Playing D&D alone

[Fighter1000]

Has anyone here ever played D&D alone?
If so, what did you think if it?
Cuz I do it often and find it quite fun, most of the time.
And no, I'm not a lonely little *** with no friends. I have plenty of friends, but most of them don't like to play D&D and the ones that do don't really want me to DM cuz they are all too concerned with their own DMing.

[NavyBlue]

I'm not really sure how I would, to be honest.

[Fiery Diamond]

I've never seen the point. If I'm going to be doing RP alone, freeform is A) more convenient and B) not bound by rules. And thus, it is basically the same thing as imaging and making up a story in my head, but talking out loud.

[killianh]

I'm not exactly sure how that would work out. It takes away a large portion of the game if you know all of the rolls and the plot in advance, other wise it's just play testing a character by putting it up against randomly rolled monsters (which I do only when I'm working on some weird build or testing party characters against my encounters while planning out sessions).

I've played with only two people before taking turns at the DM seat and it hasn't been bad, but all my my own I can't say that I have or that I would try.

[NiteCyper]

I tried to convert a module into a pick-your-own-adventure (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=7643.0). There wasn't much of a focus on roleplay. I did try to structure spoilers for objectivism, but it was just as much for crunch as fluff. It was focused on seeing if one's level one character could solo it. Try it out.

[DementedFellow]

I suggest looking up a good MUD (Multi User Dungeon). It may not be 3.5 specifically but it can give you the solo experience or if you want others they can show up too. The sad reality is that MUDs have fallen out of favor. Only a small number of hardcore gamers continue to play.

[Madara]

I'm not really sure how I would, to be honest.

Neither am I.

However, this webcomic seems appropriate (http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ffn/index.php?date=2010-08-02). Along with the next few strips. :smallbiggrin:

[ThiagoMartell]

The D&D Adventure System can be used for solo play. It is a boardgame, though. (Well, three boardgames)
That said, I've only played it solo once, when I first unboxed my first game, to test it. At all other times I've had people wanting to play, those games are really popular.

I really don't think you can play any tabletop RPG by yourself.

[lianightdemon]

You can it's just really hard. You have to not metagame what you as the DM knows and what your character knows. During combat on the turns of the monsters you have to play them as intelligent as they are and try their best to achieve their goals. (Which is usually kill/eat the PC)

For the rp and the game overall I found it's best if you sit at a computer and open Word to type out everything your character does and sees, including npc conversations. Not only will you get to reread it later on, but then anyone else in the house won't sound like your talking to yourself.

I found it easiest with premade campaigns like shackled city, were you only need to read a little ahead.

The character you play should be able to handle a number of situations solo. Using a tier 1 character or highly optimized build helps.
Or you can play a party but it is easier to simply play a single PC and the npcs.

Key is, as with larp, is to disbelieve and get totally in character for both to pc and the npcs.

[Eldan]

THere was a German website some time ago which had a few Choose-your-own D&D adventures. Basically, you came to a situation, then chose one of several pre-set courses that were outlined very generally, made your checks ,then advanced.

An example would be, with the fluff mostly removed.
You meet three ogres. Do you:

Fight them (play out the combat) - Click here if you win, die if you lose
Use trickery to get past them (use appropriate spells or skill checks) - Click here if you get past, choose another option if you fail
Talk to them (roll diplomacy or use enchantment spells) - Click here if successful.

Really quite simple, and it left the rules up to the player, but it worked.

[robertbevan]

Has anyone here ever played D&D alone?
If so, what did you think if it?
Cuz I do it often and find it quite fun, most of the time.
And no, I'm not a lonely little *** with no friends. I have plenty of friends, but most of them don't like to play D&D and the ones that do don't really want me to DM cuz they are all too concerned with their own DMing.

ha ha ha... that was my first experience with d&d. my family moved to richmond, va, when i was twelve. i got my mom to buy me the d&d boxed set (the red box with the dragon on it) because i thought it might be something i could play by myself.

i laughed because the reason i did that was because i was a lonely little *** with no friends.

in the instruction manual, after i read up on how to roll a character, it took me through a tiny mini-adventure, and i thought that was the game... and what's more, i thought it was pretty cool. and then it ended, and i found out you need other people to play this game.

well, crap.

i got my cousin to play with me a couple of times. but by the time i had a solid group of friends to play with regularly, we were playing second edition.



but no, that's not something i do anymore. i'm with the others in wondering how exactly it is you go about doing that.

[LadyLexi]

It seems kinda pointless to play a game of D&D on your own. I mean, there are so many other activities you could do that sound more fun. Even if you somehow didn't have a computer (and posted here with telepathy?) you could always go out for a walk or write a story.

[Piggy Knowles]

Sometimes when I'm DMing I'll run out test encounters a few times on my own, especially if they're big or important battles - it gives me a good feel for how tough it is and lets me refine things before the actual game day, and it helps me prepare for the crazy crap PCs come up with.

I guess that's not really all that different than playing on my own, especially if I were just running through a pre-made dungeon or something.

[Ernir]

Do I play D&D alone? All the time. We call it Play by Post. Gets me all the D&D, none of the sweaty social interactions with other meatbags.

[dantiesilva]

Yea its called writing a book. lol Other then that I as others have said play test the things I think would be interesting to throw at my PCs. When I first started playing i played alot on my own because my once a week DM made it so the only day he could play is days i worked so it came to me being late to games and having to create many characters.

[mattsdelf]

As a DM, I play encounters alone only to playtest how the encounter would work, but it's work, not play like playing with a group. Let me suggest that instead of playing alone you use the internet to play with other people on this forum, there is a section for recruitment and ongoing games, but you can't really play by post the same way you would in person, which is why these websites exist;
http://roll20.net/
http://tabletopforge.com/
http://www.myth-weavers.com/

[CTrees]

I've run through the mechanics of things for playtesting a few times. Useful to see if an encounter is going to absolutely murder a party.

