Inside
Creating an Introductory Solo Game
New Project Announcements
August Production Update
Creating an Introductory Solo Game
A common question that comes up when talking to people who want to try solo TTRPGs is “Where do I start?” With a few new solo-related projects coming up, I’ve been giving this a fair amount of thought. What I often see happen on The Internet when this question gets asked is a suggestion to read one of two popular 200+ page books.
I have opened and closed the PDF of one of these popular products a dozen or more times over the last few years. It is just too much for me. Too many rules. Too many tables to be used in very specific circumstances. Too many pages to flip through.
How did I get started? Well, I see Solo TTRPGs being made up of several sub-sub-sub genres. Here are the three that have influenced me the most:
Mechanism-heavy tabletop games with a little roleplaying thrown in
Roleplaying games built around delivering a specific experience
Roleplaying games built to allow open-world exploration
These will feel closest to “Playing D&D alone,” often presented as adaptations of a multi-player game, high replayability, possibly the opportunity for campaign creation
Examples: Captain & Crew, Grimm Solitude, Lonesome Drifter
(the numbers are just there so I can refer to the different types below)
I got into solo games by starting with #1 and #2. I had played solo board games before, so #1 made sense to me. Games under #2 usually come with all of the necessary rules and mechanisms in one box (or book), so it was not hard for me to wrap my head around those either.
It’s #3 that is the challenge, and it is what most people are talking about when they ask “Where do I start?” #3 is also where I find two upcoming projects focused, so being able to explain to someone where to start is of particular interest to me at the moment.
Where did I start? I started with Thousand Empty Light, which presented a procedure for playing a one-player version of Mothership within the confines of a narrow, solo-first adventure module. It took a bit, but once I wrapped my head around that module, I was able to take the same procedures (and the accompanying oracles) and apply them to other Mothership adventures that were not written for solo play (I wrote up one of those games here on Ink & Dice). Once I managed that, free-form solo campaign play opened up to me.
How can I onboard someone to this style of play (#3) in one product? That is my current challenge, and here is where I have gotten so far: walk the reader through the same set of steps that I went through.
Present the tools necessary for solo play (procedures and oracles)
Give brief but concrete examples of how those procedures and oracles are used (much like I did here previously)
Provide a focused, solo-first adventure module to use as a first step (like Thousand Empty Light was for me; this is something that I did for Grimm Solitude)
Provide a framework with which to build an ongoing campaign (such as the dice-drop campaign generator in Captain & Crew)
Most of my previous work in this realm has assumed a fair amount of TTRPG knowledge and experience from the reader/player: that they knew how to play solo already and that I was only giving them new tools to play a particular game. I have an opportunity coming up that is intended to be an introduction to the world of solo TTRPG play (in style #3), so I’m beginning to outline how I could put all of these different bits together into a single book.
I just hope I can keep it under 200 pages.
New Project Announcements
After a bit of a slump this summer to recuperate after my back-to-back crowdfunding campaigns last spring, I’ve got some new projects to announce!
The Baron’ Grip
First up is my next crowdfunding project, The Baron’s Grip, which will be funding on BackerKit in November as part of Mausritter Month! Mausritter Month is a group collaboration where multiple creators will be running campaigns for new Mausritter content.
The Baron’s Grip is a campaign setting that finds your characters’ hometown suffering under the oppressive rule of the badger Baron Marfont and his gang of Henchrats. As part of a burgeoning resistance movement against The Baron, the PCs will explore Willowshade Forest in search of a way to free their town from The Baron.
I’m excited to be teaming up with Jamie Douglas again for this project after his terrific work on In Ruins!
Raptor Ruckus
While it is not my project, I am doing some work for Raptor Ruckus, a Jurassic Park themed TTRPG currently on Kickstarter. It is built on the MÖRK BORG framework, but it makes some interesting and fun tweaks to the core rules to allow for a focus on stealth and escaping conflict instead of turning every encounter into a fight.
With my work on solo modes for other MÖRK BORG games Pirate Borg and Vast Grimm, I have been working on a solo mode for Raptor Ruckus. The basics (gameplay loop, GM-less challenge resolution, oracles) will be included in the core book, and there is a possibility for a solo-focused adventure as well if the campaign continues to skyrocket. There is a quick-start guide available through the campaign page, so if this sounds interesting at all to you, definitely give it a look.
August Production Update
Things are still moving here! Since last month, I signed on for and knocked out part of the solo rules for Raptor Ruckus, as I mentioned above. I’m really hoping I get the chance to write some more structured adventures for this system, but we’ll have to see how the Kickstarter campaign does.
Also mentioned above, my Mausritter Month project now has a name, The Baron’s Grip. I’ve been writing like crazy for this one, and I’ll be sure to start sharing some mock ups once I polish up some maps and move toward layout.
I also have a big project that I am setting up with another publisher, and I have an idea for a new journaling game too, so hopefully those will make it onto the grid next month.
Thank you!
I know it had been a little while since my last update, but I’m still here, and I’m excited to be back to writing. Next month might see even more projects added to the timeline, and I should be able to show some spreads from The Baron’s Grip.
— MAH
Good advice for solo gaming.
And thanks for the Tollund shout out!