I got some money ‘cause I just paid.
Oh how I wish I had someone to talk to,
I’m in an awful way…”
-Sam Cooke, “Another Saturday Night”, 1963
You want to do it. You know you shouldn’t. You know you’ll never live it down if anybody catches you. You’ve heard it might even make you go blind. Still, it’s normal, right? There’s nothing wrong with it. Nervously you draw your shades and slink off somewhere private. Maybe your room, maybe the basement. You hope nobody calls to break your concentration while you’re doing it. It’s not as good as doing it with someone else, but when you’ve got an itch, you’ve got to scratch it.
Intro
Show
There is probably no way that Solitaire D&D could ever hope to be as rewarding as playing the game with a group of your friends. The unpredictability of their actions, the corny in-jokes, the pause in the game because somebody has to take a call from their significant other, and the wheeling and dealing over the division of the treasure are all things that no die roll can replicate. But the fact is that sometimes some of us find ourselves wanting a game, but nobody is available. Maybe you’re new in town and are having trouble finding a group you can get to. Maybe everybody in your old group has settled into the “grown-up” thing and now thinks the game is somehow beneath them. Maybe they’ve got new priorities that aren’t able to leave any room for D&D no matter how hard they try.
But you’ve still got your books. You’ve still got time. You still want to play. You enjoy working your imagination, and the last thing you want to do is wind up like Jackie Paper who abandoned his old friend Puff the Magic Dragon when he grew up. You live by the George Burns line, “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
The problem with D&D Solitaire is that it will be impossible for you to be surprised if you play normally. You can see the whole map, you know what the bad guys are going to do, you know who’s behind the plot to assassinate the duke, and you know that next room is a killer. How can you not know? You’re the DM.
I do a lot of test runs of dungeons as Solitaire games. When faced with a choice, the result of which I have advanced knowledge, I leave it up to the dice. The party is low on HP and needs to take a rest. They are face with three doors. One leads right to the BBEG, the other two are safe. They can’t afford to meet the BBEG right now. They’re all bloodied and are down to Dailies. Which door do they choose to go through?
Assuming they see nothing to indicate that one door might be bad, such as a blood smear leading to one, or abyssal chanting coming from behind one, I leave it up to the dice. Three doors, roll a d3. The result tells you which door they go through. If one of the doors had something bad about it, cut it to a d2. Odds they go through one door, evens they go through the other.
I recently had a party pointed the entirely wrong direction. Reading only one room description at a time (and just enough about the surrounding rooms to see what happens if a fight breaks out in the first room, like reinforcements), I found out after clearing this room that the next room they were going to go into was the biggie. They didn’t have the resources to handle it at this point, but, based on the evidence, I had no logical reason to send them in another direction. I had to send them into the belly of the beast and hope I’d get the opportunity to make an escape when things went bad.
There is probably no way that Solitaire D&D could ever hope to be as rewarding as playing the game with a group of your friends. The unpredictability of their actions, the corny in-jokes, the pause in the game because somebody has to take a call from their significant other, and the wheeling and dealing over the division of the treasure are all things that no die roll can replicate. But the fact is that sometimes some of us find ourselves wanting a game, but nobody is available. Maybe you’re new in town and are having trouble finding a group you can get to. Maybe everybody in your old group has settled into the “grown-up” thing and now thinks the game is somehow beneath them. Maybe they’ve got new priorities that aren’t able to leave any room for D&D no matter how hard they try.
But you’ve still got your books. You’ve still got time. You still want to play. You enjoy working your imagination, and the last thing you want to do is wind up like Jackie Paper who abandoned his old friend Puff the Magic Dragon when he grew up. You live by the George Burns line, “You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old.”
The problem with D&D Solitaire is that it will be impossible for you to be surprised if you play normally. You can see the whole map, you know what the bad guys are going to do, you know who’s behind the plot to assassinate the duke, and you know that next room is a killer. How can you not know? You’re the DM.
I do a lot of test runs of dungeons as Solitaire games. When faced with a choice, the result of which I have advanced knowledge, I leave it up to the dice. The party is low on HP and needs to take a rest. They are face with three doors. One leads right to the BBEG, the other two are safe. They can’t afford to meet the BBEG right now. They’re all bloodied and are down to Dailies. Which door do they choose to go through?
Assuming they see nothing to indicate that one door might be bad, such as a blood smear leading to one, or abyssal chanting coming from behind one, I leave it up to the dice. Three doors, roll a d3. The result tells you which door they go through. If one of the doors had something bad about it, cut it to a d2. Odds they go through one door, evens they go through the other.
