Interesting take on theories of solo RPGing. I have a slightly different perspective that I have begun to outline in various vids. Appreciate knowing what others think on the matter.
Just strengthening what a couple of others have already posted. The first RPG designed for solo play and supported with solo adventures was Tunnels and Trolls, published in 1975. Its first solo adventure, "Buffalo Castle" is considered the first full-length solo RPG adventure in the hobby. It was published the same year as the game, 1975. The game/publisher/writers are still active to this day.
+Raddlesby only Solo Dungeon Adventures (which I describe in the vid) came before T&T. The idea that Buffalo Castle is the first of this kind is well known, but it is incorrect.
Dave Arneson created the ideas of: individual adventurers, gaining experience, going into a dungeon for loot and fighting. Gygax was the business man who took as much credit as possible. They were listed as co-creators in the original D&D. Arneson left, TSR, with an agreement to get royalties from D&D. Gygax promptly made "Advanced D&D" so he could pay Arneson nothing. When Wizards of the Coast took over D&D, they paid Arneson a handsome sum, and he was listed as co-creator on the products they published. It really bugs me when Gygax gets all the credit for D&D and Arneson is not mentioned. Warm regards, Rick.
Wow! A blast from the past! I haven't seen my copy of En Garde! in nearly 40 years. I still remember the book, and its texture. How odd after such a long time. It certainly had a very strong flavour. Thank you for the reminder!!
Liked the video. Fascinating talk about the fundamentals of RPGs. Also, good insight on the difference between a board game and role-playing game. Thanks!
I think that "Mythic" is probably the best solo GM'less RPG that's out there. The thing is, in order to play a GM'less RPG, you really need decent GM experience. Going solo and free-form, is difficult and a completely alien landscape for a lot of GM's who are just used to adventure modules, maps, and information being provided for them. In a solo game, EVERY SINGLE THING is based on their ability to improvise and that is a learned skill. So learning to play a game like "Mythic" is actually a learned skill compared to traditional RPG's. Before learning something like "Mythic", I might recommend a cooperative GM'less game like "Fiasco", to practice the improvisation skills with other players. It's a way to have other players there as well as a way to get one's toe wet with that GM'less improvosation where you just create whatever comes to mind for an overall narrative.
Don't forget The Fantasy Trip (core rules Melee and Wizard) which had several microquests that could be played solo easily: Death Test 1, Death Test 2, Master of the Amulets, and Orbquest could be played as a continuing campaign for up to four characters.
IMO such games need breadth in terms of content (diff. storylines, themes, environments, characters, monsters), but also pieces that may be put together in such a way that make sense as story arcs (both short and long term). And that have different probabilities of combinations. Some storylines will combine more often than others, you'll encounter different characters and monsters each time, so there's some surprise there. Such characters intentions/objectives/etc. should also have variation. So in one version there's a [female] [wizard] who wants [the player] to [help her] [finding a mcguffin] which will [help her free her city]. In another version, that [female] is a [warrior] that's [secretly working] for the [big bad guy] at the end. The first time you play you'll find her in a [bog], in a second time you'll find her in a [cemetery] instead... Those environments should be determined by an overall theme that's picked up randomly at the beginning. So, a story that gets developed as the player plays. Of course some things will repeat themselves, but not in the same way every time. You may encounter a certain NPC now, or maybe in the next act. EDIT: Oh, another thing that it needs is hard, difficult choices. Choosing one path may make (again, not always) something bad happen somewhere else because of what you chose to neglect.
RP can happen by other elements as well such as the character’s decisions by the PC even when there are complete and fixed rules, since you may choose to allow disadvantages or advantages related to your character’s personality, alignment and background and still follow all the rules.
+pencilpauli Stick with it! Read through the tips and posts on the 'Lone Wolf Roleplaying' Google group and give it another try. Once you crack it and find out what works for you, it's really rewarding.
