I am doing a solo playthrough of my upcoming game supplement: Al-Rathak, Tales of the Crescent Kingdom (it is a supplement to Castle Grief's Kal-Arath with an Arabian Nights vibe). You can read it here on Substack.
I started by plying live on twitch (with chat engagement and rolling) and then decided to turn it into a substack, so I have both.
But I didn’t realize that id want to sort of play with the substack formatting after I had posted it and figured it out, so I would probably add “don’t stress a grand opening” to the list of advice here. You’ll get in your groove if you just keep at it.
Great article! I especially like to here about other people's workflows. Personally, I use version control with obsidian, and word for the revisions and formatting.
Story Telling Techniques was a great section too. I use some basic narrative structures like the 5 room dungeon or 1-2-twist.
Great tips! I think a lot of folk are delighted by the idea of playing solo, but don't actually do it because they might feel somewhat empty when creating a whole story and characters and not sharing it with others. I know I do. So publishing actual plays, in any form, can actually help some to stay motivated to continue and finish their campaigns.
Thanks for plucking this out of the vaults. As one of those newbies, I found it interesting to read and reflect on how far I've come in just a few short weeks!
This is timely information for me. I’m planning to start a Cloud Empress actual play in a few weeks!
So far I’m putting characters and tools together with pencil and paper. I’ll be rolling dice too. The tactile elements are part of the RPG experience for me and I don’t want to skip them if I don’t have to.
Thanks for gathering all this advice! I thought getting ahead a few posts before launch would be good for me. It’s good to see that strategy worked for other people. The other tips should help keep it fun too!
Love Cloud Empress. Such a cool world. Essential to have a few in the tank when you start before you settle into a good schedule. It's allows people to get invested knowing they got a few to enjoy.
I've been doing my solo roleplaying using Google Docs, a dice rolling app, with the rulebooks saved on my phone and PC. That way I can play on the go or sit down at home for a longer session, and it's all synced and ready to go. I'm using Starforged which can be a bit challenging to manage in a single Docs file with stats, conditions and assets. For anyone using Google Docs I highly recommend setting up bookmarks within your file to help keep track of everything (I break my solo play up into chapters) and you can also create dropdown menus within Docs to records condition meters, progress tracks, clocks, etc.
Another though occurred to me after reading the section on keeping your motivation going:
DON'T start an AP with the primary goal being monetisation or fame. That way madness lies.
Tons of great info here!
I am doing a solo playthrough of my upcoming game supplement: Al-Rathak, Tales of the Crescent Kingdom (it is a supplement to Castle Grief's Kal-Arath with an Arabian Nights vibe). You can read it here on Substack.
Awsome! Congrats on the supplement and play thru!
Thanks. I assume you saw this:
https://bookwizard999.substack.com/p/al-rathak-tales-of-the-crescent-kingdom
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I started by plying live on twitch (with chat engagement and rolling) and then decided to turn it into a substack, so I have both.
But I didn’t realize that id want to sort of play with the substack formatting after I had posted it and figured it out, so I would probably add “don’t stress a grand opening” to the list of advice here. You’ll get in your groove if you just keep at it.
Great additional advice! I agree. If you want to start a AP, best thing is to just do it.
Great article! I especially like to here about other people's workflows. Personally, I use version control with obsidian, and word for the revisions and formatting.
Story Telling Techniques was a great section too. I use some basic narrative structures like the 5 room dungeon or 1-2-twist.
Five room dungeon is a classic for a reason.
Wow, saving this for later because I have toyed with this idea for a while but felt too overwhelmed to start something! Such a helpful post!
Awesome! Really happy to hear it. If you start one up, drop me a line!
Great article! I read it twice.
So glad to hear! It was a joy pulling it all together from the various creative people.
Great tips! I think a lot of folk are delighted by the idea of playing solo, but don't actually do it because they might feel somewhat empty when creating a whole story and characters and not sharing it with others. I know I do. So publishing actual plays, in any form, can actually help some to stay motivated to continue and finish their campaigns.
Thanks for plucking this out of the vaults. As one of those newbies, I found it interesting to read and reflect on how far I've come in just a few short weeks!
Glad it's helpful! Yeah sometimes it's worth dusting off the old stuff.
This is timely information for me. I’m planning to start a Cloud Empress actual play in a few weeks!
So far I’m putting characters and tools together with pencil and paper. I’ll be rolling dice too. The tactile elements are part of the RPG experience for me and I don’t want to skip them if I don’t have to.
Thanks for gathering all this advice! I thought getting ahead a few posts before launch would be good for me. It’s good to see that strategy worked for other people. The other tips should help keep it fun too!
Love Cloud Empress. Such a cool world. Essential to have a few in the tank when you start before you settle into a good schedule. It's allows people to get invested knowing they got a few to enjoy.
I've been doing my solo roleplaying using Google Docs, a dice rolling app, with the rulebooks saved on my phone and PC. That way I can play on the go or sit down at home for a longer session, and it's all synced and ready to go. I'm using Starforged which can be a bit challenging to manage in a single Docs file with stats, conditions and assets. For anyone using Google Docs I highly recommend setting up bookmarks within your file to help keep track of everything (I break my solo play up into chapters) and you can also create dropdown menus within Docs to records condition meters, progress tracks, clocks, etc.
When I was releasing actual plays weekly I played in notion which was good for on the go, on my home computer or *cough* work computer.