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Here's a writeup of my first Odessy in Four Against the Titans. Olympos has fallen. War rages between the gods and the titans. The gods are on the back foot and Zeus himself, king of gods and men, has been defeated and imprisoned by the giant Typhon. It is up to the children of the gods – the result of so many promiscuous encounters with mortals – to take up the fight and forestall the destruction of Greece. Our heroes are Silver-tongued Hylos, son of Aphrodite; Bloody-handed Leona, daughter of Ares, Shadow-wise Iolanthe, daughter of Hekate; and finally, Iron-minded Maro, son of Hades. (nicknames stolen from Agon) Children of Aphrodite have the ability to reroll encounter reactions and inspire the party; Ares' are ferocious in combat; Hekate's are able to cast a fireball and poison a weapon, and finally Hade's can resurrect another Hero once per odyssey, and gain 2d6 obols whenever they rest in a city. They start in the city of Mycenae in Argolid - you have an option of five starting cities; I picked this one more or less on a whim and a desire to avoid sea travel just yet. Long held to be the cultural heartland of Greece, the Argolid has two of civilisation’s finest cities in Argos and Mycenae – the homes of so many Greek heroes. Although suffering occasional satyr attacks coming down from neighbouring Arkadia, the Argolid was relatively peaceful before the coming of the titans. They've visited the Agora to supplement their starting equipment and buy provisions (Bread, Cheese, and Wine) for the journey. Their first goal is to head straight for the temple of Delphi in the Phokis region. The first leg of their journey will take them to Aitolia. We need to roll on the journeying table and resolve the results until they roll a 5 or 6. The journey is easy, and it is in high spirits that our band of heroes enter the region of Aitolia. This rough country in the west of Greece has a fertile coast line, backed by harsh and unproductive mountains. The fields and groves around Kalydon are plagued by a giant boar which tears down grape vines and attacks farmers in their fields. Upon entering a new region we roll on the Region table, and resolve that before travelling on. You can also choose to stay in a region and explore it more - this is the way to get to cities if your first roll didn't give you the city. The band disturb a group of 5 nymphs (L3, normal treasure) who take offence to the group trespassing into their grove and attack. (They could also have invited the party to rest, or run away) Hylos looses a sling stone, which doesn't do enough damage to knock out any of the Nymphs, and then the party has to defend; Hylos and Leona get hit (Leona is being attacked by two of them). In the heroes turn, Hylos swops to his dagger, whilst the other three attack. After a couple more rounds the nymphs are down; Leona took a bit of a beating (down to 4 life), but finished the fight by slaying the last two herself. The Nymphs have normal treasure - three obols. The group could explore the region, but want to get a move on and so try to head off into the Phokis region. Along the road they encounter another traveller, a man named Lethos, who offers them payment (Treasure +1) if they can escort him to Delphi (The NPC always wants to go to the next city the characters get to, so there's no reason not to accept), and since they're heading that way, the heroes accept. Lethos has three life, and will not take part in combat (but can be attacked) The rest of their journey is uneventful, and they arrive in Phokis. Centred around the great oracular sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, the central region of Phokis attracts pilgrims from across the Greek world and beyond. Wedged between Boiotia and Thessaly, its byways also fall prey to the ravages of maenads and centaurs, while the great serpent Python has laid siege to the sanctuary itself. The roads are quiet as the party travel towards Delphi, but the news from other travellers is grim; there's no getting around it, they'll have to free the city from the serpent before they can enter. They stop for a picnic (restoring 1 health to everyone) before continuing. The second roll on the region table brings the group to Delphi. The lands around the city are a poisoned wasteland, and it doesn't take them long to track down the serpent. Hylos uses his sling to no effect, and then Python attacks; Leona is able to defend, but both Iolanthe and Maro are wounded by the Titan, though neither succumb to its poison. Python is Level 5, has 3 life, 3 attacks, and if wounded a hero must roll 4+ on a d6 or take an extra wound due to poison. If Python slain, the heroes will be rewarded with the Bow of Apollo. Hylos uses his Charismatic ability, granting the other heroes +1 to their next attack or defence roll, whilst Iolanthe applies poison (+1d3 wounds) to Leona's spear. Leona attacks and hits, doing 1 damage from her spear, and another two from the poison. The great snake