Make Any RPG Solo 

Thanks for those kind words, and happy solo gaming. Yes, it is completely liberating. You can even change mechanics or approaches between adventures if you find something isn't working out. I've run Star Wars solo in at least two different systems and may even us it to try out a third one I'm thinking of (and I want to have a go at just two PC's, maybe an astrodroid or 3PO unit as NPC's). All the best!

I sometimes roll a d6 as an oracle: 1-3 is in the PC's favorm 4-6 isn't. Thanks for watching and all the best!

Great points. If I were running 5E, I'd almost certainly use those simplifications. Thanks for the comment and take care!

Sounds like that reverts it to more of a 1st edition AD&D style. Ironically, the book “DM Yourself” (5e version) recommends 5th edition D&D specifically because it has skills to roll making things more objective.

@@drivers99 I'm not a "my way or the highway" tuber. If those extra skills help a person in their solo gaming, that's great. No matter what your system preference, solo gaming is time well spent. Thanks for watching.

@@drivers99 There's a lot to say about that, but it boils down to this. Original D&D was designed to handle exactly one situation: dungeon crawling. Everything that came after D&D wanted to do more, and they all had to deal with a compromise: how complicated are you willing to get to try to simulate all possibilities? What's worth adding in detail? On one end we have things like GURPS that try to give intensely detailed characters and second-by-second action. On the other we have things like Free Universal that collapse everything down to a scant few traits and let dice rolls cover anything from a moment to hours of work depending on context. I've wrestled with complexity versus efficiency for decades, and I've come to a realization: you could play an RPG by flipping a coin for every interesting decision that isn't obvious. That's all you need. The rest of it is how much of a simulation you want, and frankly, computer algorithms do simulation better than even Phoenix Command. If we want complex simulations, we can play things like Twilight 2000 or Millennium's End. If we want to play a more heroic setting, like Star Wars or an action movie kind of setting, then that complexity isn't needed. If we want to play a _good narrative story_ instead of a _situation,_ though, then the ability to interrupt the system and enforce the players' interests is more important than how many bullets a handgun holds. Which is a lot of words to express what was said in this very video: different people require different amounts of detail to make the game feel right to them. All I meant by my comment was to give a maybe-useful example of how one system has an option to adjust its complexity, that's all. For some that information will be useless. For somebody, though, it could be the reason to stick with the system they already own instead of wasting time scrounging for a perfect system when there simply isn't any such thing.

@@drivers99 RU-vid ate my first reply. The nice thing about the DMG's options is that it's possible to customize 5th Edition for a wide variety of play styles. Original D&D really only handled dungeon crawling, that's it; you had to add other games to it for other situations. For a high-detail game you want those skills; for a solo game of running four PCs by yourself through a dungeon, simpler is better. With 5th Edition you can risk a bit more and still survive, and also custom design the characters, and that's reason enough to play the newer rules in my personal opinion.

Thanks for the comment, and happy gaming, solo or group!

Thanks Elise. Hope we get to game together online soon. Enjoyed having you in my Star Trek game. Was ruminating on a Planet of the Apes night on my walk this morning.

Agreed, especially on Basic Fantasy (I've been a BFRPG DM for a long time). White Box is nice too, especially as you mentioned with the single save. In fact, they are both good for face to face as well. Thanks for watching and happy gaming.

@@sharpmountaingames9303 working on a more portable way to play solo. So that why I can sit in bed or take it on the go. I have a dotted line notebook that I plan on putting what I need in it. Plus I have my phone for a dice rolling app on it

Great, happy playing! That's a great genre to solo play and journal in.

I've heard of that one, thanks for the recommendation. All the best!

I guess they are supposed to help you randomize your experience. Though I never use them. Once I have an initial idea, I just run with it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

And you can add skills to BFRPG is you absolutely must have skills (or feats or whatever).

@@sharpmountaingames9303 : B/X was almost a decentralized system. So if you replaced combat with a coin flip, it did not need a rework of -everything else-.

Thanks for the recommendation and for watching. All the best.