A Wizard Dad Short: "Wait, can we hit the rewind button?"

I am a solo RPG player at this point in my life. I have run games for small groups and extraordinarily large groups, and I loved every minute of it.  In solo play, though, you get opportunities that just don't work for group games. One of them is the rewind button.

In a recent game my character, a strict honor bound warrior, was exiled by way of promotion to a distant provincial estate that he now has to run, and at a profit at that. This opened up whole new vistas of roleplaying and I was very much looking forward to it. But then the Game Master Emulator (GME), kept raising the stakes. It was indicated there was a rebellion against the last chamberlain of they estate. Monsters and bandits were all over the place, and the province surrounding the estate was in terrible peril. 

Normally, I would jump into this with both feet. Normally, I don't mind my expectations being subverted, but the deeper the action oriented trouble grew for the province, the less engaged I felt. It was very much as if a GM had done a bait and switch on me. This isn't the game I wanted to play. 

After spending a day trying to engage it I was nearly ready to toss in the towel and make a new character.

Then I remembered that this is a solo game, and the only audience I have to please is myself. So I flipped back several pages in my notes, to the point the game had jumped the rails and sped out of control and I hit the reset button.

This time I was more careful with what I asked my oracle and I let things play out according to my expectations for a while. Some people may consider this cheating. And if you have strong feelings about that, I have not a single fault with you, but I don't see it that way.

Sometimes, I am looking for a specific game style, and the thing about GMEs and random prompts is that they are just that: random. This is why it is so important to wear both hats, GM and Player, when you are solo gaming. It is ok to want to play a specific kind of game. It is also ok to hit the rewind button rather than scrap a character you enjoy. 

Solo gaming gives opportunities not found in group games, but it has its own special challenges as well. If you need permission to retcon, or rewind I grant it to you. There is no one here to please but yourself. Make the game you want, if it gets a curveball that sounds like fun, run with it. If just isn't what you want to play just roll back to the last save position and start again. The point is to have fun. Don't let too much randomness wreck that fun.

W.D. 

Wizard Dad's Workshop: Let your characters be good (or bad) at its job.

I think I first ran into this concept in Kevin Crawford's excellent game Stars Without Numbers. Later, I heard it repeated in Fate Core and Fate Accelerated Edition. It is such a simple idea that I have no clue why it didn't hit me earlier. Characters should be good at what they do, and bad at what they don't.

I am not talking about a mechanical advantage, though of course those may well exist. No, here I am referring to the core character concept should include a core character competence (and in some cases incompetence). 

"Your hero is assumed to be competent at all the ordinary functions of their role and background. If he’s a moisture farmer from a back-of-nowhere desert world, he’s going to know how to keep a dew still running and how to put on a coolsuit. If she’s a corporate magnate’s succession-groomed daughter from a megacorp-dominated hiveworld, she’s going to know how to read a balance sheet and speak during a meeting with C-level executives. They will never fail at these basic tasks unless some situation makes them much harder than usual." - Stars Without Number (SWN).

"Characters in a game of Fate are good at things. They aren’t bumbling fools who routinely look ridiculous when they’re trying to get things done— they’re highly skilled, talented, or trained individuals who are capable of making visible change in the world they inhabit." - Fate Core

These are two very different games. The first and OSR (Old School Renaissance) game, where character death could happen in your first violent clash. The other a narrative game with loose rules and characters who start as well experienced experts, but both have an initial focus that your PC is good at what they know and what is central to who they are. 

Another example come from a very excellent 3rd party book to help new Fate players come to grips with its somewhat lofty concepts 

"Fate characters are competent. They're good at stuff. Maybe not the best in the world, but whatever they're good at, they're good at it. They're not bumbling amateurs." - The Book of Hanz

The idea though has been part of gaming going back to its oldest roots. Lets take perhaps the humblest of old school rpg concepts. The OD&D Fighter. From the moment you look at this humble pile of 3d6 rolls in which you were lucky to get a 12 in an Ability Score and decide to make it the fighter, that character knows how to use every weapon and suit of armor he will every come across. That is a gifted individual. It speaks of a high degree of training and capability that leaves your average humble city guard distantly in the dust. Oh, he may be taken out by a goblin with a pointy stick at first, but he is already competent at his chosen role. 

