28: SOLO
And this is where I came in, with gamebooks and then the next step of one-to-one games.
Yesterday was the 39th anniversary of The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, first of the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks that started me off and led to my first sessions as player and GM. One of my small claims to fame was telling Ian Livingstone about John Robertson’s adventure game comedy show The Dark Room when both were here in Edinburgh for assorted festivals, as they’ve since gone to appear together at conventions.
And I’ve still never gotten through that maze.
One-to-one gaming allows a character focus you normally have to share. But that focus goes both ways. With very little conversation about what to do, in-character dialogue only going back and forth, and less waiting around for their turn, a single focused player will charge through plot at great speed. The obvious downside to a very small group is that if one player out of four misses a session you can go ahead, less so with one of three, two, or one.
Also, Han Solo. And Napoleon Solo. And Ksenia Solo. And Hope Solo.
Bonus round:
Dream - I use omens and portents in games but very rarely dreams, as dream logic is unreliable, the “it was all a dream” ending is pretty hard to get away with nowadays, and most of the dreams I remember are disappointingly mundane. That said, the Sandman “instant adventure” RPG series from Pacesetter never made it past set one of ten but I’ve always been curious about where it was going.
Open - After various games with players keeping secrets from each other, I prefer an open approach to this. If someone can’t separate player and character knowledge this can be an issue.
Delve - I still delve into my RPG magazine collections. I’d happily run the Golden Heroes adventures from White Dwarf, for example.
Runeslinger on Dream
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