There is a new app called Roll N’ Write, it’s only for iPad so that obviously ups the entry point cost (the app itself is a couple bucks and a free version is available). I followed the same journey as you and I have found this app to be the perfect mix. I can open a pdf next to my journal, write on whatever I want, roll dice on the app, but I can also do anything physical I want (I have books out and at least some d6 if not additional dice). It allows me to play at my desk, or even in bed after the kids are down for the night.
I ended up making a pdf of some of my most frequently used tables from multiple sources, and a character sheet, and then use physical copies of the actual core books. It has only been a week but I’ve found myself managing to get time to okay every single day since starting with the app.
I didn’t make it and don’t know the person who did, I just stumbled across it in a post on Reddit and have been really impressed.
Like others, I’m in the hybrid camp, although barely. I do have the physical rulebooks (more for supporting the creator than anything else), but I mostly use the PDF anyway because ctrl+f is hard to beat.
For my ongoing Ironsworn campaign, I’m using Iron Journal to track all the stats, assets, vows etc. Then I have a separate folder in Obsidian where I track NPC’s, lore, plot hooks, locations etc. I do most of my rolling digitally but if I want, I do have the dice available to roll physically as well and I usually do for Oracle rolls.
I’ve tried journaling and physical only but it doesn’t seem to work for my brain - I kind of need to have the narrative written out for myself and the conversations and all that, so I can reference back to it if need be later. And writing 1500 words per session by hand AND playing it out would be A LOT of work compared to typing it out on a computer.
Now, I do IT work for a living so I sit in front of my computer a fair bit anyway, so when I play I usually grab my laptop and play somewhere else than in my office room. I like the idea of pure physical and got Kal Arath purely to try it but I found out osr and Ironsworn are quite different and I had virtually no idea how to actually play it since not everything is explicitly spelled out for me in the rules. For sure a me-problem, though.
It's just the same for me. I feel the urge to write all the narrative. Nonetheless, I'm trying to switch to an all physical setup for my upcoming campaign of Ultraviolet Grasslands. And planning to resume the Badger's Song too (my Ironsworn campaign).
I was also evaluating the possibility of recording the session narrating the session out loud and then transcribe everything with the aid of NotebookLM.
I made the same steps like you. Now i sometimes play phisical (4against darkness, kal-arath, starforged) becaus i like drawing. But when im in bed or traveling i use notion with my phone and a dice app (for small creatires such as we, Notorious, ironsworn with iron journal) and is easier and quick(but i cant draw) :)
Time to pull out an old Filofax for just one notebook for all the physical games 😂 movable pages are great for that kind of thing. Definitely handwriting slows things down, though.
I'm digital pure mostly, but I much prefer rolling real dice and I'm trying to have the important reference stuff on hand, like a rulebook or my most used oracles. For long form, typing up the story with footnotes is too useful, but I'm experimenting with doing point form for a shorter 'sessions' so I can squeeze in a bit of something light on my lunch breaks. Also when I use digital only I'm glued to my computer all day and then after my kid goes to bed, which is a little much haha. Still trying to find the happy medium!
I try to keep my set-up as analog as possible but sometimes I'll use my Chromebook for character/dungeon generators or for background music.
What I Love About Physical:
I love the feel of books and journals too much to go purely digital. Sometimes shipping can get pretty gnarly these days though. I bought a print-only pamphlet this week and the shipping cost roughly the same amount of money as the pamphlet.
Recently, I started to buy my zines/pamphlets as PDFs from DriveThruRPG and Itch.io and print them. If the zines are text heavy and have little to no color art, you aren't sacrificing too much quality. If a book is over 50 pages and/or has lots of color art, I'll buy the physical copy. For now... I may look into learning how to bind books.
My I Love About Digital:
I have messy handwriting. I think faster than I write. Using a keyboard is far easier for me and my fingers punch out my thoughts without feeling the latency of writing by hand.
It really doesn't. I ordered my Mork Borg core rulebook 2 years ago, when Stockholm Kartell was in between printings. They gave me the PDF but it was absolutely excruciating waiting for my copy to arrive. It was well worth the wait though.
Farewell to Arms is also another rulebook that is stunning to behold.
I remember the old days of playing on the mobile versions of Iron Journal and Stargazer. Those were some good times. Now, I'm mostly hybrid with my main books (lately Ironsworn family) at the table with my dice but writing on Google docs. I tried the dot journaling method...but my brain rebels.
I've been jumping between physical and digital since I first started playing solo TTRPGs - in general, I've found that physical suits me better, since I already spend most of my day at the computer, and it allows me to build it into my daily routine - I have a small table next to my bed, which allows me to play for about 1h before sleep, and has the benefit of allowing my brain to disconnect from the digital stimuli and slow down for a better rest. Some games still work out better digitally, but the physicality of games like Koriko or Wreck this Deck gives me something that those can't.
I’m currently facing that exact dilemma with Starforged and other oracles. There are just too many digital PDFs, and using my Android tablet and iPhone feels a bit uncomfortable or tedious. I think I need to print out as many resources as possible to get that perfect hybrid setup.
By the way, I also think Pocketforge is better than Stargazer — I highly recommend it.
There is a new app called Roll N’ Write, it’s only for iPad so that obviously ups the entry point cost (the app itself is a couple bucks and a free version is available). I followed the same journey as you and I have found this app to be the perfect mix. I can open a pdf next to my journal, write on whatever I want, roll dice on the app, but I can also do anything physical I want (I have books out and at least some d6 if not additional dice). It allows me to play at my desk, or even in bed after the kids are down for the night.
