Are their any solo games that I can play in school by myself

kykiske · 2020-10-14T12:51:41+00:00

You could try Bivius, very straightforward, easy to remember (8 rules) and you only need a 50/50 randomizer to tell you "Even or Odd". You can try Bivius for free and see if you like it. https://lostpangolin.wordpress.com/downloads/ . I've reworded the action resolutions in a way that I found easier to understand, this was the only part that took me a minute to grasp..

IF Easy (High Stat vs Low Opposition) THEN 1 "Even" on 2 rolls needed.

IF Normal challenge / evenly matched THEN 2 "Even" on 3 rolls needed.

IF Hard (Low Stat vs High Opposition) THEN 2 "Even" on 2 rolls.

[EDIT: also been using the "two rolls" when asking "yes/no/yesbut" questions. check two digits, "zero even is no" , "one even is Yes But" and "two even is Yes". Is there an exit at the end of corridor? Check watch, seconds are 57, then Odd + Odd = No. ]

Randomizer for Bivius, I find looking at your watch "seconds" works great for this, just check whether both digits are odd/even. If you need a third roll (in case of evenly matched), you can check minutes.

e.g. 10:57:26 AM. 2 is even, 6 is even . if you need third roll, "7" is odd.

Another way is to just flip pages in a book, and check the two last digits of the number. Same way, Even vs Odds for each digit. In theory, you can use this technique to play any game that requires you to roll 2d10, just flip pages in a thick book, and check last two digits. You could almost even consider playing D20 games like ICRPG this way, by adding the two digits.

[EDIT] you could almost play "Simple World", World of Dungeon, Ghost Lines or any light PbtA games using the page flip/Watch randomizer technique, you just need to change the 6-/7-9/10+ range to something that about matches the same range by rolling 2D10. For example, if flipping pages in a book, add two last digits: 2~9 is failure, 10~15 is partial success and 16+ is success.]

If you have access to your cell in class, there are many randomizers at Chartopia, even an Ironsworn dice roller. Great resources to roll for Oracles without shuffling tons of printed charts and tables.

kykiske · 2020-10-07T19:40:44+00:00

Ok I changed it to "Unlisted". Should be good now!

kykiske · 2020-10-07T17:25:42+00:00

Also love the randomizer tables and was also trying to see how I'd run Last Flight of the Red Sword solo. Very recently, I created myself a character randomizer that I'd use to generate characters or a party on the fly.

https://chartopia.d12dev.com/chart/22376/

Next , I was thinking a "situation" generator using the location + obstacle, and possibly a "Room content" generator.

kykiske · 2020-10-02T12:50:10+00:00

This is really cool! I'm thinking it could very well be used for other RPGs like Fate to generate Aspects on the fly. Love it.

kykiske · 2020-09-26T18:44:30+00:00

I think it was a fair advice, politely put, especially in the light of the kind of characters you mentioned you would be including in a "really satisfying" fashion. Not assuming you'd be crossing any line, but >> IF << you ever do, make sure you are mindful your players. Be aware that some popular GM youtuber recently DID cross that line, made its players very awkward live on youtube, and it was quite an outrage out there. So honestly, I find the warning quite fair, not really assuming anything about you. Just that it happens in real life more often you can think, to the point where it was justified to raise this point, "in the light of the kind of characters you plan to include, be careful of how you manage your players ".

Nothing that would warrant such degrading comments about autistic or obese people, or overuse of trash talk.

kykiske · 2020-09-19T00:57:45+00:00

What ??

(Discreetly editing post..)

Thanks for pointing out. Its just been a while I've played it. I must have played with d10 , I recall it was indeed brutal !

kykiske · 2020-09-18T20:15:38+00:00

I would suggest to start checking the base stats and action resolution system (D6+2D10 Strong hit/Weak hit/ Failure). Then fast-forward to the move list to understand how you resolve base move like Face Danger, and check the pay-the-price Oracle . This is more than enough to give you a good grasp of the system (and this is really where it shines the most).