I recently had a party pointed the entirely wrong direction. Reading only one room description at a time (and just enough about the surrounding rooms to see what happens if a fight breaks out in the first room, like reinforcements), I found out after clearing this room that the next room they were going to go into was the biggie. They didn’t have the resources to handle it at this point, but, based on the evidence, I had no logical reason to send them in another direction. I had to send them into the belly of the beast and hope I’d get the opportunity to make an escape when things went bad.
Personally I novelise everything either as an in character journal or as a full blown fiction piece. At the moment I am favouring the latter and running the Keep on the Shadowfell in the Realms.
Hope you keep enjoying this as much as I do
.You want to do it. You know you shouldn’t. You know you’ll never live it down if anybody catches you. You’ve heard it might even make you go blind. Still, it’s normal, right? There’s nothing wrong with it. Nervously you draw your shades and slink off somewhere private. Maybe your room, maybe the basement. You hope nobody calls to break your concentration while you’re doing it. It’s not as good as doing it with someone else, but when you’ve got an itch, you’ve got to scratch it.
Best intro ever.
i c wut u did thar.
BTW, great tips. Now salitaire D&D doesn't sound as creepy *starts writing up characters*.
Good example of interesting characters
Knowing duergar, and dwarves in general, he figured that no "Short Sh--" worth his salt would build a plain room without a feature or two. Two doors in plain sight? Not on your life. He wanted to see what was behind the counter. Picking an Underdark-y looking item on the shelf behind the counter, he feigned indignation, identifying said object as something that belonged to his Matron Mother. With fury in his eyes he stormed for the back of the counter, his eyes darting around for any anomaly. Passing the area with the secret door, I gave him his check. He spotted it in passing while making a Bluff check on the duergar.
Rolled a d20 twice. Guess what I got? 1 and 20. With numbers like that, I didn't see a need to roll any kind of countering check.
Duergar 1 turned around and was looking at the shelf to see what the drow was identifying as goods stolen from a Matron Mother. Make no mistake, he had no intention of returning it. He was just getting ready to jack the price up and wanted to know how far he should push it. Duergar 2 drew his weapon and took a threatening step toward the drow. "I don't know what you're up to," he growled. "but you'd best be getting your worthless ass back on the other side of the counter, dhaerow..."
Recognizing the use of the obsolete word as a racial insult, the drow slowly stepped back. He had seen what he needed to see.
It was then that the party took umbrage at being asked, in less-than-civil terms and actions, to leave the shop. The wizard has pulled to the door to give himself as much distance as possible between him and the duergar. The drow, who kind of likes the wizard, has pulled back with him and readied his hand crossbow. The fighter, an imposing dude with a sour attitude, has leapt over one end the counter, looking more like he's used to smash-n-grab robberies than in fighting bad guys (easy Athletics check,a counter for dwarvish people is going to be shorter than average). The dragonborn is about to introduce his breath weapon at the other end of the counter and the cleric is blocking the middle of the counter to keep the duergar pinned.
WORTH NOTING: The only time this group encountered duergar before, the duergar didn't have the chance to use their beard spikes. They're in for an education when I get back to the combat part. (Another nice thing about Solitaire D&D, you can pause the action without anyone complaining!)
At this point, my husband sneaked up with lunch at the ready and I had to pause the encounter. The set-up for the impending combat is that the drow has had no time to tell anyone about the secret door, so he's the only one who might suspect that someone or something may come through that door. The party has it's attention split between the visible doors and the duergar, who are (according to the text) calling for help.
Has anyone else pulled off any Solitaire scenes yet? I'd like to know how it's working out.
Arabel bustled as it always had despite the chill of mid winter and the thick ice that covered gutters and limned roof edges. Trade along the East Way and Calantar’s Way slowed with the cold but never dried up altogether. As the day waned, Lavren found himself as usual seeking out a tavern in which to make himself comfortable and find some warmth. Coming across a sign that marked an alehouse as the Gilded Lady, and noting that he had never come to the place before, he motioned to the man beside him and they stepped inside.
A low fire burned in the hearth of the comfortable common room but the tavern was empty of patrons except for a lone man and a group of apparent mercenaries on a table next to the one Lavren and his friend made their way to. Not long after the two had sat down with their drinks, a group of tough-looking men sauntered into the tavern to the center of the room. The man in the corner leaned back into the shadows of his booth but the seven new arrivals spotted him. Four moved to the front and back doors, while three crossed the room, cornering the patron. A raven haired woman amongst the mercenaries whispered something to her companions but even with his finely tuned elf senses, he could not make out what she said. It seemed that the mercenaries were content in their drinks and so Lavren pushed back his chair, curious to learn what went on in the tavern.
