Comment by jhbadger

Comment by jhbadger 4 days ago

One of the growing trends these days is solitaire RPGs -- where people play alone as both player and Game/Dungeon Master. Typically this isn't done by AI but by rolling on various tables (sometimes called "GM Emulators"). Not everbody has the time or even enjoys the extrovert pressure of a traditional social RPG. A related concept is the "cooperative RPG" which does have multiple players but no DM so everyone can play.

Here's a list of some of the ones available (about 10 years old but it gives you the idea)

https://rpggeek.com/geeklist/181957/list-of-solitaire-soloab...

acomjean 4 days ago

This is interesting.

I grew up with “choose your own adventure” books which were like a solo adventure: (If you go on the north road turn to page 34 if you follow the river page 57)

Many board games now have a solo mode with an automated player with tables and dice to help randomness.

https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/3238902/what-is-the-best-so...

Obviously there are adventure video games. Some of the new ones often have interesting back stories, really amazing world building and dnd like adventures. Horizon zero dawn, the Witcher, Star Wars outlaws among many others. “baldurs gate” really gave me dnd vibes (I played through that one multiplayer).

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jhbadger 4 days ago

That style of book led to one type of solo adventure -- the "numbered paragraph" type that is basically a choose your own adventure book except that combat and other such situations are resolved using the RPG rules. Those still exist, but more recently, the goal is to make things more open ended and flexible, at the cost of having the player make decisions on what things mean -- like the player might roll on some tables that say "orcs" and "merchants" and the player needs to invent their own explanation of what that means -- do they encounter orcs attacking merchants? Or orcs who are merchants?

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- mrtranscendence 3 days ago
  
  Oh man, I played the shit out of the Lone Wolf books when I was a kid in the eighties and nineties. My brother had the first couple of them, and I still have his old books somewhere with his notes. I should find them for nostalgia's sake (my brother having long since passed).
  
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