2024 Goals

So, it is  a new year. This may seem a little late but due to my workload January is not a month where I can do anything hobby related, well except spending a little time hanging out on Discord.

It is customary to look back on what I may have achieved in the year just gone, and forward to what I want to achieve.

2023

Looking back is both easy and painful.

Easy, because I didn't really manage to achieve to anything, and painful for the same reason.

Over the years this is a common pattern, I think because I have too many projects I want to complete at any time, and my inability to focus on one until it is complete.

I am determined that this year will not end up the same way. I want to list all of my possible projects and rank them in order of completion.

But what are they?

Possible Projects

So these are all writing projects. I will be testing them solo, so I intend to get some solo play out of these. Whether I publish any of those play throughs will have to wait and see how I feel at the time.

Heroic Action Role-Playing System

This is a solo focused game system, that is mostly written but could use a spruce up and actually be released somewhere, other than this blog.

The aim is to get it finished/edited (by myself), polish the design/add art, and get it uploaded to DriveThru and possibly Itch.io.

Swashbuckling Setting Book

This is a very personal project. I have compiled two separate settings that I really like into one book and filled in some blanks.

The first is the very lightly sketched Edenstein setting from Two Hour Wargames 'By Savvy & Steel', and the second is Auvernais from the seemingly unreleased 'Robots & Rapiers'. R&R is somewhat well known by swashbuckling fans, as a (the) swashbuckling adventure generator.

The aim with this is to combine the two settings, quite easily done because Edenstein is very broad brush (there are little to no city names for example, just regions), and R&R is mostly a city with some named other cities and details, and get it professionally printed.

At this stage I need to decide where to stop with adding details and random tables and then get it finalised. This (is) will be my main setting for my solo swashbuckling games.

Freeform Universal Compendium/Appendix

Freeform Universal 1st Edition, or Classic Edition, is one of my favourite games. Over the years I have developed sub-systems and best practice (at least for me) that fill in gaps and provide advice to newer players. I would love to get this compiled and released for others to use.

It needs completing, the stealth and vehicular/chase rules in particular, an editing pass and general polishing/design.

Pirates: Adventure on the High Seas Redux

A long time ago now I threw together a FU Classic guide to running a pirate game. I was never entirely happy with it and always intended to revisit and revise it.

I have made a lot of progress on this, and integrated the core FU rules so it is a standalone product.

I also wanted to include a custom pirate setting and this is where I have got stuck. I need to complete this setting so it is truly standalone and revise some of the remaining rules and then intend to release it on DriveThru and possibly Itch.

Reaper Engine games

This is a bigger task, not least because it is not very far progressed. The actual rules part I have designed, not least because it is an amalgam of two old rulesets that I know well (it's a retro clone).

I have tinkered with designs and have an evocative old school vibe appropriate for the game in mind/designed. I have a couple of hold ups with this game (beyond writing it).

Firstly,  how I want to structure the rules, do I go minimalist and produce separate booklets for each section? So, magic in a separate book to the core rules? This would speed up the process as I can release each as I complete them and fits the old school vibe, but could come across as disjointed.

Secondly, I need to decide what setting I pick. I have a few options, the first is a low fantasy monster/witch hunter setting, the second a feudal science fiction/fantasy setting akin to Dune-ish, the third a questing knights through forests, fields and fairy, the forth a science fiction post apocalypse gangs and finally a city of the dead fantasy gang game.

Black Seven Solo

This is little more than a thought and a few sketched out notes at the moment, but there is a great stealth related RPG called Black Seven (and Animus for it's fantasy equivalent) that would be ideal for solo rules.

I could probably complete this fairly quickly, but it's a niche of a niche and entirely unwritten.

Marooned - Pirate Borg Solo

This is a project that I would love to complete fairly soon, Pirate Borg is still relatively new and first mover solo rules would be a real possibility here, I just need to sit down and write them out.

The Veil

This is my final magnum opus. A swashbuckling horror game with a setting, rules and whatever I could throw at it. I even envisage expansions, a Kickstarter campaign and on-going support. For that reason this seems like something to wait until I have more experience, a better (any) reputation and (any) social media presence. Even here there are hurdles before I even 'start', but they seem far off for now.

Others

I could easily throw in a couple more projects, but at least one of those relies on another party agreeing, so I'll leave them off for now. These wouldn't happen until other work was completed anyway.

Solo Gaming

So this is ostensibly a solo gaming blog, so I should detail what I want to achieve here too right?

A lot of this is going to be testing the above as they are produced but there are two campaigns here that I want to highlight:

Edenstein

This may be a bit of cheat because I mention this above, but this is one campaign I keep returning to that I can't quite keep going for some reason.

Part of that is selecting an appropriate ruleset, I have dozens of swashbuckling games, each with their own pros and cons, plus my own ideas (and rules), so it all gets a bit complicated in my mind and shuts down with the effort.