“What happens here?” he asked.
“Mind your own business,” grunted the leader of the group, a scarred man in chainmail. He turned back to the booth and leaned menacingly over the table of the loan man.
“You’re the one, ain’t you?” he asked. The other man recoiled in the booth, mumbling.
“I—I—d-don’t know what you’re talking about.” Lavren heard him manage to stutter
The scarred man seized the shirt of the tavern patron, fumbled with the man’s shirt collar, and yanked out a holy symbol. Lavren saw his friend rise and reach out a restraining hand.
“Leave it Mandratan,” snarled the elf.
“He’s the one,” said the scarred man with a sneer, ignoring the two newcomers. He reached for his sword and, pulling it out, lunged for the terrified man.
Mandratan shoved his chair back hard enough to knock it over and with a snarl of his own, turned to face the scarred man. The scarred man shoved the cowering man back into the booth and turned towards Lavren and his friend.
“Take care of that rabble,” he growled.
At the doors, the men that guarded there reached for weapons while at the booth all turned away from the man and faced the common room at large. One man took a dagger from his belt and strode across the room until he stood before the fire before hurling it at Lavren. The elf panicked then for a moment, realizing that he was truly in battle for the first time. He raised his arm and swatted the dagger aside but felt it nick his arm as it tore through his sleeve. A second man strode forward and hurled a dagger at Mandratan, striking the brown haired man in the shoulder. He cried out and also felt panic seize him as the rough looking men came forward. Luckily, the mercenaries were more interested in the happenings in the tavern than they seemed and at that moment they began to rise from their table. The first was a dwarf who pushed back his chair, drew forth a warhammer and strode to meet the men who had hurled daggers. Another, a woman with short dark hair rose from her seat, unshouldered a bow and loosed an arrow at the scarred man. It nicked his shoulder but she strode forward, drawing another arrow from the quiver on her back.
One of the men from the front door rushed at the mercenaries’ table, flailing wildly with his club. The raven haired woman ducked and then rose but the creature beside her was quicker. It was a black scaled lizard like humanoid which Lavren guessed to be a dragonborn though he had never seen one in the century and more that he had lived. The dragonborn rose, pulled a huge sword from its back and turned to face the dagger throwers and the scarred man. The raven haired woman rose, drew her blade from her back and plunged it into the chest of the club wielding man. He fell to the floor, dropping his club and collapsing in a rapidly growing pool of blood.
From the back door came two more men, the first rushing at Mandratan, his club held high. He swung it and the man raised his arm taking a stinging blow there but the fury of battle was upon him by then and he ignored the pain. The other rushed at the dwarf but the stout warrior turned aside and the wild swing missed. The scarred man snarled his anger then and rushed to join the battle. He barreled past a table, upending a chair and slashed at the dragonborn, striking its shoulder plate and forcing it back two steps.
All this Lavren watched until suddenly, the second man from the door came at him from his left and swung out with his club. The elf ducked instinctively and retreated towards Mandratan, upending his chair between him and his enemy as he did so. He lashed out with his hand and loosed a crackling bolt of dark energy at the man. Alas, his aim was wild and the bolt blasted out a window behind the man with a loud smash and a show of broken. The barkeep cried out and then ducked down behind the bar while at Lavren’s back Mandratan lashed out with his stave. The club man he faced ducked under the wild swing and then came on again. Together, the two faught back to back while around them the rest of the battle raged.
Lavren saw the dwarf struck on the helm by a mace blow from one of the ruffians who had been menacing the man in the booth. The dwarf reeled away seemingly stunned and the other ruffian seized his chance, drawing his own mace and striking the dwarf on the arm as he staggered. With a roar, the dwarf lashed out at both in fury, striking one a ringing blow on the arm and driving both back. The short haired bow-woman moved to cover the door then, loosing arrows as she went. The thugs had only the back door through which to flee now and faught more ferociously. The dragonborn meanwhile pointed its sword at the scarred man.
“We fight to the death, bully man,” growled the dragonborn and then strode to meet the leader of the thugs.
He slashed out with his sword but the man ducked back and then raised his own blade, seemingly accepting the challenge. The raven haired woman moved past Lavren then to meet the club wielding foe who had attacked the elf earlier. She drove her blade into his belly and he fell beside his companion, soaking the floor with more blood. Mandratan ducked as his foe swiped at him again and the dwarf did likewise as the other who wielded a club swung at him. Lavren thought then that the battle would swiftly be won for the thugs faught poorly but then the dragonborn cried out and staggered back from the scarred man, clutching at his belly while still just holding his sword. He seemed sorely wounded and staggered again as he retreated. The scarred man came on and Lavren felt a furious anger rise within him. He lashed his hand out, wand held tightly in its grasp and loosed another blast of dark energy. It seared through the chest of one of the men and pitched him over a table. The elf felt an exhilaration he had never felt before as he used his fey powers to slay for the first time. He strode into the centre of the common room and surveyed the battle, seeking more enemies who could taste of his wrath.
