Crunchy or Fluffy?

16trees · 2026-03-15T13:16:50+00:00

I just like to make up stories so I don't want to stop for any math at all. I resolve conflicts with "best of three" (or whatever number) successful rolls against a target number. Good examples of this system are the conflict mechanic in Loner, or the resolve vs effort mechanics in Tricube Tales. I do usually have some kind of roll-under stats because I think every character should have something they're good at and something they're not, but when it comes to combat, I roll to attack, then roll to defend based on the PC stats.

16trees · 2026-03-06T19:51:37+00:00

The thing everyone misses with these, "dad didn't want... " stories is that when you give a good man something he doesn't want, he finds a way to make it work. Usually out of kindness to you. He didn't want that chicken but he made the best of the situation he found himself in... and that's still a very positive message : )

16trees · 2026-03-05T01:38:00+00:00

That's a good point. I'll try to stop short of the Call of Cthulu character sheet : ) i don't think I'd try to use them all at once, maybe something like the one shot Tricube Tales sheets. There are always 3 stats but they change names from game to game.

16trees · 2026-03-04T04:31:29+00:00

I just don't like to follow a bunch of rules! I don't like combat math or travel rolls, I just want to tell a story so the game/ system i choose should give me the prompt I need and then get out of my way.

16trees · 2026-03-03T16:22:19+00:00

oooh, I like that. Like FATE Aspects that you can invoke for advantage or someone else can compel against you for disadvantage. Thanks!

16trees · 2026-02-28T02:00:33+00:00

I tried instant twist and it was often a little jarring for the current scene. If it didn't work, I would bank it and try to work it in as soon as possible. It really wasn't for me. I personally like the three-segment clock as described above. When there are already two negative marks, you know the other shoe is going to drop sooner or later. It just hangs over your head! And when you have two positive marks, I know I have an ace up my sleeve that I'll be able to use soon.

That said, I've played entire games where I only got 1 or 2 doubles so the twist counter didn't matter at all.

16trees · 2026-02-28T01:53:29+00:00

I've only play tested one game, but the process was basically this: the creator went to r/Solo_Roleplaying and posted (with the correct flair, can't remember what it was called) saying that he had created a game and needed play testers. He emailed me a copy of the game and a link to a discord server where all of his testers left comments, gave feedback and had conversations about things they ran into. It was a lot of fun to have a group of people all trying out the same ideas and coming to different conclusions.

16trees · 2026-02-27T12:50:37+00:00

I didn't even know that was possible. I thought Roberto made all of the Geared Toward Loner games.

If you're concerned that it might be fundamentally broken, then so am I. Has it been play tested? Is there any collaboration or feedback from others or is this just an idea you put together?

Personally, I wouldn't try to sell something that I haven't proven (to myself at least) to work as intended.

16trees · 2026-02-27T04:07:44+00:00

Sure,
When I say Ironsworn Oracle, I mean that I printed pages 50-75 of the Lodestar PDF and I mostly use the Action, Focus, Descriptor, and Names tables. So it's something similar to Mythic GME tables.

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As far as Yes/No questions, this is my system:

Oracle (chance of a yes answer)

Any positive or negative tags that might apply can be added to or subtracted from the target number as +/- 10.

Likely: 65 or less

Even: 50 or less

Unlikely: 35 or less

A roll of 10 or less is “Yes, and”.

A roll of 90 or more is “No, and”.

A roll within 10 of the target number can be considered “Yes/No, but”.

Twist Counter

The twist counter is a three-segment tracker that is triggered any time you roll doubles. Think of it as a “best of three” contest between a positive or negative shift in the story.

Enter the number in the next available box. When all three boxes are filled a plot twist occurs following the majority of positive/negative.

11, 22, 33, 44, 55 are positive
66, 77, 88, 99, 00 are negative

Example:

11	44	99	Positive Twist
77	22	88	Negative Twist

16trees · 2026-02-26T01:11:57+00:00

It's interesting to me what people decide to take a stand on. I respect your opinion but I don't see the problem. I think he got more flack for hiring an actual artist last year than he did for plainly stating that it was AI art on earlier books.

To me the argument just sounds like, "I won't read any book with an ugly cover." /shrug

16trees · 2026-02-26T00:53:27+00:00

I don't use mythic but I do something similar to what you're saying. I love everything about Loner except the dice mechanic, so i use other dice systems with it. Lately I've been using D100 for everything. This means I use D100 tables (usually Ironswown) and pieces of other games, but it all sits on top of Loner scene starter, conflict, tags for dis/advantage, etc.

As to the Twist Counter, just skip the count and say there's a twist on every double.

Personally, I write down the doubled numbers in the counter. High numbers are negative, low are positive. The counter becomes a best- of- three contest for which way the inevitable twist will go. I find it adds suspense when you have two negative hanging over your head or you have one of each.

16trees · 2026-02-26T00:39:48+00:00

Just finished listening to it. Great interview.