I just need to push through with this one, and give myself the time to do projects and game without the feeling of letting myself down.

The Police Department

Blade Runner and police procedurals are possibly my favourite films (versus Star Wars), and my favourite TV genre. I've long had the idea of running an ensemble cast of characters in a near future police station, and I have pretty much everything ready to go for this.

Except for the aforementioned motivation and wanting it to be perfect in every respect. I really need to let that go and just get on with it.

Other Things

Life just wouldn't be life without events to get in the way (how high is my Chaos Factor?!), this includes boardgames, computer games, sport, family and work.

This year I really need to focus in on what I want to achieve, and in what order, so that I can really focus on one or two things at a time. Whether my addled brain will allow me that luxury I need to wait and see, but I need to stop making excuses!

2023 Update January/February

I'd like to keep making posts - even if nobody reads them!

So, what's life been throwing at me since my last update? Work, and plenty of it, followed up with a good helping of illness, which is always pleasant.

January is always a write off for hobby time. The nature of my work (for which I run my own firm) means that December and January are always incredibly busy. I'm trying to take steps to prevent this going forward, but I will have to see if they have the desired effect as I am very much reliant on information received from clients.

Back to hobby topics, what has got my attention (at the moment) is my Monstrum Venatorum game - Monster Hunters.

It is the retro clone I mentioned previously and not particularly relevant to solo gaming, other than taking my focus away.

I've broken it down to individual, smaller books, with more focussed content. For example magic and the example setting. This means I feel like I can release it with the basic rules and add the additional content as time passes, and if it gains any traction (admittedly very unlikely).

I'm still trying to get sorted to run my VTT game, my current player is waiting (I assume) very patiently, I've kept him informed of the delays and hope that he is still looking forward to it. Between trying to catch up with other work I had to put off for the last few months and my illness I've made hardly any progress on this.

Of actual solo related news, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer and purchased the PDF of Mythic 2nd edition. Due to all of the above 'news' I haven't really been able to read any of it, but I'd love to get it to the table and see what the changes are and how it has improved. I even thought of running an unedited playthrough of a game run through Roll20, but this seems like a step too far at the moment, so that has taken a back seat (so far it's probably in the boot/trunk).

Hopefully I will make some progress with my current project which will allow me time to get back to soloing.

I will also update this blog with whatever progress I make within the next month this time!

2023 and Beyond!

So in my last post I told you how little I'd actually managed last year, so what are my aims this year?

The Police Department

My game of futuristic Hill Street Blues.

I believe I have solved my issue with the character issues/personalities and so should be good to go fairly soon. I hav a new blog for this game, as I am hoping for it to be a multi year game, cycling through systems and options although I am sticking to its original Two Hour Wargames' 5150 ruleset for the first little while.

Heroic Adventure RPG System

I finished creating this document in a semi-rush last year, and it's been languishing on ths website ever since. I think only one person has downloaded it, so I'm going to try raising its profile this year.

I was tempted to release it on itch.io, but having seen the amount of exposure this platform lacks I'm now wondering if it should be on Drivethru instead. With itch it would have been fine, but with Drivethru it does lack polish.

It would need to be a free document as it is based on John Harper's Danger Patrol and a non-commercial CC licence, but it might get my name out there a little bit, which could help with future projects.

Monstrum Venatorum

This is another game I want to write. It is a retro clone, which seem to be all the rage nowadays, but it will allow anyone to play a much simplified version of a Grim and Perilous World, or with a bit of tweaking and a re-release, something set about 40,000 years in the future.

I have a vision for this one, and it would be commercial, the only sticking point is suitable images.

I'm tempted to not use any, as my page design is aleady graphic intensive and I want it to be fairly small form - 6 x 9 and quite short, 32/64 pages or less.

The current thought is to separate it into different books, character creation and the rules, a grimoire, a bestiary, a gazetteer (for a home brewed setting so it is a complete game), a down time book and a GM's book.

The only problem is I need to write them!

Pirates: Adventure on the High Seas

This is a Freeform Universal Classic hack I wrote many years ago. It needs a lot of simplifying and a total rewrite I have been partially few for a number of years. It would be nice to get this to a stage where I could release it, hopefully commercially.

Solo Black Seven/Animus

This one is more minor, but I wouldn't mind writing a solo system specifically for this game. In case anyone doesn't know this is a game of stealth, something RPGs are traditionally not very good at.

It would encompass creating an 'installation' to infiltrate and scene and mission goals. It's probably something I could write relatively easily, but not started this at all, just these random thoughts.

Honor + Intrigue

If you read my last post then you know there is a possibility of an online game of this. It's still stuck in the scheduling stage at the moment but ever hopeful I get to swash my buckler.

Other solo

I'm also open to any other solo gaming I could do as the whim takes me, but I'm not sure what that will be.

