Gattletowne
The Crowned Light of Midday Night
In my introduction I mentioned that I am currently using a solitaire role playing system as a writing tool for a serial I am currently writing. I was asked for the details of what this consisted of, and details my friends, I have details. So if you are interested in solitaire role-playing as a tool for writing as I do, or just for shits and gigs, here's what I use. Solitaire (or solo) role-playing, by the way, is role-playing without a GM all by your lonesome. It is possible, and I do enjoy it. So here it is.
The Solo Role-Playing Game – Let's Write a Story
The Why
I grew up playing tabletop Role-Playing Games with family and friends. Dungeons & Dragons was a mainstay in my life, and I played regularly (with a few down years in between) well into my thirties. The players are divided by the PCs (player characters) and the DM or GM (Dungeon or Game Master respectively). The PCs acted out the roles of their specific dramatic personifications, and the GM created scenarios for the PCs to traverse and explore. Mechanics also were, via the game system, in place to provide deeper context and incentives (through skill advancement, acquisition of material gains, and the accumulation of power both physical and psychological). The game mechanics were fun enough. They provided endless conflicts, treasures, and stakes. The best part, the fun part, had nothing to do with how many levels you acquired or how badass your +5 Nine Lives Stealer was. It was the stories. The ongoing narrative. The hilarious moments that rose out of a dice roll that could've altered the story in a completely different way. Those random moments, the unscripted moments, are the memorable ones. The major story beats created by the GM are very important, but equally important are those moments of chaos that neither the GM or the PCs expect. That's exactly what I hope to accomplish with this serial. That and some good ole' fashion, silly and adventurous fun.
The How
I want to capture the feel of what some of those role-playing sessions were like, I want the writing process to be fresh and keep me interested and invested, and I want to be surprised. Solitaire, or solo, RPG games is how I think I can most effectively accomplish what I want to do.
A solo RPG is a tabletop game in which a single person engages a system of gaming mechanics in order to produce a context for his or her character to interact with. This can be accomplished in a number of ways from the complex, systems heavy approach in which the player must read and digest dozens of pages of material before beginning, to the simple, narrative focused styles that a have a minimal interaction with mechanics. I find myself more interested in the latter. My aim is not to create a PC and then advance him or her in any traditional RPG sense, I am creating a PC (a protagonist character) to be born and blossomed along with this universe that is barely fleshed out at the onset. Watching a narrative grow from the barest germ of an idea into a full blown adventure with fun characters interacting with a compelling world is very appealing to my personal psychology. It's been fun so far, but not without its hiccups. Knowing when to ask questions and knowing the right way to ask questions takes some getting used to, but I'll get into those details soon enough. Solo RPGs are fun and worth a look if you enjoy tabletop games but have little time or little access to people who enjoy the hobby. As with most things these days, the internet is pregnant with information about the variety of systems available for your consumption. Google is a hell of a thing.
Before I get into the specifics of exactly the system I use for writing this serial, I want to begin by saying that this system is in no way, shape, or form my original work. Hours of hard work went into developing the Solo RPG systems so many people who play these types of games enjoy, and I will give credit where it is due. After the description of the system I use, I will list all of the resources I used to adapt this system to suit my needs. I have to disclaim that this system is used with a basic understanding of how tabletop RPGs are played and the kind of questions a PC asks a GM. If you don't have this basic knowledge, this description may appear a bit esoteric. Stick with me, though, because after each episode of the serial, I will include the notes I took and the die rolls I made so you can see exactly how I applied this framework to my writing process.
Step One. The Setup
You need a hero or villain or whatever as a focus. My PC (protagonist character) is Rodon Royce, a former Ground Operations officer in the Unity Fleet. Give your PC some backstory, or write a short history for your world. Give the story some context. You need a sandbox before you can make your sandcastle. Generally this setup info is for you only (if you're using the solo RPG as a writing tool as I am. Otherwise ignore this bit). The Setup in my space adventure has some info in it that I don't want my audience to know right away, so I wont be including my Setup section with the notes I plan to make available as a supplement to the episodes.
Step Two. Whats Going on?
There needs to be a context for your PC. What's happening to them presently? It's good to start of right away with conflict that demands a resolution. Draw the audience in. Don't put them to sleep with lengthy exposition about the current political climate or the detailed history of your world for the past ten thousand years. This can all be woven in subtly through your characters. Jump right into the thick of it and keep it moving. There will be plenty of time later for in depth character moments when the audience is invested and along for the ride. For now, though, it's time to rock and roll.
This step is usually similar to the Setup and not particularly question heavy (don't worry we're getting to all the stuff about Questions). It differs from the Setup in that the Setup is generalized with very broad strokes that give framework to the universe and PC at large. This step deals with specifics, a focused unfolding of events affecting the PC in the present moment.
The Big Question
With all this talk about questions, I'm sure you're wondering exactly what I mean. What do questions have to do with writing? So this is where the role-playing mechanics come into play. These questions are, more or less, typically what a player would ask a GM during gameplay. Examples include: “Is that door locked?” or “Can I my character perform physical feat X or Y?” or “I want to shoot that guy. Am I successful?” These solo RPG systems are designed to help you answer these questions in interesting ways that you may not expect. This is why I find these systems compelling. They help, in my opinion, to see the story elements in a way that I may not have originally considered. They also provide me with a certain element of surprise, so that I as the writer, may not know exactly what to expect next. The part that takes some getting used to, as I said before, is deciding when to ask these questions and when to just let the narrative be. I'll give you some examples of my learning process.
