OK, so this blog has languished long enough. What exactly am I up to?
The honest answer - work. It sucks the time and energy out of me, meaning I'm not doing some of the things I'd really like doing right now.
So, what are those things I'd rather be doing? Here's a handy list of my current (as in today!) aims:
1. The Police Department.
2. Continue on some of my already prepared solo games.
3. Any other form of solo play as the whim grabs me.
4. A primer for new solo players.
5. Write some of the game ideas I have rattling around in my head.
Here's a little more meat on some of the above:
The Police Department
Essentially Hill Street Blues the Role-Playing Game. I've had a long affinity for police based RPGs, which I believe puts me in a tiny minority - but that's what solo is for!
This was sparked by the new edition of 5150 Working Grave (plus the thought has always mulled around in my brain).
In case you don't know, 5150 Working Grave is a supplement for Two Hour Wargames 5150 New Beginnings ruleset. It allows you to put together a solo 'police career' character in the 5150 universe, which is basically just one example of a near future.
THW (Two Hour Wargames) games allow you take control of one character and ancillary 'grunts' and play through a series of procedurally generated scenes. They are generally more skirmish wargame in nature, although that has changed over the years.
Personally, I believe they should be more well known by solo roleplayers. There are a few cons to go with the pros, and I may detail these at a later date. For the present situation just know that these will enable me to get a multi-cast, simple, episodic game together.
My other solo prepared games
I have a number of other settings/games that I have either prepared to a good level for immediate play or have had percolating for a while. I would love to get back to some of these, which currently stand at:
Swashbuckling wannabe Musketeer
Pirate
Monster/corrupted hunter fantasy game - like WFRP or Solomon Kane
Pulp science fiction - complete with ray guns and bubble helmets
Superspy
Star Wars - of course!
Sword & Sorcery
Arthurian fantasy
Fantasy realm management
Any other solo game
This is just a catch all in-case I suddenly get inspired to run an Asassin's Creed style stealth game, mmm there's an idea...
I also have a few boardgames I can play solo, so they would fall under this too.
New solo player primer
This is what I see this blog being about for a little while (The Police Department is going to be on a different blog).
I envisage this as primer for players new to solo roleplaying, or new to roleplaying in general wanting to start solo.
I will give whatever advice I have learned over the last 10 or more years, around picking a solo system, what constitutes a good starter solo roleplaying game system etc.
I have quite a few ideas already of the order of things, and what I want to say, so it should be an 'easy' typing exerise rather than something I will need to think long and hard about.
Writing
Finally, I have a few game ideas that I want to write, refine projects I have done before that sort of thing. This I will need to think about long and hard and so is relegated as such, they just bug me like naughty school kids when I am trying to think of something else, so I can't ignore them completely.
Wrapping up
So that is where I am at this present moment, and I hope to make progress on some of these as the year draws to a close. I think you should see the solo primer posts first, as these are the low hanging fruit, and I hope they take on a life of their own which makes them a breeze. Once that particualr roadblock is clear I am hoping it will have instilled some discipline in me to carry on with my other projects.