is slain, and there is rejoicing in the city of Delphi, and the Heroes are gifted with the bow of Apollo for slaying the Titan, which Hylos claims. Lethos obviously doesn't approve of his front row seat to the titan fight, as all he offers the party is a loaf of bread. For this visit resting in the inn is free, which heals everyone for two points and resets their Per Odyssey powers. Finally, for slaying the Titan and escorting Lethos to Delphi, the group have two level up chances, which are given to Hylos and Leona, both of whom succeed. All rested, the heroes travel to the temple of Apollo to seek its Blessing. The High Priest (Life 4) seeks an escort to the city of Amydon in Paiona; the journey will take them through Thessaly and Epeiros. It's far more like a boardgame in play than an RPG, though you could certainly narrative it up. It is fun to see what challenges the heroes face, and discover whether they'll succeed in the overall quest. The main decisions you take are what route to follow, and when to use your abilities. Angrymog fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Apr 28, 2021 |
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Apr 28, 2021 15:45
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So I finished my first 3 days of the first scenario from English Eerie, a journaling solo RPG with a focus on old English horror literature. I like it so far. You play with deck of cards, revealing dangers to you, a NPC or other obstacles. Clues can also be found. The third and sixth day always end with major turning point in the story, culmulating in the end of the story on day 10. Depending on your willpower you get a more or less favorable ending. I like it so far. The NPCs have enough traits to make them compelling from the get go and the story flows really well. Really looking forward to play it a bit more and to test out some more journaling games. Downloaded 3 from itch.io and I hope The Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe comes to the platform soon cause it sounds pretty good (missed the Kickstarter unfortunately)
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Apr 30, 2021 22:10
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I just did my first session of Starforged and I forgot how much fun and evocative the Ironsworn experience could be. Nothing like trying something colossally stupid and then rolling double-zeroes.  I was just trying to retrieve some medicine from an escape pod for the colony, dice, why do you hate me??? 
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May 1, 2021 01:55
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Pinwiz11 posted:I just did my first session of Starforged and I forgot how much fun and evocative the Ironsworn experience could be. Nothing like trying something colossally stupid and then rolling double-zeroes. Double zeros on that roll: "Huh, this sure is some weird looking medicine. Almost looks like...eggs? AAAAHHH OH GOD MY FACE"
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May 1, 2021 07:35
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StarkRavingMad posted:A whole buncha stuff Yknow, I’ve been thinking of what I want to stream. Maybe I’ll stream some of those games as a way to introduce myself to the medium. Would streaming these solo be kosher in the TTRPG community, or should I hold off? Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 23:46 on May 2, 2021 |
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May 2, 2021 23:00
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I don't know about those games in particular, but streaming solo RPGs is definitely a thing some people do.
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May 3, 2021 07:35
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Would yall be okay with posting an Ironsworn journal here? I don't want to spam up a discussion thread with self-facing fiction, but I just finished what I'd consider my first 'session' and it was super fun. I'd love to share it here and get people's feedback on what moves I made + my general reaction to the game.
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May 4, 2021 03:33
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Scrree posted:Would yall be okay with posting an Ironsworn journal here? I don't want to spam up a discussion thread with self-facing fiction, but I just finished what I'd consider my first 'session' and it was super fun. I'd love to share it here and get people's feedback on what moves I made + my general reaction to the game. Go for it.
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May 4, 2021 03:41
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Scrree posted:Would yall be okay with posting an Ironsworn journal here? I don't want to spam up a discussion thread with self-facing fiction, but I just finished what I'd consider my first 'session' and it was super fun. I'd love to share it here and get people's feedback on what moves I made + my general reaction to the game. 