I conducted play tests, which is just me tossing my ideas at the mechanics to see what happens. This is also where I tweaked the solo system I decided to use to fit my needs. The first play test involved the characters I am using for the current space adventure. Rodon Royce and pals. I filled up about 48 pages of a 5x8 in notebook (same one I'm still using for the notes that will become this serial). I made 83 dice rolls to determine random events. It made for a chaotic story (still an interesting one, and many of the ideas that came out of these rolls I am keeping for the current story arc). At times I felt almost slavishly attached to the outcome of die rolls, rooting for a certain roll so I could head down particular path I thought was interesting. This was ultimately unhealthy for the story, but it created some fantastic ideas that I may not have thought of.
My second play test was set in a different world. I was going for a gothy, steampunky, Lovecraftian world of forbidden magic. I really like that character and the setup and will definitely use it for a story later, but for now it was an important play test. It started off fine enough, I was more efficiently asking questions and I was getting interesting answers. Then it came to a fight. I literally made a dice roll for every move the combatants made. The story died a grindy death then and there. I had the same problem when I tried Royce and pals a second time. I tried a space battle, and it went nowhere. The theme emerging seemed to be that I was worried about the damned system too much and all but ignoring the story.
At the time of this writing, I have about 30 pages of pretty detailed notes and maybe 10 dice rolls. Granted I'm exploring ideas that were created during my first play test, but I've certainly reigned in my questions and added them only when it makes the story interesting or where I'm stuck. If there's an outcome I really want, then I ditch the question and just go down the path I want to. In my case and for my purposes, the narrative trumps the mechanics. Okay, enough with all that. Now its time for raw mechanics.
The System
For this system (and all solo RPG systems I have come across so far) you must formulate a question that can be answered either Yes or No. It doesn't work otherwise. For example, you can ask “Is there any dangers in my immediate area?” The system will be happy to determine this for you, but if you ask “What color is the house I'm walking toward?” You're going to be disappointed. You'll see why soon enough.
We begin with a standard 6-sided dice. One die is all I use. In all honesty, I use an iphone app called RNG that has virtual 6-sided dice among other random number generation tools. Next you ask a question that be answered with a Yes or a No.
Roll a six sided dice (hereafter referred to as a d6)
1 - No and
2 - No
3 - No but
4 - Yes but
5 - Yes
6 - Yes and
The yes and no answers (2,5) are simply that. No more and no less. The 'but' answers mean diminished effect. The 'and' answers mean enhanced effect. For example, our buddy Royce has a gun he would like to shoot at someone who means him harm. I would word the situation like so:
Royce is going to shoot this asshole that wants him and Lexa dead. Does he succeed?
I would then roll my d6 and interpret the result.
1 – Not only does Royce miss his target, but he accidentally shoots some poor bastard behind the bad guy.
2 – Royce misses.
3 – Royce misses his target, but the ricochet grazes the bad guy's partner and he lets Lexa slip out of his grasp.
4 – Royce shoots the bad guy, but its not serious enough to do much but piss the bad guy off.
5 – Royce shoots the bad guy.
6 – Not only does Royce shoot the bad guy right between the eyes with cinematic awesomeness, he also shoots the bad guy's partner with similar bad-assery.
The interpretation of the results and how you weave them into the narrative is completely up to you. These six results are really all you need for a bare minimum experience, but I like a little chaos thrown in every now and again. Different systems call it different things, but I like 'quirks' so that's what I've named them. After my initial d6 roll, I record the result and roll a second d6. If I roll a 2-6, then I write NQ (no quirk) in parenthesis next to my first roll result. I do this to remind myself I need to roll for quirks. During my first Royce playthrough, I constantly forgot to roll the second d6 for quirk events. If I roll a '1' then a quirk is indicated. I roll another d6, record the outcome, and consult the following tables.
Quirks
1 – reverse the current answer
2 – spectacular failure
3 – amazing success
4 – a new threat arrives
5 – change of heart (Non-Protagonist Character or NPC)
6 – roll d6 and consult table 2
Quirks 2
1 – In the Zone
2 – Han Solo
3 – The Shits
4 – Oh Yeah, That Guy
5 – So That Just Happened
6 – Cool New Toys
Quirks explained
Some of these are self-explanatory, but I assume nothing, and I like making lists and describing them in greater detail afterwards. Also, table 2 isn't self-evident at all.
Reverse the current answer – whatever answer you rolled, change it to its exact opposite. If you get a 'yes and' then it becomes a 'no and.'