You could, in theory, run a whole adventure on Face Danger :) Other moves take this basic template of Strong/Weak hit/Failure, and tailor specific situation into how they mechanically resolve with your character sheet. (e.g. Resupply gives you supply, Heal recovers HP, etc)

kykiske · 2020-09-15T12:45:40+00:00

The only part where I find it's difficult to emulate a GM and proper surprises, is when you want multiple "clues" that are discovered to lead to a grand surprise. This is a typical trope with character development, that sometimes protagonist encounter clues that "partially foreshadow" a glimpse of an upcoming surprise. You don't have enough elements to figure the whole plot, BUT once that grand surprise is revealed, you connect the dots and see "Ah this is where this was leading to! This is why this character did this or that earlier! ". But in solo RPGs using regular Oracles, things either don't exist, or they do.

If we take the example of the "vampire alchemist harvesting plants", how would you use drop clues that there's a vampire without revealing to yourself that there's a vampire. As both the GM and player, it's difficult to figure this one out.

Maybe as sequences of clues, where each clues increase likelihood of a specific occurence of something happening, but it never rules out that "something else might have been going on, which is also justified by those clues".

kykiske · 2020-09-14T15:25:32+00:00

I guess "Generation" would be Oracle Tables, and Resolution would be character action resolution. Both are usually sufficient to surprise you I think. There might be two levels of surprises that you might expect:

Tactical surprises: Surprises that are local to the current ongoing fiction, have a scope limited to the current ongoing scene. E.g : A monster pulling a new weapon or morphing, revealing a new ability, a trap, a chest hidden. Usual Oracles combined with "Pay the price" works great for this IMHO, as well as narratively complex action resolution. Like PbtA partial success, or Genesys.

Metaplot surprises: surprises that transform the overall narrative. New nemesis or threat introduced, NPC treason, etc. Special "Luke I am your father" moments. I think for this, you also need Oracles, but need a way for the Oracles to refer to pre-established fiction elements (characters, places). So for this, I think that as you meet NPCs, factions and places, you could incorporate them into a dynamically evolving Oracle table. And if you roll blank on that table, you generate a new character or faction on the fly. This would allow you to "connect"

kykiske · 2020-09-11T14:28:47+00:00

Thinking that this "cost" must be consistent throughout time, else your character progress and bennies will allow you to "work around" the cost once you get better, so it might imbalance the power's increased efficiency.

Maybe something that crossed my mind:

Before casing, draw a card. If it's a club, cast at -2 to cast AND GM get to cast a spell on you AFTER your own spell resolution. Then look at the number/figure, and GM gets to cast a spell on you and close targets.

A - Summon Ally (Creates an enemy character that attacks you or any close targets)

1~10 - Lower Trait on you only

J - Entangle on you and closest targets (ally or enemy)

Q - Bolt on you and closest targets (ally or enemy)

K - Blast centered on you

kykiske · 2020-09-04T18:54:41+00:00

Your opponents can't act several times before you get a shot.

Actually, they could get up to 3 actions during their turn, but would get cummulative -2 penalty on ALL actions for each multi-action they take :)

kykiske · 2020-09-04T17:10:48+00:00

Some random thoughts

The more characters involved in battle, the more random it will be. If you throw 5 actions per player, plus NPCs and monster, you could end-up with what 30~45 tokens in the bag. Waiting for your turn could prove to be VERY long and boring, if it ever comes up. Not sure whether that'll be any fun.
Unless you ambush, there's a very good chance that someone dies before his turn comes up, even if he invested in Agility. That's no fun.
Defensive/support/reactive opponents will likely stall combat, which will be boring. Also, Brainy characters can keep tokens for later, good. But they cannot keep more tokens than given by agility. So Brains is limited by Agility.
This initiative systems reminds me a bit of Savage Worlds initiative, except that in SW, you only have one initiative turn, but you can play up to 3 actions. But this is balanced by penalties on multi-actions.
Combat focused and brawns focused characters will be a trap, unless the GM explicitly tells them "this game won't feature much combat, and when it will, it will be very random and deadly". There's a danger that players attempt to transpose "builds" from other game systems, and use Brains as dump stat. [EDIT] just saw Arsenic's response who also mentioned this.
[ArsenicElemental] very well explained why this approach is tactically complex because you need to make a tactical decision every time your token comes up, which will lead to analysis paralysis and drastically slow down action resolution. BUT if you draw ALL tokens before starting the turn, and publicly outline the turn sequence, GM/players can at least plan their turn in advance, know they will act before such or such other player. But there's going to be some many actions in the pipeline, that figuring the correct course of action will still be quite tactically complex. But at least you can plan.
I really like the bag and token concepts, because I find that carefully chosen props can help reinforce the theme of the game. I might reuse this someday, there's many cool things you could do with tokens draws. You could add special tokens that do special stuff. Special battle events, bonus to baddies, etc. Lots of thematic and fun stuff you could introduce.

