It’s the obvious question, isn’t it? Everybody knows that roleplaying games are a group exercise. The fun comes from the interaction with other participants as well as untangling the plots of the Game Master. That’s not something you can do alone - you can’t have interpersonal interactions alone, and you can’t have both players and a Game Master if it’s just you. So why on earth would you even try to engage in an inherently group-oriented activity on your own?
I’m glad you asked; let me explain.
What are the most common problems of group roleplaying games?
- Scheduling issues is THE number one killer of roleplaying campaigns. It’s hard to find a regular time slot that everyone can commit to. This is not a problem when you play alone. When you play alone, you don’t need a regular time slot - you just play whenever you want.
- Interpersonal drama in group games is a common complaint. It is not uncommon for people to disagree and become upset around the game table. This is not a problem when you play alone. It’s just you - no drama.
- The other players in the group don’t want to play the same game as I. There are so many games to choose from, and not everybody prefers to play the same game. This is not a problem when you play alone. When you’re alone, you get to play whatever game you want without compromise or judgement.
- Even if all players in the group agree on what kind of game they want to play, they still probably won’t all want to play the exact same type of campaign. Even if you all agree that, say, Pathfinder is the game you want to play, you still have to agree on what kind of Pathfinder campaign you want. Hack’n’slash? Mystery? Horror? Heist? This is not a problem when you play alone. Just pick whatever strikes your fancy and go.
Not everybody can find a group to play with in the first place. As with all hobbies, it can be hard to find others with which to share it. This is not a problem when you play alone. The only person you need is yourself.
Okay, so it might be a good idea to play alone, but how?
When you play alone, or solo as it’s often called, you will be both the sole player as well as the Game Master. But the role of the Game Master is to prepare an adventure for the players in advance, so if you’re both a player and the Game Master, isn’t that a bit like reading a book you’ve written yourself? Where’s the suspense, the sense of discovery, and plot twists if you know everything in advance?
The beauty of it is, you don’t need to prepare the campaign in advance. You create the campaign on the fly as you play. There are three types of tools you can use to make this possible:
- First, there are solo Game Master tools which provide systems and inspiration for creating sessions and entire campaigns on the fly. The most well-known of these is the Mythic Game Master Emulator 2nd Ed which is an entire book on the subject, but there are also simpler (and free) alternatives such as the One Page Solo Engine.
- Second, as always in roleplaying games, you need dice to provide the element of randomness.
- Third, you need your imagination. Your imagination is the glue which you apply to the prompts you get from using your dice with the solo Game Master tools to construct an interesting adventure.
I’m having a hard time understanding how this works, can you give me an example?
Certainly. This won’t explain the process in detail, but at least it’ll give you some idea - your solo Game Master tool of choice will provide more detail and clear instructions.
Let’s say you’ve picked your game, your genre, and you’ve rolled up your character. Now you need something for this character to do - you need a quest to undertake. So you turn to your solo Game Master tool of choice for help. Such tools often provide random tables with “Action” and “Subject” or similar headings. Rolling on the Action table, you get the result “Investigate” and the Subject table gives you “Enemies”.
Okay, “Investigate Enemies”. This is where your imagination comes in. As the Game Master, you now have to come up with who these enemies are. If you need further inspiration, lots of solo Game Master tools provide tables for this too. Using such tables to get more information on who these enemies might be, let’s say you get the words “Clandestine” and “Alliance”. Oh! In other words, your enemies is a clandestine alliance - a secret society, perhaps? A cult? You decide!
Then you start playing. You make your way towards the first plot point, and you realize this is where you as a player would need to ask the Game Master something. For example, “do I manage to make my way through the dark alley without getting ambushed?” Then you can turn to what’s known as a “Yes/No Oracle” in your solo Game Master tool. A simple d6-based one works as follow:
- Yes, and it’s even better than you think
- Yes
- Yes, but it’s not as good as you think
- No, but it’s not as bad as you think
- No
- No, and it’s worse than you think
This is a simple way of rolling a six-sided die and getting a somewhat nuanced yes or no answer - again, use your imagination to interpret the results.
Other useful tools
Apart from the solo Game Master tools, there are other tools that are not necessarily only for solo play but are especially useful for solo players.
- NPC generators can be used to generate interesting NPCs to interact with.
- Random dungeon generators are also popular.
- Random settlements generators can be used to generate anything from a hamlet to a full city.
- Random point of interest generators can generate non-settlement locations.
- Random wilderness generators are great if you want to make travel interesting or if you’re simply playing a hexcrawl.
Additionally, let me tell you an open secret - making your own generators is fun, and not really that hard.
Downsides to playing solo
While many find solo roleplaying to be rewarding in many ways, it too comes with a set of disadvantages just like everything else in life.
- When a group works well, it can be incredibly rewarding. That’s not something you can really replicate when playing alone.
- Playing on your own is slower-paced. Since you’re not preparing sessions in advance, if your quest happens to take you to a dungeon, you’ll probably have to generate it on the fly which will slow your game down.
- Sometimes you just want to be a player and sit down and play without having to generate any content on your own. In that case, a group game is probably best.
Conclusion
- Sometimes, playing alone is the best - or the only - choice available.
- Rolling on random tables in solo Game Master tools can give you inspiration which you use your imagination to interpret on the fly at the table. This makes it possible to be surprised at what comes up at the table without having to involve anyone else.
- There are lots of tools available to enhance your game, and it’s not that complicated to make your own if you want.
Obviously, both group and solo play have their place. We all have to find the style that best suit our needs.