Lavren watched as Mandratan retreated from the foe he faced just far enough to loose a silvery bolt of force at his enemy. Another foe fell then with a smoking black wound in his chest. Mandratan smiled stoically and then moved along the bar until he faced the flank of the remainder of the battle where the dwarf and the dragonborn faced the three ruffians that remained.
“I said to take care of them,” roared the scarred man then. “Not to dance with them!” The ruffians surged forward and drove back the dwarf and the dragonborn.
“Hold here!” called the dwarf to the dragonborn and the scaled creature seemed to recover for a moment, lashing out with its sword, cutting one of the ruffians. An arrow drove into the shoulder of the scarred man from the bow-woman near the door and he staggered, cursing. Lavren felt his confidence returning then and as he did, the dragonborn seemed to gain renewed strength, surging forward himself. The raven haired woman charged into the battle then, driving her sword into the leg of one of the ruffians and slowly, the three began to retreat towards the fireplace.
The scarred man lashed out with his blade but the dragonborn leaned back and avoided the swing. Lavren past another table and reached the row of booths, turning to wink at the archer who now stood behind him. Calling upon the mystic energy of the Feywild as he had rarely done before, he drew a brilliant white flame and sought to set it in the mind and body of the scarred man. Instead, the ragged curtains of the booth next to the man caught alight suddenly and burned with a bright white flame. Lavren cursed and from behind him, he heard the bow-woman do likewise. From the left of the battle, Mandratan called forth a rolling ball of fire that he hurled towards the nearest of the ruffians but alas all ducked or dodged and this too flew into the booth that had already been singed by Lavren. As it burst and set the drapes once more alight, all heard the barkeep squeal his frustration at the damage that was being done to his tavern.
The battle became more fierce then as the three thugs faught with more and more desperation. The short haired woman put aside her bow and pushed past Lavren with a wink of her own. She drove her blade into the thigh of the scarred man and he staggered, sinking to one knee. The dragonborn took a step forward and smashed the hilt of his sword into the man’s face, shattering his nose in a spray of blood. Beside them, the dwarf and the raven haired woman drove one of the ruffians back against the back of a couch that stood before the fire. Panic seemed to grip the thugs then. The scarred man turned to flee but both the short haired woman and the dragonborn brought their blades down upon him and cut him down. Lavren moved over to where Mandratan stood and loosed another blast of dark energy that struck the nearest of the ruffians, hurling him onto the back of the couch. Mandratan extended his hand and launched another silvery bolt of force at the stricken man. It seared through his chest, rolling him over the back of the couch onto its down-filled cushions. He did not rise.
The last of the ruffians darted around the couch and the seats before the fire and rushed to the back door. Pulling the portal open he made to dart out but the dwarf was upon him a heartbeat later. The short haired woman followed as did the others. Lavren raised a hand towards the man and loosed more dark energy that struck the door frame. The man made to duck through the door but Mandratan raised his own hand and struck the man in the back with a silvery bolt. He staggered and ducked through the door at the last as the short haired woman and the dwarf swiped at empty air.
The man huddled in the booth was dressed in plain clothes, indistinguishable from a craftsman or farmer were it not for the holy symbol that he now clutched in white-knuckled hands. The man’s brown hair was in utter disarray, and even after the battle, his thin, wiry frame quivered from the traumatic experience. He looked up at his rescuers with wide, blue eyes as they approached.
“Th-th-thank you so much for saving me,” he said. “Chauntea bless you; bless all of you! I thought for sure I was d-d-dead. My name is Gevarn, and I’m an acolyte of Chauntea.”
There was a brief commotion at the door then as the watch arrived to investigate the battle. The barkeep, despite much hand wringing at the damage, blood and bodies explained well what had occurred and the good deed that had been done and soon, the watchmen went on their way. Slowly, the barkeep began to tidy up, dragging the bodies to the door and bringing rags to mop up the pools of blood.
“Who were those men?” asked the raven haired woman who called herself Dulvarna and came from Eveningstar west of Arabel.
“Hired street thugs,” answered Gevarn, “ruffians sent by the forces of evil to stop me on my mission.”
“Your mission,” asked Lavren, his curiosity piqued once more. “Why were those men after you?”