With that said, a new character, is probably only good at a few things. A starting SWN character is guided  by their background and by their class abilities, that goes far beyond what every meager skills they happen to have chosen or rolled for, but only as it relates to their background. A Fate Character is elevated to excellence in some field High Concept, but even if that covers a broad swath of implied ability, there is a whole world they haven't experienced yet and will need to struggle to over come.

Which brings us to the second part of the title. Sometimes you are just not cut out for something. If your background, before taking to  life as an adventurer, was as maintenance personnel on a space frigate, you shouldn't have to roll to do basic life support upkeep. You can change an air filter in a snap, on any ship that is not completely foreign to you. With that said, there is a world of difference between maintenance and piloting. If you have no background or training in navigation or piloting, even if you can keep the engine running top notch, you probably can't safely make it to the next space station, and that is ok. Not every character needs to be good at everything, and that is a good thing. Letting your character shine in some respects doesn't mean they won't still be challenged.

This whole line of thought came to as part of a discussion on the Mythic Discord (Mythic Discord Lobby), a location I highly suggest you check out if you are into solo or duo gaming, because it is a good natured supportive community bristling with good ideas. 

There was a conversation going on about when to roll against a the Oracle for a yes or no answer, and when to assume a character either has no chance of success or no chance of failure. A suggestion was made by user Mr. Grock and Roll  that sometime even success or failure is granted, because of either a characters excellence or ignorance, but a roll could determine what success or failure will look like. As we gamers are a dice rolling culture, I can see the value of this even if the outcome is already a certainty. A very high roll, could show off the characters finesse. A very low roll (that would be a failure if that were on the table) may indicate that something that looked easy has a hidden component that you were hither to unaware of. 

If you are a master thief there is no way a common shop lock is going to challenge you, but if you roll low perhaps you discover it is hooked to a crude but effective alarm system you have to disarm before you can move on to the lock itself.

On the flip side, there are some obstacles only a few specialist can handle. If two rows of 20 archers are raining arrows down on you, you are going to get hit, unless you have some supernatural dodging ability, as is found in some warriors, rogues, and monks. A high roll to dodge could indicate you are lucky and only get flesh wounds by a couple of arrows, where a low roll may indicate you are going to go through the next few minutes as a pin cushion. 

In both of these cases, the outcome was predetermined by the abilities of the character, but the severity of the effect is dictated by the quality of the roll. If there is no chance of a special outcome just forgo the roll.

Taking a moment to steer this conversation into the realm of solo roleplaying, the focus of the blog, there is a second option available for your auto success or failure. Instead of rolling for severity on your oracle (May I suggest the MGM2e, my starting point for all solo games $14.95 pdf) or game system of choice, instead you roll on an inspiration chart for descriptors of your success or failure. 

In the case of the rain of arrows you could get the word pair "Generously Full" suggesting that (no matter what damage was rolled" you were hit by a large barrage and now look like the forementioned pin cushion. Perhaps your afterwards roar with defiance and charge on giving the front line of bowmen a hell of a fright.

In the case of the master lock pick, you could get "Trap Weather" showing that you were delayed disarming some sort of spraying or shocking trap in the midst of opening an otherwise simple lock.

In conclusion, there are several ways to handle the fact that your character has an expertise or a deficiency. Use the tactic that works best for your game, but don't be a slave to a pass or fail binary system when it would actually fracture the game fiction to do so. 

W.D.

Wizard Dad's Workshop: Faction meets Action for Cypher System

I learned while playing Fate Core that every thing can have a level and attributes. Another game that takes a similar attitude is the Cypher System, by Monte Cook Games. 

Everything in this game, has a level. In some things it is an implied level. You don't need to know a piece of tissue paper has a level 0, you can just rip it in half. You don't need to know that punching down a mountain (in most games) is impossible, so you don't have to give it a level of 11 or greater (the system caps what is possible at 10). Heavy parchment, on the other hand, may need you to beat a Level 1 (Target Number 3) or higher to rip it in half because it is tougher than tissue. In the same spirit you probably need to place a level on an ancient enchanted stone door, even if it is 10, because the PCs could through Effort and ingenuity break it down. 

NPCs and Monsters have levels that indicate their combat prowess. Some times additional Level's are mentioned for things they are very good or very bad at. A giant maybe a Level 7 creature, but as it is very large and very slow to react, it could be Level 5 at dodging and Level 4 at Intellect Defense.

