Let's Play Solo!

I was inspired by @Tempered7 to create some tiles for use with solo play and a "Let's Play: Solo!" series using FGU. In this series, I'll explore a dungeon by placing a tile then resolving any encounters. Since the tiles are generated on the fly this method emphasizes exploration since you don't know what the map is like or what is in the dungeon since everything is done on the fly. The first part of the series uses the IGS Solo Adventure Toolkit to explore and build the dungeon. I also talk about how to take advantage of FGU for solo play.

Session 00, it begins


Session 01, tiptoeing into the starting room

Nice one!

Ok so I have been playing solo as a dm forever. I am not sure how you are doing this but i am interested. I mainly play Pathfinder 3.5 OGL rules. In short i make a party of suggested size and level and then run myself through an adventure I am unfamiliar with and use the map first. Then i would play as the party and explore. If any encounters happen, fight it out on both sides logically, and then read the DM part afterwards. Its always done me pretty well for playtesting my own material.
I just watched your video and i am interested. Ill have to watch it again.

I've done solo play just like you - on existing maps mostly for playtesting my own dungeons and/or encounter tables. :p I TPKed myself a few times on the 1st level tables so I got serious about playtesting them making sure to take into account the action economy. LOL then I made the 2nd level tables too easy. :(

Since I had done that earlier, when I started this series I decided to do a dungeon on the fly thing to give it a more "explorer" feel. I'm hoping my encounter tables are in good shape and I don't TPK myself... :D

I've now released:

Let's Play: Solo! Session 02, did... did you hear something?


Let's Play: Solo! Session 03, wait, what is that running down the wall?!

I've now released a two more videos:

Let's Play: Solo! Session 03a, Loot! Experience! :)


Let's Play: Solo! Session 04 doors, holes in the walls and leaking floors.

Thank you Griogre for this excellent Solo Dungeon Generator!

In my playthrough, one thing I found missing in all my modules is random dungeon encounters. The Solo Adventurer's Toolbox 1 and 2 have every single encounter type but not random encounter for dungeons. I've searched for them in DMG, but random versions of encounters were not matching for a dungeon. So I used CR 1 Arctic encounters against 5 man party because that was easy. Now I'm searching everywhere (dmsguild, drivethru, etc) to find some of these. There is Underdark random encounters and it is the only closer thing.

Btw, this playtest is also getting delayed because of another earthquake, 6.1 in another city this time. Just got back to it and after I find or prepare random encounters, I can finally play fast.

Note that I also want to add dungeon dressings from Fantasy Adventure Map Pack and make a guide out of this module.

I uploaded a new video on making monster encounters which hopefully will help you build some tables of your own.

Let's Play: Side Quest! Building 5E Monster Encounters


I probably should have emphasized more the CR method works best for levels 1 to 3. After that, PC power inflation has increasingly left monsters under powered so one CR X monster no longer is a challenge for a Level X party. Matt Colville's tables in "Flee, Mortals!" do take into account that inflation.

Ignoring that single class 20th level characters are significantly more powerful that ones that multiclass, I should have been using like CR 5s for vanilla encounters of 5 PCs vs. 5 monsters. Instead I was using CR 9ish.

Seeing how the 2024 SRD for Monsters is now available for FG I might do some encounter tables when I get time for 1st to 3rd levels.

I released the Session 5 video in the Lets Play: Solo! series. My poor party is in trouble.

Let's Play: Solo! Session 05, outside the room with a bloodstained helmet...

The next one in the series has been released:

Let's Play: Solo! Session 06, let's get out of here!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KILLGORE

Ok so I have been playing solo as a dm forever. I am not sure how you are doing this but i am interested. I mainly play Pathfinder 3.5 OGL rules. In short i make a party of suggested size and level and then run myself through an adventure I am unfamiliar with and use the map first. Then i would play as the party and explore. If any encounters happen, fight it out on both sides logically, and then read the DM part afterwards. Its always done me pretty well for playtesting my own material.
I just watched your video and i am interested. Ill have to watch it again.

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@KILLGORE I just occurred to me there is a really good Solo Play set of rules for 3.x - Dungeon Bash. It's still on Drive Thru RPG. The monster decision tree is pretty good and I think they did a pretty good quest system as well (it's been a long time since I used it). The rules would probably work for Pathfinder too. God, I'm not old - but I got that PDF 20 years ago :p