Today I returned to solo play. The time had come to try something different, to experiment with ways of roleplaying that shift the dynamic from my usual state of quiet desperate overwhelm and anxiety towards something healthier, more enjoyable, and sustainable.

I began with a question: What’s the least mechanism that I need to create the kind of roleplaying game experience that I want? Related to that is another question: What are the methods that will help me deliver the experience I want to enjoy as a player?

I’ve decided to heed the advice of my friend, Daniel Jones from Primaeval Fantasy, and confront the “sacred cows” of my approach to roleplaying games. As I examine the herd of assumptions and ideas that I’ve accumulated over time, I find that it’s time to sacrifice some of them to the roleplaying Gods. Hopefully I am not torturing the analogy.

My solo tool of choice has always been the Mythic GM Emulator Deck. With the recent advent of the Mythic Game Master Emulator’s Second Edition rulebook, I’ve decided to explore the utility of those tools through the lens of two articles from the Mythic Magazine.

In the spirit of “what’s the least rules I can happily utilise”, I’m beginning with an article in Mythic Magazine Volume 31: “Mythic GME As A Rules-Light RPG”. Basically, this is an approach to scale the GME to handle characters with Descriptors that are optionally ranked on a ladder of adjectives running from Weak up to Superhuman. It reminds me (favourably) of Fudge as an approach.

Because I want to employ a sandbox, open world exploration approach to my game, I am also importing advice from Mythic Magazine Volume 33: “Open World, Sandbox Solo Play”. This article provides suggestions for using Mythic questions to sketch out the sandbox before you begin play. This is a great idea which has engaged my inner-GM and given me a pathway to dive headlong into the action.

I am using the Mythic GM Emulator Deck to handle world-based questions and much of the GM emulation. To give me the dice rolling that I enjoy, I am using the Task Resolution ideas from Mythic’s “Rules-Light RPG” article, as well as the modified Resisted Ranks Fate Chart provided to handle opposed challenges. The d100 die rolls for character actions give me a sense of direct involvement at the table.

As soon as Mythic RPG Second Edition releases, I will go mine it for ideas. As the revised GM Emulator Deck similarly becomes available, I will see about upgrading that too. But for now, I have all the tools I need. I’m coming back to the core Mythic GM Emulator and using those tools to run game solo.

And the first place I visited was Darkwood.

Game on!