Sometimes when I am alone with no possibility to find someone to play I took an adventure, some characters, dice, maps, core rulebooks, a battle grid and start running a small campaign for myself.
Am I crazy or someone have tried it before?
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Sometimes when I am alone with no possibility to find someone to play I took an adventure, some characters, dice, maps, core rulebooks, a battle grid and start running a small campaign for myself.
Am I crazy or someone have tried it before?
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.....sometimes I playtest a certain combat build or a character concept in hypothetical situations by myself, but no... I've never tried to run a campaign for myself. I'm too much of a rules lawyer, and the roleplay sucks.
No but I tried playing chess against myself once. My head nearly exploded.
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Many, many years ago, when I first got into D&D, and I couldn’t wait to get together for a game, I did something like that.
In one of the old first edition rule books (I think it was in the DMG, but could have been something else), they had all these tables to construct completely random dungeons, monsters, treasure etc. So I would roll up a character (or party of characters) and run them through these dungeons that I was randomly drawing up on grid paper as I went, based on the rolls from these tables.
Yeah, there wasn’t much in the way of roleplaying (well, ok, none), and I had a definite insight to the monsters tactics and abilities, but it was a quasi-entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon (got old pretty fast though, even to my 13 year old or so self).
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In one of the old first edition rule books (I think it was in the DMG, but could have been something else), they had all these tables to construct completely random dungeons, monsters, treasure etc. So I would roll up a character (or party of characters) and run them through these dungeons that I was randomly drawing up on grid paper as I went, based on the rolls from these tables.
Thank God. I'm not the only one.
Many, many years ago, when I first got into D&D, and I couldn’t wait to get together for a game, I did something like that.
In one of the old first edition rule books (I think it was in the DMG, but could have been something else), they had all these tables to construct completely random dungeons, monsters, treasure etc. So I would roll up a character (or party of characters) and run them through these dungeons that I was randomly drawing up on grid paper as I went, based on the rolls from these tables.
Yeah, there wasn’t much in the way of roleplaying (well, ok, none), and I had a definite insight to the monsters tactics and abilities, but it was a quasi-entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon (got old pretty fast though, even to my 13 year old or so self).
I did the same thing, except I was 14. It didn't work well, especially since I didn't have the best grasp of the rules.
No but I tried playing chess against myself once. My head nearly exploded.
I tried to play chess with myself. Once. It was painfully boring.
Occassionally the party will come upon a battle already in progress or perhaps in a large battle there will be a significant NPC fighting off to the side from the PCs. I might like to know how that plays out without the intervention of the PCs, so sometimes I will run a combat between the two sides and keep track of the result.
it was a quasi-entertaining way to spend a rainy afternoon (got old pretty fast though, even to my 13 year old or so self).
I think my experiments in running a game for myself, by myself, happened right around the same age.
And yes, it got kind of old pretty quick :-)
Sometimes when I am alone with no possibility to find someone to play I took an adventure, some characters, dice, maps, core rulebooks, a battle grid and start running a small campaign for myself. Am I crazy or someone have tried it before?
Yep, during long stretches without a group. It's not nearly as fun as playing with actual people, but it can be done; D&D relies on suspension of disbelief and to some extent an ability to turn off your "metagaming" center, so if you can take each of those things a step further and refuse to give your characters a break while you're DMing them, it CAN work, to a minor extent. In extremis, I suppose it's better than no gaming at all.
It just sucks a lot compared to gaming with actual people.
I'm not very good at solo gaming but I have played chess and a few wargames against myself when I haven't been able to find someone to play with (that would be *hardly ever* in the case of wargames). Some people are quite good at this though - and I imagine solo D&D would be more rewarding to those people than it is for me.
M
Sometimes when I am alone with no possibility to find someone to play I took an adventure, some characters, dice, maps, core rulebooks, a battle grid and start running a small campaign for myself.
Am I crazy or someone have tried it before?
Yeah, sometimes gamers are lonely people.
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I did once or twice but then I discovered the Choose-your-own-Adventure books and that worked better for the fix. There was also a series of books that let you roll up a character with Stamina, Power, and Mana (I think), that used a 6-sided die to resolve combat. Good books if you can find them. I'm sure some of my fellow geeks can provide linkage to the books.
FH
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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There was also a series of books that let you roll up a character with Stamina, Power, and Mana (I think), that used a 6-sided die to resolve combat. Good books if you can find them. I'm sure some of my fellow geeks can provide linkage to the books.
The only thing that comes to mind are the Lone Wolf books. They're not quite like what you describe, but very very similar (I own like 15 of these and they're awesome).
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There was also a series of books that let you roll up a character with Stamina, Power, and Mana (I think), that used a 6-sided die to resolve combat. Good books if you can find them. I'm sure some of my fellow geeks can provide linkage to the books.The only thing that comes to mind are the Lone Wolf books. They're not quite like what you describe, but very very similar (I own like 15 of these and they're awesome).
