Update to Temple of Elemental Evil

Recent changes to Google's security protocols have forced me to change the link to my Temple of Elemental Evil 5e conversion. The file is now available here.

Game Review: Alone Among the Stars

Cover, Alone Among the Stars, 
©2019 Takuma Okada

Author: Takuma Okada
Publisher: Self-published 
Engine: Custom d3/ card table-based game
Marketplace: Itch.io

I wanted to do a quick review of Alone Among the Stars by Takuma Okada When I came across this game, it was marketed as a science fiction solo rpg. And has a one-on-one variant called Together Among the Stars but I thought my wife might enjoy as a casual play option.

I also was impressed with some of Takuma Okada's ideas expressed on Twitter. 

I think this one is worth looking into as an example of the most extremely stripped-down expression of the solo role-playing game.

Alone Among the Stars uses a d6 (really a d3) roll, plus a drawn card to represent what your character discovers as they travel from planet to planet on a lonely exploration mission. The d6 determines the method of discovery, the suit it's nature, and the value of the card a detail.

Players are encouraged to write journals from the perspective of their character about their discoveries.

The manual, four pages long including , essentially includes the tables, an introduction on how to Play. It also comes with a sample of play, a document twice as long as they manual, with an example of journal entries inspired by play.

Quick & Dirty Gaming: Game as Personalized Act of Service

Monday Night marked the third week in a row that players had to skip out on my Lowlife 2090 game. I have players with chronic illnesses and extremely high demand jobs. This is never surprising, but it is frustrating. Especially as life getting in the way has shrunk my group down to a delicate three player balance. At three players, I hate to do anything if one of them sits out. And in a Cyberpunk & Sorcery game like Lowlife 2090 crews of two or less are actually pretty hard to make work... at least in many class combinations.

My home game has suffered due to my wife's busy schedule as well. it is harder and harder to get in the gaming I would like. Thus my sudden interest in Solo play. But for me, the biggest joy still comes from playing with others. What I need more than ever is faster play.

That is why I started playing OSR games again in the first place: I needed a rules-light system that was designed to play fast. More than that, I needed a rules-light system that was low on BS like performance reviews and player voting at the end of the session. Many story games like Fate and Dungeon World tend to add so much needless quasi-mechanical stuff to the game in sessions it slows them down. Fast and furious Old-School games like Knave, ICRPG, and The Black Hack, or going back to B/X D&D, for that matter, have sped things up a lot. But not enough for my current needs.

Separate Solo Game Blog

I have created a separate blog for chronicling my solo Dungeons & Dragons campaign set on The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence. That way, those of my readers who are uninterested can opt out.

Given the themes of the campaign setting, and that I like my content a little racy and a little dark, I'm putting a Content Warning on it. Unless there becomes a sudden, overwhelming demand for written erotica by Yours Truly, - - which I doubt - - it will remain Rated R.

I'm way behind on my play reports, and still figuring out format, but my report for session two up. It is entitled Swordplay, Singularities, and Seduction. 

The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence: Attempt 2

"Jonas" created using Hero Forge. Used
here in accordance with their EULA 

Originally, I wrote this piece as a Novella. It was about 22,000 words with illustrations and all. Unfortunately, blogger does this thing where, for a split second, it replaces the content of your article with the string listng your tags. Normally not a problem. It puts it all back. But if you have an error where it switches your WiFi network at the wrong time, it will automatically save it in that state. So, I lost a book's worth of "Tale of the Manticore" inspired fiction.

It is not all gone. I have 70% of the book in garbled, out-of-order voice dictation notes that require hours of editing to translate what my phone heard into what I said. I am not yet sure if I want to spend the time.

But I still wanted to share this, because I am having fun.

Oh... And mildly NSFW art ahead.

Overview

Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia
Cover Art by Jeff Easley 
©1991 TSR, Inc. 

I am playing Venger Satanis' weird, pulpy, oversexed The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence as a solo D&D experiment. I am using BECMI Dungeons & Dragons played straight out of the Rules Cyclopedia that I have had since I was 12. Mixed with The Dozen Dooms. By Baldrage for simpler experience and encumbrance, and using most of the recommended house rules in 'Purple.

I am using Dungeon Crawl Solo from Parts Per Million as my tool for making GM systems and developing the campaign..

After the brutal TPK I suffered the last time I played, I decided to give my PCs a fighting chance by having full gear, a five person party, and starting them in a low level dungeon.

Once free of the dungeon, it will be a Hex crawl to find a town where they can resupply and start pursuing emergent goals. Using the character background generating tools in Purple is great for having built-in hooks without taking forever to generate. Adding in a DCC RPG occupation table writes the character for me.

My Commemorative Comic Book Covers

I try my best to be a joy at the table, to encourage other players and to step up and fill roles like caller, mapper, and treasurer whenever it is needed.

In the World of Weirth playtest group, I use Dungeon Scrawl to map for my party. I keep our treasure records. I have created the templates for character sheets, and even helped the GM write a unique save and skill system.

Beyond the table activities, I also have tried to create ways to encourage my fellow players and engage them. One of my recent ways to keep everyone engaged is to use Hero Forge and Photoshop to create art.

Last week I got the idea of commemorating some of my favorite or most memorable events in the campaign by drawing them up like silver-age comic book covers. I wanted to share them here in case they inspired someone else.

Ill Met on the Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence

The tragic trio. Image made with Hero Forge.

My first attempt at a solo game on the Islands of the Purple-Haunted Putrescence turned out to be a very short-lived comedy of errors.

Shipwrecked: Hex 002

My three adventurers, Shael, Arlan, and Drace, washed up on the shore of Kravian after their ship was attacked by a strange, many tentacled horror. Corpses and crates washed up around them. Being part deep one, Drace was the only one who hadn't swallowed a huge amount of salt water, and helped to revive the others.

The introductions were short, they all knew in the stinking heat and high humidity that they needed water and shelter quickly, and the best thing to do would be to pool their resources.

They scoured the beach, but could find little other than dead fish, four silver pieces in a pouch, and a backpack that contained a waterlogged wanted poster. They tucked the fish in the backpack, and after a few minutes of commiseration, headed inland.

Immediately, I rolled a random encounter with 2d4 Koshi, the monkey men who live on the Purple Islands. Neither group was surprised, and at first, the Kishi were cautious, but not unfriendly.

(9 NPC Reaction)

Shael tried to ease the tension by kneeling down and reaching a hand out to the smallest and most curious of the simians. The creature took one look and...

(Even w/ a +2 Snake eyes on NPC reaction rolls are bad news).

...screamed, clawing at his face.