Spectacular failure – whatever the situation is currently for the PC, it goes wrong in a truly fantastic way. This is not unlike the 'no and' result, but it should be special and change the scene in an epic way. Let's go back to Royce and his 'no and' result of the previous examples. The 'no and' resulted in some poor bastard in the background getting shot instead of the intended target. If this were a spectacular failure that unlucky somebody would be someone important that would affect the story in a major way. Let's say that poor bastard was Commander Luke Leingold of the Unity Fleet in town for a tactics conference on the usefulness of aegis units in civil unrest scenarios. Let's say that errant shot killed him, or at the very least, landed him in critical condition. This unlucky event could totally change the arc of the story. The Unity Fleet is going to be pissed off, and Royce was a Fleet officer and a decorated war hero, so what does that add to the mix? Lots of good storytelling potential there.
Amazing success – this is exactly the opposite of spectacular failure. Like spectacular failure, it is very similar to the 'yes and' result. There is a significant difference, however. The amazing success doesn't need to be as story altering as the spectacular failure, mostly because the failure option tends to bring out the more interesting story arcs. The amazing success is just a moment that particularly illustrates how awesome the PC has the potential to be, a super cool cinematic moment, or something particularly well done that has unforeseen positive effects. My example earlier of the 'yes and' result is actually a good example of what this looks like, and to be honest if I got the 'yes and' result and then rolled for this particular quirk, I might just ignore this. But again, it's up to you to interpret these results.
A new threat arrives – this one is pretty self-evident. A threat arrives on the scene that was not previously there. How this threat is manifest is up to you. It can be a new NPC arriving to wreck the show, it could be an unexpected capital ship (using my space adventure as an example) that comes out of FTL drive right next to the ship you're on and it's way to close for comfort, or maybe a crazy and sudden storm sweeps in while your PC is nowhere near shelter. Be creative.
Change of heart (NPC) – this one is reserved for NPCs because how your PC behaves is clearly your choice and shouldn't be left up to the mechanics, that is unless you want him/her to, and in that case maybe this works for them too. This means that whatever NPC presently associated with the PC, that makes logical sense, decides to switch alliances suddenly. This can be a positive change or a negative change. I'll give a few examples. I'll go positive first. Evil Prince Ku of the Pi Atheni Empire has been pursuing Royce and pals across the Omega Draconis sector for months. He's been conflicted bout this because his sister has been traveling with Royce, and he loves her, but his father wants Royce and everyone with him dead. Ku decides, at a critical moment, to support his sister and her friends instead of following through with his father's ruthless orders. Lets continue with example for the negative version of this result. Ku, who has been traveling with his sister and Royce for a few adventures now, decides at a critical moment to reveal that his friendship had been a ruse all along, and he joins the incoming Pi Atheni fleet who's intentions are not wholesome.
In the zone – this is more or less a broader version of amazing success. This applies usually to an entire scene or determined amount of time you deem appropriate. Everything the PC does during this time period is successful. It does not need to be amazingly so, just a run of exceptional luck. During this period, I wouldn't necessarily worry about asking questions. Just assume that all of the responses are the stock 'yes' result.
Han Solo – think of Luke making that trench run at the end of New Hope. Vader is in hot pursuit. Then out of nowhere comes Han to blast Vader out of the way so Luke can make his shot. Think of this as a moment when unexpected good fortune comes along, at a critical moment, to alter the situation in an advantageous way for the benefit of the PC. It can literally be someone arriving out of the blue to save the PC's ass, or it can be the ricochet of a gunshot that happened to take out that security camera you needed disabled. Whatever makes the most logical sense for the situation at hand.
The Shits – exactly the opposite of In the Zone. Everything the PC does is unsuccessful. He or she is on run of really crappy luck. Assume all responses to probable questions are of the stock 'no' variety.
Oh yeah, that guy – this result has great potential to be a story arc all its own. An NPC, organization, or otherwise antagonistic influence of some sort shows up briefly to hinder the PC in some interesting way, and then is quickly gone again. Ideally, this becomes something that happens enough to be a reoccurring theme and antagonist, but there's no telling how many times you will potentially rolling a '6' on the quirk die and then rolling a '4' to get this result. So maybe this becomes a germ of an idea you can work in (or not if this isn't going to fit well with your goals) during your narrative or game, or you can really try to see how often it comes up in your die rolls for a truly random feeling experience.
So That Just Happened – think epic disaster. Some unforeseen event in the environment happens outside of the control of the PC and friends that alters the environment in a major way. It doesn't necessarily have to have a radical impact on the story arc, but it would prove more interesting if it did. For example, Royce and his friends are furiously fighting Pi Atheni aegis troops on the ground of the planet they're on. High above (relatively speaking) a space battle rages between the two Dreadnoughts of the Unity Fleet and Pi Atheni Fleet respectively. The Colossus of Unity Fleet lands a crippling blow to the Emperor's Horizon of the Pi Atheni fleet. The enormous capital ship, one of the three largest ships in the Galaxy, loses helm control and begins to enter the atmosphere of the planet below. Eventually the megalithic ship crashes into the surface with the force of a small asteroid, reigning catastrophic destruction for hundreds of miles around the crash site.
