It works fine, completely without modification using 1001 Nights. I also have 1001 Nights in farsi, and it still works, although there has to be languages that this doesn't work with, or the rules or the size of the prompt tool would have to be changed.
@@justinmargulski2687 Awesome selection of the novel!! 1001 Nights would be amazing! Cool that you tried it with Farsi! Certain mechanics like name generation would seem to lend itself better to Latin languages or languages with distinct characters that map onto sounds. I wonder how it would work with, say, Chinese or Japanese character languages?
This approach can be hugely improved with the “Cut Up” system. Where you combine several (3-5) small sections of a given text to form a short poem/haiku thing that serves as your prompt. This, with text generated oracle/checks/combat, adds up to a wonderful package! I think I’ve just found my ultimate solo engine here!
I love this system! The fact that the genre of the novel should be the same as the genre of the RPG we are playing is such a meta idea and makes perfect sense! You will never get a prompt of a hologram coming to life and broadcasting a distress call by using LoTR novels! A few clarifications of the game system that I consider important: 1) 08:46 On the weighted oracle questions (likely/ unlikely) would the favourable result be based on the narrative or on the yes/ no result? What I mean by that is that sometimes the question that we will be asking the oracle would be one that is negative for our character. In your example, instead of the King's royal guards, the question could have been "Is the sound of hoofs drawing nearer from bandits on horseback looking for victims?" The "favourable" result for our character, narratively, would be the "No" answer. So, if we assigned a likely weight to this oracle question (probably because we are in a lawless part of the realm) and we got the same results you got (Yes,and, and/ No, and), would we choose the most narratively favourable result which is the No, and? There is a logical conflict here, as we are assigning a likely outcome to the question (it is likely that those are bandits riding towards us), but we have more chances of getting a No answer- which in turns make the question less likely. I hope I am explaining this clearly enough. In essence, the phrasing of the weighted oracle questions is correct if the question we are asking is "positive" for our character (Are there enough furniture in here for me to hide behind?/ Does the assassin's body have a letter on it which gives me information of who hired him to kill me?/ Is there a treasure in this cave?), but should be the other way around (Likely: Select two words and take the less favorable result/ Unlikely: Select two words and take the more favorable result) if the question we are asking the oracle is "negative" for our character (Are there hungry wolves in this cave?/ Does this ancient bridge collapse under my weight?/ Can the guard see through my disguise?). 2) 12:10 you mention that the skill checks are a meet or exceed system (roll over system in a sense). In this case, I think the skill checks' difficulty levels would make more sense expressed as a "number+". Easy 3+, Moderate 4+, Difficult 6+ etc. As I understand it, if I set the DL to difficult and get a result of 11, I am still successful. So the range 6-7 is irrelevant. 3) In combat, if "to hit" and "to evade" score is the same, who is the winner? Any thoughts about an official initiative system? As a bookworm, I am excited to use this sytem! Very creative and it is evident that lots of love and attention went into making it!
Awesome reflections and very astute comments! BRAVO!! I think regarding #1 I had in mind something very simple: favorable = as extreme on the yes scale as possible, unfavorable = as extreme on the no scale as possible. In this case, it is not (un)favorableness with respect to the narrative (for a good narrative, it is just as much fun with yes as with no!). A different set of words is probably needed than "(un)favorable" to make this clearer. Regarding #2, I included the range numbers (ex, 6-7) to give the solo player even more nuance in setting a score. If I just set 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 as the targets, this would be too easy. 3,6,9,12 was too hard. So I landed on 3, 4-5, 6-7, etc. In this case, the solo player can pick a moderate DL as either a 4+ or a 5+ (so moderate, and more challenging moderate). Perhaps the extra wiggle-room is unclear and doesn't actually contribute that much. I will need to clarify that in the next version. Thinking of #3, I just give ties to the solo player (he or she needs all the help s/he can get!). Unless the character is surprised (and thus would go second), I just give initiative to the higher level character (with ties going to the solo player). This could be clarified as well. Thanks for all of your great comments! SUPER HELPFUL!!! A few playthroughs are on their way so that you all can get a more concrete picture of what I have in mind. Kindest regards! /Matthew
It's great to see you continue with your series. Solo gaming is more than just a way to scratch an RPG itch when your group is out of reach, but it's also a great way to cook up some adventures for when you all get together. I use it to come up with a short back story for my paintings and drawings. Bibliomancy, the use of books to generate prompts or as a tool for devination, has been around but I've never seen a dedicated tool like the Novel Tool in use before. That's really clever. Also, I like your number generator. I was using the page numbers and a randomly thumbed letter. A consonant was odd side of the pages and a vowel was the even. Using a selected word's letter count is far more elegant as it uses fewer steps. I'm excited to hear what you come up with next. Thanks.
