I've never understood Solo TRPGs and still don't to be honest. I'm also absolutely fascinated by the idea.
I've made several attempts to 'get it' in the past but always end up with the same question, 'Why am I rolling dice if no one is here to see it?'
Now that probably sounds like a 'Why can't I just cheat?' question but it isn't, at least for me. Its a question of whether I need to roll. Of course if I don't I'm not really playing a game am I? I'm just writing fiction. So...why aren't I simply writing fiction?
The entire excercise feels like a paradox with little benefit. Solo RPG gaming is what you do when you aren't fortunate enough to have someone else to play with. It isn't something one wants to do but has to do given your particular circumstances.
Except that I know that isn't absolutely true. It isn't the only reason. There are a ton of motivations that might lead one to be interested in the concept of gaming Solo.
Maybe you want to try out a new system or scenario before bringing it to the table with your regular group. Perhaps you have an interest in a game that your group isn't into; why shouldn't you get to run and play it anyway? Maybe you do want to write a story of short fiction but want to experiment with prompts and other parameters that will test your ability. What if...now stay with me on this...you just think it could be fun?
I am in a few of those camps. Sometimes I get bored or more accurately 'less inspired' by my regularly scheduled games and I want to try something different while everyone else wants more of what we're already doing. Fairly often I'll come across an RPG, particularly one within my niche sub-hobby of collecting Japanese TRPGs, and I really want to test it out before I feel comfortable with my translation of it. Sometimes I just have a crazy thought I want to explore.
The bottom line is that I'd like to give this a shot...and can't seem to get started. There are a lot of reasons for this but the main one is not being about to shake the feeling that its kind of a waste of time. Pointless. Why do this instead of trying to set up a session of some with other people or working on one of my other active campaigns, preparing for a future campaign, and/or writing a blog post?
Why? Because...I don't know. I really don't. I just want to.
Another major hurdle has to do with the nature of how a Solo RPG general works. After a long conversation with my friend Mark - who has quite a bit of experience playing Solo - I realize that my brain may not be wired correctly for this endeavor.
Generally speaking, when a situation comes up in a Solo game (which is generated by random rolls) and your character reacts (and you randomly roll to determine if you intended reaction is successful), you then roll randomly to determine what happens next, how your opponents reacts, or whatever.
That's A LOT of random rolling. Waaay too much for me. Being the player in the scenario I kind of get that I'll be rolling a lot but being the GM also it becomes far more random than I am used to. It's not how I Gamemaster normally and the idea of doing it here really isn't enticing.
I don't rely on random die rolls to determine things as much as I guess the average GM does. If it's been established that the alien/monster we've been tracking is cold-blooded and the one of the players thinks of a way to decrease the local temperature, I am going to have the PC roll to see if or how well he pulls off this trick but once pulled off I'm not rolling again to see if the creature is slowed. It's just slowed. That's what happens to a cold-blooded lifeform in a chilly place. It's science, it's been established in the continuity of the game, and the PC effectively pulled it off. Logic and story elements always supercede randomly results in my games.
So what's the issue? Just do the same thing here, right? Sure but then once again I feel like I'm writing a story and I can just do that without the need for rules. Ugh.
In conclusion, I still want to give Solo gaming an honest go but not just yet. I waiting for something to speak in to me in a way that makes me say, "Yes! This is what I want to go with." Until that happens, I certainly have things that can occupy my time.
AD
Barking Alien
