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Pathfinder is my first RPG. Believe it or not I picked up the core rule book yesterday after work and am determined to breathe life into a few character ideas. However, I have no delusions that I'll ever play this game with others. For one, I live in a rural area inundated with your typical, garden variety NPCs. So, I'm going solo. Noob Question: Is this a legitimate and satisfying path through Golarion or will it end in despair?
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Pathfinder is my first RPG. Believe it or not I picked up the core rule book yesterday after work and am determined to breathe life into a few character ideas. However, I have no delusions that I'll ever play this game with others. For one, I live in a rural area inundated with your typical, garden variety NPCs. So, I'm going solo. Noob Question: Is this a legitimate and satisfying path through Golarion or will it end in despair?
Like many activities, say...dinner and a movie....it can be done alone but is more satisfying with someone else. :)
The tough part is that you'll always know the plot twists. :D
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Legitimate, Satisfying? While not trying to bash, make you feel downtrodden, or otherwise molest you, I have to say no. You will simply put be unable to cognitively separate person who is running the story (Being you), and the person who is playing the character which is running through the story (Being you). You will essentially be putting yourself into the dirty, dirty position of the metagamer, and while you can try to keep your PC separate from the part of you that knows everything, you will necessarily automatically know (As the player) all of the best routes, what the plot is well in advance, and how to overcome pretty much everything. When you have the veritable win button sitting in front of you, and the difficulty controls in the same hand as your character sheet, it would be a near impossibility to find any real satisfaction in accomplishing pretty much anything. Ironically this is something of a phenomena that many people on the various RPG forums go through on a semi frequent basis in the form of "Arenas" in which they do their best to put some challenge in front of themselves (Usually self defined) and the use they attempt to make a character to get through it. I am wholly convinced that (Due to the nature of the human mind and the way in which we derive sanctification from the accomplishment of goals) nobody REALLY does this for the enjoyment, but rather to try to prove some point, learn something about the game (Which can be considered fun occasionally), or in attempt to entertain/inform other members of the community.
If the idea of playing through a story of your own appeals to you, the I would advise you look into doing some experimentation with fantasy writing. Authorship can be a VERY rewarding thing, even if nothing ever comes of it.
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For what it's worth, I'm in a similar position, having only started reading about Pathfinder (my first d20) in earnest about 6 months ago. I'm currently in a pretty transitory living situation, and have been for a while now, so I didn't see myself getting involved in an in-person game in the near future. Long story short, I started playing by post (on mythweaver) about a month ago, and it's really worked out great. The slow pace isn't for everyone, but as a newbie, it helps to have the time to think through my actions, check on rules, etc, and I actually really like the written component of the format. So that might be the way to go once you get comfortable with things.
Good luck!
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Legitimate, Satisfying? While not trying to bash, make you feel downtrodden, or otherwise molest you, I have to say no. You will simply put be unable to cognitively separate person who is running the story (Being you), and the person who is playing the character which is running through the story (Being you). You will essentially be putting yourself into the dirty, dirty position of the metagamer, and while you can try to keep your PC separate from the part of you that knows everything, you will necessarily automatically know (As the player) all of the best routes, what the plot is well in advance, and how to overcome pretty much everything. When you have the veritable win button sitting in front of you, and the difficulty controls in the same hand as your character sheet, it would be a near impossibility to find any real satisfaction in accomplishing pretty much anything.
I strongly disagree.
I don't get to play with a group nearly as much as I wish. I've had LOOONG dry spells with no players. So I often just create a whole party of PCs and run them through a series of adventures.
Carbon D. Metric objects: but if you, as GM, know all the secrets of the adventure, how do you know what your PCs can figure out?
Well, obviously you shouldn't run a MYSTERY adventure. But hey, when you're GMing a REAL game, how do you know what the NPCs can figure out? Just wing it. Have the party make decisions that you WANT them to make. Or just roll a die (odds we go left, evens we go right.) You could just use common sense, or just make a decision because you wonder what the consequences will be.
Make no mistake about it: you will NOT know all the plot twists. Sometimes a roll of the dice, or a decision made on a whim you hadn't thought of, can have all kinds of unforeseen consequences.
And there CAN be satisfaction in accomplishing things, especially when, like me, you experience TPK after TPK, or failure after failure, in solo play. I could give examples I've experienced, if anyone's interested.
Solo play is no substitute for real group play, of course. But some of us don't always have the luxury of players. My advice to you, bunnycatch3r, is: just try it!!! If you don't like it, you can just quit. After all, you have no other players to disappoint.
This thread just gave me an idea. I won't say a great idea because I'm not sure it is, nonetheless, might be a money maker for some enterprising 3PP. Does anybody remember those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? Why couldn't there be "choose your own RPG adventure" books? That way a single player, with the core rulebook, could adventure solo. Essentially it would be an adventure book that tells you what page of the book to turn to based on previous results, and or character choices. Of course these adventures would never be as intricate, or involved as a GM run campaign, but it could provide an adequately entertaining diversion for the single player, or the player who just doesn't have enough time to game with others. I'm not sure of the logistics, but I'm not a 3PP. Maybe any of you Pathfinder compatible 3PP on the boards, might be able to explore this realm.