I am leaving immediately to go make one of these tools and get Finnegan's Wake off of my bookshelf. Hmmm, I might need to work up a more generalized FATE-esque conflict/drama resolution system. Maybe the combat system can be tweeked into something appropriate, or maybe I'll think of something else while playing with craft paper, cardstock, and knife.
I started my first session/campaign using this system. I've never played an RPG solo before. The genre is Lovcraftian Weird Tales (using a book of weird short stories by Lovecraft and several other contributors) and so far the story is thus: I am Dr. Samuel Ward. I've been exploring the Valley of Skartax and came across an utterly strange tablet that speaks of "Time Hidden from the Convoluted Elaborate Men". As I am taking the tablet on foot to the nearest village which is five miles away I also come across a diary written by the Latin American Physiognomist Dordalus Casca. At first glance I see nothing written about the tablet but there is a reference to "something hideous and grotesque" that was following him. That's where I am at so far. Wow, this is something!
This is SO cool! Thanks for sharing!! Keep the posts coming-I am curious where this story is headed! I just finished up my first on-camera session, and I will be posting it next Thursday (12 September). It is the story of Prori and his wind energy company Indexel, and how certain individuals are after his technological innovations. The story gets pretty intense pretty quickly. 🫣😊
Thanks so much, my friend! I have just finished up editing a session using this rules set and the modern scientific thriller “Pandemic” that I will release next week. The gameplay was really great, and I had a blast! Hoping you will join us!! 😊👍
Definitely going to give this a try and play. I Almost have a book with me and any amount of free time could be used to play a quick session or encounter.
@@jkiser4476 Awesome!! Indeed, that is what is great about this system-just a book and a Novel Tool (which also doubles nicely as a bookmark!). And many of us always have a book with us! Great way to spend a 45 minute train commute? 🤔👍
I like the idea of the story tool. But there's nothing stopping you just getting your finger and pointing at a word randomly on the page that does the same thing
True indeed! 😂😂😂 The finger is a lot easier! I found the window tool useful to keep me focused on specific words and phrases without having my attention drawn away to others. 🤪👍
@@MrClawt 😂😂😂 Some of those kids books might qualify as Gothic Horror! Cool you wrote right now-I am in the middle of editing my first on-camera game (modern science thriller: “Pandemic”), and it went really well! I am hoping to have it posted already next week! 🥳👍
It was a wonderful Christmas present during the incredible season when the movies were coming out. A lot of sentimental value connected to these three books! :)
When I first watched this video I was thinking I know you can use any book to create your own RPG experience but I was thinking because you are using a lord of the rings book it would be amazing to base it in the world of middle earth and create a new story line that goes beyond the book which I think would be cool!
