace the nature of random events, chaos, and going with a less finalized plot line in my Adventures. Seeing as I have a table full of experienced players who are also dme's, it makes sense to employ their creativity in real-time at the table... So I asked them questions that contribute to the World building, rather than doing it myself and thus far the results have been really great, so that feels that I'm a bit on the path towards as you put it getting over myself, and trusting that a good session will happen regardless of whether every scenario idea is mine + it actually gives me a chance to react in real-time to new stimuli and to think on my feet as it were. I get the vibe that the solo RPG stimulates a lot of those same muscles mentally as it encompasses being both DM and player simultaneously. I like this, and I think I will try to pursue something on my own soon. Cheers

[@TomeAlone]

Tagging onto your convo but I agree with you both. I'm a writer and create characters and world's all the time so it's finally great to as you say tap into this fountain of wealth that is your own imagination. I'm so constantly in my head since I was a child and play has always been my most important thing. Attaching it to tabletop has been an amazing experience. Using my books to generate ideas and take me places I didn't even know I could go is such a fresh exciting way to surprise myself with the stories. It's good to finally see someone I relate to rather than critical role crew per example.

[@swordssolitude3861]

@@TomeAlone I think CR is an unfortunate intro for a lot of people youtubing DnD. I personally strongly dislike it. It’s like someone looking up “television” and being slammed with the Big Bang Theory. Thanks for watching!

[@TomeAlone]

@@swordssolitude3861 Agreed, when you buy all the books and try to learn it seems a very steep learning curve so off to KZbin land you go. And as you say I found myself watching countless videos and just waiting to hear about structure, specific materials and how to use them. I've now watched a few Geek Gamers which I'm also enjoying thanks for shouting that channel out.

[@ptamez99]

Great vids. Really like your process. Looking forward to more.

[@AmeKiyaru]

I'm really looking forward to the first encounter. I'm super curious about Konrad's fighting style (how much he embraces the beast) and whether Christ is a mage :3

[@swordssolitude3861]

The best part of soloing is that I too am curious about how these things will unfold

[@EarlWynn]

Super cool, loved all three sessions! Very inspiring! Are you planning on exploring his story more?

[@swordssolitude3861]

I am. I’ve been using the table for some drawings, but I think once I’ve finished the current piece I’ll see Konrad into the mountains… next couple of weeks perhaps

[@oculusoccultus6842]

Wow ! Great ! 😮!?!!!

[@TomeAlone]

Hope all is well, when will we see the next session?

[@swordssolitude3861]

I’m getting the itch. Once I finish my current project I will revisit K&C

[@TomeAlone]

@@swordssolitude3861 finally 🤘

[@Ray47nl]

I am a bit lost on the hex system you are using. At the beginning you said a hex was 4 miles (9 miles from house till warehouse). Now it has switched to 6 miles (76/6=12). Personally i think 6 miles a hex is a good one since it is easy to do x1/3 or x2/3 with the terrain difficulty. But the one part i don't get at all is the way you say a hex has 4 quadrants and you do all the checks per quadrant? So in a way every 1,5 mile you do a point of interest and a random encounter check, is that right?

[@swordssolitude3861]

Didn’t catch this but I probably meant 4 hours and 6 miles as that’s what I’ve tried to use since I learned the basics. Or I just forgot my own system :p So 12 miles in 8 hours across basic terrain is my preferred method. I quadrupled travel time in the mountains because I got heavily forested AND mountains, each of which could double the travel time. And by that logic, I check for stuff four times per hex instead of just the one as there’s four times as much time for random encounters. Might make sense not to check for points of interest four times as the distance is not actually changing, so that’s a good point. Not to invalidate your questions (I did make it confusing) but I try to adhere to “rulings over rules” which is a play style intended to keep things moving and immersive - not so applicable when demonstrating my rules in a video but great for actually playing solo. Like whatever makes sense at the time and keep going. Thanks for your question :)

[@Ray47nl]

@@swordssolitude3861 Thank you for answering my question. For me this is the first time venturing into the solo play and while i applied the rules like i wanted as a DM, i wanted to have a good grasp of a play system. I will play with D&D 53 rules and playing in The Forgotten Realms, i think the best method of playing solo (in my head), will be a combination of DMG, PHB, Basic Fantasy Rules, Mythic Game Master Emulator, The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox, Tome of adventure design, Flex tale solo adventuring toolkit and the sword coast adventurer's guide. I think in all those systems there are ways and tables that will be beneficial to the solo game and so a combination will be great and not limited to one rule. The last games i played as an DM where Waterdeep: Dragonheist and i started with Dungeon of the mad mage. So i will use Waterdeep City Encounters for some fun Urban encounters. Further i think you are right in "rulings over rules", but on the other hand i think you need a basic set of rules and then let situations dictate the ruling. I will keep watching The adventures of Konrad, and i hope there will be more to watch soon.

[@swordssolitude3861]

@@Ray47nl totally agree about using rules. They create the boundaries of the world. Plugging myself here but check out my video for Tables For One - it’s a relatively affordable option to roll up pretty much everything as you go. Also usable with a group :)