And they are once again in print (From Mongoose Publishing)
Or available online - here
Sometimes when I am alone with no possibility to find someone to play I took an adventure, some characters, dice, maps, core rulebooks, a battle grid and start running a small campaign for myself.
Am I crazy or someone have tried it before?
I remember buying (XSOLO)Lathan's Gold back in the day and running a character through it a couple of times. At one point, if memory serves, you come to an island with diamonds embedded in the sand. I remember figuring out a way to loop back to the island over and over (I think you were only supposed to go once) and fill the cargo holds with the found diamonds. Man, I should pick this up for some afternoon fun while the kids are napping. Good times, good times...though, yea, D&D's always better with friends.
I used to use the random dungeon generator from the 1E DMD all the time but for basic dungeon crawl adventures (or if I needed a quick, albeit chaotically designed dungeon...like the lair of the evil wizard Ran'Dom!) Never crossed my mind to use it for a solo adventure. Clearly I missed out on a great feature.
- Chris Shadowens
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Fighting Fantasy books are some that I liked in addition to the Lone Wolf ones, and D&D had some Endless Quest books that were good but didn't have the battle system.
Coulda sworn there was another book that let you roll the 3 stats you got.....Maybe I will have to search my bookshelves....
FH
Thanks for all the input received. Well after reading all the posts I have some comments to do:
1)When I am talking about running a campaign I was not thinking in those solo adventures "If you want A go to page 8 if you want B go to page 45" but to those regular adventures intended to be run by a DM.
2)According to the posts to the moment I am not a freak, It is a normal behavior for a solitary gamer.
3)Someone talked about the problem of having full access to monsters statistics well maybe in the first moment you face a monster you know little or nothing about it but later you can understand its tactics and abilities so next time you find it more easy to battle.
Some computer games such as Age of Wonders gives you full statistics of the monsters and the game is still funny, so you can prepare your strategy to overcome it. When I DM for myself I assume the character can only know things about the monster if the success a knowledge roll if not they will have to success an intelligence or wisdom roll (I can establish which one is the appropriate) round after round dropping the DC in every roll to they notice special weakness or abilities and the way to combat it. Until then they will fight in standard way or simple I assume the characters know the monster and know how to defeat it.
4)I want write about the way I DM for myself maybe you can give some input or advice from your experience.
My methods:
First I move through the campaign map according to the rules and roll if there are encounters if any I roll on tables according to place, time of the day and so on. I read the monster information and establish an initial attitude according to personality and alignment.
The characters (me) will act according to the initial situation (ambush, encounter, fear and hiding, greeting)
The development of the encounter relies on rolls (special tables, skills)if combat then they will fight at the grid and I will do the monster or NPC fight at the best of their capabilities.
When I try an adventure from Dungeon or another source, I never read the background since that is something that the character must discover, I always read the shaded boxes and before read de development of a place first I think all the things I could do (search traps for example) I roll all my options and keep track of everyone, next I read the rest of the text and I can now applied the rolls to the information acquired. Don't forget read slow if you see spoils ahead don't continue, think what you are going to do first and later you develop the story using your rolls.
Pros:
Well I have my “normal” game sessions once a week but time is limited and players are always in the hurry of emotions, so four hours become so little for other things that are part of the game experience (visit an old wizard to learn his spells, create a magic item, forge an armor, train an animal companion, shopping) so we always finish with the classic “hurry up man”. Customizing a character demands time and a game session most of the times is so short that customizing (also part of the game experience) is almost impossible at least for me.
Cons:
Always the reserved knowledge of a GM is important for a full role playing experience for example the development of intrigues, treason, lies and other things from interaction with NPCs played by DM are almost impossible to keep in a self session.
Well let's see. I've been doing something like this for a good 20+ years. Don't get me wrong, I've always played "normal" D&D (w/ buddies), but I also use D&D as a different sort of creative outlet. That being, I like to create characters & campaigns, have adventures, and then write up an ongoing campaign journal. Regardless of whether I'm currently playing w/ others, I still try to find the time to run my own characters/campaign. Yes, it's slightly artificial, but it's a means to an end for me, and I happen to find that end (writing up adventure recaps and such) enjoyable and creatively fulfilling.
I'm currently playing Monte Cook's Arcana Evolved w/ 1 friend, but in my rather abundant spare time, also find time to continue w/ my own campaign (Greyhawk-based). So, Patricio, you're not completely alone :)
Well let's see. I've been doing something like this for a good 20+ years. Don't get me wrong, I've always played "normal" D&D (w/ buddies), but I also use D&D as a different sort of creative outlet. Yes, it's slightly artificial, but it's a means to an end for me, and I happen to find that end (writing up adventure recaps and such) enjoyable and creatively fulfilling.