I actually started a campaign journal for an all-psionic PF party going through Age of Worms. It was going alright right up until the encounter with the beetle swarm resulted in a TPK. As I was playing the rolls legitimately, and my party wasn't at a very good balance point, I dropped it. Part of the purpose was also learning the psionics system better, so it was a success in that respect.

[juicycaboose]

There is DND Solo Adventures (http://dnd.chromesphere.com/) which i've heard from a friend works quite well for playing singleplayer d&d.

I've never tried it myself though.

[Malachei]

You can it's just really hard. You have to not metagame what you as the DM knows and what your character knows. (... Snip ...)

Key is, as with larp, is to disbelieve and get totally in character for both to pc and the npcs.

It would certainly help to have multiple, distinct personalities. :smallbiggrin:

[Ravens_cry]

Eh, play one of the D&D computer RPG (there is many, going back to the Dark Days of DOS), if you want to get your D&D jones on alone.
Doing it pen and paper sounds like a singularly unsatisfying experience that just might make you go blind.

[Tengu_temp]

Do I play D&D alone? All the time. We call it Play by Post. Gets me all the D&D, none of the sweaty social interactions with other meatbags.

Yeah, it's not like people on the internet are real humans or anything.

[Ravens_cry]

Yeah, it's not like people on the internet are real humans or anything.
Silence you fool, you'll destroy us all!

[Deadlights]

Eh, play one of the D&D computer RPG (there is many, going back to the Dark Days of DOS), if you want to get your D&D jones on alone.


For a DOS classic, I recommend NetHack: it's free, hard, and should appeal to the optimizer in all of us. Also check out dwarf fortress.

Or you could give baldur's gate or neverwinter knights, which are basically dnd campaigns in video game format.

But sitting alone playing D&D just seems... incredibly depressing to me.

[Ravens_cry]

For a DOS classic, I recommend NetHack: it's free, hard, and should appeal to the optimizer in all of us. Also check out dwarf fortress.

Personally, I recommend the original Rogue-like, Rogue.
No graphics, no sound, just you as a rectangular smiley face, slaying your way through the alphabet.

[Deadlights]

Personally, I recommend the original Rogue-like, Rogue.
No graphics, no sound, just you as a rectangular smiley face, slaying your way through the alphabet.

While I have played it and enjoy it's simplicity, NetHack's near excessive levels of detail and complexity win out for me.

But yeah, Rogue is much better introductory game to the genre.

[lsfreak]

For testing encounters, yes. Also for background events - plan out each side and see what happens, so it isn't just DM's choice that the village repelled a goblin attack, but they actually did. It sometimes helps me come up with plot hooks, adds depth to characters, and so on: the peaceful cleric was nearly killed by the goblins ransacking the temple, a house was set on fire because it was easier for the goblins than to chase down the archer on it. Things you can't necessarily come up with without playing it out, that makes it seem like a much more active world.

[Shinovar]

Ive played some by myself, but that was mostly just so I could understand certain classes more and how they work in combat situations. I didn't get very far though, because it got boring fast.

[Keneth]

I do this every time I'm the DM. I create the story for my main characters and then I play through the story, which quite often changes them entirely from how I originally imagined them. Such characters feel more "organic", they're not just some statistics and a side story that feels made up, they're actual characters who made actual choices in their own adventures. When I DM a campaign, I do it mostly for myself, playing my own characters in my own story, the actual sessions with my players are just intersections that make the whole thing interesting. :smallbiggrin:

[panaikhan]

I have done it a few times, to test out character concepts. Very little role play though, just roll play.
There was a random dungeon generator in the back of a DMG (think it was 1e) that kinda worked. It had the bonus of you genuinely not knowing what was around the next corner (or even if it was a corner at all).
But yeah, in this age of computers, there are plenty of D&D-esque games out there.

[Tytalus]

I found it to be useful and somewhat entertaining way to test encounters as a DM. It can also help to try out character concepts or round them out, simply by asking yourself how the character would act in a given situation. The roleplaying part is certainly challenging, since you have to separate player and character knowledge cleanly. If you play with multiple characters, such as a full party, it gets even harder.

[GeriSch]

For Solo-Adventures i recommend the Lone Wolf Books, you can even play them online for free now.

gr,
Geri

[witchlordgamer]

[/CENTER]ghter1000;13600148]Has anyone here ever played D&D alone?
If so, what did you think if it?
Cuz I do it often and find it quite fun, most of the time.
And no, I'm not a lonely little *** with no friends. I have plenty of friends, but most of them don't like to play D&D and the ones that do don't really want me to DM cuz they are all too concerned with their own DMing. Yes i have played many prg games solo for many years now. The secret is you have to be able to write a good story keep logs of every game session to refer back to.You also can not fudge the dice rolls the dice are very important not only to combat but also to movement and direction. how I do this is lets say your party comes to a t shape hallway there are 3 possible directions they can go I roll a d6 north 1-2 east 3-4 west 5-6 . I always stock the dungeons even random encounters do'not leave this undone its the difference between a good adventure and a slow one. i have a list of encounters on a sheet of paper ready to go and a percentile matrix for randoms as well. Miniatures as well as 3d terrain also help to make great games i will write the story stock it then create the terrain the only thing I dont have control over is the final outcome. Will the party survive or not if you lack in funds to create terrain or just want to create your own to customize your own story line check out the DM's craft on utube everything is dirt cheap to make and turns out awesome I hope this helps answer your question and as I always tell all my gaming friends GAME ON O and before I am cursed with insults I do belong to several gaming groups that meet on the weekends but I have met alot of so called DM's that suck at story telling