Cool New Toys – The PC gets a useful ability or item that can be temporarily or permanently beneficial. The scope of the affect on the story is entirely up to you. This is also a result, more so than the others, that could easily be delayed to fit a logical situation. For example, Royce and pals are running through a corridor in a facility in which an ally has been imprisoned. They come to a locked door. Royce (as a PC) asks if he can unlock the door. A d6 roll comes up a '5' (Yes) and the quirk roll is a '1'. The 'Cool new toys' result is rolled (back to back 6s). There's no logical reason in this situation to get any item or ability, but who wants to lose a cool new toy opportunity? So instead of the N/A option next the your quirk roll, when the next logical opportunity presents itself, then pull the trigger. Maybe that locked door opens into a security room equipped with a weapons locker, or maybe there's a syringe on a medical tray that has a nano-machine solution in it that gives the PC the amazing ability to rapidly heal. Whatever makes sense to you.
Those are the explanations of the quirks that make sense to me for what I want to accomplish. They are not, however, applicable to all situations. An example: I have just finished my setup and my what's going on sections. Royce is on an escort mission in his ship the Oroboros. The question is: Do I encounter and problems during the escort? I roll a d6 and get a '4' for the 'Yes but' result. Another d6 and '1' is the result. I roll another d6 to see what my quirk is. I get a '5' for Change of heart. I just started this adventure and there's no significant NPCs in play to make this an interesting option. So next to the quirk roll of '5' I mark down N/A to indicate that I am not using the result. Logic is important to stories, and even gaming narratives if Solo RPG play is all you're interested it. If it doesn't fit, then don't use it.
Likelihood – I don't leave all the rolls up to pure chance necessarily. Some things, more or less based on what you know or what is logical about your PC, are more likely to occur than others. For instance, Royce is a former member of Ground Operations (think special forces) in the Unity Fleet. So in my imagination he's pretty good with small arms. Let's say he's a marksman. If he's close to someone, the likelihood that he'll be able to shoot them it very high. Why then make a roll at all? In some cases I wouldn't, but in others it's fun to add that 'just maybe' element. It might be interesting, in the very unlikely case, that Royce misses that shot. This also works in the opposite. If you're attempting to answer a question involving a skill set your PC may not be as comfortable with, it may be less likely they'll pull it off. This more or less replaces the skill and attribute systems that fill the pages of RPG manuals in a very simple way. Again, my aim is to create interesting narratives, not stat-heavy mechanical powerhouses. So this is more or less how I use this idea. I give a +1 to a roll for something more likely to happen, and I give a -1 to roll for something less likely to happen. I thought about +2s and -2s, but at that point the rolls are affected to such a degree that I don't find them useful, but do what works for you.
I have also found severity rolls to be useful. If something happens that should be qualified in terms of effect, I like that effect to be clear. Once again I use a d6 for this.
1 – superficial
2 – light
3 – moderate
4 – serious
5 – critical
6 – extreme/total
This mechanic does nor need to be limited to damages suffered by people or things, it can also be adapted qualitatively to how well something is done or how badly something is failed. Just change the adjectives to suit needs.
Step 3. Quiet Time
I consider the 'What's Going On' step to be the action sequence or scene, as other RPGs sytems like to refer to it as. It is where your Questions, or mechanics, take place. When the scene or sequence of events has reached some sort of resolution or downturn of actiony bits, this is what Quiet Time is in reference to. This is a narrative-only section where the focus is on character interaction and not on the context of events the characters are navigating through. There are no mechanics involved here. There is a variation of Quiet Time called 'Meanwhile...' in which there is a cutaway from the PC to an antagonistic force or person that briefly becomes the focus. This antagonist is not involved in the immediate events surrounding the PC, but looking on from afar, as it were. It can be a foreshadowing, a glimpse behind the curtain of the larger picture, or just an evil sonofabitch setting plans in motion to wreck the PC's day. Whatever works. You can even add mechanics to it to decide which version of QT is happening. During the Quiet Time phase, roll a d6. 1-3 indicates normal QT, 4-6 indicates a Meanwhile... event. If a Meanwhile... event is indicated, I then follow it with a regular QT section.
Random Words – just real quick I'd like to throw this in. I've read a bunch of stuff, while I researched Solo RPG systems, about random idea generation to help direct things if you need the help. You might find yourself stumped or in need of some inspiration to move things forward. I've found success with random word generation. I'll give you an example. I'll go back to my forbidden magic, Lovecraft loveletter story. My PC is inside of a the dark, creepy house of a recently apprehended serial killer from which creepy energy has been emanating. The question was asked of anything useful is observed in this particular room. I received a 'Yes' answer, but I had no idea what that useful something was going to be. I was stumped on it long enough that I needed help. After looking at the various Solo RPG systems I had been researching, I decided two randomly generated words might prove useful. I used an iphone app called Fusion for this purpose. I got the words, ninja and village. I envisioned a miniatures landscape arranged in a very 'cult worship' circle with an interesting clue in the middle. I wove this into the narrative in a satisfying way and happily moved on.
Thanks to...
