10 Single-player TTRPGs

plot feeling a little empty in the middle? here’s some food for thought.

actions have consequences. things that your characters do inevitably can affect other people around them. what might they have done in the past that could come back and serve as an obstacle? or, maybe, what could they do now that could possibly raise the stakes just a little bit more?

subplots! be mindful of the subplots you’re adding - but sometimes it might be a good idea to include one if your plot is feeling a little bit empty. not only can it tie back into the overarching struggle, but it could also serve as a way to explore one of your characters or points further.

character exploration. get to know your characters a little bit better! let your readers find out something new. connecting and understanding the people within your story is important if you want your readers to grow attached to them.

world exploration. similar to the previous point, with the addition of creating a greater sense of familiarity of the circumstances that your story is taking place in. remember that nobody else knows the world of your wip as well as you do - illustrate it even further so everyone else can grasp it even better.

let your characters bond! maybe there’s a lull in the plot. if your characters have the chance to take a breather and get to know the people around them, let them! it might help flesh out or even realistically advance their relationships with each other.

My latest Terrible* DnD Campaign idea:

Scaling Hard "Nuzlocke" Mode.

We're gonna take the entire XP mechanic and through it out the fucking window.

Everyone starts at level one, but they make a backup character at the next level. They play that first character at level one until shit gets too hard and they die. No rezzes. Next available opportunity, bring in the backup level two character. Player makes a new backup, at level three.

So on, so forth.

The only way to level up is to die. The core goals/challenges are:

be the lowest level character to make it to the end of the campaign

get to explore a whole lot more classes and characters than you would normally

conversely, deal with the gritty reality of how dangerous this life of adventure is as so many of your party keeps falling

meta-wise, built in scaling system for less skilled players: die a lot? wind up stronger and stronger more quickly to balance it out

something something Ship Of Theseus adventurers guild?

Adventure: The Star gone Astray

The road has led your party to Etelva, a backwater barony who’s small capital hugs the banks of an icy lake and trade river. Happy to have the town’s walls as shelter against the early winter chill, you find the citizens of Etelva in a state of confusion and disorder: Strange signs have been seen in the sky weeks past, followed by tales of monsters and disappearances in outlaying settlements. Best take tonight to warm yourselves by the hearth, because tomorrow there’s hero’s work to be done.

Adventure Hooks:

Looking around for work, the party are eventually pointed towards a dwarven monster hunter by the name of Red Jess. Well seasoned in tracking and trapping all sorts of beast, Jess will (after some convincing) invite the party along on a scouting expedition to the snowy hillsides. Rumours have been circulating that folk have seen a dragon, but Jess is experienced enough to know that rumours don’t pay for lodging and the next resupply. Better to head out, get the lay of the land, and determine is there’s truth to any of this hearsay. Worst case there’s no quarry to be had and the hunters come back with a few beast pelts to sell for their troubles, best case scenario they can come back with proof of something and get the baroness or the crown itself to lay a bounty on the creature. A Few days travelling on with Jess and the party do indeed spy a dragon swooping low over hinterlands, not marauding as the rumours said, but obviously searching for something. Taking care not to be seen, the party realize that someone is riding the dragon, both mount and rider surveying the landscape, though for what they cannot be sure. 

Having lost important cargo to bandits and up to his ears in debt because of it, an over the hill merchant by the name of Ravell has been pushed over the edge by the paranoid air in Etelva and has begun a series of arson attacks focused first on the property of those he owes money to, and now starting on his own. Confused at first for accidents, these fires are spurred on by a demon that’s latched onto Ravell’s shoulder, feeding his latent desire to “Burn it all and walk away” , a demon that will be quite hostile should the party try and cut its fun short.

After some time in town the party are approached by Ryldyr, a diviner and minor soothsayer who seeks the party’s protection as he beleives someone or something is after him. Ryldyr is only so so when it comes to predicting the future, mainly offering his agrarian neighbours insight on upcoming weather events that might affect their crops. His runes never lie though, and speak of some looming danger that will affect him in particular if he doesn’t keep moving.   Just as he’s given the party a few cryptic hints about their future in order to get them to beleive him, the door is kicked in, and several of the Baroness’s guards pour in to take the addled scryer into custody.

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Pathfinder 2e New Player Resource Masterpost

Hey there! Looking to get into PF2e? You’re making a great decision, but you may not know where to start! I’ve put together a handy list of resources you can consult while getting into the game. As always, if you ever have questions about PF2e, please don’t hesitate to reach out! I love this system, and I love helping new players!