2022 Review

So as 2022 passes what exactly have I achieved?

Not a lot!

Police Department

This should have been my big project for the end of the year. I just failed to get past character creation.

The problem has been the character flaws. 5150 Working Grave may work fine for one character, but I'm stretching it to cover a selection to give that police procedural vibe.

I have identified a solution and hopefully that will kick start this game again.

Other Solo

I have not been able to get to any solo games in the last little while, and I'm not sure I mananged any at all in 2022!

This is something I really want to rectify, although see below...

Face to Face Gaming

This has been confined to my daughters over the last few years, and with my eldest off at university even that has been difficult. Either she is not here, or not around enough, or with other things to do, that RPGs aren't possible.

However, just this last few weeks there has been talk of an online Honor + Intrigue game. I've had to step forward as potential GM after the previous volunteer had to step down, and scheduling is proving a little tricky, not least because I am GMT based and can't make weekends (my family would likely kill me).

So this is a bright point and I'm hopeful that some sort of game comes out of it in the not too distant future.

In my next post I will reveal what my aims are for 2023.

Quick Update 2022!

 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.

Super Spies infiltrating my mind

 So, what's been distracting me from my investigation game at the moment?

Unfortunately true that I have veered off the path somewhat in the recent weeks. A chance read on the RPGGeek/BGGeek Solo Miniatures gaming list got me thinking about a stealth based minis game.

Originally the idea was going to be somewhat related to Assassin's Creed (AC), i.e. a human-centric renaissance-ish setting, but then someone mentioned a Bond related game and that idea seemed even more intriguing to me.

So I'm currently coming up with all the ideas and systems and background reading to make that a reality. At this moment in time I could easily run a game by myself (it is solo after all), but none of the rules are really written down other than as vague bullet points. Saying that I have only tested the AC version very quickly, which went really well on a stealth basis, but is way too small a sample size to know whether it really works.

What I really want to do is add in the Superspy elements and run another test game, ideally a few, and see if it works then. Then I need to write it out properly and see if others can run it.

I think the concept and rules have legs, and I want strike while I am still in the mood, since once that is gone the urge to complete it diminishes fairly quickly in my case. What I really need is feedback of any kind so it validates the idea I think, that would really help me.

Skirmish Games thoughts

I'd thought I'd set out my thoughts on what makes a good tabletop miniatures skirmish game. They are of course just my opinion, I'm sure you'll disagree as much as you agree, but I will give reasons for my answers.

As a bit of a preamble, most of my skirmish games tend to be near future or science fiction in an urban environment. It's just what I like, so that clearly influences the design choices I have listed below.

So what does make a good solo minis skirmish game for me?

Hidden enemies

From the 'Blips' of Space Hulk to the 'Possible Enemy Forces' of Two Hour Wargames, hidden enemy (and blank, or no contact) tokens are a great way to increase tension and suspense in a solo game.

They mean you do not have a perfect view of the battlefield from the moment the game starts. You don't know where the enemy will come from, what they will be and even if you are just chasing shadows.

This means that you are making choices based on where the enemy may come from, causing you to spread your force as you would do in a real life situation.

If anything this is an advantage over a competive two player game.

Objectives

It often seems like every battle is a war of attrition, slugging it out toe-to-toe, when often they just happen to be chance encounters.

Giving the opposition, and your own forces, a task either ahead of the game or during it helps to eliminate this issue.

Morale

I've chucked morale in here, as all too often as a role-player it is easy to forget that no-one wants to fight to the death in general.

As a skirmish game, if this can be tied in to the immediate effects of combat all the better. By this I mean, rather than a separate roll being required (which I often forget), if morale is factored into another roll then that helps.

Random Activation

Skirmish games are moving away from the IGOUGO method of combat as used by GW. Nobody wants to be standing around as the enemy pound on your forces before you do the same.

Some games use card activation, token pulls, and activation dice. My personal preference is for token pulls, but that is just because I have mini d6 I can use.

Reactions/Overwatch

I like games where every character is on permanent overwatch (sorry can't shake the Space Hulk terminology even after 20-odd years). Why should my character be able to run scott free across the front of an enemy just because he has enough movement score to do so?

Shouldn't he be supressed by another figure before I make that dash? Isn't that more 'realistic'? Well it is for me, anything that encourages proper tactics (as I see them) has be better than static forces.

Easy to remember rules

Gaming on your own can go two ways, one is super detailed, where everything is tracked and as many factors are taken into account as the player can stand.

The other is more streamlined and simplified, maybe some abstraction, as it's just one person running the whole thing.

Now for me I sit on the streamlined end. I don't have the time to try and learn all of the edge cases, rules exceptions and other minutiae that someone else may love. I can handle lots of stats, make whatever judgements are required on the fly etc., but trying to remember different ways to roll the dice are currently just not going to happen.