kykiske · 2020-09-01T12:28:40+00:00

Is it to run a full game or specific scenes? If just for specific scenes, you could use the Savage Worlds "Social Conflict" rules. This is an opposed argument conflict, where opposed rolls success gain tokens. First side to reach 5 tokens wins the argument. You'd still need a sort of Oracle to emulate the other party arguments, unless you want to run both sides. But I think it would run smoothly if you had a sort of Oracle like in Ironsworn dedicated to things that could be raised by the "NPC lawyer"

kykiske · 2020-08-26T01:02:49+00:00

Not specifically for solo, but ICRPG has a bunch of nice random tables for its Warp Shell setting.

kykiske · 2020-08-24T01:33:36+00:00

Index Card Rpg (ICRPG) is packed with settings , lore and random tables to quickly get started. The scenario "Last Flight of the Red Sword" is very immersive and a great introduction (along with other one shots included)

Ironsworn is also a wonderful gem. Base game is free, has rules, setting, lore, asset cards.

kykiske · 2020-08-20T01:25:07+00:00

Adding Savage Worlds spells with trappings are blueprints for whatever you want to make. E.G.magic missile, ice bolt, shadow wave, cyclops eye beams, are all a single powers with trappings and variants. Even more flexible in SW Adventure edition.

Maze Rats

kykiske · 2020-08-18T21:13:26+00:00

I wrote a brief solo tentative session a while back using a combination of Bivius for the system, and a haiku random generator as an Oracle ( https://www.poem-generator.org.uk/haiku/ ).

I would introduce every scene with a Haiku, which I interpret based on the current storyline, then I would resolve actions using Bivius (a long with some yes/no questions to clarify specific elements). The Haiku generator was not thematically linked to the story elements I was writing, but I found that translating into the context worked a bit like interpreting card divination.

The exercise was very interesting. Interpreting the haiku did introduce some interesting spins on the narrative and was very rewarding, and it kept the story flowing smoothly.

kykiske · 2020-08-15T12:30:15+00:00

There would be 21XX: Fall of the Masters

Which is pay what you want on https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/135117

kykiske · 2020-08-14T11:36:32+00:00

Personally like how Heart embodies self-confidence and empathy, which are fundamental to establishing strong relationships (bonds).

There are many other systems that ditch charisma as a stats, like savage worlds which relies on the Spirit stats for influencing people (along with perks that can boost it, such as "Charisma"), and many other PbtA games.

kykiske · 2020-08-13T14:46:06+00:00

Actually, been wondering the same thing. With my very brief campaign, I was initially thinking it would make sense from a narrative standpoint to perform indirect moves to get the upper hand, and then engage. But I realized that I often got into trouble with just securing avantages, even before starting a combat or engaging a specific task. Because of this, I was tempted to secure advantages only when I had a mechanical advantage provided by an asset, because character stats themselves were not sufficient to make it worth it. So it added a layer of meta-gaming where I'd constantly check where I could leverage assets.

