Heya, everyone!
Hope you all had a chance to help out the wizard Magnolius get past the debt collection golem in Deadbeat Potion Shoppe!
Last week, James McMillan asked how I like to handle solving mysteries in solo roleplaying, and Greg Hunter offered 'detective' as keyword inspiration. That got me thinking about what I like about mystery or investigation-type adventures in solo play, so I thought it would be interesting to make another Solitary Musing about the topic.
For me, personally, the interesting part of solo investigations is not so much solving a preset mystery, but being able to create a connect-the-dots environment, a setting populated with characters who have the potential to be interconnected.
I hope my musings will inspire your own new ideas on how to create your preferred custom solo gaming experience!
Solitary Musings II includes:
- Mystery Pyramid discusses a technique using setting as a funnel to create characters, tension, and conflict.
- Foreshadowing Incidents is about having the starting point of your investigation showing only a small or different part of a larger plan to unravel.
- Connecting the Dots goes into using progress bars to build up suspense and how to anticipate the big reveal.
Anyway, enjoy!
Cheerio,
John