Official Resources

The Archives of Nethys are the official host for the PFSRD. You can find ALL of the rules of the game for free there. Literally everything that is not Golarian specific is on the Archives, and all of it is laid out incredibly well. It may not look quite as flashy as beyond, but its search functions and layout are superior. 

If you buy one product from Paizo as you get started, I HAVE to recommend to BEGINNER BOX. This thing is fantastic. It simplifies the rules, gives you GORGEOUS character sheets that highlight all of your abilities, and have a fun little adventure that dovetails nicely into either their Troubles in Otari or Abomination Vaults modules. (As someone who has run both of those now, they’re both fantastic as well and I highly recommend them.) 

Beyond the Beginner Box, I would also suggest picking up a Core Rulebook. It is true that all of the rules information is already laid out in the Archives, but having a CRB on handd is nice for the art, plus the book is laid out incredibly well. If you can’t afford a CRB at this time, though, you’ll still be good! You might also watch for Humble Bundles, as they often have great Pathfinder packs on there, and sometimes it includes Physical CRBs, in addition to a load of other great PDFs. 

When looking to GM, I recommend the following pages in the CRB first. I’ve also linked the corresponding Archive pages: 

Introduction, Pages 7-31. This will give you the rundown on key terms, how characters are created, the base flow of the game, and the action system (the best part of pf2e!)

Playing the Game, Pages 443-481. This is the longest section of the rulebook to read, but there’s a lot of great stuff in here. This will give you the rules for checks, combat, conditions, resolving actions, and the differences between encounter, exploration, and downtime mode. The most important is encounter and exploration mode, so you can feel free to only skim the downtime mode section of this part. 

The Gamemastering section has a lot of great stuff, but for a GM, your two most important sections will be the following:

Encounter Building, pages 488 and 489. The rules for building encounters work in this system, and they work WELL. Obviously, environment, terrain, and how a specific groups strengths and weaknesses compare to a monster affect things, but if you budget a moderate encounter, it can be expected to be moderate. Just be sure you recognize that Moderate encounters are still meant to be challenging in this system, and Severe encounters are potentially deadly. Extreme encounters should be used incredibly sparingly. Maybe 1 or 2 times per campaign.

DC Charts and Adjusting DCs. Pages 503 and 504.  If you ever need a quick DC, these charts are your friend. You don’t need to memorize them, but you’ll want to have them in an easy-to-reference spot.

Youtubers

There are a lot of great youtubers for PF2e. I’ll only be highlighting a few of my favorites here!

How It’s Played  is probably the best resource for a new player, and helped me a ton with all of the rules when I started GMing. They do close looks at different subsystems, and clearly break down how the rules apply. You don’t need to watch all of their content before you jump in and play, but if you watch a few of their main series on PF2e between each session, you’ll be a rules master in no time! 

I also really enjoy The Rules Lawyer. He always has well-reasoned takes on things going on in the hobby, and and has an enjoyable calm/measured tone. I highly recommend his “Combat Tactics” videos, as he highlights some of the major differences with 5e and what things are now expected to survive. A lot of common 5e tactics are a way to a quick death in PF2e, but you do have the tools to survive!

The final Youtuber I’ll be highlighting is Nonat1s. He’s puts out quite a variety of videos, including skits and other fun things, but is also a wonderful ambassador for the game and gives great character advice as well. I want to highlight his “Welcome to Pathfinder Second Edition” video, which is just perfect!

Other Resources

I can’t create a list of resources without calling out Pathbuilder! It is hands down the best character builder, and its available on desktop and mobile. It’s mostly free, with a small donation being required to unlock premium features. At this time, there is no crossover between the web app and desktop besides being able to save and access characters from google drive.

The Pathfinder 2e Subreddit  is a wonderful community of people, and it’s a great place for discussion. There’s weekly question megathreads, discussions about releases, people highlighting great builds and fun things in the system, and it’s probably the quickest place to keep track of announcements. There’s also a lot of love for 3pp there!

Speaking of 3pps, I LOVE the Battlezoo line! One of my players is OBSESSED with dragons, and they have a whole book that was tailor-made for him, and it’s incredibly balanced and fun. They’ve also got a whole bunch of other cool stuff that’s been kickstarted and will be releasing soon. 

