McButterpants - OSR - OOC

@windyridge - it is tough to avoid spoilers in a published adventure. I used to put a lot of energy into avoiding spoilers, but I struggled with it. It's easy to feel a bit lost. There's no GM to help guide you.

The way I've been soloing published games lately is to play both sides. I set up the game as the GM. I don't read through the whole adventure, just review the location the PCs are currently in and decide what they would see and know. I then turn the tables and play as the PCs. I move through the location and interact with the monsters and NPCs based on how I believe the PC would react in real life. It's like playing chess with yourself - take your turn, then move to the other side and react to the table.

It gets easier as I get to know the PCs. The better I know how they would react in a situation, the better I can ignore spoiler info. For example, Urden will always try to search for traps and pick locks on any chest he finds, but he's too lazy to bother looking for hidden spots.

DM Yourself has great information for playing through published adventures. It's focused on 5e, but a lot of the information can be used with any RPG.

There are so many great games I want to play. I just don't have enough time to play them all. This is a fun way to try them out. If I really enjoy it, I can run the game for a group. The prep is already done.

Yes, they can be a great way to test a new system or an adventure for a future group game. I like your idea of knowing your PC's and reacting accordingly.

New game. I'm playing through Temple of Elemental Evil **WARNING: Spoilers for the module***. I was not planning to post this game, but I found that I get a bit lax with my gameplay if I'm not posting updates. Putting the game on this board forces me to stick to my rolls and really think through my scenes.

I am still struggling to play through published adventures. I'm determined to figure this out! My most recent strategy is to use the module more as a backdrop vs. a story. What I mean is that the module provides the locations, the NPCs, the monsters and a general outline of the story. I set each scene up as written in the book, then use Mythic GM Emulator to see if that scene changes. Tana Pigeon, wrote an article in Mythic Magazine #3 titled "Using Mythic with Published Adventures". I've been testing it out with the Village of Hommlet and it's been great so far. It does fight against the story laid out in the module, but that is fine with me. It varies the story enough that I am left wondering what is truly going on.

Two examples so far. First off, there was a random encounter with Glora, the Innkeeper's wife that has turned into a big conspiracy where the Innkeeper, the new leader of the Church of St. Cuthbert and Rufus and Burne are taking over the town and potentially aligning with the evil temple. I have no idea if this is true. There is some evidence pointing to this, but nothing concrete yet.

Another example is whether Zert, Kobort and Turuko were actually going to turn against the party. The story did detail the motivations of these NPCs, but that does not mean it would end up being true. In the end, the Fate Dice decided that they would double-cross the party. It was still cool how it came together.

Anyways, it's an experiment that needs more playtesting to see if it'll work for me. I have been extremely happy with the results so far. After this, I plan to test it on a mystery game to see if it works there. I'll either run a Delta Green or Call of Cthulhu scenario to see how this plays out.

I'm looking forward to this. Bets on how long you last? Are you going for an OSR appearch?

Lol. I am trying to figure out how the players are going to get out of the current predicament. I don't know what to do from either side of the table. This could end pretty quick.

I am trying to run it true to OSE. One difference was that I'd just have the dead character return to the group when they got back to town. I should be drafting up a new PC, but playing a party is a bit of work. I like the consistency of having the same characters vs learning a new one. The retainers don't come back, though.

If you read it, let me know if I'm missing any rules. I try to look them up, but sometimes i get lazy. I did that with grappling. I'm pretty sure there's no rule on that, but i should look it up.

Thanks for commenting! I just assumed i no one was reading, but the hope that someone reads it forces me to put in some effort.

No worries! I've got an idea for soloing an OSR module as well, but haven't had time in the real world to sit down and run it. Hopefully soon. We can see which of our characters lasts the longest. I've got OSE, and I'll follow along with the rules if you want. I'm certainly not an expert on the system, but if I see something I'll let you know. I'm sure you'll be fine though.