In my recent games, a PC is going up against the local branch of a large company that has all but taken over a small town. This company isn't one enemy, but it does act as one. So, giving it a Faction Level makes sense. This would be the same as any other Leveled object or creature. Health, Recovery, Resources, and Actions would all fall in line with the Level as logic dictates. 

Take the Mining Company, in this case the Bryndis Mining Cooperative for example. It is Level 6. It has men working for it, it has money, it has its own lawyers, it has paid bribes to certain officials, it has hired some mercenaries. All of those are actionable resources. They can take action with these resources and these would be within 1 to 2 points of Level 6. 

What if, though, the PCs take it upon themselves to drive it out of the town. Now, you have to consider how a dispersed, but Leveled, entity could be hurt. You can't just come at it like it is a Goblin because its resources are diverse. Instead you take action against its resources. 

Like all CS entities it has Health equal to Level x 3. So it will need to have 18 points of "Damage" to become a non entity, at least locally. How do you hurt such a thing? You cut off its resources. 

In the case of mercenaries you kill them, drive them out, or convince them to abandon their contract. In the case of bent politicians you expose them or blackmail them, or , yes, even kill them, so that level of pressure is removed. Each telling blow against the entity would be worth 1 to 2 points of damage. 

In the current game I am playing the Bryndis Mining Cooperative has a level of 6 and Health of 18, but it was exposed to the town constable that they gained their largest mine through murder and legal tampering. This turned a major branch of the town government against them. An investigation was opened. This causes them a level of damage. 

In a future adventure I find out the bandits plaguing the area are not only working for the mining company, but are mercenaries directly controlled by them. This evidence is gained through reliable sources in the presence of the constable and a trusted citizen. Rumors begin to spread against the company and it takes another point of Health reduction.

Surly, though this will rouse the ire of the company against the PCs and the Constabulary. So maybe they send more of their mercenaries to quell the PCs. Perhaps they start a counter rumor that the PCs are trouble makers. If the PCs can defend against them or turn the tables this would be damage as well, but if they are successful they would heal some of the damage taken. 

Now that we have the basic concept lets build a Faction, and then tear it down.

I think we should start with a classic. An evil warlord (L5) and his Necromancer “advisor” (L5) have gained control of a small barony and have recruited hobgoblin soldiers (L3) and a scattering of weak undead (L2). The local governments from the surrounding baronies know that they are out classed on the battle field so it is up to plucky adventures to tear down this dictator. Since everything is better with a proper name we will call this Barony Last Keep (it is on the frontier) so we will call the faction by the same name.

Looking at the various resources of this barony there would be a fortification, two small armies, a lot of cash revenue (as they are bilking the locals in terror out of everything of worth), and the personal power of the two leaders. The faction has to be judged as a whole, not by the power of those in charge. While hobgoblins and zombies are weak individually, there are a lot of them. The faction as a whole would have a Level of 4 or 5. Probably closer to 5 as it has two armies and one of them is fearless. There is no hard and fast rule for applying these Levels. Instead we have to employ a certain amount of intuition. The Warlord knows how to organize, and the necromancer can ruthlessly replenish the undead losses. This leans the total power closer to a 5.

A Level 5 foe would have a Faction Health of 15. Each point represents a unit of power. You can be abstract about this in the development stage, but to defeat the faction you must remove its assets. When you attack an asset it will typically be either at the Level of the Faction or within one point lower or higher. 

There are several ways of removing Faction Health. For instance, you could destroy the asset: kill all the hobgoblins and they would no longer count into the equation. You can create a counter asset: convince a group of religious soldiers that the undead menace has to be stopped and their assistance is vital. You could use some diplomacy or trickery. Pit bands of hobgoblins against one another and let them do the work for you. Any of these methods would neutralize assets and this impact the Factional Health.

I represent Factional Health on a simple line of x’s grouped in 3s.
“Xxx xxx xxx xxx xxx” Your goal is to remove the x’s by neutralizing the Assets involved. Each time you have a  significant victory, say you take out a large squad of hobgoblins, or you do bring in an independent band of holy warriors, you mark off an x. When you are down to the last X you will note it is different. This is usually when you face the leaders or their most powerful assets. 