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May 4, 2021 05:55
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edit: this ended up being a bit to autobiographical, but the point remains -- Ironsworn owns.
Scrree fucked around with this message at 18:30 on May 18, 2021 |
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May 4, 2021 11:42
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Coming off that, I just did the OP for my Starforge CYOA. - Where my dyslexic rear end spells Iron wrong in the title. So! Come see the idiot do it! Its in SPAAAAAACCCCEEEEE.
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May 4, 2021 12:12
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For the original Ironsworn, if I don't really have a concept for a character off the top of my head, I'm able to make the world first, right? And then depending on what's in it, think about the character?
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May 6, 2021 16:02
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Pollyanna posted:For the original Ironsworn, if I don't really have a concept for a character off the top of my head, I'm able to make the world first, right? And then depending on what's in it, think about the character?
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May 6, 2021 16:07
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You can also completely forego world and character generation (for the most part) and flesh out both directly in-play.
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May 6, 2021 16:29
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Dope, I'll review the rules for world creation and probably dedicate session 1 to getting those going. (this would be single-player)
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May 6, 2021 17:03
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We are developing so much lore during our sessions, it's awesome. Same with our characters. It just comes up during play
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May 6, 2021 18:29
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Been delving into the original Ironsworn and wow, I'm gonna need another monitor.   At the very least, you've got: - The character sheet - The map - The world workbook - Your progress(es) tracker - Asset cards - Rules cheatsheet - Moves cheatsheet Any recs for organizing this all on one screen?
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May 7, 2021 00:18
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Use Roll20. The character sheet ist amazing and your only need the map and world stuff. Moves, assets, oracles, etc are all on the sheet, including a dice roll button on every move and oracle.
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May 7, 2021 06:58
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Hell yeah, works for me.
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May 7, 2021 19:03
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So... any folks here done a Thousand Year Old Vampire playthrough that they kept the notes for? Kicking mine off; stumbling hard on resources, hoo boy.
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May 8, 2021 05:40
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Ironsworn seems cool. I'm a sucker for a hex grid map you can explore. I have the old LOTR CYOA gamebooks and they have similar hex grid maps and they're fantastic.
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May 9, 2021 22:36
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Trying out making a character in Ironsworn right now and this is both more work than I expected and requires more thinking and imagination than I have at 9pm on a Sunday.  Edit: buuut, a little time away from the worksheet and watching someone else go through the game has given me a good idea for my character! I should keep a journal. Something I'm having a little trouble with is oracles for things like motivations or general personality descriptions. Like right now, I've got a character who's contracted to hunt down an Elder Wolf, based on this prompt: quote:A prominent Ironlander is consumed with the need to bring vengeance upon a specific beast. What makes this creature distinctive? How did it earn the wrath of this Ironlander? Do you aid this person in their quest, or act to prevent their blind hate from destroying more than just the beast? The third question is easy - it's my job. And whether or not they're consumed by vengeance isn't my problem. The first and second questions, I didn't have good answers for. So, I figured I'd consult the oracle. For the first question, I rolled on theme and got "Knowledge". I had no idea how to incorporate Knowledge into making an Elder Wolf descriptive, so I figured we needed to ask a different kind of Oracle. I rolled Character Descriptor and got "Powerful". Okay, so it's a Powerful Elder Wolf, so I'll make sure to make it scarier when I fight it. The second question, I don't know how to roll for. "Why does this NPC want revenge on this Powerful Elder Wolf?" Would that be Theme, Character Descriptor, Goal, Activity? Or maybe I should just sleep on it and figure it out in the morning. Edit: I went with two Themes, and I got "Spirit Creature". I figure this means that the individual thinks the spirit of someone they know was reincarnated into this beast, and they...want it dead for some reason?  I have no idea what to do with this, but it seems to be what's going on.That said, I have no idea how I'm going to bring that last point into the character's story, or how it will matter long-term. I guess this is more about storytelling, but any advice? Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 03:44 on May 10, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 02:17
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Going with knowledge, the Wolf is possessed by the spirit of the village's recently-deceased colossal rear end in a top hat busybody. They know everyone's routines and habits and secrets, and are using them to do more damage than they could by just eating people. Revealing (and mauling) affairs, making GBS threads in the well, smashing the elder's glasses and burning their papers. I'm not good at this in the morning.
