Philosophizing with the Hämmer: why prep is play in solo RPG

Why prep is play, based on the differences in the core game loop of tabletop RPGs and solo RPGs

Beginning solo RPG players often ask the question: how do I play solo RPGs (well)? The somewhat annoying answer is often: do whatever you like, there is no 'right way'. I wholeheartedly agree with this answer but understand that it can feel unsatisfying. In this post I want to show why in solo RPG prep is play, based on the differences in the core game loop of tabletop RPGs and solo RPGs.

The core mechanic of tabletop role playing games is its fundamental loop. There are different types of  fundamental loop, but it mostly boils down to something like this:

1. The game master describes the environment and poses a problem.

2. The players describe what their characters want to do.

3. The game master adjudicates any rules if necessary and narrates the results of the actions (which leads to a new 1).

So playing TTRPGs in a group fundamentally consists of  having a discussion about meaningful choices. Plus, the participants of this discussion are asymmetrical in in-world knowledge and power: the game master is in most games more powerful than the players.

The game master is in a way the storyworld, the players the main characters. A game master is not a storyteller, but an obstacle course. The storytelling consists of the interplay between game master and players. The making of the book happens at the table.

This is different from playing solo RPGs: there is only one player which has different roles, so playing a solo RPG is not a discussion.

To be able to compare the core game loops, let’s take a look at the loop of GEMulator, by Solo Tabletop Blog as an example of  the core game loop of a solo RPG.

First of all, the flow of play is framed differently. In the core game loop of tabletop RPGs there is no mention of scenes. This is not to say that group play can’t be divided this way, but it is not fundamental to the loop. In the loop of GEMulator (and others such as mythic), it is.

The next step scene transition is a random moment in which the narrative proposed by the player can be changed. The set up of the narrative has a random moment by design. This way, a game master emulator allows the player to play hide and seek with themselves. In group play, the imbalance of information creates this tension: a game master can always come up with something else and the players can always react in an unexpected way to what the game master offers.

In solo, you as a player come up with a scene and the game may or may not change that. This means the player has more than one role during solo play. You are at least both stage director and actor.

While playing out the scene, you use the TTRPG's core game loop to play the prepared scene with the rules of whatever RPG you're playing solo. This step folds the tabletop RPG game loop into the solo RPG game loop.

The scene, whether changed or not, unfolds and you as a player make decisions that you play out using the Koch snowflake of the two rule systems (the game master emulator and the RPG you play), using random tables, spark tables, or oracles to simulate the choices of the game master. Often the extent to which the actions succeed is partly determined within the game master emulator (for example a chaos factor or determining the likelihood of an outcome before you roll).

So in addition to stage director and actor, you are also part adjudicator in solo RPG. The player is also the one who decides when the scene is finished, returning to the role of stage director.

 The last step is bookkeeping. Updating the lists of goals and characters. This in turn provides the recursive step to the first step of the game loop, by providing new goals, characters and locations for new scenes.

The player is stage director, actor, adjudicator and bookkeeper during a solo RPG game. So what playing is less clear in a solo RPG than in playing an RPG with a group. Playing solo, when you develop a city, a language, a faction or a character, you play in your role as a stage director.

When you roll and complete the scenes, you play in a way that is closest to someone playing it with a group. Only you are also part game master. If you decide that an NPC is leaving the scene, you play as a bookkeeper. Tallying all the nuts and bolts that are going on behind the scenes.

 Just as no group plays a table top RPG the same, neither do people playing solo. A group that skips one of the pillars of play (for example never engages in combat or never interacts socially with NPCs) still plays an RPG. If you enjoy painting figurines, or making maps, or working on a conlang, or drawing your notes in comic form, it's all part of playing solo RPGs. Long story short: prep is play.

Next week, a piece on what soloplay, ecosystems and fractals have in common. Read it here.