While you are chipping away at the Factional Health, the enemy is not standing idle. Pick a reasonable unit of time for your campaign. I suggest a month, but there could be good reasons to use a week (a small local asset) or a season (a widely spread and national asset), and when that amount of time passes the Faction will regain 1 factions health. You add an x back to the equation. This represent repair or replacement to an Asset or even the creation of a whole new Asset. Lets say the holy warriors destroy a large number of zombies. First, you caused damage by recruiting them, secondly by their actions once recruited. The Faction will react to this. Perhaps the necromancer releases a powerful wraith to slay the leader of the holy warriors. The creation of this wraith (after a month of effort by the Necromancer) heals 1 point of to that faction. Should over the next month through sneak attacks it devastates your holy allies, that would heal another point. This keeps pressure on the PCs to continuously chip away at the enemy.

Lets suppose your PCs are very effective and fast on their feet and over a couple months cause 6 points of damage to the Factional Health track. This attrition would add up and the Faction would be reduced by 1 Level. So now instead of facing a 5 (+/- 2) challenge in a typical encounter you would instead face a 4 (+/- 2). Note that doesn’t change the level of the Warlord or the Necromancer. In the final confrontation they will still be powerful enemies, but their faction would have by then disinter grated around them.

So in short:

1. Conceptualize a Faction. 

1. Decide what its most obvious Assets would be.

2. Assign a Level to the Faction

3. Create a Factional Health bar.

2. Think of ways to “attack” the faction, and enact them.

1. Every two sets of xxx remove 1 level from the faction. I have found if this is done in a 1 to 1 rate is drops the power of the Faction to quickly to be satisfying.

3. Make sure the Faction takes actions of its own to neutralize the threats as they see them (some parties are very stealthy).

1. Every “unit” of Faction time heal 1 point to the faction.

4. In the final encounter keep in mind the individual power of the leaders,  not just its remaining factional strength.

5. Winning this final victory the faction is destroyed. Even if every asset hasn’t been point by point neutralized it has lost cohesion. Even should the villains survive the final confrontation, they are now just NPCs not Factional leaders, because they have no faction left.

I hope this is of use to you plucky adventures

Happy gaming

W.D.

Wizard Dad's Workshop: A Cypher System Skills Hack for Solo Characters

Skills in the Cypher System are quite powerful. Being Trained in a skill reduces the difficulty of a task by 1 full step, and if specialized by 2 full steps (in Cypher Speak it eases the roll).

In a group of 3 to 5 PCs you have a lot of diversity, but solo characters need access to a wider variety of skills than a group Character does.

Lets have a peek at an official addon to the game, and see if it provides a suggestion on how to build an auxiliary skill frame work.

Looking into the Revised Cypher System Rulebook, at the end on Genre Fantasy section, there is a rule for learning magical spells for your non magical characters. It is rather simple so I can recap it here. You take a spell as a long term advantage (3xp) after you have secured an in game manner of purchasing it. Then, when you want to cast the spell it takes either a great length of time (10 minutes to 10 hours) or an expenditure of your shortest remaining recovery roll. That makes sense. You are either giving up time or giving up vitality. It is a good optional rule because the cost, especially in time, can have major impacts as the world goes on around you.

Skills are more powerful than spells though. A skill is always “on”. But does it have to be?

Here is my tentative skill hack. I haven’t play tested it long, but I believe it will work pretty well. 

First, you have to have already purchased a full cost skill for your next Tier. Not really a problem there. Next, you have to have an in game opportunity to have learned the skill. Maybe one of your retainers has been giving you an asset in it. Or perhaps you have taken a chunk of down time to learn it. Perhaps even paid a tutor (a good way of draining off treasure in any RPG).

When you (wearing your GM hat) have decided you have a solid in game reason for having that skill, you pay 3xp for a long term benefit. You now have the skill, but most of the time it is switched “off”. You have it in an amateur fashion. When you wish to activate it, you must spend 1 xp, and you get the use of it as a short term advantage for however long is the reasonable length of time for that skill. If it is Research, it  would be the full time you are in the library or questioning sages. If it were blacksmithing it would work for the length of creating a sword or dagger. You can’t become specialized in these skills you keep in cold storage, but I would say that when you go up a Tier, if you wish to purchase it for your next level a reduced price of 2xp would be reasonable to pick it up, thus upgrading it to a full time skill.