That's the system. So now the acknowledgments. The primary resource I used was from a miniatures hobbyist blog called Tiny Solitary Soldiers. The April 6, 2012 post entitled Solo RPG? contains the bulk of what I've adapted here. The blog's author, Spacejammer, also added his inspirations in this post. You can find the entry at http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com/2012/04/solo-rpg.html?m=1. I also drew some direct adaptations and inspiration from The Mythic Game Master Emulator (by Tom Pigeon) and CRGE (Conjecturtral Roleplaying Gamemaster Emulator by Zach Best). Both systems are available at DriveThruRPG.com. Finally a great resource for Solo RPG stuff is http://dieheart.net/useful-stuff/solo-rpg-resources/
The Solo Role-Playing Game – Let's Write a Story
The Why
I grew up playing tabletop Role-Playing Games with family and friends. Dungeons & Dragons was a mainstay in my life, and I played regularly (with a few down years in between) well into my thirties. The players are divided by the PCs (player characters) and the DM or GM (Dungeon or Game Master respectively). The PCs acted out the roles of their specific dramatic personifications, and the GM created scenarios for the PCs to traverse and explore. Mechanics also were, via the game system, in place to provide deeper context and incentives (through skill advancement, acquisition of material gains, and the accumulation of power both physical and psychological). The game mechanics were fun enough. They provided endless conflicts, treasures, and stakes. The best part, the fun part, had nothing to do with how many levels you acquired or how badass your +5 Nine Lives Stealer was. It was the stories. The ongoing narrative. The hilarious moments that rose out of a dice roll that could've altered the story in a completely different way. Those random moments, the unscripted moments, are the memorable ones. The major story beats created by the GM are very important, but equally important are those moments of chaos that neither the GM or the PCs expect. That's exactly what I hope to accomplish with this serial. That and some good ole' fashion, silly and adventurous fun.
The How
I want to capture the feel of what some of those role-playing sessions were like, I want the writing process to be fresh and keep me interested and invested, and I want to be surprised. Solitaire, or solo, RPG games is how I think I can most effectively accomplish what I want to do.
A solo RPG is a tabletop game in which a single person engages a system of gaming mechanics in order to produce a context for his or her character to interact with. This can be accomplished in a number of ways from the complex, systems heavy approach in which the player must read and digest dozens of pages of material before beginning, to the simple, narrative focused styles that a have a minimal interaction with mechanics. I find myself more interested in the latter. My aim is not to create a PC and then advance him or her in any traditional RPG sense, I am creating a PC (a protagonist character) to be born and blossomed along with this universe that is barely fleshed out at the onset. Watching a narrative grow from the barest germ of an idea into a full blown adventure with fun characters interacting with a compelling world is very appealing to my personal psychology. It's been fun so far, but not without its hiccups. Knowing when to ask questions and knowing the right way to ask questions takes some getting used to, but I'll get into those details soon enough. Solo RPGs are fun and worth a look if you enjoy tabletop games but have little time or little access to people who enjoy the hobby. As with most things these days, the internet is pregnant with information about the variety of systems available for your consumption. Google is a hell of a thing.
Before I get into the specifics of exactly the system I use for writing this serial, I want to begin by saying that this system is in no way, shape, or form my original work. Hours of hard work went into developing the Solo RPG systems so many people who play these types of games enjoy, and I will give credit where it is due. After the description of the system I use, I will list all of the resources I used to adapt this system to suit my needs. I have to disclaim that this system is used with a basic understanding of how tabletop RPGs are played and the kind of questions a PC asks a GM. If you don't have this basic knowledge, this description may appear a bit esoteric. Stick with me, though, because after each episode of the serial, I will include the notes I took and the die rolls I made so you can see exactly how I applied this framework to my writing process.
Step One. The Setup
You need a hero or villain or whatever as a focus. My PC (protagonist character) is Rodon Royce, a former Ground Operations officer in the Unity Fleet. Give your PC some backstory, or write a short history for your world. Give the story some context. You need a sandbox before you can make your sandcastle. Generally this setup info is for you only (if you're using the solo RPG as a writing tool as I am. Otherwise ignore this bit). The Setup in my space adventure has some info in it that I don't want my audience to know right away, so I wont be including my Setup section with the notes I plan to make available as a supplement to the episodes.
Step Two. Whats Going on?
There needs to be a context for your PC. What's happening to them presently? It's good to start of right away with conflict that demands a resolution. Draw the audience in. Don't put them to sleep with lengthy exposition about the current political climate or the detailed history of your world for the past ten thousand years. This can all be woven in subtly through your characters. Jump right into the thick of it and keep it moving. There will be plenty of time later for in depth character moments when the audience is invested and along for the ride. For now, though, it's time to rock and roll.
This step is usually similar to the Setup and not particularly question heavy (don't worry we're getting to all the stuff about Questions). It differs from the Setup in that the Setup is generalized with very broad strokes that give framework to the universe and PC at large. This step deals with specifics, a focused unfolding of events affecting the PC in the present moment.
The Big Question
With all this talk about questions, I'm sure you're wondering exactly what I mean. What do questions have to do with writing? So this is where the role-playing mechanics come into play. These questions are, more or less, typically what a player would ask a GM during gameplay. Examples include: “Is that door locked?” or “Can I my character perform physical feat X or Y?” or “I want to shoot that guy. Am I successful?” These solo RPG systems are designed to help you answer these questions in interesting ways that you may not expect. This is why I find these systems compelling. They help, in my opinion, to see the story elements in a way that I may not have originally considered. They also provide me with a certain element of surprise, so that I as the writer, may not know exactly what to expect next. The part that takes some getting used to, as I said before, is deciding when to ask these questions and when to just let the narrative be. I'll give you some examples of my learning process.