“I come from a town called Winterhaven up in the Thunder Peaks,” Gevarn replied. “The cleric I serve, Sister Linora, has learned that a cult of Shar has asserted itself in our town. She sent me to go find help, but I’m afraid I’m not well-educated in the ways of the world, and those men must have tracked me down to stop me from finding aid.”
“We could help you find the aid you seek,” said Mandratan. “Where were you bound?”
“In truth I know not,” said Gevarn. “But having seen the way you battled my attackers here, perhaps you are the aid I am seeking.”
“Perhaps we are,” said Lavren. “And though I have travelled the Realms for a century or more I confess that I have never been to Winterhaven.”
The others nodded their approval of this without one pointing out that they had arrived as three groups and would leave as one.
Arabel bustled as it always had...[snip]
My eyes! Would you be so kind as to double space your paragraphs to leave a little white space on the page? Solid blocks of text scare people away.
Duly noted. The Word formatting does not translate well into posts and I didn't take the time to mess around with the formatting. Will try an edit to make it more readable.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/241863-medrievs-forgotten-realms-keep-shadowfell-updated-5th-october.html
Finished KotS last night and moving on to Thunderspire Labyrinth so it'll be a little while before the posts catch up.
Sadly, I have no groups nearby where I live, and my schedule is too busy to start one up. Thanks for writing this up, Shiftkitty, I've tried to play Solo before but somehow the game always collapsed. I'll be sure to use this guide while I'm waiting for more posts on my PbP game -Thank you for taking the time to post this guide!
*Pulls up Microsoft Word and starts to copy-paste*
Raz Fox- Happy to help. If you (or anybody) sees any ways to improve things, let me know!
Medriev- Awesome story! I'm glad Solitaire is working so well for you!
Good work writing this up so well and thanks for the pointer to Central Casting. Downloaded it last night and it is superb!
You ever play chess against yourself? No? Good. You’re not THAT lonely
Oi..I have 4 boards set up which I play against myself on. Not to mention 60-ish matches online against other people :P
What about the occasional dice fudge which you'd also do for your pc buds? :D
Wowsers!Dice fudging, a DM's best friend. I would do a fudge if it was a life-or-death situation and the miss was only by one.
I was running a solitaire wizard's duel last night, pitting a 17th level 3e wizard (core) against a 4e Spellstorm Mage (20th Level, core). For the sake of keeping the 3e wizard alive (remember, kids, without scrolls and multiple memorizations, every 3e spell is a Daily!), I had to allow a couple of "missed by one" rolls to hit. Other than that, the wizards were fairly evenly matched. Both burned through nearly all of their spells before fate threw the 4e wizard a 1 on what would have been a finishing move. Then the 3e wizard whipped out Chain Lightning and had the last say.
Thanks for the read.
PS: I also agree with pigknight. The intro was really good.
For those who are interested, I have now started posting this as a story hour on ENWorld at the link below.
http://www.enworld.org/forum/story-hour/241863-medrievs-forgotten-realms-keep-shadowfell-updated-5th-october.html
Finished KotS last night and moving on to Thunderspire Labyrinth so it'll be a little while before the posts catch up.
You should post it in [link=http://forums.gleemax.com/forumdisplay.php?f=344]Once Upon a Time[/link] too! They are having a dearth of posters lately.
Nice one ShiftKitty! Fun!
Now how long will it take to make my 1st level characters capture their epic destinies...
Thank you for putting it together!
http://shiftkitty.angelfire.com/
Oh, somebody PLEASE tell me this worked! (I've never made a decent webpage before, just photo sharing brain-dead stuff that the computer did all the work for!)
I like the pictures that you have with the pdf version, that along with the formating of it makes it look more interesting to read than seeing it on the forums. Basically the pdf version looks less intimidating.
I also now have the pdf version saved for my viewing pleasure. Thanks for the pdf Shiftkitty.
I'm glad to have everyone's approval on this project. I made about 5 or 6 false starts before finally getting it all together. Salud!
thank you ShiftKitty!!
So I'm tempted to give it a go then report on how it's gone, though I must admit, I am very tempted to try it with the 3.5 Scourge of the Howling Horde adventure first as I've always liked the look of that one.
Lazulli- I'd be very interested in hearing how well it works with 3.5. I was already very into 4e when I wrote it and may have been more than a bit influenced by it, but I tried to keep it good for all editions.
zeratulcraft- I hope it's working well for you. I'd be interested in hearing how things go in your game.
There's a link on the Solitaire page that goes to a story called "Order of the Vanguard" that I believe is a novelized version of a Solitaire game. It's a work in progress by Caldarion. I recommend giving it a read! It would be cool if we had a log book somewhere where people could post their Solitaire games and update them as needed.
zeratulcraft- I hope it's working well for you. I'd be interested in hearing how things go in your game.
