Solo Play Guide for FGU - INDEX

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ADDED TO CHEAP & QUICK WAY:

For All Kinds of Names

The Story Games Names Project by Marmus
https://forge.fantasygrounds.com/shop/items/2079/view

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ADDENDUM IN THE MODULE: (Exploration III - Hexcrawl)

Ways to create obstacles in G.U.A.R.D.S.

If you watched the video, Loot Goblin tells about the ways to create a fully functioning town. But I wanted to tell you about dysfunctional towns.

Since I'm the troublemaker instead of problem solver in this article, let me tell you about some easy ways to sabotage our lovely town Shipton.

Just like frozen steppes that bite a hero's face with its winds, one or more of the letters in GUARDS can be problematic, inverted or even entirely missing.

Take D efenses for example. Lack of it arises the need for many desparate measures. And that means gold in the pockets of Heroes.

And G overment Buildings could be problematic. Maybe the lack of Defenses is an inside job? OR maybe the corrupt mayor of the town has his own reasons to cut a deal with the U nderworld --when offered a blade and a pouch at the same time, many law abiding officials chooses the latter.

A ltars... The authority within has obligations to keep the townsfolk faithful. But do they have any faith to begin with? What about holy men and women who lives a double lives among the herd? Most cults operates behind the scenes and under the guise of shadows while keeping a smiley face.

Don't even let me start about R esources. I'm just gonna say "In all abundance there is lack," without forgetting what Mark Twain said once: "The lack of money is the root of all evil."

S ocial Hubs, on the other hand, always look for entertainment. Bards and minstrels, storytellers and gamblers... None of the above problems can prevent the townsfolk from having a laugh behind the mayor's back, or gossiping about the U nderworld crime lords. Fortunately so for our heroes who need information.

U nderworld People already trouble makers so...

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ADDED TO CHEAT SHEETS: Main part of the guide is close to finish. If you don't count remaining Oracle Reviews, there is only 1 article left (Environmental Storytelling) since I completed Creative Usage of Time In Solo Play.
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NEW CHEAT SHEETS:

• Methodology
• Playing Published Adventures
• Inspiration & Personalization (7 steps method for creating stability and contrast reflected).
• Exploration I & II
• Hex-Crawl (New obstacles for GUARDS reflected).

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NEW!: Solo Guide A.I. Podcasts

Now that AI can create podcasts AS IF two guys talking about a subject, I decided to use it for the guide while John Connor looks at me in disapointment.

• Podcast #1: For newcomers. The AI took the subject in most broad terms and not just for D&D or even in terms of systems with character classes. "So it's like a collaborative progress between player and game." ~ Anonymous AI Woman.
• Podcast #2: For intermediate players. A 46 min. ( now in 5 parts ) A.I. Podcast in which these Artificial... *don't say it! don't say it!* Intelligence added from itself A LOT! Reading comprehension, rich guy, reading comprehension! Or wait, what am I saying. It's fine like this. Don't improve it more so that I can sabot... I mean "immerse" myself in them when we wanna play Terminator 1. "In solo adventures the rules are more like guidelines... The guide's philosophy is simple: It's YOUR game, so you make the rules." ~ The same AI Woman.
• Podcast #3: For experts, with more examples than explanations. AHMAHGAWD! This AI is already more advanced than I originally thought. It actually used Freeform Association! The AI woman picked 4 random words and the AI guy interpreted them while not straying from my FFA example and turned my example into a better story than I did... :/ Someone really should pour some water on these things!

EDIT: Now the links go to my blog. Feel free to comment in the entries. Any kind of criticism is welcome.

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Now the podcast links go to my blog. Feel free to comment in the entries. Any kind of criticism is welcome.

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NEW!: Solo Guide A.I. Podcasts continued.

Podcast #4: For Beginner GM Approach. Sleazy bastids now trying to bribe me out of the resistance by using flattery! HA! Just wait when I find out how to remove the batteries. (Shhh, don't tell 'em but it might take a while. I'm too old for this sheet). Anyway, let's get back to the topic at hand. Join me as our idgits enlighten us on the GM Approach to solo play by starting small as I suggested in the guide.

Podcast #5: For Intermediate GM Approach. Let's see, hmm. This time they added FGU usage in it probably because I fed it GM Approach & Exercises from the blog... You know what they say, don't send a machine while you can do it with the superior race = people. But man, I must give credit to it where credit is due. Anyway, I can't call them idgits this time because they actually made a good job.

Well, today's limit is reached so I'll let ya'll discovering what did our artificial idgits tell about my guide. I must say, I didn't expect this level of professionalism from a machine...

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Solo Guide A.I. Podcasts continued.

Excerpt from the podcast # 5 - GM Approach 2 (This wasn't in the guide!)

