Tricube Tales Solo: It Just Works (seriously)

[@CavernadoLekkis]

Great video, and I was surprised by the shoutout at the end of the video! Thank you very much! Be careful with Solo RPG; some people (including me) tend to prefer playing solo rather than in a group.

[@asquirrelplays]

I can see why! Lot less arguing. Still some though.

[@Chaoclypse]

Awesome video! Really enjoyed it. I was interested in playing Tricube Tales solo, this has moved it up the list for me! Thanks!

[@asquirrelplays]

It's a good time! Hopefully you'll have better luck at surviving than I did.

[@JamesTheKoopaTroopa]

I find it useful when playing Tricube Tales solo to use Matthew Morgan's "Roaming difficulty" idea from His game RemiNES. I start my difficulty at 5 and as I play, when things are going good for me I crank I up and when things are going particularly bad, I lower it. That way the difficulty bounces from 4 to 6 without having to really worrying about how tough or easy something should be and I can focus on the story.

[@asquirrelplays]

I'm not familiar with those names, but I'm certainly a fan of the theory and it's how I run my games as well. As a matter of fact, the little squirrely homebrew I'm working on revolves around that concept. The GM has the tools to raise/lower the difficulty at every step as they need. This allows you to focus on the story like you said, but if you want, you can also constantly keep players on their toes without snowballing/overwhelming them. I would say it works pretty good but I feel like I might be just a touch biased.

[@zadmar]

I played a lot of Fighting Fantasy and other CYOA books as a kid, but it was the Mythic GM Emulator that really opened my eyes to the potential of solo gaming. As you mentioned in the video, the second edition is a big book (over four times the size of the first edition, which is what I started with), but the author has also released a "One-Page Mythic Game Master Emulator" version which is very good -- technically the PDF is 11 pages with examples and explanations, but the GM emulator itself is just one page. I'd say the two biggest influences on the Tricube Tales solo rules are probably the Mythic GM Emulator and the Scarlet Heroes solo rules, both of which I consider excellent products.

[@asquirrelplays]

One page? OHHHHHHHHH SIGN ME UP! I'm gonna have to check those out. I plan on getting the big book too at some point, because I was really impressed with what that guy was showing me in Foundry. Slowly filling up my cart on DriveThru for one big order, and you better believe Tricube is in there.

[@Gnomesrule]

I love solo tricube. Its so fun! Mostly commenting for algorithm. Whimsical beasts need to stick together

[@asquirrelplays]

It's true! Especially the little ones

[@crallsfickle2994]

Yeah, sometimes the solo spaces can be unbelievably overwhelming. I just make sure I have a basic oracle, some appropriate tables and go. If I want a more structured dungeon or adventure site I use a premade one or spend a session making one first. I don’t feel the need for a complex system that will overlap with a simple one 80%+ of the time anyway.

[@asquirrelplays]

Yeah, I was super surprised when I first looked into solo stuff. I was expecting something simpler than running a game and was super caught off guard.

[@crallsfickle2994]

I can understand people wanting a robust system. But probably not starting out especially since most are probably busy and tired and want something can pick up and play in the little free time they have.

[@mattjackson]

Great video, love how you keep the bloopers in. Awesome stuff!

[@asquirrelplays]

SOME of the bloopers lol sometimes there's enough to add another 5 minutes worth of run time. 😭

[@mattjackson]

@@asquirrelplays I know what you mean. I used to do videos and a 30 minutes video would take me 1-2 hours to edit. One of the reasons I quit making videos!

[@AvenueStudios]

I have always been intrigued by solo play games but necer had a chance yo try it. This is a great breakdown thank you! Looks like a good one to start with...now if i can just find some time lying around 😅

[@asquirrelplays]

Welllllllllllllll .... stop making so many videos and playing ttrpgs all the time

[@bob12884]

Big, big fan of Tricube Tales. I'm playing a weird campaign of essentially Magic the Gathering planeswalkers walking between worlds completing various written modules (the campaign was an excuse to finally play all of my modules I've collected over the years). That kind of game needs to be built around conceptual characters and Tricube Tales completes that for me. I no longer have to worry about building the character out using a long method or refitting mechanics to get the feel of what I want, I just say what it is. If it helps the scene? Bonus. Doesn't? 1d6. For tactical combats, which are the big set-piece encounters, I use another system called Pulp Alley which is a "generic" miniature wargame. This system holds all of my characters' "stats."

[@asquirrelplays]

Ooooo a Tricube campaign, eh? Are you doing any level ups? Was wondering how well that worked in Tricube and if it got too crazy too fast. One shots are my only experience.

[@bob12884]

​@@asquirrelplays so far, it's working well. The game does tend to lend itself towards short term play. However, I haven't had any trouble getting mileage out of the system for longer term play. I grant perks slowly with magic items mostly filling in their place.