Pretty good, really. I don't have to wait on anyone to do a battle, If I lack anything to do, it's as simple as drawing up the map and rolling initiative. Takes less time too, but I find it hard to not metagame my tactics.
Not so much responding perfectly to the enemies tactics or anything, but I just create a tactic when normally, in a group of others, it would not be adhered to as everyone runs about the battlefield dying.
Coolest part is making a set of backstories that fit together really nice. And I can have super long term character goals between the party. I like being able to plot.
Writing it up is a bit difficult though, I tried just doing turn by turn descriptions of the action, but it read very poorly. So I've stopped doing that except for super big battles where I should be describing everything awesomely, every other battle just gets written like a small skirmish in a novel, it was either a hard or easy fight, the opponents were either driven away or slaughtered, the party was either grievously wounded or barely touched.
Something else I've thought about: you really can, if you want to, play stories that revolve around one character.
Aye, my 'paladin' is a primordial who regained consciousness in his astral prison, the mere act of an awakening primordial apparently causes reality tears, so he made himself small and escaped through one such thing.
Couldn't pull that kind of awesomeness in a many player game.
Something else I've thought about: you really can, if you want to, play stories that revolve around one character.
I used to do a bit of that back in the 'lean years'... just used the random dungeon charts from the original AD&D DMG and ran a character with hirelings. Then I just reasoned out logical-ish explanations for the randomness.... Even did it once or twice in advance of a game to get an existing character up to the right level for something someone was running....
Haven't really read your rules yet, Shift, but I did download them awhile back... I just flat out appreciate your contributions to the boards here. Too bad you're not over at Goodman's, you'd fit right in....
I wanted to ask any of those who do have a go at solitaire D&D as their regular RPG gametime, what you all use for Initiative/PC cards/Power cards/other DM helpful tidbits to make the whole process smoother.
What is your setup? What does your D&D table look like?
Do you use a laptop?
I'm asking to merely streamline my solitaire experience.
I know you touched upon using a laptop for putting down dialogue
between PC and NPCs...
Cheers and Thanks!
I roll my dice on me desk. I have the initiative listed out at the top of the word/notepad file. I then type them all in order, for ease. I only need to scroll up to see who goes next if I ever forget.
For powers, I used Excel, creating a spreadsheet that tells me (in landscape layout) everything I need to know. I omit the flavor text, but keep everything else, even if in abbreviated format:
Divine Challenge 1 creature in burst
Minor Close Burst 5 target marked, takes radiant 9 if it doesn't attack you
I color the fields to denote At Will, Encounter, or Daily, and I include precalculated stats for each weapon and if there's a change for being bloodied.
If you don't have Excel, Sun Microsystems has OpenOffice which functions exactly like Microsoft Office. I've had difficulty getting the two to read each other despite claims of compatibility, but function-wise they're identical, and OpenOffice is freeware.
I think I have found a winner for time-wasting.
I used a adventure I had made a while ago for the group I was DMing for. It involved a noble's daughter being kidnapped and held hostage at a bandit hideout. The ransom was going to plan till the girl's boyfriend showed up trying to be a knight in shining armor and killed the bandit's second in command. That sent everything flying FUBAR and the bandits took the daughter back to their lair. At which point the noble hired the PCs to go get her.
The back story I gave to the bandit leader was that he was once a general for a rebel army in another country in my world. So he is a great tactician and I set up the lair accordingly. I found out that even though the party made it through the traps ok if I played the bandits like they were commanded by a tactical genius I could cause a TPK with an encounter that was a couple CR below the party. So it wasn't all that fun.
But when I went back through and played the PC in solo D&D there was some epic battles in there. It was some of the most fun I had playing D&D in a long while.
I hope everyone else can have as much fun playing Solitaire D&D as I do.
First off I want to thank you for creating "Solitaire D&D". It has helped me actually get a few sessions in with the guidance and organization that you have laid out in your document.
I wanted to ask any of those who do have a go at solitaire D&D as their regular RPG gametime, what you all use for Initiative/PC cards/Power cards/other DM helpful tidbits to make the whole process smoother.
What is your setup? What does your D&D table look like?
Do you use a laptop?
I'm asking to merely streamline my solitaire experience.
I know you touched upon using a laptop for putting down dialogue
between PC and NPCs...
Cheers and Thanks!
Personally, I use a lap top with an Excel character sheet open for each PC and a Word doc of the latest journal on screen to switch to and type up as the story progresses. I log initiative and conditions on the Word doc during combat and use a photocopy of the encounter map to keep track of PC and monster positions.
