All Things Solo

If you want to pick a thematic word for your story or character and play with it, here's a short list. Start by choosing the one that catches your attention. Or search the one that's in your mind in the web. Or just use Freeform Association as I demonstrated at the bottom. And if you check the links (Passion = 1) in order, they tell a classic story in 5 steps. Connect the dots = FFA.

But if you want to insert the themes YOU want to see in YOUR game, you can conjure some sparks from any theme. You can even use themes in Solo Play in a Therapeutic way to Understand Your Problems with Wisdom Through Fictional Conflict method.

USAGE: Note that this list alone without your input won't get you too far. I'll try to add links to the words for inspiration but you'll still need a bit of research. Subscribe to this entry to know when I add more links to comments, it's a pain in the word count. The little work on your part should be to read the definition of these themes to understand their progression or to mix and match them in a complement or a versus to effectively use them in your story.

ACTION	STORY	CHARACTER	DEEP
Assassination	Amnesty	Aging	5 Stages of Grief (4)
Attack / Hunt	Apprentice	Amnesia	Cycle of Life
Blackmail	Betrayal	Beauty & Ugliness	Destiny
Cargo	Clearing the Hex	Bravery & Cowardry	Dilemmas
Competition	Discovery	Common Sense	Duality & Balance
Conspiracy	Injustice	Destruction	Fate vs. Free Will
Cover Up	Investigation	Disappointment	Hitting the Rock Bottom (5)
Defense	Journey	Dreams & Reality	Order vs. Chaos
Escape	Kingmaker	Fear & Courage	Origin of Cosmos / Life
Espionage	Messenger	Free Will	Pursuit of Meaning
Heist	Mutiny / Rebellion	Freedom	Searching for The Answer
Infiltration	Mystery	Happiness	Suffering
Interrogation	Negotiation	Healing / Creating	The Truth
Kamikaze	Redemption	Human Nature	Tradition vs. Change
Problem Solvers	Revenge	Jealousy	Turning Failures into Gold
Protection	Romance	Knowledge	Paradoxes
Pursuit / Chase	Scarcity & Abundance	Oppression
Reconnaissance	Siege	Optimism
Rescue	Surveillance (No contact)	Passion (1)
Sabotage	The Quest (Holy Grail)	Power Struggle
Smuggling	The Test	Self-awareness
Survival	Tragedy	Self-discipline
Time / Countdown	Tyranny	Simplicity & Complexity
Treasure Hunt	Unity	Temptations
War & Peace	Vices & Virtues	Tolerance
		Trust
		Vanity
		Wasting Love (2) / Life (3)	What Can Change the Nature of a Man?

FFA: Even if you just want ACTION (Attack Theme) you can spice it up by adding (Power Struggle) to the mix. Your PC might have a bad streak of crit fails. (Optimism) under the final battle of (Order vs. Chaos) is hard to maintain. (Fear) of losing burdens even the most battle-hardened warriors. Why not your PC finally bring the (War) to the enemy through (Infiltration) by an elite force after some (Reconnaissance)? If all (Hope) is lost, maybe your last chance is a (Kamikaze) mission in the name of (Freedoooom!) Because what's make a warrior is not his sword, it is the choices he make with his (Free Will).

"Strong and (Brave)
Warriors to the grave.
They chose to (Protect)
(Beauty) that affects,
All aspects of our lives."

(First 2 lines are from Spirit Horse of the Cherokee).

# What's Next: Thematic Muses for Everyone.