That is a brilliant idea! Like alternative plots, events, and endings! Maybe Boromir takes the ring by force? Maybe the Ents are destroyed at Isengard? Maybe Gandalf joins Saruman and forms an alliance? Maybe Tom Bombadil comes through and destroys the ring? What about trying this with Star Wars? Luke goes to the dark side? The Death Star is never destroyed? I think you are on to a BRILLIANT idea here! 😊👍👏
Plus I was also thinking a player could do this as a solo Journal experience of course follow your rules as normal but then when something happens they can act it out by Journaling the story on paper like a lot of solo RPG's encourage you too do!
@@12345gerrard Perfect! And in the end you might even end up with some amazing fan fiction that can be shared with the community. “Experiments in ‘What if?’” or something like that! (Reminds me of the old Marvel comic “What if?”. 😊👍
Hi I think we have both come up with some really good ideas together to enhance your game rules. What I will do is I will put mine and your rules together and see how it plays out with unique game storylines and Jounaling them together once I am done I would be happy if it's OK to email you my game log so you can see how it's played out. And if you like it you have my permission to share it anywhere to help promote your rule set if I could have your email address please I'll will be happy to email it to you if its OK?
What novel would YOU use in YOUR solo game? Leave a comment below!! 📚📓
It works fine, completely without modification using 1001 Nights. I also have 1001 Nights in farsi, and it still works, although there has to be languages that this doesn't work with, or the rules or the size of the prompt tool would have to be changed.
@@justinmargulski2687 Awesome selection of the novel!! 1001 Nights would be amazing! Cool that you tried it with Farsi! Certain mechanics like name generation would seem to lend itself better to Latin languages or languages with distinct characters that map onto sounds. I wonder how it would work with, say, Chinese or Japanese character languages?
Was looking through my bookshelf for a book to play. Found 2 tomes of War and Peace. Guess i'm going in the trenches.
@@dard2240 Amazing! Tolstoy is perfect! I had a thought to try Dostoevsky’s “Brothers Karamazov,” but then reason kicked back in! 😂
This is incredible! I hope there is some elaboration on this. A solo playthrough would be incredible too.
@@AceneDean Thanks so much! Absolutely!! I am hoping to do several playthroughs with several different genres! 😊👍
This approach can be hugely improved with the “Cut Up” system. Where you combine several (3-5) small sections of a given text to form a short poem/haiku thing that serves as your prompt. This, with text generated oracle/checks/combat, adds up to a wonderful package! I think I’ve just found my ultimate solo engine here!
Excellent idea! I will definitely be giving that a try! Enjoy your sessions, and if you have time I would love to hear how they have gone for you! 👍🤩
I love this system! The fact that the genre of the novel should be the same as the genre of the RPG we are playing is such a meta idea and makes perfect sense! You will never get a prompt of a hologram coming to life and broadcasting a distress call by using LoTR novels! A few clarifications of the game system that I consider important:
1) 08:46 On the weighted oracle questions (likely/ unlikely) would the favourable result be based on the narrative or on the yes/ no result? What I mean by that is that sometimes the question that we will be asking the oracle would be one that is negative for our character. In your example, instead of the King's royal guards, the question could have been "Is the sound of hoofs drawing nearer from bandits on horseback looking for victims?" The "favourable" result for our character, narratively, would be the "No" answer. So, if we assigned a likely weight to this oracle question (probably because we are in a lawless part of the realm) and we got the same results you got (Yes,and, and/ No, and), would we choose the most narratively favourable result which is the No, and? There is a logical conflict here, as we are assigning a likely outcome to the question (it is likely that those are bandits riding towards us), but we have more chances of getting a No answer- which in turns make the question less likely. I hope I am explaining this clearly enough. In essence, the phrasing of the weighted oracle questions is correct if the question we are asking is "positive" for our character (Are there enough furniture in here for me to hide behind?/ Does the assassin's body have a letter on it which gives me information of who hired him to kill me?/ Is there a treasure in this cave?), but should be the other way around (Likely: Select two words and take the less favorable result/ Unlikely: Select two words and take the more favorable result) if the question we are asking the oracle is "negative" for our character (Are there hungry wolves in this cave?/ Does this ancient bridge collapse under my weight?/ Can the guard see through my disguise?).
