The Solo RPG Challenge

[ravensron]

Thank you for the answer Errin. Looking forward to your additional games. Not sure if I've played Undead, was that a solo game? The one I remember was a three-player game, played on a map of 19th century London, one player was Dracula, the other was Van Helsing and his gang, and there had to be a referee too. The clever bit was that only one player was in the room with the referee at a time so he could make hidden moves (Dracula shifting around his coffins to escape getting staked while asleep during the day; the vampire hunters moving to different neighborhoods trying to find the coffins), unless they actually encountered each other then both came in the room and there was a quick, simple combat system (which almost always allowed Drac to escape, as it was purely good fortune to be able to beat him in a straight-up fight); there was a time limit in which the hunters had to triumph after which "nobody believes in vampires and he escapes into the London underworld to wreak havoc at will."
In playing solo-type games, I do find that - while the artistic beauty of the components is irrelevant - that it works much better if there are all possible components needed: a map of some kind if pertinent, counters representing whatever, and some sort of score sheet. Not that I can't make up these things as needed, and unfair of me to tax the authors when you're giving so marvelously of your creativity.

[jeffmoore]

This latest discussion reminds me of a board game called "Betrayal at the House on the Hill." Have you guys tried it? It's awesome!!

[ErrinF]

You're welcome, ravensron. I'm glad you enjoyed the Creature Of Murky County game. It was a game created in response to a challenge here at 1km1kt to make an RPG that could be entirely explained in a character sheet. I made another character sheet RPG that is available here called 'Treason Season'. I also just completed yet another character sheet RPG called 'Terror Town' that will be available at 1km1kt soon. Beyond the character sheet games, I have a solo RPG here called 'Squire', a solo RPG called 'Haunted Houses', and a newly submitted solo RPG called 'Regs, Dregs, & Zombies'. I also have a RPG here that is not solo called 'Zodiac Fantasy'. You can download them all for free here at 1km1kt, and they shouldn't be too hard to find.
As for your suggestion for making components for solo games such as maps and counters, I'm kind of limited for doing such, but I agree that they enhance such games tremendously. In the case of Creature Of Murky County and other character sheet RPG's, the entirety of the game is in the character sheet, so there's not much room to add other components.
Lastly, you are on the money about the Undead game. I don't think it was a solo game, but it might have had a solo option. I reference it as an inspiration for solo games because it created a very interesting world that only required one die to create a simple yet rich gaming environment. I never got to play it much, but I always liked it a lot.

[Keeton]

[ravensron]

[ErrinF]

Thanks for the suggestions, ravensron. I'll look into making a quick reference sheet for Regs, Dregs, & Zombies, and might make a status sheet to document combat in. So much of that game is the artwork so it's tough to take it out. That game ended up being more of a chore than I thought, so I haven't spent much time following up on what I can add to it to make gameplay a little easier. My other RPGs, such as Squire and Haunted Houses, have much simpler artwork and shouldn't be that much of a challenge to print out. Both games involve combat between single participants, unlike RD&Z which has group combat, so I don't really feel a need to make any sort of reference sheet for them. I already added appendices to them anyway that detail the important charts and tables.
As for Creature Of Murky County, that's cool you mapped out Murky County. The Post Office should only take 2 turns if you get lucky and roll a 6 right away; Otherwise, it should take a few more visits on average to actually get the bonus from the Post Office. Still, I understand what you mean by certain spots such as the Post Office and Old Man Crenshaw's having options in the game that disappear once fulfilled. I don't mind that the game drags a little... that's somewhat by design, being that the movie the game was based on (Boggy Creek II) drags a bit too. While I agree that solo games benefit from being rich in detail and options each and every turn, this game was about hunting down an elusive monster in a desolate swamp. I could have made it a lot more 'action packed' by creating a higher probability of encounter/conflict, but I decided the 1 in 6 chance for anything happening in most spots was best. Due to the nature of the game (it's a one page character sheet rpg), it's already been filled with all the detail I could jam in there. I'm going to keep it as is 'cause I like how it turned out. I appreciate the feedback on it. Maybe you'll get to give my other character sheet rpgs a go and see what you think. One is called 'Treason Season' and the other is 'Terror Town' which is soon to be posted here at 1km1kt. Here's a link to my games if that helps any:



Lastly, I could possibly figure out how to make counters out of some of the clipart I've used for some of my games, but I'm not positive I could pull that off. As far as mapmaking goes, not really a skill of mine, though I've always enjoyed maps and other aids for RPGs. Perhaps you have the knack for it, ravensron. I suppose if you liked one of my games well enough you could submit maps/counters/variants for it here at 1km1kt on your own. Even better, you could submit your own game here, complete with maps and counters. The terrain rules you were mentioning for RD&Z seem to encompass a whole new game all it's own.

[ravensron]

Your creativity continues to astonish and delight, Errin. Yes, can see how "Squire" and "Haunted House" work more easily despite the number of pages, because of encounters being one-on-one, and yes the humor in the artwork makes the game more enjoyable. The cost of printing - in ink and paper - may not be a consideration for most people, but 95 pages of a game is a lot no matter how you slice it though. Maybe it's an insurmountable problem, as I don't think you can reduce the size of the pictures or text enough to make a difference without making the game literally difficult to play (Had this happen with a game years ago designed by a friend. The print was VERY small, and that was necessary for it to fit on X pages, which was necessary because he would have to charge more for the game if it physically was larger and hence cost more to produce. But, the print was so small that some people just plain couldn't read the "battle chart" and refused to play). On the other hand, it's our hobby, it's our joy, and my wife insists that if a game costs a bit more that shouldn't deter me from acquiring it.