Very broad skills like “all positive social interactions” and weapon and defense skills (which are treated differently than other skills in the rulebook) would be off the table, as that would over boost the characters power. (but there are no suggestions you can’t pick them up as a short term benefit: see below)

I am going to give this more playtesting, but the cost to benefit looks about right; if you want more power you must drains off your xp, to use it.

It is worth mentioning, that this isn’t strictly necessary to pick up a very short term skill you may need only once. Short term benefits can give you a skill that will last for about 1 game session for 2xp. That is written write into the book, but you lose it entirely when you are passed the session. If you think that you “got the knack” for picking locks in this particular dungeon, as they are all essentially the same, then just spend the 2xp and call it good. If you want to pick locks occasionally but don’t want to devote your full skill expenditure on it (because it won’t come up that much) maybe this hack would work better for you.

W.D.

Wizard Dad's Workshop: Grimmly Keep

You don’t know what big is until you have visited Grimmly Keep, the hereditary seat of the Kingdom of the Ogres. This enormous city sprawls from  the rocky hills that surround its massive size (about 24 miles or 39 km) all the way to the misty edge of the recursion. In parts, the city climbs up those hills, which make a natural defensive barrier, but the most important locations are to be found in its bowl like center. Here the huge buildings, can be 3 to 5 stories high, and each story is easily 30 feet (9 meters) height. 

In the far most northern section of the city, where an impregnable castle can be found, it actually builds into the misty border surrounding the Good Kingdom. This is the home of the current Ogre King Chammbar the Younger. Due to the mist that surround the castle, it is impossible to tell its full size, but it is claimed to to be at least 6 stories, easily making it the largest single structure in the Good Kingdom.

The rest of the city is a cold and dreary place of wide roads, cruel winds, and slippery stairs. Ogres rarely make use of draft animals, or even carts, so there are many steep stairways that impair the movement of most smaller folk.

Many ogres are incredible stone masons, so the various buildings are frequently connected by high arching, and rail-less, bridges.

Ogres are not over fond of one another’s company, so most citizens can be found in ones or twos, at most. Because of this, there are very few open markets and courtyards, which creates a feeling of a cramped labyrinth space, despite the overwhelming scale.

Other populations of fae can all be found living in small communities on the outskirts of the city. Though dreary, people have their reasons for residing there. One such reason is that there is very little in the way policing in Grimmly Keep, as Ogres are known to sort out their own problems in a more hands on manner. 

Near Grimmly Castle the King’s Elite body guards, which number around 20, take some effort to maintain a sort of order. In the fairy, goblin, and elf districts they have their own unofficial peace keepers. This doesn’t bother the ogres. The less they have to deal with problems from the “tiny” folk, the more satisfied they are.

Ogres, though not especially social, do have business, and shops, much like those found in other cities. There are even some ogre feasting halls and bars, but most frequently an ogre will meet their small friend groups in homes or at the Great Arena.

The Great Arena

The Great Arena is the exception to an ogre’s self inflicted solitude. Situated in the center of the city, it is a magnificent stone colosseum. Here on festival days, seemingly decided on whim, athletic and gladiatorial exhibitions are held. The admission varies nearly as much as the games, with the cheap seats up front frighteningly near the action, and the Kings box high above it all.

Word of the games goes out one or two days before an exhibition. Most of the participants are volunteers or professional athletes. Rarely, a condemned fae or even human has to face the trials of the arena, but these are considered the warm up to the true entertainment that follows.

Despite the ogre’s reputation for brutishness, it is rare that even a criminal has to face an overwhelming challenge. If a criminal pleases the king with his efforts he will be pardoned, and then banished, but with a 100 crown purse to see him on his way. Fairy healers are kept at hand to treat the injured, but if there are any deaths, the King honors the “hero” with a payment of gold to whomever he named before the exhibition.  

W.D.

Wizard Dad's Workshop: Recursion for the Strange "Beyond the Gate"

There are a lot of game designers I respect for the scope of their creative vision. Kevin Crawford and his Sine Nomine products are near the top of the list for absolute favorites. I love Gavin Norman's take on B/X D&D with his Necrotic Gnome products, and the folks at Chaosium have made a slue of good games.

