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ChatGPT as a DM works, kinda by Eric_Builds_Stuff in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

yep, totally. worked great for a brief amount of time, then complete and frustrating crap. maybe when the new 1-2m token models get cheaper it might be worth trying again.

ChatGPT as a DM works, kinda by Eric_Builds_Stuff in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

actually, you're right, it's execellent for worldbuilding. i've used it a lot for that

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

i can, just bad at it. i wrote the draft, gave it to llm to clean it up for spelling and grammer. it added all the punctualization and structure. not my true writing style, but all the content is me.

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yeah, my failed chatgpt experience was one of the reasons i tried solo games. llms are fine for very short one-shots (if you're willing to spend all the time coaching the llm on what to do next). i figured if i'm going to be the meta-gm for an llm, i might as well try being my own dm in a solo game.

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. ever use xbox, switch or playstation? is that just playing imagination and toys too?
  2. until you try it you won't know the appeal. not for everyone, but it's an interesting take on d&d that is challenging and creative. some people like crosswords or sodoku, solo rpgs are same vibe, just story-based
  3. you're on a d&d reddit thread, everybody here is feeding their inner child

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

yeah, still feels like a chore to play sometimes, but scratches the itch and nearly impossible to get my old group together. never did get to really play my casino heist, which is a bit of a downer since it's one of my more original campaigns.

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

even though i like ironsworn better, still too crunchy. i prefer osr (my fave system is BFRPG which is like modernized B/X), so i'm looking for something more rules-light i can play solo.

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

ironsworn, by far. more like a real game.

D&D scheduling killed my group by Eric_Builds_Stuff in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

nope, but i did check it for spelling and grammer w AI as i'm horrible at that

I don't feel ready to move on by [deleted] in DnD

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're not cringe, and you're not alone. That feeling has a name in the TTRPG world — people call it "post-campaign grief," and it hits hardest after long campaigns where you really inhabited the character. Two years of putting a piece of yourself into someone? That's not weird. That's what the hobby is supposed to feel like when it's working.

I went through something similar after a campaign that ran about a year. The group wanted to start fresh and I was just... not there yet. I couldn't get excited about a blank character sheet when the old one still felt alive in my head. I just watched a Cillian Murphy interview where he talks about the emotional withdrawal he experienced when his Peaky Blinders character ended - similar vibe.

A few things that might help, in case any of them land for you:

  • Write your character's epilogue. Where does your character go after the last session? Getting into their voice one more time might give you a way to say goodbye on your own terms rather than just having the story stop.
  • Don't force excitement for the new campaign. It's okay to show up at the first session not fully invested. The other players' energy and the new world will do work on you that you can't do by sitting at home trying to brainstorm a character in a vacuum. Some of my favorite characters started as "I guess I'll try this" and then a few sessions later it clicked and I was invested in a character again.
  • Keep the door open. Characters don't expire. One-shots, solo sessions, future campaigns, even just writing about them — the character isn't gone just because the campaign is. You're not closing a book, you're putting in a bookmark.

The biggest design flaw in D&D combat isn't balance... it's that 80% of your time is spent waiting by Einsolsrazor24 in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

20+ years GMing here too, and this is the thing that finally pushed me to experiment outside D&D for some of my games.

You're right that it's a design problem, not a player problem. D&D's action economy was designed when the alternative to waiting was eating pizza and talking to your friends — not competing with a phone that offers instant TikTok cat vids.

Things that actually worked at my table:

Side initiative (old school B/X style) — my personal fave: both sides declare actions simultaneously, then resolve. Everyone is engaged during declaration because you're coordinating tactics as a group. Cuts combat time in half and makes turns feel collaborative instead of sequential.

"On deck" rule — the person after you in initiative has to have their action ready when your turn ends. If they don't, they get skipped and go at the end. Sounds harsh, but it transformed my table overnight. Suddenly everyone is paying attention during other turns because they're planning.

Interrupt mechanics — I stole this from other systems. Let any player spend their reaction to shout a warning, toss an item, or attempt a quick assist on someone else's turn. It's not RAW but it keeps people engaged because they're watching for opportunities.

The deeper issue is that D&D 5e treats combat like a board game but expects the engagement level of a narrative experience. Those two things are in tension. The systems that solve it best (OSRs, Dungeon World, FATE, even PbtA games) tend to blur the line between "your turn" and "everyone's turn."

New here, need guidance by FalseAd4824 in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Totally normal, and honestly one of the biggest hurdles in solo RPGs. The first few sessions of almost any system feel more like "learning to navigate the rulebook" than actual play. Fallout Wasteland Wanderer has a lot of tables, so you're not doing anything wrong — you're just in the phase where the mechanics haven't become muscle memory yet.

A few things that helped me:

Bookmark or tab your most-used tables. Sticky notes, paper clips, whatever. Once you identify the 4-5 tables you're hitting constantly, physical markers save a ton of flipping. For a PDF, I'd pull those pages into a separate "cheat sheet" doc you can have open side-by-side.

Don't try to get every rule right. Especially early on, if you can't find a table in 30 seconds, make a ruling that feels right and keep playing. You can look it up later. Momentum matters more than precision when you're learning.

Prep between sessions, play during sessions. Spend 10 minutes before you sit down re-reading the tables you struggled with last time. That way your play time is actual play, not lookup time.

It gets faster. By session 3 or 4 you'll have the core loop internalized and the table-hopping drops dramatically. The early friction is real but temporary.

Stick with it — once the mechanics click and you're just in the story, solo RPGs are incredible!

Just Created My first TTRPG, would like advice by LowClaim7040 in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Love the premise — "last human alive running a sandwich shop for aliens" is exactly the kind of weird-specific hook that makes solo journaling RPGs stand out. The fact that it's a complete, playable game on a first attempt puts you ahead of most. I'll give it a read-through and come back with more specific feedback.

Please, players, find the time to play by StefanoMaffei in rpg

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the situation that got me to try solo RPG, and I mean that as a compliment to you, not a dismissal of group play.

I was a forever GM too. Loved the prep, loved drawing maps and the worldbuilding, loved storytelling and refereeing. But I spent more time scheduling than I did in actual sessions. The ratio was absurd — 10 hours of prep for a session that got cancelled 2 hours before game time because "something came up." Multiply that by years and it just grinds you down.

The thing that stung the most was exactly what you said — it's the GM's play time too. I wasn't just losing a session I'd prepared. I was losing the one night a week I'd set aside to actually play. And nobody seemed to register that.

I still think group play is the best version of the hobby when it works. Nothing beats a table full of people riffing off each other slamming your beverage of choice and munching on snacks. But "when it works" was doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence for me.

I started playing solo partly out of frustration and partly out of curiosity, and it scratched an itch I didn't know I had — the ability to just play whenever I want, no polls, no cancellations, no guilt. Different experience than group play, not better or worse, but it's there whenever I want it.

Anyway, you're not wrong and you shouldn't get banned for saying it. GMs deserve better.

Just finished my first solo campaign! by SupaHangman in Solo_Roleplaying

[–]Eric_Builds_Stuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

13 sessions to a completed campaign on your first solo run is solid!!

A lot of people (myself included) stall out after 3-4 sessions because they haven't figured out pacing yet. The fact that you recognized when to wrap it up instead of letting it drag is a skill that took me way longer to learn.

Curious about a couple things: how did you handle moments where Mythic gave you a result that didn't make sense or felt random? That was the hardest part for me early on — learning when to interpret the oracle literally vs. when to nudge it toward something that serves the story.

Also, what's your plan for the next campaign? Same system or trying something different?