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May 10, 2021 07:13
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Maybe the Powerful Elder Wolf could be a more of a spirit warden? Maybe the NPC is certain that a loved one died unrightfully and the wolf is guarding the spirits of the ones that died in the area around here? So slaying the wolf might set the spirit free and he Ironlander can try to bring his loved one back? Just an idea off top of my head
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May 10, 2021 07:14
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Perhaps the spirit wolf is a psychopomp, it has intimate knowledge of when and how people (are supposed to) die, so that it can guide the souls of the recently deceased safely to the next world. Trying to kill or hinder it is probably pretty dangerous and foolhardy, and could have some serious long term ramifications. Perhaps the questgiver is on the verge of a breakthrough and could save themselves or a loved one if only they had a liiiittle more time, or perhaps they just want this wolf to suffer as they have.
ovenboy fucked around with this message at 10:01 on May 10, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 09:57
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It's also worth keeping in mind that you're not obligated to use oracle results: if inspiration doesn't strike after mulling it over for a bit, or if you just plain want something else, reroll! For motivations, Action|Theme usually yields workable results, especially if paired with the NPC's Goals and Descriptors.
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May 10, 2021 10:19
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SkyeAuroline posted:So... any folks here done a Thousand Year Old Vampire playthrough that they kept the notes for? Kicking mine off; stumbling hard on resources, hoo boy. Oh dear, losing all of them or just not "getting" them as it were?
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May 10, 2021 11:40
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lol https://www.reddit.com/r/Solo_Roleplaying/comments/n8rbqh/disappointed_by_the_author_thousand_year_old/
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May 10, 2021 12:06
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90s Cringe Rock posted:Going with knowledge, the Wolf is possessed by the spirit of the village's recently-deceased colossal rear end in a top hat busybody. They know everyone's routines and habits and secrets, and are using them to do more damage than they could by just eating people. Revealing (and mauling) affairs, making GBS threads in the well, smashing the elder's glasses and burning their papers. That’s a good reason to kill it, but kinda light on the vengeance part. I’m taking the prompt to mean that it’s personal for the quest-giver, and yeah I’d be offended if someone took a poo poo in my well, but it wouldn’t be so impassioned as to go Inigo Montoya on the fucker. I suppose I can ask the oracle on that one, but maybe it’s smarter to ask it some leading questions instead: what kind of person is this quest-giver, is the settlement or other stealing they’re from in foible, etc. A frame to build motivations on, or something. But maybe that’s too much at once? Selecta84 posted:Maybe the Powerful Elder Wolf could be a more of a spirit warden? That’s also pretty interesting. Taken in conjunction with: ovenboy posted:Perhaps the spirit wolf is a psychopomp, it has intimate knowledge of when and how people (are supposed to) die, so that it can guide the souls of the recently deceased safely to the next world. Trying to kill or hinder it is probably pretty dangerous and foolhardy, and could have some serious long term ramifications. Perhaps the questgiver is on the verge of a breakthrough and could save themselves or a loved one if only they had a liiiittle more time, or perhaps they just want this wolf to suffer as they have. It would make it personal for the quest-giver, dangerous for the PC, and have long-lasting ramifications if he kills it. Also some drama and heartstring-tugging. Still, the vengeance part is a bit lacking. —- How about this? The quest-giver has reason to believe that the Spirit inhabiting the Powerful Elder Wolf is the recently-executed murderer of his brother, and it’s using its Knowledge of the steading’s inhabitants to pick them off one by one in revenge. The PC has more reason to take the quest now - maybe playing the family card elicits some sympathy from him. That makes it personal for both the PC and NPC, makes it persistent by remaining an active problem until it’s dealt with by the PC, and makes it time-sensitive by having a clear end goal and increment: kill villagers until they’re all dead. However, the quest-giver also believes that if you kill an Elder Wolf, significant mystical beings with a relation to the afterlife of their own, you run the risk of dooming yourself to being stuck on this plane until you fulfill...something. But the PC doesn’t know this. That gives us our final piece: danger. And we have ourselves a quest! —- Iunno, is this getting too complicated? Maybe it doesn’t all have to be true - the quest-giver just believes it is. Who knows, I guess. Play to find out! Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 13:16 on May 10, 2021 |
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May 10, 2021 13:13
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Josef bugman posted:Oh dear, losing all of them or just not "getting" them as it were? Setting them up, primarily. Completely freeform with only two or three examples is a little too loose for a system. Managed to figure some out that should be fine though.