Nicely put, Ben. I can respect your viewpoint a lot more than the disdainful comments along the lines of "Oh, that's stupid and boring even for 13-year-olds!" that appeared above. Play on!
So, Patricio, you're not completely alone :)
Thanks God!
But now a question: If we are alone why still we choose pen and paper RPGs why we don't just take the computer and play MMORPGs or computer games? Why D&D is still attractive even though we are playing alone?
But now a question: If we are alone why still we choose pen and paper RPGs why we don't just take the computer and play MMORPGs or computer games? Why D&D is still attractive even though we are playing alone?
Because D&D allows infinite possibilities, in a world of your own design. MMORPGs confine you to the limits of the software design.
But now a question: If we are alone why still we choose pen and paper RPGs why we don't just take the computer and play MMORPGs or computer games? Why D&D is still attractive even though we are playing alone?
'cause man, we're desperate.
The actual reason I did it was because I had completely slaughtered through the few games I had and wanted an actual challenge in leu of a true gamming group.
This was the only game I ever played against myself...back when I was 14 or 15 and I couldn't find anyone to play complicated wargames with:
"Anyone up for a quick game of squad leader?" was the common joke in my gaming group. Never played Squad Leader by myself.
I love solo gaming. For me, being a DM is like being a chef — although you can pick the menu, you are always preparing the meals according to someone else's expectations. Sometimes it's therapeutic to do a dinner-for-one and sit down to a dish prepared to your taste...
Well I can see that being our own DM is a common practice among gamers. Now would you like some strategies or advice to those like me who "prepare dinner for ourselves".
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No one's mentioned this so far, but I had some friends recommend Dungeon Bash (available here) for when a few of us got together and wanted a bit of D&D entertainment without having a DM handy. I have not tried it solo, but from what I recall it would work well. It is actually a very clever, well-designed product and absolutely does what it says it can do. You may want to give it a try.
But now a question: If we are alone why still we choose pen and paper RPGs why we don't just take the computer and play MMORPGs or computer games? Why D&D is still attractive even though we are playing alone?Because D&D allows infinite possibilities, in a world of your own design. MMORPGs confine you to the limits of the software design.
That's pretty much it. I do enjoy a well-made (especially, well-written) computer RPG (though I have no interest in MMORPGs), but even there, I'm playing these typically to get inspired, and get ideas for my homebrew D&D world/writing. For example, I recently completed a Japanese RPG called "Persona 3", and came out of it w/ lots of ideas for new templates that would overlay existing character classes, based on the Major Arcana of the Tarot (and also based on the idea of using various aspects of your "persona" to channel powers; quasi-psionics like, I took it). It sounds weird to a traditionalist take on D&D, I'll gather, but at least in my mind, it stirred the creative juices.
For me, playing D&D alone and w/ buddies are 2 very different experiences, each w/ their own benefits. The former presents some logistical problems of course, but then again, getting friends together to play on a consistent basis introduces its own logistical problems. Hence the appeal for many former tabletop RPG'ers to online gaming. The reason I log more hours as a solo gamer are simply b/c I've had an existing campaign of sorts that's stayed w/ me through various moves (state to state, city to city), and I can always come back to it. It's like comfort food and soul food all in one. Friends move, lose interest in the game, etc., but I can always come back to my own stuff.
I remember having fun playing solo modules like Midnight on Dagger Alley and Thunderdelve Mountain as a teenager.
I also recently downloaded the Mythic Game Master Emulator: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/wordMillPublishing/v5748btpy7w0o
Haven't tried it yet, so I can't tell you if it's any good, but the reviews over at RPG Now were pretty good. It apparently is a pretty versatile system, which supposedly can be used for standard gaming (i.e., one or more players and a DM), several players and no DM, and solo play...
The difficulty I’ve always had with pre-fabs is that they never cover enough contingencies. I know…even homebrews can’t cover them all, the party can and will go off the deep end at a moment’s notice and you gotta be creative in kicking them back into play. But, pre-fab modules hardly cover anything beyond the minimum for advancing the story line. Following just what’s in the book, you and the party both will feel like you’re being pulled along…no choices, no creative solutions, no odd action to spice the setting. These are things you’ll still have to create yourself.
You’ll know you’ve learned the module well enough when you start coming up with ideas for things to do in addition to what’s written in the module and/or start thinking of ways the party is likely to pooch the action as written and begin designing fixes for it. That’s when the module starts coming to life and begins becoming part of your setting, not a piece of text you’re throwing in just for giggles.
You might want to do like Fatespinner said he does in the “Be your own DM?” thread; run things through solo in hypothetical situations just to test outcomes. That’s one of the best ways I’ve found to uncover flaws in the module and fix them before they do me in at a live table.