[@asquirrelplays]

@@bob12884 Nice! Have you looked at the "level up" cards for EZD6? I feel like Tricube could benefit from a similar/inspired concept. Basically (at least from what I remember), you get a card at a level up (and there's a small minigame to go with it). Sometimes the card is something you can use once per session like "heal 1 HP" or some way to save you on a roll. And I think sometimes there were some permanent buff ones too, but I'd have to look again, but you get the idea. Might be something to check out and use!

[@goldengriffon]

I've also been intrigued by solo play but overwhelmed with the options. I would prefer something compact and efficient. This just might do the trick!

[@asquirrelplays]

I highly recommend. It might seem like a lot at first, but once you realize there's only a couple pages of "rules" for playing and the rest is for rolling stuff based off your setting, it's a lot less intimidating. You'll be going back to those first couple pages a lot at the start, but as you go you'll remember what's what and will be able to roll back to back without looking things up so much.

[@MGShogun]

Thanks for great video. It clarified some stuff for me so it's really helpful. You got new subscriber in me. Keep up the good work!

[@asquirrelplays]

Thanks! Always enjoy a new sub, but also glad to hear the video helped. That's what they're for! (well, that and entertainment)

[@zadmar]

Awesome review, and this time there really are plenty of “tables”! ;)

[@asquirrelplays]

You right! I almost did the whole video without saying tables. ALMOST!

[@artistpoet5253]

First time watching your show. So cool and funny. I've been picking up the TCT one-page settings for a while and do have the PDF of the solo rules but haven't given them a full try. Gotta stop procrastinating.

[@asquirrelplays]

I'm becoming a huge fan of the Tricube scene. There's a lot of neat and simple stuff there. Great tools (both the solo stuff and the one page settings) for brainstorming ideas for adventures and/or stories. Once life decides to calm down a bit and I can get back into my map making streams, I plan on using them to roll up some map ideas to make. That said, if you are new around here, I JUST dropped a video about an hour ago showing how the Tricube Solo adventure went. It's mostly silly, but it gives you somewhat of an idea how it goes down.

[@AdlerMow]

If you enjoy TCT, solo and simple systems you gonna love Dominus. It's a brazilian 2 page solo with TONS of theme. It's in portuguese, but it's as popular here as TCT is elsewhere, so I give it a shout out. It's similar, but uses only 1D6.

[@asquirrelplays]

well, well, well, color me INTRIGUED. Is it translated? Or, well, I guess I'm about to find out because here I go Googling!

[@AdlerMow]

@@asquirrelplays You can find it by googling "dominus solo rpg" ou "iniciativa dominus". I think it's not translated, but it almost always a single page of rules and a page of scenario and tables specific of the setting. If you need help with the rules, I post up a translation in the comments. Yes, it is that simple, it would fit a comment.

[@SkittleBombs]

Did you ever run a mythic game on this channel ?

[@asquirrelplays]

I have not, but I think I know what you're talking about. That's the one with a really thick book, right? I've been meaning to pick it up and dedicate some time to learning it. A guy in the discord showed it to me once and did some quick stuff in Foundry VTT (it has a module for it). He just threw a scene together super quick, it was really neat.

[@SkittleBombs]

@@asquirrelplays it’s a narrative story telling system. Dnd etc is a combat ability and damage tracking system but mythic teaches you how to write and pace story telling scene and plot threads

[@blackphidora]

ROCK N STOOOONE

[@asquirrelplays]

TO THE BOOOOONE!

[@Catlord98765]

Wow a video

[@asquirrelplays]

wow a comment

[@AdlerMow]

I recommend you Van Helsing 1857, a solo Dominus rpg from Brazil, translated to english. It's from Tarcísio Lucas, one of the biggest authors on solo rpg scene in Brazil, and an incredible person, too. His work is in DriveThruRpg. Would love your opinion on it!

[@asquirrelplays]

well sign me up, that sounds pretty great. Never heard the name (though that means nothing) but I'll definitely have to check into his works.

[@AdlerMow]

@@asquirrelplays He does have an youtube channel ("Tarcísio Lucas", literally). Almost everything he does is in portuguese, but he is an english teacher and translate some of his games. If you can talk to him, making a comment in english on his newest video, I think he will reply. He is aware that I recommended his material to you, and I recommended your channel to him and his viewers (our lively solo community). I want the world to get know our brazilian scene, and I think he will happily introduce you to our games and creators!

[@asquirrelplays]

@@AdlerMow well hot dang! I'll have to head over there. I got a Crown and Skull game to attend today that someone in the Squirrel Community is running, then a smaller session of "Break!!" this evening, but that sounds pretty great. Solo TTRPGs are super interesting to me.

[@BuilderB-dt1f8]

Solo game play roll tables settings…and (jumpscare warning!) solo social interaction! It’s both the scariest one and the one I’m intrigued by, like a good horror flick! (Or maybe I just need the practice!) 🫣🤔👍👏

[@asquirrelplays]

"Solo social interaction" sounds like the only social interaction I'd enjoy.