The two latest examples of my Word journals are posted on EnWorld and in my sig below. This is literally how they were typed during play with no amendments or refinements added later although I do log the occasional conversation between villains if a decision needs to be made by them. The system seems to work well for me and lets me run through encounters fairly speedily.
Great post. I am DDS'ing Keep of Shadowfell at the moment. I like the idea of using excel and what not for the characters as right now i am just using the plain char sheets. It is hard to organize without much room (as my computer takes half the table and the battle mat the other half)
For me, setting up the mat is pretty easy ahead of time. I can map the whole area and just use LOS or perception checks. I use the glass chess pieces for cover, walls, or big rocks or what not. And 2 colored beads for diif terrain, or if i ran out of wall pieces, as walls.
Also a good idea i am using is is using Heroquest pieces. They have an assortment of minis (great for minions, same color and/or diff look), furniture, tile cards(traps, stairs, etc) and comes with a board.
Bump.
Great post. I am DDS'ing Keep of Shadowfell at the moment. I like the idea of using excel and what not for the characters as right now i am just using the plain char sheets. It is hard to organize without much room (as my computer takes half the table and the battle mat the other half)
For me, setting up the mat is pretty easy ahead of time. I can map the whole area and just use LOS or perception checks. I use the glass chess pieces for cover, walls, or big rocks or what not. And 2 colored beads for diif terrain, or if i ran out of wall pieces, as walls.
Also a good idea i am using is is using Heroquest pieces. They have an assortment of minis (great for minions, same color and/or diff look), furniture, tile cards(traps, stairs, etc) and comes with a board.
Have now switched to the Character Builder now that it covers all 30 levels and this is working well. It has the advantage of giving you everything that's been published so no trawling through books to pick the right feat or power and the character sheet viewer includes power cards at the end of each sheet with all the details needed for play.
Agree that with a battle mat and a computer are hard to organise which is why I switched to the photocopied maps and my trusty pencil. Doesn't have the visual appeal of miniatures and mats but works for me. Just finished Thunderspire Labyrinth (although the posts on ENWorld will take a while to catch up as they're about 10 chapters behind at the mo).
If you are looking for more miniatures then as well as Heroquest, the D&D 3E Board Game is a good bet. My wife got me a copy off e-bay relatively cheaply and there are about 60 plastic minis that serve well as minions or generic bad guys inside.
I do use the Character builder ... but i can only view one person at a time. Is there a way to see multiple characters like in a different window?
Yep. Once you have a character open, click on character sheet and then from that view click on File...Open (or CTRL+O). This should bring up your character directory and you can open any character listed there. The only annoying thing is that you can't select multiple files to open as you could in Word or Excel. you have to open one at a time and keep going back to File...Open to open the rest. It runs fine for me with 6 PCs open in separate windows and using the Window menu to navigate between them.
I use the Character Builder to keep track of the characters and their abilities, and being able to save those sheets is great, in case of stopping play before an extended break.
However, encounters are taking far longer than they would with other players, largely because I write out narrative notes after ever attack, ie: "the skeleton shifts closer, attack: hits, for 5, and Thorin is bloodied."
Any hints on how to speed up solo play, without losing the notes that I'm hoping to convert into a proper narrative next bit of free time I get?
-M.
For your example, I'd probably write it as "S1 shifts, hits Thn 5, bld" where S1 is the skeleton and Thn is Thorin (and bld is bloodied, not bald!;) ). You can get fancy with the abc's afterward; "Before Thorin could blink, the formerly empty space was full of skeletal remains raising a scimitar high overhead. The blade came down and across leaving a deep cut across his chest that went right to the bone. Thorin didn't know how many more of those he could take, and he wasn't willing to find out. He answered with a furious blow that sent marrow and calcium scattering across the floor."
Abbreviations and a little personal shorthand should help. Again, I'd also only record the big stuff, including just enough fluff of minor hits for flavor. "Ander finally hits something and kills BBEG."
Hope this helps.
I try to RP the characters, but it doesn't really work well it feels. So i just do combat and other things and minor narrative. Afterward a nice journal entry from the point of view of the party leader which goes more in detail and brings it all to life.
http://www.spiritualmagus.nl/wordpress/
To give an idea. Still updating the Journal until it has caught up with where the party currently is. They're going via Arabel to Winterhaven and then onto Shadowfell Keep in the mountains.