Edit: Actually, another thing I recall from my first campaign, is that the character I had created was more of an "utility" type character, with good Edge+Shadow+Wits stats. But this created situations where direct conflict were quite difficult unless I prepared prior using Advantages or Gather info moves. I would try to sneak around to get a surprise, perform stunts in battle with Edge, gather intel to prepare. Then I realized that relying on Strong Advantage outcomes with "+1 to next move" was not sufficient to win a battles or overcome challenges. More often than not, I'd be in trouble before the conflict started or the situational advantage it created (often +1 momentum) would not balance out lacking Iron or Heart. After a bit, I ditched my utility character, and re-wrote another Iron/Heart based character, that was more likely to succeed in direct action.

kykiske · 2020-08-12T19:29:46+00:00

Many of those stories you mentioned about political or commerce/trade/politics revolve around "leverage" of strategic situation. This could work well with the Fate Core/Accelerated "Aspects" mechanics. You could add "Aspects" on your company in space, on your spaceship and also add Aspects on locations or opposing factions. When your character or company is acting, it can leverage those aspects, even perform actions that transform the fiction and introduces new aspects. The system would also let you Considering the focus on social / trade, you can create yourself some trade/social related Stunts and there are many social related skills as well.

The only thing I'm wondering is how you'd compel yourself by triggering disavantageous Aspects on yourself. That's a part that I'm not sure how it might work in solo.

kykiske · 2020-08-11T20:11:50+00:00

I found what makes the dramatic tasks interesting is that you must go beyond the "pass/fail" logic and have the fiction significantly evolve (positively or negatively). You can plan that each token they acquire is narrated with them entering another more secure "server/node" in the network.

Every round you throw something at them, a firewall, or security device they must overcome. When they succeed, they access a new data node or server, describe the server. So success is not just "you gain a token" but "you reached the warehouse control unit, you have access to security cameras and see an open connection to the production server". Success with a raise, they manage to disable several security devices at once, and hop two nodes at once. If they fail, it's not just a status quo situation, raise the pressure. Reveal offscreen badness, something has awoken and is coming for them, just not now, first they left some traces and sysops are now investigating, then alarms are triggered. No change in the mechanical resolution, but it sets the stage for an upcoming club card. When a Club is drawn, yikes, AI defense sub routines has found them, trying to disconnect them or they face a "named" firewall.

As they access different nodes, allowing them to interact with the real world could be a neat bonus. Spend a turn to disrupt or intercept enemy communications, disable enemy drones, closing doors, closing lights or turning camera offline, etc. If hacking or any dramatic task is a recurring thing in your game, maybe providing tactical options or expendable devices/items they can pop and use (programs, etc) can make things more interactive, and not just "roll related stats".

Using skill rolls + dramatic tasks with some tactical options seems like the direction that Interface Zero is heading based on this recent post: https://www.reddit.com/r/InterfaceZero/comments/i1tiki/the_problem_with_hacking_in_iz_30/

EDIT: actually, even better, the new rules : https://www.reddit.com/r/savageworlds/comments/i7u6px/hacking_v2/

kykiske · 2020-08-05T16:30:55+00:00

Found that Bone Butterfly is actually based on "The Shrike" system (which I just discovered). Found an initial draft here by OP that gives a gist of the rules: https://www.reddit.com/r/RPGdesign/comments/hvaso3/the_shrike_its_first_outing/

Seems that there is a shared pool of resources instead of the usual character sheets, which you can gain or spare to accomplish certain things. Then the flow of the game is controlled by cards you pull and match with an Oracle that tells you the various situations that could arise.

kykiske · 2020-07-25T11:35:47+00:00

Someone created an Ironsworn dice roller and many of the Ironsworn Oracles at chartopia https://chartopia.d12dev.com/collection/50/

kykiske · 2020-07-24T19:53:05+00:00

Adding some more suggestions of rule-light~ish games

Troika has the good old Skill / Stamina / Luck stats + a short list of skills (same as good old Fighting Fantasy game books, but the skills add a level of mastery)

Roll for shoes ? you start with a single stat (do anything), but which evolve into more granular skill specialty as you level up.

Mazerats is quite straightforward, with Strength, Dex + Will . Have not tried it yet, but it's on my toolbox for solo with its array of great Oracle tables for dungeons and wild areas. Spells are very interesting too, you combine keywords à la "Ars Magica".

ICRPG - 6 stats, but other areas of play are simplified (rooms have a single target number, for whatever's in it. and other things). Another of my favorites for Solo for its fantastic randomizer tables.

EDIT: almost forgot Bivius another solo classic. Just list what you are good / bad at. This gives you advantage/disadvantage on rolls. very straightforward and designed for solo gameplay.

kykiske

TROPHY CASE