I conducted play tests, which is just me tossing my ideas at the mechanics to see what happens. This is also where I tweaked the solo system I decided to use to fit my needs. The first play test involved the characters I am using for the current space adventure. Rodon Royce and pals. I filled up about 48 pages of a 5x8 in notebook (same one I'm still using for the notes that will become this serial). I made 83 dice rolls to determine random events. It made for a chaotic story (still an interesting one, and many of the ideas that came out of these rolls I am keeping for the current story arc). At times I felt almost slavishly attached to the outcome of die rolls, rooting for a certain roll so I could head down particular path I thought was interesting. This was ultimately unhealthy for the story, but it created some fantastic ideas that I may not have thought of.
My second play test was set in a different world. I was going for a gothy, steampunky, Lovecraftian world of forbidden magic. I really like that character and the setup and will definitely use it for a story later, but for now it was an important play test. It started off fine enough, I was more efficiently asking questions and I was getting interesting answers. Then it came to a fight. I literally made a dice roll for every move the combatants made. The story died a grindy death then and there. I had the same problem when I tried Royce and pals a second time. I tried a space battle, and it went nowhere. The theme emerging seemed to be that I was worried about the damned system too much and all but ignoring the story.
At the time of this writing, I have about 30 pages of pretty detailed notes and maybe 10 dice rolls. Granted I'm exploring ideas that were created during my first play test, but I've certainly reigned in my questions and added them only when it makes the story interesting or where I'm stuck. If there's an outcome I really want, then I ditch the question and just go down the path I want to. In my case and for my purposes, the narrative trumps the mechanics. Okay, enough with all that. Now its time for raw mechanics.
The System
For this system (and all solo RPG systems I have come across so far) you must formulate a question that can be answered either Yes or No. It doesn't work otherwise. For example, you can ask “Is there any dangers in my immediate area?” The system will be happy to determine this for you, but if you ask “What color is the house I'm walking toward?” You're going to be disappointed. You'll see why soon enough.
We begin with a standard 6-sided dice. One die is all I use. In all honesty, I use an iphone app called RNG that has virtual 6-sided dice among other random number generation tools. Next you ask a question that be answered with a Yes or a No.
Roll a six sided dice (hereafter referred to as a d6)
1 - No and
2 - No
3 - No but
4 - Yes but
5 - Yes
6 - Yes and
The yes and no answers (2,5) are simply that. No more and no less. The 'but' answers mean diminished effect. The 'and' answers mean enhanced effect. For example, our buddy Royce has a gun he would like to shoot at someone who means him harm. I would word the situation like so:
Royce is going to shoot this asshole that wants him and Lexa dead. Does he succeed?
I would then roll my d6 and interpret the result.
1 – Not only does Royce miss his target, but he accidentally shoots some poor bastard behind the bad guy.
2 – Royce misses.
3 – Royce misses his target, but the ricochet grazes the bad guy's partner and he lets Lexa slip out of his grasp.
4 – Royce shoots the bad guy, but its not serious enough to do much but piss the bad guy off.
5 – Royce shoots the bad guy.
6 – Not only does Royce shoot the bad guy right between the eyes with cinematic awesomeness, he also shoots the bad guy's partner with similar bad-assery.
The interpretation of the results and how you weave them into the narrative is completely up to you. These six results are really all you need for a bare minimum experience, but I like a little chaos thrown in every now and again. Different systems call it different things, but I like 'quirks' so that's what I've named them. After my initial d6 roll, I record the result and roll a second d6. If I roll a 2-6, then I write NQ (no quirk) in parenthesis next to my first roll result. I do this to remind myself I need to roll for quirks. During my first Royce playthrough, I constantly forgot to roll the second d6 for quirk events. If I roll a '1' then a quirk is indicated. I roll another d6, record the outcome, and consult the following tables.
Quirks
1 – reverse the current answer
2 – spectacular failure
3 – amazing success
4 – a new threat arrives
5 – change of heart (Non-Protagonist Character or NPC)
6 – roll d6 and consult table 2
Quirks 2
1 – In the Zone
2 – Han Solo
3 – The Shits
4 – Oh Yeah, That Guy
5 – So That Just Happened
6 – Cool New Toys
Quirks explained
Some of these are self-explanatory, but I assume nothing, and I like making lists and describing them in greater detail afterwards. Also, table 2 isn't self-evident at all.
Reverse the current answer – whatever answer you rolled, change it to its exact opposite. If you get a 'yes and' then it becomes a 'no and.'
Spectacular failure – whatever the situation is currently for the PC, it goes wrong in a truly fantastic way. This is not unlike the 'no and' result, but it should be special and change the scene in an epic way. Let's go back to Royce and his 'no and' result of the previous examples. The 'no and' resulted in some poor bastard in the background getting shot instead of the intended target. If this were a spectacular failure that unlucky somebody would be someone important that would affect the story in a major way. Let's say that poor bastard was Commander Luke Leingold of the Unity Fleet in town for a tactics conference on the usefulness of aegis units in civil unrest scenarios. Let's say that errant shot killed him, or at the very least, landed him in critical condition. This unlucky event could totally change the arc of the story. The Unity Fleet is going to be pissed off, and Royce was a Fleet officer and a decorated war hero, so what does that add to the mix? Lots of good storytelling potential there.