I must be extremely lucky since I have been rpging since the mid 70's and never had a problem finding a gamemaster and never had a problem of finding a good one.
"The Mutant Epoch" is a full RPG that has very large Choose Your Own Adventure style scenario books. Big ones with an overarching storyline using encounter paragraphs & all that. The system also has lots of randomized tables & encounters, especially in the core book. It's a crazy post-future-apocalypse mutant setting, instead of fantasy. But not an issue for me. Got some of it at a good price from Amazon. Not into the game mechanics for it overly much, but the basics are rather straightforward, if nothing else, and there are many mutations, backgrounds, etc to mix & match (& roll up randomly) for your characters. Plus.. the whole range of die types for much dice chucking.
It's very gonzo, with a lot of possible mutations for both characters & creatures. Plus many different "races" such as bio-replicants, cyborgs, etc. Lots of stuff. Get used to seeing mutant creatures & NPCs with spiky tentacles, poisonous spit, radiation emanation, psi blasts, and many other such things. The setting isn't for everyone. It's basically a d100 system that often uses a table to cross-index final roll requirement based on difficulty. I much prefer dice pool systems over single die, or d% like this, but not everyone agrees with me in that. The base mechanics are pretty simple. I think the strength of Mutant Epoch is it's large scenario books made to support easier solo play, along with all the random encounter/loot tables to help with that.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes this type of RPG is way better than a regular kind. (We can all admit there are times where we'd rather just be playing a game instead of listening to a GM read us a story haha)
Ordered En Garde! It seems fascinating. Like an open ended gamebook to waste away time. I wonder if i might somehow be able to integrate some miniatures.
What we need is a mechanism that generates text content that can form a story with the possibility of twists and unexpected events along the way. Also it has to be not a "dice feast" game with easy to digest rules. Maybe some tables with "strategic" sentences that you can combine and crate the text and content shaping it with storytelling. I have started reading Mythic Role Playing + Mythic Variations and even I haven't test it yet it looks very close to what seems to be a good GM-less solo RPG. Also it can be combined with any other RPG type if you want. My only concern is that it mostly feels more like storytelling than actually RP and I want to test it in the next few days to be sure it works well. Also there is Ironsworn - Tabletop RPG (free preview PDF) that is not completely finished yet. I have to admit, I hate D&D and most of the games you mention on this video are about dungeon crawling that seems one-sided and narrow. But thanks for the video anyway. :)
@@perplexedmoth The last few years there are plenty of Solo RPGs and helping books for solo or RP in general. Mythic is simple and easy, more like a basic mechanism. Ironsworn, is good but not for me. Not what I wanted. In general Solo gaming is easier now with a lot of tools to use out there. Just pick what feels more to your liking and go on.
try mythic by wordmill it is a very good solo play it is open ended in some ways so you can have lots of fun with it and never get the same game twice the rules are very clear and easy to run i highly recommend it
I've played mythic solo system with a random generated dungeon. The dungeon has creatures, environments, events, treasure, ect. I created 4 knave characters. I then acted as the dm. I wrote everything down on paper. The adventure randonly said something about finding a portal from wizards. So I'd go from character to character and think how each one would interact with the wizards. They decided to go to the portal for some treasure that they got to pick from the wizards closet. I'd randomly roll items and ask each player if they wanted it. Yes is an yes no is no thanks and would manufacture more dialog as the dm for the wizard and then ask the character.... That's how it went for the entire session. It important to write everything down. It is a way to make the game real. If you just think it through it seems unlikely you would continue forward in unison. It would probably get sloppy. Planning on trying this out with pregen modules and using different systems. It was surprising fun and now I have q neat little story I can revisit and read whenever I want.
Marco, I recently came upon two that are interesting (considering the topic). Mythic Game engine, and Dungeon Plungin (more of a crawler but has interesting ideas)
I've often thought that 'solo dungeons' have a big problem with what D&D called 'specials'--ie encounters that aren't straightforward monsters, treasure and/or traps.