I ended up making a pdf of some of my most frequently used tables from multiple sources, and a character sheet, and then use physical copies of the actual core books. It has only been a week but I’ve found myself managing to get time to okay every single day since starting with the app.
I didn’t make it and don’t know the person who did, I just stumbled across it in a post on Reddit and have been really impressed.
I'll have to check our Roll N Write. Sounds like a great solution! I do play on my Mac Air when I play digitally
Like others, I’m in the hybrid camp, although barely. I do have the physical rulebooks (more for supporting the creator than anything else), but I mostly use the PDF anyway because ctrl+f is hard to beat.
For my ongoing Ironsworn campaign, I’m using Iron Journal to track all the stats, assets, vows etc. Then I have a separate folder in Obsidian where I track NPC’s, lore, plot hooks, locations etc. I do most of my rolling digitally but if I want, I do have the dice available to roll physically as well and I usually do for Oracle rolls.
I’ve tried journaling and physical only but it doesn’t seem to work for my brain - I kind of need to have the narrative written out for myself and the conversations and all that, so I can reference back to it if need be later. And writing 1500 words per session by hand AND playing it out would be A LOT of work compared to typing it out on a computer.
Now, I do IT work for a living so I sit in front of my computer a fair bit anyway, so when I play I usually grab my laptop and play somewhere else than in my office room. I like the idea of pure physical and got Kal Arath purely to try it but I found out osr and Ironsworn are quite different and I had virtually no idea how to actually play it since not everything is explicitly spelled out for me in the rules. For sure a me-problem, though.
Great idea to take your play away from your usual place of work. I think that is where I've gone wrong in the past.
I'm 100% with you on needing the narrative written out! I gave up on trying to play by summary or bullet points because of this.
And your narratives are awesome!
It's just the same for me. I feel the urge to write all the narrative. Nonetheless, I'm trying to switch to an all physical setup for my upcoming campaign of Ultraviolet Grasslands. And planning to resume the Badger's Song too (my Ironsworn campaign).
I was also evaluating the possibility of recording the session narrating the session out loud and then transcribe everything with the aid of NotebookLM.
I made the same steps like you. Now i sometimes play phisical (4against darkness, kal-arath, starforged) becaus i like drawing. But when im in bed or traveling i use notion with my phone and a dice app (for small creatires such as we, Notorious, ironsworn with iron journal) and is easier and quick(but i cant draw) :)
Including drawing with your solo play always enhances the experience. I just suck at drawing.
I suck at drawing too! Hahaha
Time to pull out an old Filofax for just one notebook for all the physical games 😂 movable pages are great for that kind of thing. Definitely handwriting slows things down, though.
I'm digital pure mostly, but I much prefer rolling real dice and I'm trying to have the important reference stuff on hand, like a rulebook or my most used oracles. For long form, typing up the story with footnotes is too useful, but I'm experimenting with doing point form for a shorter 'sessions' so I can squeeze in a bit of something light on my lunch breaks. Also when I use digital only I'm glued to my computer all day and then after my kid goes to bed, which is a little much haha. Still trying to find the happy medium!
I try to keep my set-up as analog as possible but sometimes I'll use my Chromebook for character/dungeon generators or for background music.
What I Love About Physical:
I love the feel of books and journals too much to go purely digital. Sometimes shipping can get pretty gnarly these days though. I bought a print-only pamphlet this week and the shipping cost roughly the same amount of money as the pamphlet.
Recently, I started to buy my zines/pamphlets as PDFs from DriveThruRPG and Itch.io and print them. If the zines are text heavy and have little to no color art, you aren't sacrificing too much quality. If a book is over 50 pages and/or has lots of color art, I'll buy the physical copy. For now... I may look into learning how to bind books.
My I Love About Digital:
I have messy handwriting. I think faster than I write. Using a keyboard is far easier for me and my fingers punch out my thoughts without feeling the latency of writing by hand.
You really can't beat physical for some rpg books that are a work of art. I love my copy of Mork Borg and the digital version doesn't do it justice.
It really doesn't. I ordered my Mork Borg core rulebook 2 years ago, when Stockholm Kartell was in between printings. They gave me the PDF but it was absolutely excruciating waiting for my copy to arrive. It was well worth the wait though.
Farewell to Arms is also another rulebook that is stunning to behold.
I remember the old days of playing on the mobile versions of Iron Journal and Stargazer. Those were some good times. Now, I'm mostly hybrid with my main books (lately Ironsworn family) at the table with my dice but writing on Google docs. I tried the dot journaling method...but my brain rebels.
Yeah I find myself coming back to narrative play over and over again.
I've been jumping between physical and digital since I first started playing solo TTRPGs - in general, I've found that physical suits me better, since I already spend most of my day at the computer, and it allows me to build it into my daily routine - I have a small table next to my bed, which allows me to play for about 1h before sleep, and has the benefit of allowing my brain to disconnect from the digital stimuli and slow down for a better rest. Some games still work out better digitally, but the physicality of games like Koriko or Wreck this Deck gives me something that those can't.
So great that you use solo RPGs to disconnect. That has always been the best part of playing them in my opinion.
I’m currently facing that exact dilemma with Starforged and other oracles. There are just too many digital PDFs, and using my Android tablet and iPhone feels a bit uncomfortable or tedious. I think I need to print out as many resources as possible to get that perfect hybrid setup.
By the way, I also think Pocketforge is better than Stargazer — I highly recommend it.
Oooh I'll have to check out pocket forged!