Favorite RPG resources
Вставка
- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- intro (0:00); wargame/game design books (1:45); novels (8:14); RPG books (12:53); oracles (15:30); maps (17:56)
Chart shown @ 16:50 is from Ironsworn
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Easy Ways to Be Your Own GM: • Easy Ways to be your o... - Ігри
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You should create your own game. Seriously, you are brilliant and have all the tools. If you created some solo capable game I would buy it.
Also, your taste in gothic novels is on point. 🦇
Grim Song That’s very humbling-thank you.
@@GeekGamers01
You're welcome and I meant every word if it.
P.S.
There really isn't a good solo gothic vampire game that spans the ages out there. You could corner that Goth flavored gamer market. Just saying....
Grim Song This is a good idea, I agree. In another life, perhaps...Or maybe if I win the lottery? Seriously, though, I do appreciate how seriously you take my video work. I do care deeply about game design (at least as a player). It’s nice to know my viewers do too.
@@GeekGamers01 Likewise. I know this is an old video, but I'd buy your game too!
@GeekGamers01 if you did a crowdfunding campaign for a solo Gothic TTRPG, I bet it would be amazingly successful.
I love your channel and particularly all of the videos on solo RP. Just got into it a week ago and got Scarlet Hero’s after watching your vids - and had sooooo much fun! I can’t believe how even I’m feeling surprised by the twists and turns that I could never have predicted. Had unbelievable fun, thank you so much for your vids 🙏🏻
Wow that’s great to hear, thanks. Scarlet Heroes is a good place to start and it sounds like your session went well. Thanks for commenting
I know whenever I watch one of your videos, I am going to learn something new or gain a wonderful perspective. This video is one of my favorites...great stuff
Thank you so much for that comment! I’m most appreciative hearing that.
Thank you, I find your content very useful. For longer campaigns, I'd also suggest Joseph Campbell's classic "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" to inspire the story structure (the hero's journey template). I find it more immersive and less "pre-planned" than e.g. scene setting (for those using systems such as Mythic). At the same time, it helps me to make better stories than if I just used random tables. Keep up the great work!
JanPostolka Yes you are totally right that is a wonderful resource for the ways you mention. Thanks for the comment and I’m glad you are enjoying my content
You really hit on a fun and interesting idea that I try to implement in my solo ideas with regards to encounters of combat. Encounters can help provide a cross road to story development.........maybe the foe is offering a greater treasure in trinkets or knowledge etc. I truly look forward to your thoughts and style of rpg play. Thanks as always for your time and insight.
Ironhand1970 Walker Thank you so very much. Glad you are enjoying the channel.
This is great! Thanks. :)
It's late for me today and I don't know the content of this video well enough to know if this will fit well, but I picked up a copy of the Antiquarian Sticker Book as something like an oracle or random generator. Half the pages as the same design (provides sticker backing!) Which could be a queue to go try a different table, and all the sticker pages have many cool illustrations that are at times evocative, abstract, mesmerizing, natural, complex, historical, and just plain weird. With written play I would hope adding the stickers would serve as reminders, but there's so many you can use them on non-solo projects for a long time and still have a useful randomizer. Who knows, maybe even negative space you recognize or let your mind fill in would serve as a random queue.
Thanks for your inspiration and guidance; will be playing soon!
Sounds like a really great resource. Thanks for mentioning! Glad you enjoyed the vid.
I am struggling with solo rpg. I was hoping having a wrote quest would be easier. But I'm finding that creating a scenario in a logical yet random way is more immersive because it's developing. So what I'm getting from this is slow down, relax and get into a real time game pace. I'll keep trying.
The only right way to solo RPG is the way that feels right to you!
Jon Peterson, Phil Sabin, and Peter Perla. I think I found a new favorite channel. Then you followed up with Don Featherstone, and Will Silvester. All books I use in the hobby and professionally. Cheers!
Some classics indeed! There's such a strong wargaming literature out there I love it.
Four vids so far and enjoying and learning a lot. And enjoying again and reconciling with my hours of world building for... Myself.