Very interesting when you say "for all those who say 'derivative form, it should not be done' ": if you think about it, young kids do role play all the time even when they are alone and they play with their toys, imagining to be someone else!
Nice video, hey I can't remember are you the guy who is a University / college professor or video game designer (I know there is another board game reviewer that does video game design.).
I have never played a RPG, but my son is part of a gaming group that plays D&D. I never did like the gamemaster aspect, your ideas and historical perspective are appreciated. (Strangely my son and I recently played Wilderness Survival.) You may want to look into Questlandia, a RPG from a local group in Western Mass. makebigthings.com/questlandia-rpg/
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Interesting take on theories of solo RPGing. I have a slightly different perspective that I have begun to outline in various vids. Appreciate knowing what others think on the matter.
Great video , I would love to see more about this topic !!!
Just strengthening what a couple of others have already posted. The first RPG designed for solo play and supported with solo adventures was Tunnels and Trolls, published in 1975. Its first solo adventure, "Buffalo Castle" is considered the first full-length solo RPG adventure in the hobby. It was published the same year as the game, 1975. The game/publisher/writers are still active to this day.
+Raddlesby only Solo Dungeon Adventures (which I describe in the vid) came before T&T. The idea that Buffalo Castle is the first of this kind is well known, but it is incorrect.
Dave Arneson created the ideas of: individual adventurers, gaining experience, going into a dungeon for loot and fighting. Gygax was the business man who took as much credit as possible.
They were listed as co-creators in the original D&D. Arneson left, TSR, with an agreement to get royalties from D&D. Gygax promptly made "Advanced D&D" so he could pay Arneson nothing.
When Wizards of the Coast took over D&D, they paid Arneson a handsome sum, and he was listed as co-creator on the products they published.
It really bugs me when Gygax gets all the credit for D&D and Arneson is not mentioned.
Warm regards, Rick.
You missed the most well known and still highly played solo RPG to date. Also from the early 70's. That would be "Tunnels & Trolls"
you sir are a true connoisseur. Such a reliable source of information, this is one of the greatest channel ever.
Tunnels and Trolls by Flying Buffalo had many solo dungeon adventures available. It originally came out in 1975, and was recently reprinted.
It looks like it's the best pick up and ready to play solo RPG pencil and paper game
Basically all it was developed for as it lacks much GM adventure support.
Wow! A blast from the past! I haven't seen my copy of En Garde! in nearly 40 years. I still remember the book, and its texture. How odd after such a long time. It certainly had a very strong flavour. Thank you for the reminder!!
Liked the video. Fascinating talk about the fundamentals of RPGs. Also, good insight on the difference between a board game and role-playing game. Thanks!
I think that "Mythic" is probably the best solo GM'less RPG that's out there. The thing is, in order to play a GM'less RPG, you really need decent GM experience. Going solo and free-form, is difficult and a completely alien landscape for a lot of GM's who are just used to adventure modules, maps, and information being provided for them. In a solo game, EVERY SINGLE THING is based on their ability to improvise and that is a learned skill. So learning to play a game like "Mythic" is actually a learned skill compared to traditional RPG's. Before learning something like "Mythic", I might recommend a cooperative GM'less game like "Fiasco", to practice the improvisation skills with other players. It's a way to have other players there as well as a way to get one's toe wet with that GM'less improvosation where you just create whatever comes to mind for an overall narrative.
Great video. Can you continue this series of solo dungeon RPG related videos?
Don't forget The Fantasy Trip (core rules Melee and Wizard) which had several microquests that could be played solo easily: Death Test 1, Death Test 2, Master of the Amulets, and Orbquest could be played as a continuing campaign for up to four characters.
Heroic Worlds on the bookshelf I see. An excellent nostalgic book of the good old RPG days....