Amazing success – this is exactly the opposite of spectacular failure. Like spectacular failure, it is very similar to the 'yes and' result. There is a significant difference, however. The amazing success doesn't need to be as story altering as the spectacular failure, mostly because the failure option tends to bring out the more interesting story arcs. The amazing success is just a moment that particularly illustrates how awesome the PC has the potential to be, a super cool cinematic moment, or something particularly well done that has unforeseen positive effects. My example earlier of the 'yes and' result is actually a good example of what this looks like, and to be honest if I got the 'yes and' result and then rolled for this particular quirk, I might just ignore this. But again, it's up to you to interpret these results.
A new threat arrives – this one is pretty self-evident. A threat arrives on the scene that was not previously there. How this threat is manifest is up to you. It can be a new NPC arriving to wreck the show, it could be an unexpected capital ship (using my space adventure as an example) that comes out of FTL drive right next to the ship you're on and it's way to close for comfort, or maybe a crazy and sudden storm sweeps in while your PC is nowhere near shelter. Be creative.
Change of heart (NPC) – this one is reserved for NPCs because how your PC behaves is clearly your choice and shouldn't be left up to the mechanics, that is unless you want him/her to, and in that case maybe this works for them too. This means that whatever NPC presently associated with the PC, that makes logical sense, decides to switch alliances suddenly. This can be a positive change or a negative change. I'll give a few examples. I'll go positive first. Evil Prince Ku of the Pi Atheni Empire has been pursuing Royce and pals across the Omega Draconis sector for months. He's been conflicted bout this because his sister has been traveling with Royce, and he loves her, but his father wants Royce and everyone with him dead. Ku decides, at a critical moment, to support his sister and her friends instead of following through with his father's ruthless orders. Lets continue with example for the negative version of this result. Ku, who has been traveling with his sister and Royce for a few adventures now, decides at a critical moment to reveal that his friendship had been a ruse all along, and he joins the incoming Pi Atheni fleet who's intentions are not wholesome.
In the zone – this is more or less a broader version of amazing success. This applies usually to an entire scene or determined amount of time you deem appropriate. Everything the PC does during this time period is successful. It does not need to be amazingly so, just a run of exceptional luck. During this period, I wouldn't necessarily worry about asking questions. Just assume that all of the responses are the stock 'yes' result.
Han Solo – think of Luke making that trench run at the end of New Hope. Vader is in hot pursuit. Then out of nowhere comes Han to blast Vader out of the way so Luke can make his shot. Think of this as a moment when unexpected good fortune comes along, at a critical moment, to alter the situation in an advantageous way for the benefit of the PC. It can literally be someone arriving out of the blue to save the PC's ass, or it can be the ricochet of a gunshot that happened to take out that security camera you needed disabled. Whatever makes the most logical sense for the situation at hand.
The Shits – exactly the opposite of In the Zone. Everything the PC does is unsuccessful. He or she is on run of really crappy luck. Assume all responses to probable questions are of the stock 'no' variety.
Oh yeah, that guy – this result has great potential to be a story arc all its own. An NPC, organization, or otherwise antagonistic influence of some sort shows up briefly to hinder the PC in some interesting way, and then is quickly gone again. Ideally, this becomes something that happens enough to be a reoccurring theme and antagonist, but there's no telling how many times you will potentially rolling a '6' on the quirk die and then rolling a '4' to get this result. So maybe this becomes a germ of an idea you can work in (or not if this isn't going to fit well with your goals) during your narrative or game, or you can really try to see how often it comes up in your die rolls for a truly random feeling experience.
So That Just Happened – think epic disaster. Some unforeseen event in the environment happens outside of the control of the PC and friends that alters the environment in a major way. It doesn't necessarily have to have a radical impact on the story arc, but it would prove more interesting if it did. For example, Royce and his friends are furiously fighting Pi Atheni aegis troops on the ground of the planet they're on. High above (relatively speaking) a space battle rages between the two Dreadnoughts of the Unity Fleet and Pi Atheni Fleet respectively. The Colossus of Unity Fleet lands a crippling blow to the Emperor's Horizon of the Pi Atheni fleet. The enormous capital ship, one of the three largest ships in the Galaxy, loses helm control and begins to enter the atmosphere of the planet below. Eventually the megalithic ship crashes into the surface with the force of a small asteroid, reigning catastrophic destruction for hundreds of miles around the crash site.
Cool New Toys – The PC gets a useful ability or item that can be temporarily or permanently beneficial. The scope of the affect on the story is entirely up to you. This is also a result, more so than the others, that could easily be delayed to fit a logical situation. For example, Royce and pals are running through a corridor in a facility in which an ally has been imprisoned. They come to a locked door. Royce (as a PC) asks if he can unlock the door. A d6 roll comes up a '5' (Yes) and the quirk roll is a '1'. The 'Cool new toys' result is rolled (back to back 6s). There's no logical reason in this situation to get any item or ability, but who wants to lose a cool new toy opportunity? So instead of the N/A option next the your quirk roll, when the next logical opportunity presents itself, then pull the trigger. Maybe that locked door opens into a security room equipped with a weapons locker, or maybe there's a syringe on a medical tray that has a nano-machine solution in it that gives the PC the amazing ability to rapidly heal. Whatever makes sense to you.