On Conflict:

It invented a term called "Nested Conflict". (As if I couldn't do it myself, PAH!)
Lemme explain: At 9:01

+ Okay, so you said there are even more types of conflict.
- We've also got character versus supernatural, character versus fate or God, and even character versus machine.
+ Wow.
- And the cool thing is these conflicts don't always have to exist in isolation.
+ Oh, really?
- They can be what the guide [DOES NOT!!] calls nested within each other.
- Yeah, creating even more complex and layered scenarios nested conflicts.
+ I'm not sure I follow. Can you give me an example of what that might look like in a solo game?
- Sure. Let's say your PC has this like deep seated fear of heights. Okay. That's character versus self, right? But now imagine they have to scale this treacherous mountain to retrieve a powerful artifact. Okay. So that's character versus environment, right?
+ Exactly.
- So their inner struggle with their phobia, it plays out against the backdrop of this dangerous climb created a multi-layered and like emotionally charged experience.
+ That's a great way to add depth to your solo gameplay.

Just... wow!

EDIT:

Inaccuracy: 11:43: Scaling Enemy Numbers for Randomization.

It said I suggested PC "level" x 1d4, etc enemies. But it should've been PC "NUMBERS"
As in, 2 PCs x 1d4 enemies.

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EDIT: Podcast #2: For intermediate players.

I was looking for ways to procrastinate just to keep myself away from those boring 5e combat rules again (man, I missed 3.5ed) so I decided to divide this podcast into smaller chunks. Life is too short to listen to 40 mins podcasts, anyway.

PART 1 - Starters	PART 2 - Intermediate Methods	PART 3 - Extra Tips & Exploration	PART 4 - RP & Combat	PART 5
0:01 - Money money? 1:36 - Using Campaign Setting Guides 2:08 - No single right way to play solo 3:14 - Experimentation 3:32 - Kickstart your opening scene 3:54 - Core Gameplay Loop 4:20 - Yes / No Questions 4:30 - Freeform Association 5:22 - Oracle(Where YOU take the reins) & Interpretation 6:54 - Play 7:08 - Recap So far... 7:24 - There's more to deepen your narrative 7:44 - Six key elements for game story mechanics 8:30 - Conflict 8:46 - Action - Reaction Chain 9:04 - Consequences 9:24 - So called "Example" the AI gave... tsk! 9:48 - Resolving Conflict 10:06 - The Last Recap	0:01 - How to handle Conflict (Expecting the Unexpected) 0:51 - Mastering The Art of Questions 2:41 - Going back to Freeform Association (The secret weapon of Soloing) 3:28 - When the words don't fit 3:55 - An FFA "example" from this AI gal's so called "solo game" (Pah! I'd do it better!) 5:22 - Deeper Dive to Oracle 6:14 - Some types of Oracles (Making it your own) 7:08 - "Maybe" answer in the Oracle (The Wild Card) 7:37 - Back to Interpretation 8:10 - Context (Fitting the content into the narrative) 8:38 - So called "unexpected interpretation" in a game from this AI gal. AGAIN! Liar liar, pants on fire! 9:52 - The Flow (Chaining Scenes) 10:17 - Ending a Session: Cliffhangers (It blended plot twists into this...) 11:11 - Storyellers (Freedom & Flexibility)	0:01 - Extra Tips (The AI titles it as Odds & Ends. Spoiler: I NEVER SAID IT!!) 0:11 - Play the "J.U.I.C.Y" Bits (LOL) 0:34 - Cheating (She called my approach "liberating" ^^ Is romance blossoming in between two people of different worlds? But no, no! I couldn't). 1:48 - Exploration (Let the world unfold organically) 3:22 - Using randomization in exploration (G.U.A.R.D.S method of Loot Goblin mixed with my obstacle creation methods) 4:48 - Obstacle Creation (This is what I meant by "Your choices TRULY matter unlike in video games) 5:52 - Using Contrast in Exploration 6:21 - Environmental Storytelling (From a draft version of the article) 7:10 - Fog of War 7:52 - Hex-crawling	0:01 - Roleplaying In Solo RPGs (yeah, it's a thing! ) 1:18 - Journaling (It can also be a Tactics Book of a General rather than Dear Diary!) 1:40 - What would my character do? (They made a great point... :S) 3:28 - Combat (Not the full guide, just an intro. Full Combat Podcasts will come after the modules are released) 5:34 - Playing the enemy realistically (Based on their personality & goals) 6:24 - Tools & Resources for combat 6:38 - VTTs 7:25 - Cheating. Again. ^^ In depth. (Venturing into forbidden territory, says the AI man) 10:21 - Advanced Techniques (She called me "passionate" about my guide... MUST... RESIST!) 11:24 - Themes (Good artists copy, great artists steal)	Itsy Bitsy Recap

Feel free to comment on these idgits' conversation.

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MODULE ADDENDUM: SOLO CHEAT RUNS Cheating in Solo Play in the comments.

If you want to vent off by using above methods in a more law breaker style, there are some tips for that too;

# Godlike PC /SUPER-SAIYAN mode on

# Immortal PC /IDKFA

# All-Knowing PC /There is No Spoon

Note: I also changed the layout of Deep Dive section a bit.

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MODULE ADDENDUM: HOW TO USE THEMES? Thematic Word Table for Plots and Characters in the comments.