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May 10, 2021 13:44
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I have also started playing 1000YOV. If you want to read along as I play the Google Doc is here.
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May 10, 2021 23:09
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potatocubed posted:I have also started playing 1000YOV. If you want to read along as I play the Google Doc is here. Excellent writing so far. I'll see about putting mine up if/when I get further. Not nearly as good of prose from me though. Glad to see folks share their experiences.
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May 10, 2021 23:20
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Thousand Year Old Potato has finished. The ending felt kind of abrupt and unsatisfying, I think because I didn't look ahead so I didn't know how close I was getting to the end of the prompts. If I was going to play it again I'd be able to pace things better. (And I think I probably will play it again, but not immediately.) But that said, going back to the start and reading it again makes it clear just how much this man has lost over the ~500 years of play. It was certainly affecting, watching him lose or destroy precious things because he just sort of... stopped paying attention. And I kind of want to know what happened to the other immortals -- they sort of wander in and out of his life and he only gets these snapshots of them. Maybe when I play again I'll take on one of them and try to tell their story. It's a good game!
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May 12, 2021 11:27
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90s Cringe Rock posted:lol https://www.reddit.com/r/Solo_Roleplaying/comments/n8rbqh/disappointed_by_the_author_thousand_year_old/ That’s awesome. I guess I’ll pick it up then. 
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May 12, 2021 17:37
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potatocubed posted:Thousand Year Old Potato has finished. This was pretty great! I’m also doing a collaborative game of TYOV on the FATAL and Friends page, where I let other goons chose the Prompts as I play. Y’all are welcome to pitch in!
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May 12, 2021 18:07
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90s Cringe Rock posted:lol https://www.reddit.com/r/Solo_Roleplaying/comments/n8rbqh/disappointed_by_the_author_thousand_year_old/  I just purchased my copy.
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May 12, 2021 18:14
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Doctor Zero posted:That’s awesome. I guess I’ll pick it up then. Quick look at post history from the guy who made that thread: quote:Rock <me> Hardplace imagine my surprise that he would be upset at an author denouncing the far-right
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May 12, 2021 19:58
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Anyone else here heard of The Machine? It's a solo RPG that you send to someone else when your character inevitably meets a bad end, so their character can 'find the journal' and meet their own bad end, with the idea being that over time it builds up into a sort of quasi-horror art object. I've just finished my run on a new game, and I'm looking for somebody to post the journal to. Anyone in this thread up for it?
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May 15, 2021 20:41
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potatocubed posted:Anyone else here heard of The Machine?
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May 15, 2021 23:49
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 20:05 |
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Hosting a game of Thousand Year Old Vampire as a CYOA in the Game Room. Check it out here: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3967604
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May 16, 2021 03:06
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