If I were to list my favorite game system though it would be the Cypher System by Monte Cook Games. 

Not only do I enjoy playing it, but I enjoyed running it quite a bit and now I play it solo as well. (Here is a link to some of the hacks I use to play it solo Cypher System Solo Hacks). 

The core Cypher System is setting agnostic, but they have a number of fully realized settings, one of which is The Strange.

The Strange is a dimension hopping game where PCs have the power to move from one pocket dimension to another. Most of these are created from fictions, myths, urban legends and the like. It is called fictional leakage. 

Both the core book and its supplement Worlds Numberless and Strange contain a number of recursions (alt dimensions) for a PC to explore and find adventure. 

I humble offer another, which I am solo playing in now. The link below will take you to the living document for that Recursion, when it is fully finished I will publish it here.

Keeping it Strange for you,
W.D.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1omqqZeCGjlkrbh9VQyxkFYaF05Uy_SlVCzdLLGg1Rlw/edit?usp=sharing

Wizard Dad: Solo Cypher System Hacks

I truly love the Cypher System by Monte Cook Games. When I first read Numenera, it was a much needed breath of fresh air. When I picked up The Strange from its Kickstarter, I discovered a dimension hopping game that was playable from “first level”. That has always been one of my favorite genre of fantasy. And finally when the first edition of the Cypher Systems Rulebook came out that felt like it opened the doors for infinite homebrew games. 

There are a million reviews on the Cypher System, and even live plays out there, if you want to see them, so I am going to pass on giving a system review. Instead lets focus on what would be immediately useful to the solo gamer. 

The biggest problem that solo PCs have in game designed for a group is Health/Hit point attrition and action economy. The first is pretty easy to fix. When creating the character give it 4 extra points to divide amid its pools (for a total of 10). As the pools are used to both measure the endurance of the character (similarly to Hit Points in other games) and to activate powers, the solo PC will need a little leg up. Additional, change the recovery rolls from d6+Tier to d6+Tier x2. This is a small advantage at first, but as you go up in Tier and face greater challenges that extra point per Recovery roll will make a big difference. 

The next problem is action economy. This is the classic solo game problem. I offer two solutions, either of which would work, but I use both. 

First, I do compose a full party with the PC as its de facto leader (even if you use more of a face NPC as the front man). The rest of the party though are handled as NPCs. Instead of having Tiers they have Levels and specialties , that fit the party you want to play. So lets say you want to play a fantasy adept. Add an NPC warrior and an NPC scout. Go ahead and write out their descriptor sentence as you would if you were going to make a full character, but instead of giving them full character sheets that sentence guides you as to what their specialties are. If they are assisting the PC do something they count as an Asset. 

If they act on their own, either compare the level of the task to their effective level or roll a d6 for the NPC and add their level and an additional d6 for the opposition (also adding its level). Who ever rolls highest wins the contest. If it is a simple binary effect then that is the end of it. 

If it is a combat situation the defender is either unharmed (should it have rolled higher) or it causes damage equal to its effective level (modified by any armor the defender has of course). That allows you to overcome the action economy problem with a single sentence description and an assigned level. I would suggest level 4 for warriors, with a level penalty for things they are bad at. For your scouts and adepts a level 3 plus the level of 4 of specialties that line up with the descriptive sentence. The reason for this is that warrior types need that extra 3 Health to serve on the front line. (Don’t hesitate to give them some good armor too). 

Every time the PC goes up two tiers add an extra level to the NPCs and make any necessary changes to their specialties. This will make them slightly more complex than a standard Cypher System NPC, but far less complicated than a full character would be. If you are ever writing enough that it overflows an index card, it is probably time to go back over the character and simplify it.  

Unless the NPC party member is some sort of Adept or other cypher expert reserve them to holding two cyphers. That still adds enough cyphers to the party that they can see regular use, without needing to change the rules so the PC can carry more. The game is strongly designed around these little burst of power evening the odds, so don’t cheat yourself. 

Because PCs take the spotlight, use your NPCs as Assets to the PC’s roll when ever you don’t need to shore up the body count in a combat. Keep the focus on the PC. There are no rules for NPC healing, so I suggest either a point per hour of down time or if you prefer a simpler method there level daily in points. 