A little question: I want to buy the books you present here. Tell me please which according to your experience will be more useful to buy first Udolpho or Churchyard ???? Thanks Teacher !!! :)
Glad you are enjoying. Hard to say what would be more useful as neither have anything to do with RPGs... Udolpho is the more classic novel so maybe that?
Are you familiar with the Chain Reaction system from Two Hour Wargames (or maybe Two Hour Games now)? It works on the cusp of solo wargame and RPG, where you're character is played as a PC, but your warband, and the enemy, are governed by a set of tables as to whether they attack, run, etc. They have it skinned in almost every genre (Warrior Heroes, 5120 sci-fi, Viking, etc) and it was designed for solo.
I have Two-Hour Dungeon but never gotten it going. Not sure why but something about the rules puts me off. Not sure that’s the same mechanics or not.
technically, any pc (or npc for that matter) would not likely be walking around with plate armor or even half-plate armor. if they were walking around, chain and/or leather armor might be worn; otherwise, regular clothing would be worn. any of the above would possibly be available when the need arose. just thought that these notes might be a practical approach for rpg. i have found that this approach forces characters to think through what they will do, whether solo or multiple players.
My method of coming up with a random quest :
1)Note the time
2)Cast a chart for that moment
3)Look to the 3rd house (if it's more of a non-combat quest) or the 7th (if it's supposed to be a brawl), their rulers, where their rulers are placed, and how they are aspected (and what planets are aspecting them).
4)Look up events from history to see when similar things happened
5)Roleplay a similar scenario (albeit more fantasy oriented)
Really only works if you're into astrology, but it is a fun little method for building quests I've found FWIW.
Zak Hoskins What a great idea! I am not into astrology and I wasn’t even 100% sure that’s what you were talking about until the end of your comment, but I love this idea. Excellent, very creative!
@@GeekGamers01
Also, preface every encounter with this intro from Berserk:
ua-cam.com/video/U4ThPAW5sd0/v-deo.html
It just really sets the mood right for a good dark fantasy campaign, lol.
Hi GG, as always thank you for sharing your time and your ideas! I wanted to ask you and I apologize if you have already discussed this (if you did, could you give me the link?) how do you handle tactical combat.. I was thinking about using D&D 4/5th edition for the tactical combat aspects of the campaign. How do you handle this?
boltimuss Glad you enjoyed the video. I use various systems depending on what I want to play/do and I follow the combat rules of the system as best I can. I’d refer you to all the vids in my RPG playlist for examples of how various combats work with various rule sets.
I suggest the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide. Digesting it's advice in constructing adventures and worlds will save the reader from having to randomise, but it also contains numerous random tables for NPC personalities and behaviours to tables stocking each level of dungeons to a method of 'randomly designing' a dungeon. Gygax' advice on everything from weather and government types to cross-genre adventures and monster player characters makes this volume still relevant , and in my opinion, unlikely to be superceded in the foreseeable future.
I didn't put that in here because I've done a separate video just on that. It's the best resource I have, I agree."My best RPG book" ua-cam.com/video/7azbJxO3-Go/v-deo.html
@@GeekGamers01 Well, there you go. You have so much content, I have yet to put a real dent in the number of videos to watch. Thanks for the reply.
Have you had a chance to look at any of that Laserburn stuff I suggested (in another video's comments section where you replied to my initial comment)?
Best to you,
I was planning on doing a solo RPG myself so I was excited to find your videos in my youtube suggestion list. I was figuring out how to do a Vampire the Masquerade solo game so I thought I might ask if you had any advice on a solo RPG for World of Darkness or maybe other non fantasy RPG settings.
Mitchistopheles r So glad you have found me channel of use. That’s great to hear.
I have been interested in Vampire The Masquerade but not tackled it yet. I do plan on a Blades in the Dark vampire-themed video in the near(ish) future.
World of Darkness in general looks great but there is so much source material it’s a bit overwhelming.
@@GeekGamers01 so I tried my first attempt at VTM using Mythic to emulate GM. was pretty fun and the randomness of the chaos roll (though only had one event) was a fun addition. next time ill add more of the randomness to it to see what happens, I'm using a city source book so there's plenty of plot hooks to get a base idea of a game session down. looking forward to do more. Thanks again for the advice :)
@@mitchistophelesr6756 So glad to hear this! Thanks for the update. I'm sure the more you get into it and have more sessions the more involving it will become and soon all sorts of avenues will open up to add in other elements.