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This thread just gave me an idea. I won't say a great idea because I'm not sure it is, nonetheless, might be a money maker for some enterprising 3PP. Does anybody remember those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? Why couldn't there be "choose your own RPG adventure" books? That way a single player, with the core rulebook, could adventure solo. Essentially it would be an adventure book that tells you what page of the book to turn to based on previous results, and or character choices. Of course these adventures would never be as intricate, or involved as a GM run campaign, but it could provide an adequately entertaining diversion for the single player, or the player who just doesn't have enough time to game with others. I'm not sure of the logistics, but I'm not a 3PP. Maybe any of you Pathfinder compatible 3PP on the boards, might be able to explore this realm.
These exist. In fact, the Lone Wolf books (the definitive example) are free on the web:
http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home
They use their own, very simple, system, but they're real adventures with choices, puzzles, combat, and dice rolling (well, randomized results, anyway).
So yeah. They aren't Pathfinder, but they are quite fun.
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Playing Pathfinder solo...
It is writing a book. You (GM side) create the scenario and bad guys, then you (player) react to said events.
More or less, solo play will end in you writing a book / short story
Check out the following "old school" solo adventures.
- BSOLO Ghost of Lion's Castle
- XS1 Lathan's Gold
- XS2 - Thunderdelve Mountain
- Msolo2 - Maze of the Riddling Minotaur
There were more, but these come to mind.
Playing Pathfinder solo...
It is writing a book. You (GM side) create the scenario and bad guys, then you (player) react to said events.
More or less, solo play will end in you writing a book / short story
The same could be true of any campaign really, only difference is that's collaborative storytelling, not solo. I mean, most RPGs have storytelling at their heart. (That's a totally different thread though, in fact I think it's like five different threads.) ;)
Thanks to those that pointed at real solo adventures. I'm going to take a look at those just to see what they're like.
You could also try this product out.
Check out the following "old school" solo adventures.
- BSOLO Ghost of Lion's Castle
- XS1 Lathan's Gold
- XS2 - Thunderdelve Mountain
- Msolo2 - Maze of the Riddling MinotaurThere were more, but these come to mind.
How about "The Djinni's Ring" in Dungeon magazine, issue #9?
EDIT: And if Maze of the Riddling Minotaur counts, then so should Blizzard Pass.
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Sadly, probably not. It's like having the godmode codes for a video game. it's fun for a minute, but quickly looses it's apeal.
I'd recommend just playing one of the many RPG games online. Other than MMO's their's a few oldschool games that I like. The neverwinter night series, Planescape torment, Baulders gate series, and probably a few that I can't remember.
Other than that try to find a good online gaming format so you can play with other people at a distance. Once you do find it let the rest of us know. ;-) Thanks.
Check out the following "old school" solo adventures.
- BSOLO Ghost of Lion's Castle
- XS1 Lathan's Gold
- XS2 - Thunderdelve Mountain
- Msolo2 - Maze of the Riddling MinotaurThere were more, but these come to mind.
How about "The Djinni's Ring" in Dungeon magazine, issue #9?
EDIT: And if Maze of the Riddling Minotaur counts, then so should Blizzard Pass.
Blizzard Pass, that was the one I was forgetting. Thanks!
Playing Pathfinder solo...
It is writing a book. You (GM side) create the scenario and bad guys, then you (player) react to said events.
More or less, solo play will end in you writing a book / short story
Try looking up the DestinyQuest game-books. You have a character sheet and roll dice for combat.
I have a regular weekly game, a monthly game with a different group, and a twice yearly game with college friends. However, I still sometimes want to kill some time rolling dice on weekends when I have an afternoon to myself. I have started a party of 4 3rd level characters, and will take them through some of the modules I haven't run before starting with the 3e adventure Forge of Fury. The assumption is that the characters have completed The Sunless Citadel and found the map to the next adventure. I will read the module, and take the characters through the combats and traps. It's not exactly the same as playing, but it can scratch the itch. The characters are based on 4 of my Skyrim characters: a human magus, a dragonborn rogue, a goliath warpriest, and a fourth to be determined.
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Can playing by yourself be fun? Sure. Can it be at all the same experience as playing with other people? Probably not.
If you want to play with other people but are just too far from others who share your hobby, there are online games. Some are played by forum posts, and are called 'play-by-post.' These games tend to be very slow moving, but are a constant source of a few minutes every day playing Pathfinder. Others are played by people sitting at their computers, talking to each other as if they were all at the same table, and doing maps by moving icons on their computer screen. These games are usually called VTT or virtual terminal games. If either one sounds fun, give it a try and see if it's right for you.