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All Things Solo

Starter Cheat Sheet 1

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This is just the summary of starter knowledge. More Cheat Sheets will come later.

# Solo Play Rules

  1. Engage in YOUR OWN story, for YOUR OWN entertainment.
  2. The Golden Rule is FUN: If it's fun for you, then go for it.
  3. K.I.S.S: Keep It Short and Simple.
  4. What Will Happen Next? Keep your PC in situations that make you ask this.
  5. Minimum Prep, Maximum Action.
  6. Start by Setting Your First Scene in the Mode of Play of your choice.
  7. Use The Core Gameplay Loop to create content on-the-fly.

# First Scene Guidelines

  1. Keep the numbers of NPCs in a scene to a controllable minimum.
  2. Use group rolls (Attribute, Skill) for NPCs to save time.
  3. IF there is no one to interact with, keep asking YES / NO questions to your Oracle. (i.e: Is there a problem in this town?)
  4. Context for your questions is your PCs and/or their background story.


# Modes of Play

  1. FGU Maps / Visuals,
  2. Theater of Mind,
  3. Type in CHAT,
  4. Narration,
  5. Journaling,
  6. Audio / Video Recording,
  7. AI Tools.
# Roleplay Styles

  1. Commenting on characters' roll results,
  2. The (Unreliable?) Narrator,
  3. Scene Descriptions + Thinking Voice of PC,
  4. Monologue,
  5. Dialogues,
  6. Silent Protagonist / Grunter,
  7. Telepathy,
  8. Standard RP of PCs and NPCs,
  9. Journalling / Dear Diary.

# The Core Gameplay Loop

  1. ASK a YES / NO question about something you don't know in the story to generate content, action, or drama, depending on the context.
  2. The context can be about your PC, NPC, monster, or their actions, their states, their dispositions, a place, an item... Anything you want to reveal in the story.
  3. [Optional] If a Yes / No answer is not enough to generate content, Roll for and Link 2-4 random words by Freeform Association to spark your imagination, or to create a snippet of a story.
  4. Roll for an Answer with your Oracle.
  5. Interpret the answer (by adding the snippet of a story, if any) with in-game logic depending on your question and its CONTEXT.
  6. Determine what happens.
  7. Play the scene in any Mode of Play.


# Mechanics of Game Story

  1. PCs' goals + NPCs' goals + Monsters' goals = Story
  2. Opposition of Goals = Conflict that gives you excitement
  3. Creating Action -> Reaction Chain keeps your scenes flowing
  4. Consequences of Actions = Emotions that gives meaning to your session
  5. Resolving a Conflict = Sweet Relief! that you aimed for from the start


# HOW to Utilize the Mechanics

  1. Know your PC's biggest desire: their Main Goal,
  2. Set them lose in the world to achieve that goal.
  3. But when you play NPCs & monsters, Suspend Your PC Bias by switching sides! The GM's side.
  4. Consider each character's nature - whether it's your PC or a monster - while playing them.
  5. Use random generators to determine an NPC's emotion or disposition towards your PC.
  6. And ROLEPLAY each actor accordingly. This will teach you many things in games and in life, both.
  7. Don't just think about your PC's actions but also consider those actions' CONSEQUENCES. Especially in the context of the PC's surroundings in now and future.
  8. You are now Creating Conflict and thinking from both perspectives, just like a kid who pits two action figures against each other does.

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Updated November 9th, 2024 at 13:24 by Tempered7

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Solo Play Cheat Sheets
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