All Things Solo

In Player Approach you're only concerned with Inspiration and Personalization. Let's begin with PCs and their goals. By the way, these are not just for solo play, as Group GMs can take advantage of these methods while creating their own settings.

# Elusive Muses

"Sweet dreams are made of this. Who am I to disagree?" - Eurythmics.

Really, though. This world has so many things in it that we don't even need any muse to bring them to our attention. We can just go to them now. For example, have you ever watched a video in which a hummingbird lands on a sugar-water box shaped like a flower? Those scenes have some sort of magic in it. The super fast flight of the small bird; the prrr sound its wings make; patient and careful waiting of the guy with the box; the awe inspiring feeling when the bird drinks from the box; and when it lands on the hand of the guy: it's glorious!

If you noticed, all these parts appeal to certain senses: vision, hearing, other feelings... I mentioned this because any of them, or more senses and feelings can be a source of inspiration. Of course, when it happens naturally, we tend to feel very excited about it. And when we -well, not force it but- work for it, it kind of doesn't feel the same. I beg to differ. This is NOT to say "go force it," no. This is to say, "earn your inspiration as your character earns inspiration points." After all, without work, there is no gain.

But HOW to exactly do that?

# Ode to Heroes and Heroines

When creating characters, most players look at a picture and says "I want to play this guy." But they don't have any idea "who" that character is. Of course, vision is a powerful tool to be inspired by but it isn't comprehensive. I'll talk about using the vision sense in "place" section and my lists will contain songs for heroes but that doesn't mean you can't get inspiration from pictures for your characters.

What's important is creating memorable characters and such characters have a feeling of almost a real person. As I read many fiction novels throughout my life, I noticed that in the heart of making a living character lies us, people like you and me, instead of one sided super strong warriors or flawless beauties.

## Similarities & Contrasts

Bagginses & Indiana Jones: Have you ever looked at Bilbo at the start of the Hobbit movie, then compared him to himself at the end of the movie? There is something different than Indiana Jones when you do these comparisons and see them side by side. Indiana Jones stays the same no matter what happens. But Bilbo? Especially Frodo? Not saying one is better than the other. This is to bring attention to an element in fiction that makes your characters seems like they're flesh and blood.

• Similarity Provides Structure and Stability
• Contrast Piques Your Interest

Raistlin & Caramon: If any of you read the Dragonlance series, you'll know what I mean by Similarities & Contrasts. Raistlin and his brother Caramon is a great example of this and there is a reason they are widely popular characters even to this day. Oh, Raistlin. Fragile, yet Powerful. Arrogant, yet Introverted. Mysterious, yet Obvious. Ill-tempered, yet Caring. Manipulative, yet pays his dues. Observant, yet Blinded by Power. Awe-inspiring & Terrifying. And his brother? Caramon: Simple fighter with simple tastes. Yet these twins have so many similarities and contrasts both within themselves and with each other that I can't say if we unearthed all of them even today. NOTE: Check the Muses > Classes > Wizard for an old song about Raist.

Drizzt: R. A. Salvatore's most beloved character. His contrast is not with a character but in essence, with the concept of "dark" itself, especially the place he was born in (Menzoberranzan, Underdark). As his race (dark elves) commit all kinds of atrocities against each other for power, his kindness has the power to evoke warm feelings even in his big sister who is ruthless to him. And getting punishment for it doesn't stop him being himself! His similarity is with surface elves, the ones that he heard about as hateful enemies to his kind in lullabies when he was young.


Who were they, and who are they now?

I'll simply ask this question and give no spoilers as to tell you that you also CAN create such memorable characters. Think in terms of human traits, psychological or physical or spiritual -it doesn't matter. All you need is a word for a trait and its antonym. First, try to bring out the character in your mind, if there is anything that makes sense in what I wrote so far. Describe the character's traits, pick one and find the opposite word for it. Then exaggerate, combine or contrast with those two traits as if you're an alchemist who is brewing a new potion. If nothing comes to your mind, compare any characters with themselves in different times and with other characters. And ask some What IFs during the experiment. Starting your experiment with your favorite character usually yields better results.


# Questioning the Holy Grail

"A prudent question is one-half of wisdom." - Francis Bacon

I don't remember if I wrote this anywhere but I must have implied that you can flesh out your PC's quest by asking questions. But with a twist.

• - Who? - Ask about a character related to the quest.
• - What? - Ask about an object or action in the quest.
• - When? - Ask about a time of the quest. Maybe add a time limit.
• - Where? - Ask about a place(s) of your quest, or along the way.
• - How? - Ask about the way your PC can or "can't" achieve the goal(s).
• - Why? - Ask about a reason or a cause for the quest.

Bring the "lit" in literature back into Roleplaying.

The Quest: It doesn't have to stay as generic as "kill the orc hordes" or "fetch this thing from over there."

Doubt: Why would your PCs even risk themselves for it? Isn't "for the sake of adventuring" or "it's just how the game works" too dull?

Critical Thinking: How can you turn this quest into an adventure like Bilbo had after Gandalf poked him out of the door?

INVESTIGATION: This is where the creative fun begins! Your quests don't have to be action-based (kill / fetch) quests. They can be inspired by themes from literature. The way of doing this is to pick a theme you like for your PC and use these questions to turn it into "The Quest" of your PC. Do you sense the difference? Video games have all the same quests, but "The Quest" is the life goal of your character and not a thing to do for getting loot from enemies your PC killed. Yes, getting loot is good but getting it for "the cause" is better! It could be, protecting beauty in a dark world to live on. Learning about the question "Who am I?" or even a philosophical one as in Planescape: Torment "What can change the nature of a man?" Maybe you want to explore a passion of yours; make it your PC's Quest and let the dice tell the story for you. You couldn't believe the stories you can tell by simply personalizing your character and put 'em in between a rock and a hard place.

Results: Note that you are not writing a script but you are playing a game. So, trust the dice to create some healthy level of chaos in the game. Because without the sense of tension and danger, you will get bored of playing it. You may or may not like what you will find in your exploration of these themes but one thing is certain: you will learn many things about it. Just use opposing forces to your PC to put your theme into a test. In player's perspective, you defend your goal, but in villain's (GM) perspective you attack that goal. From this conflict will rise many answers and information.

The New Reality: When your journey eventually turns into something unexpected, you will at least have a story or two to tell when you're back in home. IF... you can survive.

TBC in Part II.