A lot of people have left Substack for a variety of reasons and a good friend left for a similar reason to you. You are writing some really cool stuff, and I'll be keeping up with your writings. Thanks for continuing to read via RSS.
Similar story here. Started almost 30 years ago with Demons of the Deep (written by Steve Jackson--the American one); soon I was simulating battles with the FF rules and running my own proto-adventures to other players.
I enjoyed reading about your journey quite a bit. My own journey towards TTRPG's began with the JRPG's that came over for the NES & SNES. Dragon Warrior was my first of those, which was analogous to a solo-play RPG world. Later, I discovered what was called Final Fantasy 2, but we've later learned was actually Final Fantasy IV in Japan. The world building and use of various classes of characters really impressed me and made me interested in this as a genre. Later, when I made a friend who regularly gamemastered many different games I joined his group. At the time he was playing Mekton Z - an anime mecha-themed RPG. That initial game was insane, because I had no clue what I was doing and had to play a pre-generated character, but I had a lot of fun with the entire situation and group, so I came back for the next game, which was a White Wolf Mage game. That's when I started learning the nuts and bolts of this hole TTRPG thing.
I played a lot of Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy (the classic Red Mage/Black Mage versions are my favorite) and still play them today. Maybe after I'm done playing Pool of Radiance, I'll do a Final Fantasy Tactics or other playthrough if I can find a way to do it.
Mekton Z is a classic game and I'm a big fan of what Pondsmith was doing for RPGs back in the day. From Cyberpunk and Mekton to Teenagers from Outer Space and Castle Falkenstein, he has been pushing boundaries of the genre forever.
Thanks. I really appreciate that. Solo RPGs are a very rich way to play. I didn't include the very sad details of me sitting at my Opa's desk running Keep on the Borderlands for myself and letting the dice tell the story. Though that play was fueled by loneliness, it was a rich and fun experience.
That bit about the hobby keeping its history alive instead of just replacing old styles really resonated with me. Also you and the dice are the Dungeon Master is such a damn good way to describe solo RPGs.
I've been porting my subscriptions here to RSS (I'm unsubscribing via email. Here's a screen with a few of them: https://imgur.com/vGFvZn9).
You can't imagine my surprise when reading your latest and seeing my name being mentioned. In a positive light! That was not on my bingo card.
Had to come over to thank you, Christian. It really means a lot to me.
Keep up the great stuff.
A lot of people have left Substack for a variety of reasons and a good friend left for a similar reason to you. You are writing some really cool stuff, and I'll be keeping up with your writings. Thanks for continuing to read via RSS.
Similar story here. Started almost 30 years ago with Demons of the Deep (written by Steve Jackson--the American one); soon I was simulating battles with the FF rules and running my own proto-adventures to other players.
I enjoyed reading about your journey quite a bit. My own journey towards TTRPG's began with the JRPG's that came over for the NES & SNES. Dragon Warrior was my first of those, which was analogous to a solo-play RPG world. Later, I discovered what was called Final Fantasy 2, but we've later learned was actually Final Fantasy IV in Japan. The world building and use of various classes of characters really impressed me and made me interested in this as a genre. Later, when I made a friend who regularly gamemastered many different games I joined his group. At the time he was playing Mekton Z - an anime mecha-themed RPG. That initial game was insane, because I had no clue what I was doing and had to play a pre-generated character, but I had a lot of fun with the entire situation and group, so I came back for the next game, which was a White Wolf Mage game. That's when I started learning the nuts and bolts of this hole TTRPG thing.
I played a lot of Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy (the classic Red Mage/Black Mage versions are my favorite) and still play them today. Maybe after I'm done playing Pool of Radiance, I'll do a Final Fantasy Tactics or other playthrough if I can find a way to do it.
Mekton Z is a classic game and I'm a big fan of what Pondsmith was doing for RPGs back in the day. From Cyberpunk and Mekton to Teenagers from Outer Space and Castle Falkenstein, he has been pushing boundaries of the genre forever.
The part about dice becoming a co author in games like Ironsworn really clicked for me it’s such a cool way to think about solo RPGs.
Thanks. I really appreciate that. Solo RPGs are a very rich way to play. I didn't include the very sad details of me sitting at my Opa's desk running Keep on the Borderlands for myself and letting the dice tell the story. Though that play was fueled by loneliness, it was a rich and fun experience.
That bit about the hobby keeping its history alive instead of just replacing old styles really resonated with me. Also you and the dice are the Dungeon Master is such a damn good way to describe solo RPGs.