Very few rolls in this last session. I was considering having Lareth roll under Charisma to see if they convince the group. His Charisma is 18, so there was a good chance that he would succeed. There was also a lot of challenges of getting into a fight. I think the party would just want to get out of there. Also, the Chaos roll did indicate NPC positive, so I think things were already in Jamy's favor. Also, I like that we now have a BBEG duo that the party hates and this duo has met the party. There's lots of potential fun with this in the future.

Back to town. Questions about the Keep guard. I think we have solidified the position that there are people in town working with the Temple. Something needs to be done there.

It's evolving well.

Thanks! I am really enjoying the story. Breaking each session into single scenes has made it much easier to get back to the table. I feel like I'm finally starting to figure out my solo playstyle.

I am looking at running a couple other games with this process to see if it works with horror & investigation. I just feel weird gumming up the solo channel with all my games. I feel like I'm bombarding people with my posts. Let me know if it's too much and I'll set up a separate channel for the other games.

The last few sessions took a long time to complete. Every time I had a plan to enter the Keep, the dice decided differently. When one plan was thwarted, I had to step away and think about what to do next. I'd come back and try another approach, then that would be shot down. I was happy with how it all turned out, but it was definitely a roller-coaster ride.

It's funny how the dice resolve everything in the end. Ostler, who I thought should be a good guy, is actually pretending to be bad to gather intel. I am really enjoying this story.

It's fun how even though you're soloing a game, it can still feel random and beyond your control.

Yes. I think this new approach is really working for me. It's like the emulator is creating a game within the module. Each scene is a puzzle to work out. I have decided to eliminate the need to roll against the Chaos Factor. I like the variability a Random Event brings to every scene. There is a risk that the emulator can really go wild and change things up, but I think having an overview of the game helps me keep things on track. I know that there is a Temple that I need to get to. I believe this knowledge influences my interpretation of the Random Event. The emulator is throwing challenges in my path - just like a GM would in a real game.

@Phil_Ozzy_Fer you should give your game a shot. I sometimes spend a half hour or less playing a session. The last scene was played out over two days. I would set the scene, roll the Random Encounter, then I had to think about it for a while. I'd come back later and add a bit more.

I will! I just need to be able to set aside to get stuff done.

Scene: Spugnoir Awakes
This was just a short scene. I needed to know how long Burne had to escape. He had 50 minutes to escape the Inn and head back to the Tower. That gives him plenty of time to review things with Rufus and get moving on their next steps. I just need to figure out what those are. They've lost 11 guards and their captain in the past few days. That leaves 5 guards, the Lieutenant of the guards and Rufus & Burne. Since they don't know how many are attacking, they'll probably hunker down. They might send a messenger to the Temple. Questions I will need to figure out or ask the Oracle next session.

Scene: Apprehend Rufus & Burne
This was one of those sessions where you plan and plan and plan. I had access to a crazy number of men, but that doesn't help me if they can't get into the tower. I was hoping that the Thieves might be able to help breech the walls, but that died quickly. Each roll provided a new challenge that messed with my plan. This was one hell of a puzzle that I couldn't figure out. Now I've got two prisoners held in what appears to be a impenetrable tower. Do I wait them out? At some point they'll run out of food. What do Rufus & Burne do with the prisoners? What a mess.

Scene: The High Road
This was the first time I focused on a Player Emulator instead of a GM Emulator. It has been a challenge to avoid spoilers. I am constantly working to avoid reading sections of the adventure. This helps to avoid spoilers, but also makes playing the adventure difficult. I always feel like I'm on a knife's edge between knowing too much and not knowing enough.

Approaching the game from the GMs point of view is much more natural to me. I am fine to know all of the spoilers. Rolling to see what the players do adds some challenge to the game. Does the player fight, run, talk? I've got backgrounds for each PC. I think I need to leverage those to determine what the PC will do. I will most likely set up 'likely approaches' to things. For example, Furnok is likely to search for treasure. That will get him into some trouble. Rikard will likely step in to help someone in trouble. I need to get a few 'likely approaches' for each PC based on skills and background. Still, it was a fun session today.

I have two Player Emulator tools that I need to revisit. The first is Player Emulator with Tags. The other is Motif Character Engine. I've read through both in the past, but I don't think I absorbed the information. I think another read will help.

