Forum

I tried to search but haven't seen any thread on this. TFTL was my first non-D&D RPG and I'm delighted for that. Not having a group meant I had to play it solo, which I really enjoyed and was almost meditative. However, I found this a bit challenging. Here's what I did.

Firstly, I didn't even read the premade campaign (Four Seasons of Mad Science), as the truth of the mystery was explicitly stated at the front, so that would be pointless. I opted for the Police Station at Stenhamra Mystery Landscape. Even though the truth was also stated there, the landscape left much more freedom to develop a solo play campaign.

Then, I needed a GM emulator, and used Mythic GME for that. It worked fine. I also bought a title called Alone in the Loop on DriveThruRPG, which had advantages (more specific prompt words) and disadvantages (no chaos factor, less detail) agaisnt Mythic GME.

At the end, it was all a bit of a creative writing exercise, with some daydreaming aspects, although Mythic allowed for several actual gaming decisions/experience. That's one approach to solo gaming. Since doing that, I've experimented with solo play in other games, incl. D&D, Blade Runner, Fate, and micro-RPGs. I'm currently reading through the DM Yourself title, which is a bit of a revelation when it comes to D&D modules. However, the problem remains on what to do with mystery-adjacent games like TFTL, Blade Runner, and so on.

I am eagerly awaiting the solo rules for Coriolis The Great Dark and Blade Runner, which will hopefully give some inspiration on how to play TFTL solo. I did try to play the Blade Runner Electric Dreams case file solo, and it worked remarkably well without any other supplement (I didn't use Mythic). I just tried to avoid reading as much as I can and just follow the path dictated by my choices, and this led to some interesting gaming with few spoilers. When it comes to solo play without a pre-written module, Blade Runner is much more helpful than TFTL in the sense that there are clue tables and other stuff you can roll when stuck, which can easily guide a solo player through situations. It's also written for 1-4 characters, so no need for a party. There is still a need for some framework, and Mythic Magazine 6 provides some of that. Perhaps the Blade Runner solo rules will address this more specifically.

I'm wondering if this approach would be suitable to TFTL though. The main difference is that the scope for the clues can be much wider, and that's to some extent its appeal, that virtually anything can happen, from the eldritch to the semi-mundane. It's closer to the Electric State in that sense (naturally, since they're both from the same creator), but I find that the Electric State is a bit narrower in scope (thus easier to play solo), since it focuses on the trip, and doesn't necessarily involve a mystery.

So, in summary, how can we run TFTL solo? And given that solo rules are in most new Free League kickstarters, are there any plans to come up with solo rules for Tales from the Loop? Thanks.

Love the ideas. I haven't tried a GM emulator, but if this works well I'd love to give it a shot with TFtL. Seems like a solo game becomes a lot like a journaling activity? I'm not sure how it works with a mystery, however.

So, in summary, how can we run TFTL solo?

I think you're on the right track using Mythic and its Mystery Matrix.

It might also be worth checking out the tailored Event Crafter setups in Mythic Mag #51, particularly the Evidence of a Conspiracy and Evidence of a Creature ones. I think both would work will in TftL.

It might also be worth checking out Keyed Scenes (which are in the Mythic GME 2E book), and using the solo adventure, The Secret of Tockley Manor (mythic Mag #11) as inspiration for your own solo TftL adventures.