IMO such games need breadth in terms of content (diff. storylines, themes, environments, characters, monsters), but also pieces that may be put together in such a way that make sense as story arcs (both short and long term). And that have different probabilities of combinations. Some storylines will combine more often than others, you'll encounter different characters and monsters each time, so there's some surprise there.
Such characters intentions/objectives/etc. should also have variation. So in one version there's a [female] [wizard] who wants [the player] to [help her] [finding a mcguffin] which will [help her free her city]. In another version, that [female] is a [warrior] that's [secretly working] for the [big bad guy] at the end. The first time you play you'll find her in a [bog], in a second time you'll find her in a [cemetery] instead... Those environments should be determined by an overall theme that's picked up randomly at the beginning.
So, a story that gets developed as the player plays.
Of course some things will repeat themselves, but not in the same way every time. You may encounter a certain NPC now, or maybe in the next act.
EDIT: Oh, another thing that it needs is hard, difficult choices. Choosing one path may make (again, not always) something bad happen somewhere else because of what you chose to neglect.
Tunnels & Trolls !
RP can happen by other elements as well such as the character’s decisions by the PC even when there are complete and fixed rules, since you may choose to allow disadvantages or advantages related to your character’s personality, alignment and background and still follow all the rules.
I love using the Mythic Game Master Emulator. It's more work, but you can play any RPG you want.
+pencilpauli Stick with it! Read through the tips and posts on the 'Lone Wolf Roleplaying' Google group and give it another try. Once you crack it and find out what works for you, it's really rewarding.
@pencilpauli I'm with you. Just starting and they are complicated for a new player. I'm having luck with Sol1um and the 2Hour games.
@@sharkymouth Using Mythic now. It just takes awhile to "get" it. definitely my favorite solo emulator.
Great stuff!
More, more more !!!
So many interesting looking books behind you. Maybe you could do a top ten video of gaming related books.
+Greg Benson uh, I like this idea. I probably will, at some point. But there are so many I still have to read before. :-)
I must be extremely lucky since I have been rpging since the mid 70's and never had a problem finding a gamemaster and never had a problem of finding a good one.
"The Mutant Epoch" is a full RPG that has very large Choose Your Own Adventure style scenario books. Big ones with an overarching storyline using encounter paragraphs & all that.
The system also has lots of randomized tables & encounters, especially in the core book.
It's a crazy post-future-apocalypse mutant setting, instead of fantasy. But not an issue for me. Got some of it at a good price from Amazon.
Not into the game mechanics for it overly much, but the basics are rather straightforward, if nothing else, and there are many mutations, backgrounds, etc to mix & match (& roll up randomly) for your characters. Plus.. the whole range of die types for much dice chucking.
oooh sounds cool
It's very gonzo, with a lot of possible mutations for both characters & creatures. Plus many different "races" such as bio-replicants, cyborgs, etc. Lots of stuff. Get used to seeing mutant creatures & NPCs with spiky tentacles, poisonous spit, radiation emanation, psi blasts, and many other such things. The setting isn't for everyone.
It's basically a d100 system that often uses a table to cross-index final roll requirement based on difficulty. I much prefer dice pool systems over single die, or d% like this, but not everyone agrees with me in that. The base mechanics are pretty simple. I think the strength of Mutant Epoch is it's large scenario books made to support easier solo play, along with all the random encounter/loot tables to help with that.
Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Sometimes this type of RPG is way better than a regular kind. (We can all admit there are times where we'd rather just be playing a game instead of listening to a GM read us a story haha)
You mentioned Melee and Wizard, the fantasy trip can be played solo as well using death test and death test 2
Could you please talk about dice mechanics in RPGs incl. solo adventures?
Incredibly useful, thanks!
Ordered En Garde! It seems fascinating. Like an open ended gamebook to waste away time.
I wonder if i might somehow be able to integrate some miniatures.