Scene: Rikard and the Ghost
First off, my new approach is to choose or random roll one PC as the star of the story. Last session was Furnok. This session was Rikard. They were both obvious choices for the situation. Going forward, if I'm unsure I'll just roll randomly.

The last two sessions, I've used Fate Rolls to determine how the character reacts. This has added some very pleasant variability to the sessions. Still, I want to be surprised by the PCs reaction. I've decided to try something new. There is something called an emotion wheel. I thought this was an interesting way to vary the PCs reaction to something. I played around with the information and came up with an oracle of sorts. Something that will change up character reactions. I may need to pair this with Mythic's Action & Subject tables to figure out what the PC does. It's an experiment for now. It may not yield the results I'm looking for, but worth a try.

Here are the details in case anyone's interested. I use Fate Dice to choose the reaction.

Emotion Oracle:
3 or 4 Positive Ecstatic - overwhelming feeling of great happiness or joyful excitement
2 Positive Joyful - feeling, expressing, or causing pleasure and happiness
1 Positive Serene - calm, peaceful, and untroubled; tranquil
Blank Positive or Negative Response - whichever is most probable given the situation
1 Negative Pensive - engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought
2 Negative Sad - feeling or showing sorrow; unhappy
3 or 4 Negative Grief - deep sorrow, trouble or annoyance

Empathy Oracle:
3 or 4 Positive Admiration - respect and warm approval. Impressed.
2 Positive Trust - belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of
1 Positive Acceptance - received as adequate or suitable
Blank Positive or Negative Response - whichever is most probable given the situation
1 Negative Boredom - weary and restless through lack of interest
2 Negative Disgust - feeling of revulsion or profound disapproval
3 or 4 Negative Loathing - feeling of intense dislike or disgust; hatred

Fight or Flight Oracle:
3 or 4 Positive Terror - extreme fear
2 Positive Fear - belief that something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat
1 Positive Apprehension - anxiety or fear that something bad or unpleasant will happen
Blank Positive or Negative Response - whichever is most probable given the situation
1 Negative Annoyance - feeling or state of being annoyed, irritation
2 Negative Anger - strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure or hostility
3 or 4 Negative Rage - violent, uncontrollable anger

Awareness Oracle:
3 or 4 Positive Vigilance - keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulty
2 Positive Anticipation - regard as probable, expected or predictable
1 Positive Interest - wanting to know or learn; excite curiosity
Blank Positive or Negative Response - whichever is most probable given the situation
1 Negative Distraction - prevent from giving full attention; divert
2 Negative Surprise - unexpected or astonishing event, fact or thing
3 or 4 Negative Amazement - feeling of great surprise or wonder

Scene: The Temple & Town of Nulb
Some days you want to have full and rich dialogue. Some days, you just want the story to progress. The group was on their way to the temple. There were chances for random encounters along the way. Random encounters are a challenge for me. I realize they are supposed to help bring the world alive, but often they can seem like just extra filler. I summarized things a bit more for this session. I wasn't in the mood for big dialogue.

I rolled a couple of encounters for this trip. First was the druid. He was supposed to be friendly and an interesting encounter. The rolls brought him to life a bit. As a druid, it makes sense that he is looking to fight against the Temple and rid the Gnarly forest of the evil. I thought he was a great addition to the party. Unfortunately, the dice decided he was not what he seemed. In the end, it looks like he's a cultist and may be out to bring the adventurers in as sacrifices. We'll see how things go in the next session. Hmm. Maybe we'll find the real Amber somewhere in the depths of the dungeons below the temple??

The Press Gang did not really go anywhere. That was fine. It probably would have been a combat encounter that wouldn't progress the story much. The Gargoyle did afford a distraction. It allowed Amber to get away and do ... something. Now he's got reason to separate Zindra from the group - as determined by the dice.

I was not excited about this session, but it ended up turning out pretty good overall. I am excited about the next session - what happens to Zindra? Does the party get captured? Who is Amber?