So, one day, not too long back, nobody asked me if it were possible to play a West Marches type campaign as a solo player. Well, after a bit of experimentation I can now say the answer is a definite sort of. Like most things involving gaming it comes down to a point of view. On one hand the player vs, player run for the loot is not feasible. On the other hand it is relatively simple to have multiple characters in the same campaign who's stories crisscross over one another. So, instead of setting ourselves up for disappointment, largely caused by an ill fitting labels, lets call what we are about to explore a Crosshatch Campaign.
In many ways a crosshatch campaign is like a West Marches style. A single player (if you are a soloist this is a given) can assume several different character roles, and by keeping good notes, especially about the passage of time, you can see how one PC's play arch crosses paths with another PC's play arch, each adding details and depth to the totality of the setting.
I had a few false starts, scratched out segments, and do-overs before I came upon a system that worked, but I think I have it pretty well down pat at this point.
Lets start with similarities to a West Marchs type game. First of all, it is open world, meaning there are no physical constraints on the actions of characters, with one caveat which is home town or "Base" is typically a safe place. Not to say you can't have adventures there, but it needs to fall back to its "default state" after said adventures.
Secondly, many of the game hooks are floating out there in the rumor mill and any character can grab a thread and run with it. Again though, this time for soloing reasons, only one character at a time can pursue a primary plot hook . (Trust me on this. I tried PC vs PC race to the finish line, and it is just difficult, strange, and your favorite character always wins).
Next, though the "base" town, village, or city is somewhat static, the world can, and will, be effected by player action. If there is a dragon menacing the north territory, and one of your characters, maybe with some hired mercenaries, drive it off or kill it, it is no longer in the campaign for any of the PCs.
I feel that flows into the next topic. Every time we play, I think especially with a solo game, the branches of the adventure uncover more plot hooks than any one person can follow. So, here we bend logic a little bit and add the ignored threads to a general rumor list (more on this later), which can you feed to your other PCs by rumor mill, or contacts. If the thread discovered is a secret kept by the initiation PC, then the discovery roll (how ever it works in the system you are using) will have a higher difficulty. If they are the type to brag over drinks at the local tavern or union hall, then the rumor will be easy to find out. I encourage the later a bit, unless one of your PCs is particularly furtive.
Lastly, the calendar is very important. You must strictly mark the passage of time, to know when a particular PC makes changes to the setting (outside of the base) so that they can be added to the group on going story. I call this a Synchronized Game Calendar.
Okay, lets move onto the differences.
As with most of my solo games, I use the Mythic GM Emulator 2nd edition as my randomizer, but really any GM substitute that works for you will work for this (even one you make for yourself), but I encourage you to borrow two of MGME2 useful tools, which we will adapt to our purposes here. A Rumors List (called in GME2 a Threads list), and a Universal Characters List (just called Character List in Mythic).
I am differentiating Rumor list from Thread list, because threads are personal to the PC at hand. Rumors are there to latch onto and explore for any hero or entrepreneur, but do remember, once a PC has grabbed at a Rumor and started to untangle it, it is locked until they give it up.
A last list I would add is a Settings Elements list. This isn't rumors or specific people (though sometimes it will over lap with the Universal Character List) but is a list of universal organizations, weather conditions, powerful NPCs, etc. that could pop on the scene at anytime. They show that the world is bigger than the PCs, even if the PC being played is the "bel of the ball" at the moment.
Let hit a quick glossary here so people don't have to swim through the intro for terms.
- Base: A semi static safe zone to start adventuring from and for adventurers to return to afterwards.
- Rumors List (RL): a collection of plot hooks any adventurer can take.
- Universal Character List (UCL): NPC who are significant enough to the setting that any player may encounter them.
- Setting Elements List (SEL): A group of qualities off the setting that could come to into play at any time.
- Synchronized Game Calendar (SGC): A list of events that happen in the course of an adventure, that will effect the whole setting and the Specific Date In Which They Happen
- Also a detailed game calendar allows for the addition of holidays, national days or mourning, or any other predictable timed event, all of which work as plot hooks.
Here are a few more useful details to add.
Whether you are playing in an established setting or you are home brewing it, pick a Base that could be a crossroads for adventure hooks. My first Crosshatch Campaign started in a town where the train system crossed over the well upkept merchants roads. That gave me ample ability to move around in the broader setting and didn't have low power characters having to leg it 100 miles before they jumped into an adventure.
On the note of the base, though you may want to make a village or thorp because of there simplicity, consider using instead a small city or large town, so that the PCs can equip, and as some become rich maybe start investing in the Base, with an inn or a home or a business. That will ground them more in the setting. There is no point in building an inn if there is no traffic to fill it up.
Also, give serious consideration to the first PC who will be going out to explore. You certainly can create plenty of rumors for the RL straight from scratch, but your "adventurer prime" will be one that generates the more organic hooks that the other PCs will follow up. If you are playing a D&D style game, consider a character that travels easy, like Ranger or Scout.
Finally, populate the surrounding country with things to go see or do. They don't have to be ADVENTURES in all caps, but could be curiosities, like a ring of standing stones, or a seemingly bottomless well, or an infamous cave system that periodical gets in habited by monsters. If you are an experienced solo player, just the act of going somewhere will incite something to happen along the way. (and if that fails there are always things from the Setting Elements List you can roll up to make things more interesting).
I am sure there is more to say on this topic, and as I experiment more with this type of game I will come back to the blog and add more suggestions, but I think this is enough to get started. If you have any questions please hit me up in the comments section.
No comments:
Post a Comment