What we need is a mechanism that generates text content that can form a story with the possibility of twists and unexpected events along the way. Also it has to be not a "dice feast" game with easy to digest rules. Maybe some tables with "strategic" sentences that you can combine and crate the text and content shaping it with storytelling. I have started reading Mythic Role Playing + Mythic Variations and even I haven't test it yet it looks very close to what seems to be a good GM-less solo RPG. Also it can be combined with any other RPG type if you want. My only concern is that it mostly feels more like storytelling than actually RP and I want to test it in the next few days to be sure it works well.
Also there is Ironsworn - Tabletop RPG (free preview PDF) that is not completely finished yet.
I have to admit, I hate D&D and most of the games you mention on this video are about dungeon crawling that seems one-sided and narrow.
But thanks for the video anyway. :)
After 5 years, what's your impression of Mytic GM and Ironsword, or solo RPG in general?
@@perplexedmoth The last few years there are plenty of Solo RPGs and helping books for solo or RP in general.
Mythic is simple and easy, more like a basic mechanism.
Ironsworn, is good but not for me. Not what I wanted.
In general Solo gaming is easier now with a lot of tools to use out there.
Just pick what feels more to your liking and go on.
Great Job as always!
try mythic by wordmill it is a very good solo play it is open ended in some ways so you can have lots of fun with it and never get the same game twice the rules are very clear and easy to run i highly recommend it
Would love your take on Ironsworn & it’s companion Delve. It’s hot but worthy of more exposure.
I've played mythic solo system with a random generated dungeon. The dungeon has creatures, environments, events, treasure, ect.
I created 4 knave characters. I then acted as the dm.
I wrote everything down on paper. The adventure randonly said something about finding a portal from wizards. So I'd go from character to character and think how each one would interact with the wizards. They decided to go to the portal for some treasure that they got to pick from the wizards closet. I'd randomly roll items and ask each player if they wanted it. Yes is an yes no is no thanks and would manufacture more dialog as the dm for the wizard and then ask the character....
That's how it went for the entire session. It important to write everything down. It is a way to make the game real. If you just think it through it seems unlikely you would continue forward in unison. It would probably get sloppy.
Planning on trying this out with pregen modules and using different systems. It was surprising fun and now I have q neat little story I can revisit and read whenever I want.
How doe Mythic compare to tunnels & trolls ?
Dude, you are the Sage of Solo
There's also a GM-free supers game with capes in the title.
Interesting topic... I would like to deeply analyze it... any other game title?
SOOOO Jealous of your book library! I want to read all of them!!
Marco, I recently came upon two that are interesting (considering the topic). Mythic Game engine, and Dungeon Plungin (more of a crawler but has interesting ideas)
I've often thought that 'solo dungeons' have a big problem with what D&D called 'specials'--ie encounters that aren't straightforward monsters, treasure and/or traps.
Have you seen the Game Master Emulator?
I would looove to find Labyrinth´s pdf rules...anyone knows?
Very interesting when you say "for all those who say 'derivative form, it should not be done' ": if you think about it, young kids do role play all the time even when they are alone and they play with their toys, imagining to be someone else!
At the risk of being 'that guy' - En Garde's turns represent months divided into weeks, not weeks divided into days.
Nice video, hey I can't remember are you the guy who is a University / college professor or video game designer (I know there is another board game reviewer that does video game design.).
I am the colege professor guy. I think Rahdo used to design video games in the past but I don't think he does so now
I thought you made a video of warrior heroes legend by two hour war games that you liked?
Ironswooooooorn!!!
Make more! But show more during your videos! Like boards units etc, not chest hair.
I have never played a RPG, but my son is part of a gaming group that plays D&D. I never did like the gamemaster aspect, your ideas and historical perspective are appreciated. (Strangely my son and I recently played Wilderness Survival.) You may want to look into Questlandia, a RPG from a local group in Western Mass. makebigthings.com/questlandia-rpg/
Review Brah stop reviewing tabletops and get back to the Report of The Week, I am hung up on this new Wendy's joint.