By the way, if I draw a "map" for a game that doesn't otherwise absolutely have or need one, I can assure you my artistic talents in doing so will not be applauded. "Map" means some irregular boxes drawn on paper and labeled as to what they are. For "Regs, Dregs & Zombies" the map isn't strictly necessary for the game as written; only if "how far from base they are" becomes important and/or "different sectors have different terrain conditions which affect the battles." I only thought of it because I've become a devoted fan of skirmish miniatures wargames as conflict resolution systems for rpgs. Probably if I had to be the one to make a map it'd be either an overlay on a real map or just a grid with each box labeled as to what it is - and if big enough then maybe some clip art.

Just got "Treason" and "Terror Town" and looking forward to trying them out.

[ErrinF]

Thanks, Ron. I'm glad you are enjoying the games I've added to 1km1kt.
I can appreciate your dilemma. At least the pdfs are free here at 1km1kt, and the only cost is your own if you wish to print them out. Looks like your options are to print it with your own printer using affordable ink cartridges or you need to find a print/copy shop that might be able to print a game out at an affordable price. I would suggest, even though it may be a little clunky at first, that you test out a game using just it's pdf without printing it yet. You'll know after a playtest or two if it's a game you'll enjoy enough to invest in printing out. We all have to budget, but I agree with your wife that you should spend some of your hard earned money on your recreation and hobbies if you feel like it. At least the free pdfs here at 1km1kt allow you to guage if a game is to your liking enough to spend the time and cash to print it out.
I looked into creating a pdf of Haunted Houses that would lessen the size of the font and pictures, but all it did was double the amount of pages and throw off the spacing. I don't think there's too many options beyond printing it at 95 pages; For what it's worth, at least a lot of the pictures in Haunted Houses will only use up black ink, not the more expensive color ink.
I guess we're kind of at a dead end with the map thing, but it's a good idea nonetheless. A good map is tough to make. Maybe in the future I'll come upon some free map-like clipart that I can make a game out of. We'll see what happens.

[ravensron]

Played a few rounds of Treason Season. Because chance of succeeding is less than 1/2 at the beginning, the character acquired Treason points more quickly, and as soon as that exceeded 6, which requires the character to play as renegade to the glorious happy people's republic he allegedly serves, it just became a matter of luck if he'd then fail enough missions to wrack up the 12 Treason points to win or accidentally pass enough to wipe out his points and lose. Is there a mechanism to change sides again, going back to a loyal minion of the regime after having become a secret traitor?

For Terror Town, I made up little counters for the weapons to be found, with clipart pictures under which is the title of the weapon and the number of shots and amount of damage. Could put lines for the number of shots, and check them off, but if you don't want to do that or couldn't erase the check marks easily then just stack pennies on the counters. Doesn't change the game play, just a visual aid to make having the weapons more interesting; suppose you could do the same thing for the monsters although not too much clipart representing barbed-wire sentient tumbleweeds and mailboxes with teeth. If you give me your e-mail, or your surface world address, I'll send you a sheet of the counters.

[ErrinF]

That's cool you found clipart for the weapons of Terror Town RPG, Ron. I think I can use the private message system here to send you my email address. Send me what you got when you get my email, and I'll submit it to 1km1kt. Make sure to include your full name so you get properly credited for the expansion to my game, and credit the clipart as well if you can. Maybe it's a good thing you couldn't find clipart for the monsters... some of them are damn creepy! I'm guessing you're enjoying the game if you're making counter sheets for it.
As for Treason Season, it is inspired by Paranoia, though it's more cynical than humorous. You're built to fail in the world of the game just like in Paranoia, which is why the game is stacked against you from the start and much of it is out of your control.
The strategy of Treason Season occurs at the beginning of the game when you assign your extra attribute points. The rest after that is entirely luck. I think there is one of two ways to go as far as winning the game. You can try the hard route of becoming leader, in which case you assign the extra points to 3 of the 6 attributes used in tasks in hopes that you will succeed at serving the Great State enough to gain Prestige Level and raise task-related attributes. Or you can try the easier route of revolution, in which case you assign 1 point to Prestige Level, 1 point to Treason Level, and 1 point to 1 of the 6 task-related attributes in hopes that you will fail the State enough to gain Treason Level and lower task-related attributes.
Becoming a freedom fighter or part of the power elite is basically a point of no return in the game. You either succeed from that point and win on the path you've been given, or you fail from that point and lose on your given path. A failed freedom fighter is caught by the State; A failed elite is persecuted as a traitor. That's the official rules for the game.
Of course, being an RPG, feel free to adapt your own rules to the game if you'll enjoy it better. You can have a failed freedom fighter or failed power elite simply start over with the same attributes except Prestige Level and Treason Level become 0. It's up to you.
Treason Season's probably the most simple of my character sheet RPGs, but I like it's playability and challenge. I also like the world it takes place in. Maybe not my best character sheet RPG, but I still like it plenty.