Recommendations

So the big one. What games do I recommend, and why?

Some of these are tenuous, and even out of print, but they work for me at this moment in time.

Two Hour Wargames
This game introduced me to Possible Enemy Forces and their real possibilities for solo play. It's true I met them in Space Hulk first, but their use was different and very PvP in that game.

THW also introduced me to actions leading to reactions. This mean that you lose control over your characters (which I love), but makes them seem real.

Fast & Dirty - Uncontrolled Forces
FAD is a great ruleset (let down by exception based 'skills'), with a supplement for enemy AI and objectives.

This means that opposing forces are always pursuing some objective, which can change depending on dice rolls. Sometimes they ruthless engage and others they are happy to make their way past if you are content they do so.

Bolt Action/Other Warlord Games games
This is for the dice/token pull mechanic. I like this because it randomises the order of movement among the available figures, meaning you might be able to lay down fire before making a crucial move or not. That uncertainty adding to the solo experience, when it could be the other side standing still throughout.

Now I like token pull because it ensures that every model activiates each turn, and because I use tiny dice it doesn't clutter the table. I have a variety of colours for the dice meaning that as many as 7 or 8 (I forget how many colours) factions can operate on the same tabletop.

Your own favourite rules
So for me that is Advanced HeroQuest, it's just a ruleset I know so well, and I can incorporate all of the above quite easily into them.

I know that may seem a strange choice, but AHQ is really just the standard Games Workshop stats expanded to the use of a d12 instead of a d6.

There's a possibility I will tinker with a d6 dice pool system (Mini Six mixed with The Department's GoalSystem), that I'll be able to use for skirmishes and role-playing but that's for another time.

Roll your own

I haven't had time to write up my investigations yet, so here's a general solo playing post.

So one of the boons, and banes, of solo play is being able to do your own thing.

It is almost overwhelmingly a good thing but I often find myself in the opposite camp, and this post is a reminder to myself of the good things over the bad.

Boons

You can play any game/setting you want
If you want to play something obscure that there is no hope of getting any group for, then there's nothing stopping you. So if that's a Police Quest or Hill Street Blues homage to regular police work, or Witch Hunting in a fantasy world of your own devising, then get to it!

You can use any system you want
Similar to the above, if you want to use Advanced Heroquest to run in the Warhammer FRP 1st edition setting then go ahead.

You can get rules wrong and nobody cares
Forget to roll for knocking down an opponent in Pendragon or screw up a damage roll in Mini Six, it doesn't matter.

You can play any character you want
Want to play as a Hylian wanderer in Ryuutama?

At a time to suit you
If you have a demanding job, or worse yet, live in a place other than US, then getting a group together even online can be a difficult process.

There is no-one to embarrass
Your character take a shine to the Princess, want to role-play that romantic relationship that's so important to your character. Well now you can sweet talk to your heart's content, and not to some sweaty GM.

You can cheat and no one cares
Did that shot between the eyes just take out your character permanently? Well, you can re-roll that surely, what's the chance of that happening again?

You can try different things and reset
So that ruleset you cobbled together or wanted to tryout not giving you the results you wanted? You can easily switch it over to something more in line with your vision of your game without someone complaining about it.

Banes

There is so much choice
Choice paralysis is a real thing for the solo gamer. When you can choose anything, you can often end up not choosing anything.

Game acquisition
You can keep getting more and more games just to try out - without finding the acutal time to try them out.

There's no-one to hold you to account
Don't feel like gaming tonight? Well, there's no-one to tell you to be on time, or anyone to upset by skipping the game.

Welcome!

 So this is the obligatory welcome post of most blogs. So what's different about this one?

So this blog is now going to be my main, general, blog going forward.

In the past I've had a variety of single use blogs that all languished in obscurity and died on the vine. I simply wasn't posting enough to them and they were too narrowly focused, which isn't really who I am!

To combat that I have deactivated all of my other blogs, bar one which I'll come to later, and this will become my online home. This means it will be as far reaching as my interests and whims, and I really have quickly changing whims.

Overall though you can expect some of the following:

• Solo Role-playing
• Solo minis skirmish games (and possibly dungeon delving)
• Reviews of the above
• Possible games involving my kids, or my family online
• VTT discovers and thoughts
• Game design ideas and thoughts
• Geek relevant book and film reviews
• Board and (less likely) computer game reviews
• Links to other blogs far more worthy of your time than this one
• Other random thoughts and ideas as they come to me

Of course none of those are guaranteed, but hopefully I should touch on each of these.

So what of my other 'active' blog. That one is dedicated to swashbuckling, and as I have a keen interest in that genre I can separate it to everything else, and run it independently. It covers most of the above, just with a swashbuckling bent.

So that's the aim, I am hopeful to post far more frequently than I have ever done so before but we will see how that holds up!