1KM1KT Free RPG Community

I've decided to second the motion of clever RPG designer Jeff Moore:

"I'd love to see a challenge put out to all the designers of RPGs here at 1km1kt to create a solo rpg. I think the results could be fun." - Jeff

I think this is a great idea. Solo rpgs represent a creative challenge to any game designer, and there's nothing quite like a game wherein you only need one person (yourself) to play. Surely, I can't be the only Fighting Fantasy/Sorcery! fan here. If anybody needs a reference, here's a link to my solo RPG 'Squire' from a few months back:



No deadline or anything like that, but a simple challenge to anybody that has submitted a game to 1km1kt to also create and submit a solo RPG when they can. To anybody looking for ideas, I suggest searching the free clipart sites for free pics of fantasy, sci fi, and horror, as such art can be used freely, and may inspire you to create an RPG tailored to them. Although, I have two solo rpgs on the backburner already, I'm going to create a new one for this challenge, as those others i have might take a while to finish. I'm sure Jeff will take up the challenge, and I would invite anybody who wants to take up this challenge to post a reply to this topic stating such. I look forward to this leading to some interesting solo rpgs to add to my pdf collection. Go ahead; Take the challenge and commit to creating a solo rpg of your own.

I've already figured out what my solo RPG submission will be, thanks to some free clipart I came upon recently.
Aleator Solitaire RPG will be set in our modern world, but one wherein magic exists. However, this magic is limited to the manipulation of luck, chance, and probability to great and deliberate effect. There are 10 classes a character can be and 12 Lords Of Chance that are the root of all chance magic (1 Lord for each of the 10 classes + 1 Lord for all classes + 1 Lord against all classes).
Each class has it's own magic for effecting randomness within the game. Each field of chance magic also has a specific type of magic charm that empowers the proper class using it. A character starts with 1 class, but not with any charms. The character then seeks charms within his world through adventure, encountering random challenges, luck battles, chance rivals, and even an occasional Lord Of Chance in the character's mystic quest to master all 10 classes in order to become the Aleator, a magical champion of chance and fate. When a character finds a charm appropriate to their class, they master that class magic, becoming stronger in the uses of that magic, as well as enabling the character to gain a new class, which will similarly involve adventuring to accomplish. A new class gained leads to another charm to find, and the process continues until the character has mastered all 10 classes with all 10 charms to become the Aleator. The Aleator then does battle one by one with each of the Lords Of Chance until all 12 are defeated. Once this is done, the Aleator reincarnates as a random 1 class character without any magic charms, and the adventuring/fate cycle continues for as long as the player plays and the character survives. The narrative for the RPG is therefore open-ended within a solo format, something useful to a solo RPG (but not essential). The mechanics of the game will be a basic system that can of course be manipulated in a variety ways by the many aspects of chance. Battle may include a very limited amount of weapons that do not include firearms. Most chance magic is as deadly as any weapon, and any charm in the hands of the right class surpasses any mundane weapon.
Perhaps this challenge to 1km1kt gamemakers can be to submit a solo rpg by the end of the year, as that is the deadline I'm setting for myself due to being busy with other things. At least I got the opportunity to put down this rough outline of the game.

Sounds like an interesting challenge, and I'll certainly have a go.

The late deadline works well for me, as I'm really busy lately with other projects, and that other thing I'm meant to do... "education", that's what it's called!

Will post again once I have a concept.

I have never tried making a solitaire RPG - don't know anyone who might play it.

I too have a lot of things on the go at the moment but will certainly bear it in mind for a future project!

Okay, I'm trying to collect my random thoughts into a coherent idea here, so bear with me...

Like Squire Solitaire, it will be self-perpetuating, ending only when the player grows tired of the adventure within.

It will use either a d10 or d100 mechanic, and will additionally require paper, pencil, and eraser.

Character Archetype is determined by a roll of the die. These will probably be Expert, Warrior, and Spellcaster [1-3, 4-6, 7-9] with the chance to be a Jack-of-all-Trades on the roll of a [10]. This determines initial stat allocation.

Initial equipment is a Dagger, 10 coins, and 1 Ration.

Your character is shipwrecked, washing up on the shore of a strange land. Their first location is therefore a beach, so you would mark a beach on one edge of the paper. At this time decide which direction is North, then travel in one direction or other.

If you travel along the beach, you would roll on the Coastal Tables to determine randomly your next Location and any Encounters there.

If you go ashore, you would roll on the Land Tables.

You then create towns, ports, castles, mountains, caves, and other adventure sites as you go, always determining randomly. Each time add the location to your growing map and make a note of the numbers on each Table that make up each location, as well as your accomplishments there. This way you can return along the already established path to complete quests and trade between cities, etc.

If you ever reach the edge of your map, simply add another piece of paper along one edge. Once there is at least one Port on the coast, however, the land's size is set. You may continue to adventure here to fill in the blanks or visit a port to cross the sea and explore strange new lands.

There would probably be an "experience" system of a sort built in, with corresponding encounter tables based on challenge levels.

The tool that is the ForeverQuest (working title) engine could also potentially be used to randomly create your own adventure game book (creating a web page with hyperlinks for linked locations, for example).

If anyone would be interested in collaboration on this project, I would be open to such an idea.

Note: I will be drawing inspiration from a series called The Fabled Lands, an excellent set of adventure gamebooks. Knowledge of these wouldn't be a must for a potential collaborator, however.

Damn, I never thought to look in here... I posted about my answer to Jeff's challenge in the 24 Hour Game forum. I may have made a mistake in thinking that it was supposed to be a 24-hour challenge. I failed that part of it, at least; it took me 29 hours.

But the game, v1.0, is up. I did one playtest, discovered some things in the rules were implied rather than stated openly (like how to heal,) found other things that weren't working, and have started working on v1.1, which I'll have up soon. I'll be asking for playtesters. Mapping rules in v1.1 are perfect; changes to Conflict and Discovery are things I need to playtest before I upload for everyone else.

My inspiration was Nethack. In particular, I wanted the unidentified magic item experience from Nethack: you find a dark bubbly potion and you aren't sure what it does, but identifying other items provides clues to identifying that potion. I also wanted the tactical options different magic items provide; there are times when you want to use a wand of Hold Air instead of a ring of Create Fire.

But on top of that, I wanted the system to be very clever and flexible. You can't have as many options in a solitaire game as in group roleplaying, but I think I succeeded on adding in a little open-endedness.

Version 2.0, which I've renamed to Depths of Kanthe, is the planned commercial version of this game. Character races and classes will be in that version, as will more detail on magic and arcane items, plus the rules for Domain Types and Themes. Currently, you map and explore a Domain of Type "dungeon" with no specific Theme, but I want the mapping rules to change for other Types (mazes and caverns) and hazards, occupants, and room features to change for other Themes (temples, labs, crypts, mines.)

Now I have to check out what everyone else is doing. Anyone else completed anything?

Glad to see things are progressing and that some new solitaire RPGS are popping up on 1km1kt. I myself am having second thoughts about the game I originally said I would be contributing as part of this challenge. Although I'll probably still make 'Aleator RPG', I've hit a roadblock with it, so I'll probably put it aside and think up a new solitaire RPG to contribute. I've been playing some old video RPG games on emulators lately, so I've pondered making a solitaire game matching either Might & Magic or Ogre Battle. Time will tell what I end up making, but I'll get something done by the end of the year, most likely before then. Best of luck to everybody making their own solitaire games for the challenge. Peace. : )