2) 12:10 you mention that the skill checks are a meet or exceed system (roll over system in a sense). In this case, I think the skill checks' difficulty levels would make more sense expressed as a "number+". Easy 3+, Moderate 4+, Difficult 6+ etc. As I understand it, if I set the DL to difficult and get a result of 11, I am still successful. So the range 6-7 is irrelevant.
3) In combat, if "to hit" and "to evade" score is the same, who is the winner? Any thoughts about an official initiative system?
As a bookworm, I am excited to use this sytem! Very creative and it is evident that lots of love and attention went into making it!
Awesome reflections and very astute comments! BRAVO!!
I think regarding #1 I had in mind something very simple: favorable = as extreme on the yes scale as possible, unfavorable = as extreme on the no scale as possible. In this case, it is not (un)favorableness with respect to the narrative (for a good narrative, it is just as much fun with yes as with no!). A different set of words is probably needed than "(un)favorable" to make this clearer.
Regarding #2, I included the range numbers (ex, 6-7) to give the solo player even more nuance in setting a score. If I just set 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 as the targets, this would be too easy. 3,6,9,12 was too hard. So I landed on 3, 4-5, 6-7, etc. In this case, the solo player can pick a moderate DL as either a 4+ or a 5+ (so moderate, and more challenging moderate). Perhaps the extra wiggle-room is unclear and doesn't actually contribute that much. I will need to clarify that in the next version.
Thinking of #3, I just give ties to the solo player (he or she needs all the help s/he can get!). Unless the character is surprised (and thus would go second), I just give initiative to the higher level character (with ties going to the solo player). This could be clarified as well.
Thanks for all of your great comments! SUPER HELPFUL!!!
A few playthroughs are on their way so that you all can get a more concrete picture of what I have in mind.
Kindest regards!
/Matthew
It's great to see you continue with your series. Solo gaming is more than just a way to scratch an RPG itch when your group is out of reach, but it's also a great way to cook up some adventures for when you all get together. I use it to come up with a short back story for my paintings and drawings.
Bibliomancy, the use of books to generate prompts or as a tool for devination, has been around but I've never seen a dedicated tool like the Novel Tool in use before. That's really clever. Also, I like your number generator. I was using the page numbers and a randomly thumbed letter. A consonant was odd side of the pages and a vowel was the even. Using a selected word's letter count is far more elegant as it uses fewer steps.
I'm excited to hear what you come up with next. Thanks.
@@artistpoet5253 Cool! Thanks so much! I am hoping to give the system a try with several different novel genres to see how it plays! 😊👍
Thank you for providing specifications for the tool.
@@macoppy6571 😊👍
I am leaving immediately to go make one of these tools and get Finnegan's Wake off of my bookshelf. Hmmm, I might need to work up a more generalized FATE-esque conflict/drama resolution system. Maybe the combat system can be tweeked into something appropriate, or maybe I'll think of something else while playing with craft paper, cardstock, and knife.
@@justinmargulski2687 Have fun, my friend! This is the spirit of PLAY! 😊👍
I started my first session/campaign using this system. I've never played an RPG solo before. The genre is Lovcraftian Weird Tales (using a book of weird short stories by Lovecraft and several other contributors) and so far the story is thus:
I am Dr. Samuel Ward. I've been exploring the Valley of Skartax and came across an utterly strange tablet that speaks of "Time Hidden from the Convoluted Elaborate Men". As I am taking the tablet on foot to the nearest village which is five miles away I also come across a diary written by the Latin American Physiognomist Dordalus Casca. At first glance I see nothing written about the tablet but there is a reference to "something hideous and grotesque" that was following him.
That's where I am at so far. Wow, this is something!
This is SO cool! Thanks for sharing!! Keep the posts coming-I am curious where this story is headed!