The other suggestion is a bit harder, but not so much so as to be a hassle. That is enemy gangs and enemy attrition. If you are attacked by a mob, use the optional swarm/mob rules (in summary every +2 opponents adds +1 to their Level), that treats a number of homogenous attackers as 1 creature. Split them if they are facing multiple targets. 

This mob rule only counts for attacks. As defenders they are still individuals of their original level. This option cuts down on the number of dice rolls per combat round. As members of the mob go down so does the danger it poses as an attacker. 

(As an aside: GM against yourself with the same fair mindedness you would a party of your friends. Don’t overwhelm the party without notice. Let the challenges be challenging but not impossible, unless the dice really don’t favor you, and leave some sort of escape hatch, possibly through a Player Intrusion or Short Term Benefit).

Enemy attrition is a hack of my own, but it is similar to the the swarm rules. Just like PC weaken as they run low on their pools, so you can weaken an enemy as it runs out of health. I would suggest for every 6 points of damage lower the level of the enemy by 1. That shows the effects of the pummeling, without completely nerfing the encounter. If the enemy is level 1 or 2 this probably won’t be necessary, but if the enemy is 5 or over I highly suggest this tactic. Even with good NPC back up there is only 1 PC. 

XP in Cypher System games comes in a few forms. End of adventure xp, for learning things, usually 1-3 points. End of arch xp which is 2-4 points, and GM intrusions worth 1 point. 

If your oracle throws out a random event that catches you off your guard or steers the game into rough waters treat that as a GM intrusion. I also suggest any roll of 1, which will generate a GM intrusion be worth 1xp. The PC will need that xp to exert some player influence on the narrative, such as re-rolls and player intrusion, and short term benefits. Once again, there is only the one player, your NPCs can't use xp, but you could use your xp to have an alley do something remarkable that your character could not, and thus pull fat out frier.

When the you purchase a raise to pools as part of moving towards the next tier, I suggest you give 6 points rather than 4. This compensate some for the need for one PC to use Effort more often.

Lastly and most optionally consider letting the PC have a pick every tier from the Flavors list for their flavor and  tier as a bonus ability. 

When adventuring, if using pre made monsters, look at their Armor rating and Health. These may need adjusting on the fly down to 1 in the case of armor and the standard 3 Health per Level in the case of Health, depending what sort of campaign you are running. There are a lot of exceptions in the standard monster books. The core rule of 3 Health per Level is plenty challenging for a solo Adept or Speaker.

While Type, Focus, and Flavor abilities are fixed, consider allowing 1-2 xp cost, rule bending, or perhaps the expense of Effort to try a rule bending to add more flexibility to character abilities. Effort to buy in seems appropriate. 

There is an optional rule for Wizards, that should be expanded to other archetypes as well. (see CSRB 2e magic). The gist is that Wizards can acquire “spells” from other abilities or lists that are thematically appropriate, but the use of them cost recovery rolls or time. These must be from the characters current tier or lower and cost 3xp (as long term benefits). Every day the Wizard can switch their “known spells” and send other into the cost list. I see no reason a stealth, face, combat, or tech oriented character couldn’t do the same thing. But it must stay within the theme of the character. 

Cypher System Rulebook 2e nerfed a some powers, for the sake of game balance. I suggest use 1e powers to give your solo characters a leg up, but there is a ton of useful material in CSR2e. If both are not reasonable just get the Rulebook 2. Some games like Numenera and The Strange are complete on their own and don't need support from the CSR.  Feel free to reskin powers from any book to fit your current campaign. Solo games are all about stretching the limits to me, so I encourage you to do the same.

I hope some of these tips will help your solo Cypher game run more smoothly. Thanks for reading

W.D.

EDIT: I left out probably the most important hack. With just one PC they are going to going to sometimes find they are over their heads, a great way of balancing this out is to allow Effort to be applied after the roll. This still depletes the pool, leading to an expenditure of the character resources, but it does make them more capable which in a solo game is an essential survival safety net.

Recently I have also been allowing PCs to take damage for NPC which are gained as part of their ability set (be it through focus, type ability, or short/long term advantages). Again this weakens the PC but it preserves, what may well be, an essential resource. 

Lastly, though it isn't stated in the rules, allow NPCs the standard ability players have to keep up to 2 cyphers. This widens the available tricks up the sleeves of the party.

I hope these additional hacks enrich your game.

W.D.