Those are the explanations of the quirks that make sense to me for what I want to accomplish. They are not, however, applicable to all situations. An example: I have just finished my setup and my what's going on sections. Royce is on an escort mission in his ship the Oroboros. The question is: Do I encounter and problems during the escort? I roll a d6 and get a '4' for the 'Yes but' result. Another d6 and '1' is the result. I roll another d6 to see what my quirk is. I get a '5' for Change of heart. I just started this adventure and there's no significant NPCs in play to make this an interesting option. So next to the quirk roll of '5' I mark down N/A to indicate that I am not using the result. Logic is important to stories, and even gaming narratives if Solo RPG play is all you're interested it. If it doesn't fit, then don't use it.
Likelihood – I don't leave all the rolls up to pure chance necessarily. Some things, more or less based on what you know or what is logical about your PC, are more likely to occur than others. For instance, Royce is a former member of Ground Operations (think special forces) in the Unity Fleet. So in my imagination he's pretty good with small arms. Let's say he's a marksman. If he's close to someone, the likelihood that he'll be able to shoot them it very high. Why then make a roll at all? In some cases I wouldn't, but in others it's fun to add that 'just maybe' element. It might be interesting, in the very unlikely case, that Royce misses that shot. This also works in the opposite. If you're attempting to answer a question involving a skill set your PC may not be as comfortable with, it may be less likely they'll pull it off. This more or less replaces the skill and attribute systems that fill the pages of RPG manuals in a very simple way. Again, my aim is to create interesting narratives, not stat-heavy mechanical powerhouses. So this is more or less how I use this idea. I give a +1 to a roll for something more likely to happen, and I give a -1 to roll for something less likely to happen. I thought about +2s and -2s, but at that point the rolls are affected to such a degree that I don't find them useful, but do what works for you.
I have also found severity rolls to be useful. If something happens that should be qualified in terms of effect, I like that effect to be clear. Once again I use a d6 for this.
1 – superficial
2 – light
3 – moderate
4 – serious
5 – critical
6 – extreme/total
This mechanic does nor need to be limited to damages suffered by people or things, it can also be adapted qualitatively to how well something is done or how badly something is failed. Just change the adjectives to suit needs.
Step 3. Quiet Time
I consider the 'What's Going On' step to be the action sequence or scene, as other RPGs sytems like to refer to it as. It is where your Questions, or mechanics, take place. When the scene or sequence of events has reached some sort of resolution or downturn of actiony bits, this is what Quiet Time is in reference to. This is a narrative-only section where the focus is on character interaction and not on the context of events the characters are navigating through. There are no mechanics involved here. There is a variation of Quiet Time called 'Meanwhile...' in which there is a cutaway from the PC to an antagonistic force or person that briefly becomes the focus. This antagonist is not involved in the immediate events surrounding the PC, but looking on from afar, as it were. It can be a foreshadowing, a glimpse behind the curtain of the larger picture, or just an evil sonofabitch setting plans in motion to wreck the PC's day. Whatever works. You can even add mechanics to it to decide which version of QT is happening. During the Quiet Time phase, roll a d6. 1-3 indicates normal QT, 4-6 indicates a Meanwhile... event. If a Meanwhile... event is indicated, I then follow it with a regular QT section.
Random Words – just real quick I'd like to throw this in. I've read a bunch of stuff, while I researched Solo RPG systems, about random idea generation to help direct things if you need the help. You might find yourself stumped or in need of some inspiration to move things forward. I've found success with random word generation. I'll give you an example. I'll go back to my forbidden magic, Lovecraft loveletter story. My PC is inside of a the dark, creepy house of a recently apprehended serial killer from which creepy energy has been emanating. The question was asked of anything useful is observed in this particular room. I received a 'Yes' answer, but I had no idea what that useful something was going to be. I was stumped on it long enough that I needed help. After looking at the various Solo RPG systems I had been researching, I decided two randomly generated words might prove useful. I used an iphone app called Fusion for this purpose. I got the words, ninja and village. I envisioned a miniatures landscape arranged in a very 'cult worship' circle with an interesting clue in the middle. I wove this into the narrative in a satisfying way and happily moved on.
Thanks to...
That's the system. So now the acknowledgments. The primary resource I used was from a miniatures hobbyist blog called Tiny Solitary Soldiers. The April 6, 2012 post entitled Solo RPG? contains the bulk of what I've adapted here. The blog's author, Spacejammer, also added his inspirations in this post. You can find the entry at http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com/2012/04/solo-rpg.html?m=1. I also drew some direct adaptations and inspiration from The Mythic Game Master Emulator (by Tom Pigeon) and CRGE (Conjecturtral Roleplaying Gamemaster Emulator by Zach Best). Both systems are available at DriveThruRPG.com. Finally a great resource for Solo RPG stuff is http://dieheart.net/useful-stuff/solo-rpg-resources/
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