Saturday, February 28, 2015

Solo Far Away Land - Grongo & Bodoor's adventure

I had a moment while I was waiting on some feedback for a few commissioned maps I am working on. I have been reading over FAL during the last week or so but I have not actually played. Seems everyone is talking about it and reading the rulebook but no one is playing the game yet.

So I rolled up a pair of intrepid adventurers. Very easy and fast, I even used the random character generator created by +Norbert G. Matausch. Worked like a charm and in about five minutes I had two characters. Heck, in true FAL fashion I even drew pictures of them! How old school is that??


With that complete I snagged a quick solo play I had found a while ago online. It is a quick, no shit way to run a solo game. I have taken these rules and tweaked them a little for my own liking but they are pretty close to the rules presented there (been wanting to try these for a while now.) You can find it, along with a quick play description, here:
http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.de/2012/04/solo-rpg.html

 Ok, so now that is out of the way and we have our two characters, let us get started!

Set the SceneGrongo the White and Bodoor the Odorous have stumbled upon a map during their last adventure and used it to lead to a undiscovered tomb. They hope to delve into it and come out wealthy, maybe even retire. They set off from the local village with their map in hand.
Our first question- Do they find the tomb?  NO

Hmmm, ok, they do not find the map but in true FAL fashion instead they discover what appears to be an abacus on a rock nearby. Using the solo rules I decided to use the twist die but skipped rolling because I wanted a twist. I rolled a 6 (item) and a 1(appears). Then to determine what this was (as I was stuck) I randomly selected a die from my bag of Rory's Story Cubes and rolled it. This gave me the abacus...the heroes suddenly notice it on a rock nearby...I figure it is a lock to a secret door, the entrance to the tomb! As the GM I decide this is an Easy(4) challenge.
Bodoor steps up. "Got got this chum," he says and starts playing with the abacus. [I decide to let him use his DEX(2) and his CRAFTY boon for a total of three dice. I roll a 4,5, & 6! The 6 is the highest and he easily figures out the trap.]  He solves the puzzle and with a POP! a large door opens in the rock, leading to a previously unknown secret door! 
"About time," says Grongo, "I was starting to wonder if I needed to head back to town and find a new sidekick." Grongo peers into the dark tunnel.
Time for another question: Is anything waiting for them inside? NO

The guys cut a break and only a dark, cobwebby tunnel leading into the ground. Grongo casts quick light spell and makes the ball on the tip of his hat glow. allowing the heroes to see into the darkness. The guys are nervous and taking it slow so twenty feet in and I decide to check with fate again.

Is there anything here for our heroes to worry about? YES BUT

Uht oh, that cannot be good. I check my solo rules and determine it is an NPC, luckily one with a neutral disposition. His name is Junegral and he is an explorer as well. Perhaps he would like to join our group?

Does Junegral wish to join our group? YES

And our little group now has three people! (Damn, now I need to make up another character!)

...too be continued...

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting, Matt. I'm checking out the Game Master Emulator right now, trying to play solo FAL myself. I will try tiny toy solider and let you know how it goes. Man, I really like FAL. Such a cool system.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After using the system I am sold, I really like it.

      Delete
  2. I've seen the Tiny Solitary Soldiers solo RPG concept and have wanted to try it out some time myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not done any solo gaming myself so this was a first for me. The key I feel is the interaction between the dice and your imagine imagination. If you can let that go and let the dice guide you, it will work out fine.

      Delete
  3. Also, thanks for turning me on to Rory's Story dice. I teach high school ESL and these will work great in the classroom for my students to create stories and act them out. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No problem! I have the first set but I think there are now three different ones, each adding different things ("journeys" is one I believe). There is also an app for smartphones. That sounds like a fantastic idea, glad I could help!

      Delete