I just finished up my first on-camera session, and I will be posting it next Thursday (12 September). It is the story of Prori and his wind energy company Indexel, and how certain individuals are after his technological innovations. The story gets pretty intense pretty quickly. 🫣😊
But I love how people are looking at things that are not games and turning them into games! Amazing!
It really is a cool exercise to try that out! 👏💪👍
@GrayArmyGaming definitely I have downloaded the rule sheet I definitely am going to try this out. It was very worthwhile doing thank you buddy!
@@12345gerrard Awesome! 🤩 I would love to hear more about your experience!! Good luck! 😊👍
@@GrayArmyGaming I will let you know!
This is absolutely brilliant! Thank you!
Thanks so much, my friend! I have just finished up editing a session using this rules set and the modern scientific thriller “Pandemic” that I will release next week. The gameplay was really great, and I had a blast! Hoping you will join us!! 😊👍
Definitely going to give this a try and play. I Almost have a book with me and any amount of free time could be used to play a quick session or encounter.
@@jkiser4476 Awesome!! Indeed, that is what is great about this system-just a book and a Novel Tool (which also doubles nicely as a bookmark!). And many of us always have a book with us! Great way to spend a 45 minute train commute? 🤔👍
That's genius!
Thanks so much! I have been having a blast with it! 👍😊
I like the idea of the story tool. But there's nothing stopping you just getting your finger and pointing at a word randomly on the page that does the same thing
True indeed! 😂😂😂 The finger is a lot easier! I found the window tool useful to keep me focused on specific words and phrases without having my attention drawn away to others. 🤪👍
Gunna grab a book at random off my shelf. Strong chance for Gothic Horror or SciFi. And a chance for hungry caterpillars.
@@MrClawt 😂😂😂 Some of those kids books might qualify as Gothic Horror! Cool you wrote right now-I am in the middle of editing my first on-camera game (modern science thriller: “Pandemic”), and it went really well! I am hoping to have it posted already next week! 🥳👍
I have that exact copy of the fellowship
It was a wonderful Christmas present during the incredible season when the movies were coming out. A lot of sentimental value connected to these three books! :)
When I first watched this video I was thinking I know you can use any book to create your own RPG experience but I was thinking because you are using a lord of the rings book it would be amazing to base it in the world of middle earth and create a new story line that goes beyond the book which I think would be cool!
That is a brilliant idea! Like alternative plots, events, and endings! Maybe Boromir takes the ring by force? Maybe the Ents are destroyed at Isengard? Maybe Gandalf joins Saruman and forms an alliance? Maybe Tom Bombadil comes through and destroys the ring? What about trying this with Star Wars? Luke goes to the dark side? The Death Star is never destroyed? I think you are on to a BRILLIANT idea here! 😊👍👏
@GrayArmyGaming thank you! 100 per cent I think doing this will add a new dimension to the game play that will make it even more exciting!
Plus I was also thinking a player could do this as a solo Journal experience of course follow your rules as normal but then when something happens they can act it out by Journaling the story on paper like a lot of solo RPG's encourage you too do!
@@12345gerrard Go nuts! 🥳👍👏
@@12345gerrard Perfect! And in the end you might even end up with some amazing fan fiction that can be shared with the community. “Experiments in ‘What if?’” or something like that! (Reminds me of the old Marvel comic “What if?”. 😊👍
Hi I think we have both come up with some really good ideas together to enhance your game rules. What I will do is I will put mine and your rules together and see how it plays out with unique game storylines and Jounaling them together once I am done I would be happy if it's OK to email you my game log so you can see how it's played out. And if you like it you have my permission to share it anywhere to help promote your rule set if I could have your email address please I'll will be happy to email it to you if its OK?
Sounds great! grayarmygaming@gmail.com
@GrayArmyGaming thank you! Once I've done it I will email it to you my friend thank you for being super supportive and amazing!
@@12345gerrard 👊🤩👍