Solo RPG Gamer
CEO of my Roleplaying
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Hidden Information, Spontaneous Information and the solo RPG experience
I often make pretty random posts which are more like a way of trying to synthesize things I'm thinking about, or reading about, in my quest for a satisfying solo RPG experience.
A discussion at the Story Games forum regarding games with "Hidden Information" got me thinking about the opposite concept (spontaneous information/non-existent information) and their relationship to each other. Of course, I'm also interested in their relationship to solo gaming, though I didn't focus specifically on that aspect while participating in that discussion. Here is my attempt to apply some of what I got out of that to solo rpg'ing.
I often make pretty random posts which are more like a way of trying to synthesize things I'm thinking about, or reading about, in my quest for a satisfying solo RPG experience.
A discussion at the Story Games forum regarding games with "Hidden Information" got me thinking about the opposite concept (spontaneous information/non-existent information) and their relationship to each other. Of course, I'm also interested in their relationship to solo gaming, though I didn't focus specifically on that aspect while participating in that discussion. Here is my attempt to apply some of what I got out of that to solo rpg'ing.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Story structures: template vs map approach?
Just thought I'd share this here, as it was part of a 9Q's discussion on the Mythic GM Yahoo group. One of the members had expressed a reluctance to try the 9Q's because it seemed to him the stories always followed the same formulaic pattern.
Just thought I'd share this here, as it was part of a 9Q's discussion on the Mythic GM Yahoo group. One of the members had expressed a reluctance to try the 9Q's because it seemed to him the stories always followed the same formulaic pattern.
I thought it was an interesting observation, though I don't necessarily agree with it. It made me think of the advice Christopher Vogler gives in his book about not thinking of the Monomyth as a step by step guide (if I remember correctly). Advice which I didn't really 'get' as much as I thought, until I saw the results of going against it for myself in my own tinkering with this structure as a gaming aid.
Anyway, much of my thoughts are in my reply to the fellow member, in the rest of this post. I hope these help.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
A rambly update
Even though my blog has been somewhat quiet, I've been busy trying to make concrete some of the thoughts I've had about a solo rpg'ing structure based on the monomyth. I've shared previous attempts, which were fun, but did not quite have the results or feel I wanted, so I've been tinkering a lot and play testing-- trying to make it simpler, clearer, more inspiring, and more fun to play (for me).
Even though my blog has been somewhat quiet, I've been busy trying to make concrete some of the thoughts I've had about a solo rpg'ing structure based on the monomyth. I've shared previous attempts, which were fun, but did not quite have the results or feel I wanted, so I've been tinkering a lot and play testing-- trying to make it simpler, clearer, more inspiring, and more fun to play (for me).
Friday, December 21, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Player Character death in a solo game
How do you feel about it? How do you handle it?
I've seen it work great in some actual plays of dungeon
crawls that have been posted on the Yahoo group for Mythic. After a while, I
got the impression that all of those dead characters added a backdrop, and a
sense of emerging history to the dungeon.
Still, I try to avoid player character death in my own
solo games. Often, I find myself fudging results so that the story can go on,
rather than come to an abrupt stop. I'm not worthy enough to kiss Hitchcock’s
shoe soles, so I won't even try to pull a trick like he did in Psycho by
killing the Heroine early on.
With that pre-amble, I wanted to share an idea that I've
been playing around with.
I have been calling it Consequence and Repercussion tokens interchangeably as
the mood strikes me, but I think "Pick Your Poison" captures the feel
better. Here’s how it works:
Sunday, May 20, 2012
[Shock] Please help me with premise for a session of Shock rpg
I'm a big fan of Bladerunner and Neuromancer, so this premise is nothing new.
My premise for a session is that in this cyberpunk world there is an agency called Turing Police (mentioned in the Sprawl Saga), which is for detecting and containing (possibly destroying) any emergent self-aware AIs.
I want to play a veteran Turing Police operative whose own mind is trapped inside cyberspace when a renegade AI he was tracking takes over his e-brain. Now he must find a way to stop the AI who took over his body, while evading the same Turing Police agency of which he used to be a part, since he is now a disembodied entity.
I'm a big fan of Bladerunner and Neuromancer, so this premise is nothing new.
My premise for a session is that in this cyberpunk world there is an agency called Turing Police (mentioned in the Sprawl Saga), which is for detecting and containing (possibly destroying) any emergent self-aware AIs.
I want to play a veteran Turing Police operative whose own mind is trapped inside cyberspace when a renegade AI he was tracking takes over his e-brain. Now he must find a way to stop the AI who took over his body, while evading the same Turing Police agency of which he used to be a part, since he is now a disembodied entity.
Friday, April 27, 2012
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