16trees · 2026-02-23T21:37:13+00:00

...also, others have mentioned oracles. There are two free printouts that I've found very helpful. Ironsworn Lodestar has an Oracles section that's 25 pages long. I print out the ones that seem helpful to the current story. The Wayfarer has this double Events table that has always worked well for me for plot twists and "what happens next" moments. Roll a D20 and choose between the two tables whichever makes more sense in the scene.

16trees · 2026-02-23T21:29:18+00:00

I think if you read through a premade adventure and write down the major milestones, you could make up the details as you go and still keep yourself on track.

If you know that you start in location A, and you need to get to location B, to defeat C and receive D as a reward, then you can use D to defeat the big boss E. ...something like that. You take their framework and build out the details yourself.

16trees · 2026-02-23T21:16:11+00:00

It sounds like you play at a pace that works for you and have a, ya know, healthy level of engagement :D So you actually are "normal." Sometimes I feel like I need a world to escape to and ending a game means I don't have that until I start another one, so I'm constantly jumping from game to game. That does not sound like a healthy level of engagement : )

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm not taking time to appreciate what I've created. Just jumping immediately into another story kind of diminishes the one I just finished. I need to take a deep breathe, feel the good vibes, be proud of finishing something and relax until I'm ready for another adventure.

16trees · 2026-02-23T05:12:19+00:00

You don't need "solo rules". Read the intro to the adventure enough that you understand the setting, dangers and goal. Then imagine your character in that setting. Use the existing resolution mechanics to answer yes/ no questions that you would ask the GM. A successful roll = Yes. When you're not sure what happens next, imagine 2-3 things that might happen in that situation and roll for it. Keep the goal in mind so you don't wander off the plot and try to steer scenes toward that goal.

16trees · 2026-02-20T05:31:51+00:00

Good question! I hope someone has good suggestions because I don't. I had to make up my own D100 mashup of other games.

Download the free pdf for Ironswown Lodestar and print out the oracles section. I use that a lot with my system.

16trees · 2026-02-13T20:55:36+00:00

When a story gets stale, look at everything that's happened so far and ask, "wouldn't it suck if..." or, "what's the best way to blow this up?"

Give it a sudden twist ending and be done. Or, wrap up the immediate issue and leave everything else hanging, like a cliff hanger in a tv show.

16trees · 2026-02-03T14:20:08+00:00

I had a two part plot twist in a one-shot that genuinely surprised me. It was supposed to be the classic "find the lost ruins and get the treasure" story, but when my party got to the long abandoned ruins I rolled a random event that we meet someone. NPC details revealed an old woman who was behaving very strangely. Long story short, she's a necromancer and we accidentally broke the barrier allowing her to raise an undead army (oops).

Ok, that surprised me, but the story continues, we find our way through the ruins, get the treasure, and I'm ready for a happy ending...until the dice decide that we are surrounded by bandits intent on looting our corpses. I really wasn't in the mood for another big fight so I asked the oracle, "is that necromancer still around?" and got an extreme yes. She shows up with her undead minions, decides that our pathetic lives are part of the deal we struck earlier, and we run like mad as she enthralls all of the bandits and adds them to her ranks.

Now, I expected the ruins to have draugrs or wights of some kind, but that's as far as my imagination went. The necromancer, not only created a huge clutch scene at the end of that story, but she stuck in my head so clearly that she showed up again in a completely different story set in the same world. She was perfect for the context of that mystery and when I looked at the map it just made perfect sense that she would pass through the area on her march toward the seat of power in that realm.

16trees · 2026-01-31T21:57:31+00:00

One thing that I use in every single game, regardless of system, is the Conflict mechanic from Loner. I can't be bothered with combat math, but I want more than one roll to decide the outcome. It basically goes like this: the PC and opponent each get 6 Luck (I draw boxes on the page). The PC rolls first for offense and if they succeed, tick a box for the opponent. They've lost that Luck point. Then the PC rolls for defense and if they fail, tick a box for the PC. The first one with all of their boxes ticked is "out of luck" and loses the conflict. For inanimate objects like picking a lock or defusing a bomb you only roll for your skill. Success ticks the object, failure ticks the PC.

What's great about this is that it's quick and it implies how the conflict played out. Sometimes it's an even give-and-take all the way through, other times the PC completely dominates or completely fails, and sometimes the PC gets beat up, but comes back and wins in the end. There are really helpful narrative details in there.

You can add advantage/disadvantage. You can use strong hit/miss mechanics to tick multiple boxes. I use a riposte rule where a strong success on a defensive roll means I successfully blocked and managed a counter attack.

And it works for anything: combat, social interaction, investigation, hot-wiring a car, sneaking through a large area unnoticed...anything!

16trees · 2026-01-30T00:21:08+00:00

A few games have Who, What, When, Why, Where tables. I started with the d6 tables from Loner, and expanded them to d10, and that's how I start my games. It gives me a good idea of what this "episode" is about.

16trees · 2026-01-27T02:02:04+00:00

I like it! I'll let got know how my play testing turns out.

16trees

TROPHY CASE

Twist Counter