Think I need to make some back-up PC's. These were close to dying once or twice. So I need some just in case. But I hate to kill my own PC's
So hard not to fudge.I find the personalities of the PCs come into play quite a bit when deciding tactics. For example, the Warlord is a reluctant leader. Everyone turns to him for guidance and leadership, and he doesn't know why. However, he feels responsible for those around him especially because they trust him so much. Therefore, he will break off of his own engagements to pull someone else's fat out of the fire. Takes a lot of AoOs from the enemy. In non-combat situations, I just write like I was writing a novel.
I as cleric wanted a war banner to depict the logo of our adventuring band.
I as fighter saw no use in it unless wanting to alert the enemy exactely where you are.
I as warforged wizard started meddling.
So... Me, Myself and I had a fall out at one another rofl. Luckily I only live with a cat at my apartment.
NEIGHBOR1: What's going on in there?
NEIGHBOR2: Just yellin' at the cat again, I s'pose. I think one of 'em's cheatin' at poker.
I've got a ton of ideas for PCs, but never have the chance to play them.
So sometime this week or next week, I'll be attempting D&D Solitaire for the first time, giving me a chance to test an adventure/dungeon crawl before I let my players go through it. ^^
That's probably one of the biggest shortcomings of Solitaire. I'm actually trying to craft a Solitaire "Whodunit", in which the PC(s) gets framed for the murder of a beloved duke. My sticking point is how to fall prey to things like false leads or developing actions "on a hunch". I don't want to have it where I crafted the solution ahead of time and hid the thing so I'd forget. I also don't want to reduce it to completely relying on random rolls. Is that what you were trying to build? A mystery?
I realize this is about a year late, but you might consider the strategy in the game Clue. Make multiple possible outcomes with a few elements, then pick them at random and put them in a envelope. That way the normal clues can lead to the various possibilities and your PCs have to complete a skill challenge based on only the stuff they found out. Probably much easier to follow a "hunch" that way.
I just moved into a new house and am trying to have a little area to put all
my gaming stuff together. Possibly get everything all set for a little D&D solitaire.
What is everyones setup like while doing solo games?
I don't have a laptop. So everything is non-e form.
Although I do create characters in D&D Insider.
I just purchased the DM token set by GF9, as well as the character tokens too.
I do have the Alea tools magnet setup as well.
Would like to hear and maybe see pics of peoples setups.
Just giving me other people's perspective on how they see there setup.
What works and what doesn't to save time...and keep it as fresh and seemless as possible.
We are playing by ourselves keeping in mind, so we have to keep this fresh and flows smoothly.
1. Head to (Town Name)
2. Get waylaid by bandit outside town
3. Kill bandit and loot (DC 10 to find anything of value, successful check also notices the tattoo of a cross on his wrist)
4. Head to town guard and get possible reward, inquire about tattoo
and the campaign continues until I kill the druid
Sometimes I use adventures off the WOTC site and mold them into my campaign, making them easier for solo play (removal of a lot of monsters and going easy on skill checks). Othertimes, I use maps that came with some of the adventures (keep on the shadowfell for example). If i run into something like a riddle, I generally roll a wisdom check added with a knowledge check (anything) and compare that to DC 10 or 15, to see if my character knows the answer, even if "I" know it.
That is generally what I do, though it is kind of hard to explain. I know this might make me sound crazy, but I envision fights in my head and have "conversations" with NPCs with myself, writing down the general basics of the conversation in a campaign log.
The only thing I am having trouble with is fame. Checking on the well-being of a sorceress, discovering she died by giant spiders, and taking care of said spiders will generally not grant me free stays at the inn or discounts on weapons.
One thing I'm having trouble with, though, is Skill Challenges. I have no problem running combats objectively, and role-playing is easy as well, but I just never have figured out how to do a skill challenge objectively. I can't find that middle ground between wanting every character to contribute, but also knowing what are and are not dumb things to try, but still having the party approach the problem intelligently.
Anybody have a system or some tips for this?
It's been a couple years since you posted this. Would there possibly be any updates as to your guidelines ? Things that you now do a little bit differently since you originally posted your PDF ? Or things that you would add to enhance the experience that you weren't doing before ?
I have a regular D&D group that meets every 2 weeks but when I feel like playing some D&D in between I have been playing through some adventures solo. The trickiest part is figuring out how not to know stuff you aren't supposed to know and ruin the experience. With 4E I think its still fun to play solo and explore around and play encounters...
Honestly I think if you want to play D&D alot and you are busy you have to play some solo stuff. I have very little time so meeting with people more than every other week isn't really do-able for me.
So does anyone else still play solo? I'm currently playing through the Twisting Halls in the 4E starter set and then might give Keep on the Shadowfell a go. My regular group plays a homebrew.
This ought to be stickied.
I never have anyone to play with.