I would also want to see a game that you would come up with, GG. Even if it is something as short as a Lady Blackbird, from John Harper (the guy who made Blades in the Dark and AGON).
Do you have any suggestions for books with good descriptions for 1-on-1 melee combat? Maybe something to use on a player vs. player or GM vs. player situation? Be it either a novel or a book with tables with descriptions for each blow...
Thanks in advance.
allluckyseven I’m afraid I really don’t. d100 Dungeon added some kind of random table of serious hits and where they did damage but that’s not exactly what you are asking about. If there is such a thing I’d love to know about it
As an example of what I was thinking there are the action descriptions in the combat cards for Fantasy Flight Games' Mansions of Madness. The descriptions vary according to very broad weapon and monster types. If I recall correctly, there are different decks of cards for each monster type and you would keep turning cards until you found one that would match the type of weapon you were using.
The newest edition uses an app (which is free) for that, but it works much in the same way.
It's quite specific for that setting, though.
Thanks for sharing all of your resources. I'm curious -- where did you find a print copy of the Castle Oldskull book?
Howard Jones It is available on Amazon right now.
@@GeekGamers01 Ah, thank you! I was looking on DriveThruRPG.
Do you recommend any of his other books? I see he has a volume 2 and 3 of the dungeon design guide.
Howard Jones This is the only one I have bought but I am aware there are others. I need to look them up to see if they have content I want/need ...
@@GeekGamers01 Thanks. I picked up his world generator some years back and found it of interest, although I hate using screen resources rather than books. And it was so very long (hundreds of pages) it didn't seem cost effective to print it myself.
Big fan of the Tome of Adventure Design. I also love the AEG Ultimate Toolbox, and a number of Raging Swan titles. Ugh, here's a link with more detail, as I must get to supper prep:
www.howardandrewjones.com/reviews/tabletop-gaming-campaign-adventure-design
I really love your videos and they gave me lots of inspiration in learning how to play solo RPG as I am new to this. I have a question, I see how you often use Tome of Adventure Design because of the great tables. However, have you used The Ultimate Toolbox? I am wondering the difference between the two because I can only afford one right now.
piggypa I have done a video on the Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox but I think you refer to something else with which I am not familiar.
And I’m glad you like my vids!
@@GeekGamers01 Yeah it's something different but with a similar concept. Thanks for your reply though :D
@@GeekGamers01 If you like the Tome of Adventure Design, you will also like the Ultimate Toolbox by Alderac Entertainment. It's a similar book... kind of a pricey PDF, and out of print in paperback, but you can still find a copy.
@@pauldemelto6650 Others have mentioned this too an thank you for the reminder. I have not yet tracked it down but will renew a search for a physical copy (I don't like long pdfs). I wonder why it isn't available as print on demand. These days, that's not so hard to do.
Hello I am curious to how you would you approach soloing naval navigation and combat?
superchip4 Great question and I’m not sure, having never done it. I’d probably start by figuring out something about the currents etc. depending on the vessels involved and how that might impact things but I’d be way out of my league on that (pun intended).
Hi, what is the name of the puzzle/riddle book you used in one of your videos...can't find it. thnx
which video was it used in? Timestamp? I have 200+ vids and don't know what you are referring to with just what you've said.
@@GeekGamers01 well that's the thing. I can't find the video in which you show/talk about the book. I though it was in one of your resources vids.. I could have sworn that in one of your vids you mentioned a puzzle book. I even found it online a while back but I just can't recall the name of it and I have been trying to re find it ever since ;)
@@midnightshadowz12 Sorry I'd like to help but it isn't ringing a bell right now.
@@GeekGamers01 no prob. thank you for the reply.
Do you have an online course on Victorian Literature?
Blueboybythesea James Not an outrageous question as I have had online course up over the years but nothing now. Maybe again someday.
For maps and also providing a skeleton framework for the world. This software has been incredibly useful to me. worldographer.com Personally I even take it a step further and combine it with the personality generator in Tony Baths Ancient Wargaming book. This gives the leaders a deeper personality to help build a frame work for the world.