5th Ed D&D solo

[Toonces]

I realize this isn't the question you asked, but why would you go through all this effort to hack together some sort of hybrid D&D solo game when there are oh so many PC D&D-type games to play solo?  I mean, dude, Morrowind alone could take years to finish.

However, if you're dead set, I second the suggestion on the D&D boardgames.  They scale up if you want to play with friends, and I'm sure somebody out there has created a campaign system for them on BGG.

[acctingman]

I realize this isn't the question you asked, but why would you go through all this effort to hack together some sort of hybrid D&D solo game when there are oh so many PC D&D-type games to play solo?  I mean, dude, Morrowind alone could take years to finish.

However, if you're dead set, I second the suggestion on the D&D boardgames.  They scale up if you want to play with friends, and I'm sure somebody out there has created a campaign system for them on BGG.

I get what you're saying Toonces, but I'm so burnt out on PC gaming.

[bbmike]

Playing on the PC vs playing at a table with dice and paper are not even close to being the same experience.

[Toonces]

Yes, I'm aware of that.  I enjoy a solo boardgame now and then myself, but when it comes to a role playing game like D&D, one of the best things about PC's is that you have a ready-made DM. 

I mean, I get it, sometimes it's fun to play with little toy knights and dragons on a table, but in this case, rather than try to make a system like D&D that wasn't really built for solo play work, you might be better off investing the effort on the PC.  Yes it's different, I get it.

Anyway, on topic, the D&D boardgames are really well made and, like I said, you can play them with friends if you want.  I've also heard great things about the Pathfinder card game.  I've never played it, but I've heard it's quite awesome.

[OJsDad]

I mean, I get it, sometimes it's fun to play with little toy knights and dragons on a table, but in this case, rather than try to make a system like D&D that wasn't really built for solo play work, you might be better off investing the effort on the PC.  Yes it's different, I get it.

This would be a genius move.  With something like Skype, it would be easy for a group of players to play.  Add in a few online elements like maps, and maintaining character stats/equipment and I think they could bring a lot of people back into the game. 

[bayonetbrant]

There's a Pathfinder game in the Google Play store.  I was futzing around with it the other day and it seemed cool.  Might move it to my tablet and play some more there

[Toonces]

I just read someone messing with that.  I thought it was Bison.

[MetalDog]

I mean, I get it, sometimes it's fun to play with little toy knights and dragons on a table, but in this case, rather than try to make a system like D&D that wasn't really built for solo play work, you might be better off investing the effort on the PC.  Yes it's different, I get it.

This would be a genius move.  With something like Skype, it would be easy for a group of players to play.  Add in a few online elements like maps, and maintaining character stats/equipment and I think they could bring a lot of people back into the game.

This may be the answer:

http://www.fantasygrounds.com/home/home.php

[Nefaro]

Yes, I'm aware of that.  I enjoy a solo boardgame now and then myself, but when it comes to a role playing game like D&D, one of the best things about PC's is that you have a ready-made DM. 

I mean, I get it, sometimes it's fun to play with little toy knights and dragons on a table, but in this case, rather than try to make a system like D&D that wasn't really built for solo play work, you might be better off investing the effort on the PC.  Yes it's different, I get it.

Anyway, on topic, the D&D boardgames are really well made and, like I said, you can play them with friends if you want.  I've also heard great things about the Pathfinder card game.  I've never played it, but I've heard it's quite awesome.

I think the reason to solo a tabletop RPG is more akin to brainstormed on-the-spot creative writing, with the solitaire tools and game system there to keep the outcomes & progression in doubt.  More "theater of the mind" than "toy knights and dragons on the table".  I'm not sure which the OP is looking for, but some thoughts..

As you point out, playing with moving the pieces on the table can be more easily done with adventure board games and have far less need for creating narrative.  If it's just a matter of setting up Minis skirmish gaming situations, that can be more readily done with co-op board games or miniature skirmish rules that support campaign play (e.g. Frostgrave).


With that said, I think pen and paper D&D RPG systems are a terrible fit for running solitaire or 1-on-1 RPG sessions for a few reasons. 

It was originally made to be played as a group endeavor, what with the rigid 'cookie cutter' Class structure.  Each class being rather specialized and intended to fit specific party roles.  The vast majority also have that distinct 'tree chopping' style of combat, and adventures in general, where it's a struggle of hit point and resource attrition.  Which has also been party oriented.

I'm not talking about the D&D adventure boardgames, as those are a modified version of the D&D v4 rules which are, themselves, quite different from the rest of the D&D versions and intentionally modified to do cooperative/solitaire. 

I'll admit that I've considered D&D rather rickety and outdated for a long time now, aside from a brief infatuation with v3 when it first came out.  But if I were still into it, I would still have it very low on my solo RPG list.  The system just wasn't made for running one character, so it just requires more effort to do so.

Skill-based systems seem more reasonable for 1-player (GM or no).  Probably more recent incarnations, with more narrative-supporting systems built in and more granularity overall, would be ideal.  Much more flexible regarding customization of PC, NPCs, and foes on the fly.  Especially with features such as the quick adjustment of opponents' abilities with the Minions/Rivals/Nemeses designations of the same enemy type plus their Adversary talent, if needed, in the newer Star Wars RPG (and others).  Just extra ways to scale the whole system down without extra work.  8)

Such games also tend to have more detailed actions, and results of those actions.  Instead of the long "tree chopping" effect, where numbers are slowly getting whittled away with no problems until *BAM* it's over, they have more descriptive results & effects and a faster but steadier decline with bad things increasingly happening along the way.  I would think that small or single-player groups need this more cinematic approach to break up the tree-chopping repetitiveness. 

Either way, it's still best to get some good solo tools that will help create story, and unforeseen circumstance, if you plan on playing that way.  Or just get a cooperative minis board game if you only want to dungeon crawl, roll dice, and get lootz, instead of rolling out a swashbuckling tale of some sort.   ;)

[CJReich46]

There's a Pathfinder game in the Google Play store.  I was futzing around with it the other day and it seemed cool.  Might move it to my tablet and play some more there

I have it on my tablet. It is a fun game, very challenging too. Plus you don't necessarily have to pay for anything if you don't want to (but in some cases it might help- but that's because I suck at card management)

It's based on the card game. Give it a try.

:)

[Nefaro]

There's a Pathfinder game in the Google Play store.  I was futzing around with it the other day and it seemed cool.  Might move it to my tablet and play some more there

I have it on my tablet. It is a fun game, very challenging too. Plus you don't necessarily have to pay for anything if you don't want to (but in some cases it might help- but that's because I suck at card management)

It's based on the card game. Give it a try.

:)

Is that, perhaps, a digital port of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game?

[bayonetbrant]

that's exactly what it is :)

[Nefaro]

that's exactly what it is :)

Hrmm..


I have the tabletop one, plus a couple of the expansion card packs. 

Been thinking of getting a couple more, but the price adds up quickly on those things at ~$14 apiece.  Especially for how often I break it out.   :-\