What VTT should you use if you’re playing online? My hat is thrown into the ring for Foundry VTT. It’s my VTT of choice. It’s wildly powerful with the Pathfinder 2e system, and a wonderful community of devs have gotten the system almost entirely automated so you can focus on RP! It’s a breeze as a GM as well, and the only difficulty is in self-hosting, but even that isn’t too bad. Their site has a great set of guides, starting HERE with the ways you can host. If you choose to self-host, you only need to make a 1-time payment of 50 dollars for the software, and only one person needs to actually do the hosting. Split between a group? That’s incredibly affordable, especially considering there is no subscription!

I’m gonna shout MYSELF out here. I put together a List of Actions you can take in combat that isn’t just moving or attacking. Coming from 5e, it can be easy to get stuck in the loop of move and attack, but there are so many more options, and those options are very crucial. This isn’t comprehensive, but covers the basics characters can have access to with only minor skill investment.

So i wanna do homebrew content but i fundamentally don't understand how to hand make a character sheet??? Like how do i make it w/o using dnd beyond???

So I figure i’ll use this opportunity to explain character making/character sheets in general.This will be more in depth than you need but i’ll call it a resource and add it to my blog in a link. 

Buckle up guys this is going to be a LONG one we’ll call this

DUNGEONS AND KOBOLDS’S LONG GUIDE TO MAKING CHARACTER SHEETS

1.     Character Sheet

First step is getting the character sheet itself. Below is a link to where you can download them on Wizards of the Coast’s website:

https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/character_sheets

This should download a file – the sheet that people use most often is called CharacterSheet_3Pgs_Complete.pdf

It’s well laid out and easily editable on your computer.

2.     Class/Race/Background Combination

Second, choose your class/race/background combination. It’s also important to understand a basic idea of where these appear/what they effect

Race: Ability Scores, Skills, Proficiencies, Features & Traits

Background: Skills, Proficiencies, Features & Traits, Equipment

Class: Basically everything but Ability Scores – although it does determine how you’ll want to arrange your Scores.

3.     Ability Scores

Ability Scores are on the far left hand side of the sheet. These determine your base Strength, Dexterity, etc. bonuses (ie. What you add to your rolls).

There are 3 basic ways of determining these scores: rolling, point buy, and standard array.

https://thekindgm.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/determining-ability-scores/

Above is a link to a post that explains these better than I could which I refer to often. (consult your DM as to which way you are using for your campaign)

For every 2 points your Ability Score goes up/down by, your bonus will go/down by 1. Ie. A Strength of 10 will give me 0 or no bonus a 12 +1, a 14 +2, etc. Whereas an 8 will give me -1, a 6 -2.

Arrange these scores as you wish – a good rule of thumb is you want your primary attacking ability to be your highest (normally the Quick Build section of your class will have good suggestions on how to arrange these statistics). I’ll go through what each of these scores effects in my explanation which should give you some options on how to arrange them.

To these base scores you’ve figured out, you then add the bonuses given to you by your Race.

For example, if I have a 14 Dexterity (+2) but I’m playing a Kobold (which has an increase of 2 for Dexterity as one of its traits) my Dexterity is then brought up to 16 (+3)

4.     Proficiency Bonus/Saving Throws

Proficiency bonus has a separate column in the levelling table of your class. At level 1 it is generally +2. This means that if you are proficient in a Saving Throw, Skill, Attack, or Tool you add your Proficiency Bonus and the bonus from your associated Ability Score to the Roll.

For example, if my Kobold is a barbarian, they have proficiency in Strength and Constitution Saving Throws. This means if my Kobold has a Strength of 14 (+2) and I am rolling a Saving Throw, I add another +2 to the roll (bringing it up to a total of +4). On the left hand side of the Saving Throws (and skills) there are little circles, fill in the circles of the Saving Throws you are proficient in to remind yourself why you have that score (but write next to them what you’ll actually be adding, ie. +4 Strength Saving Throw for my Kobold).

5.     Skills

This sheet actually makes skills relatively easy to fill out. Again fill in the circles of the skills you are proficient in (these can come from your class, race, and background so be sure to check all three). On the right hand side of each skill is the associated Ability – if you are not proficient you write down your base Ability Score bonus. If you are proficient be sure to add the +2 (at first level)

6.     Other Proficiencies

In Other Proficiencies and Languages write down the languages, tools, weapons, and armour you are proficient in – this is more to remind yourself of what you can and can’t easily use.

7.     Armour

https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Armor#content

Here is a link to all of the armour scores you’ll need. Generally, armour is a base score (say 11 for leather armour) plus your Dexterity (just the base Ability Score bonus). Some armour gives you just a base score that you don’t add anything to. Some will have a strength requirement for you to be able to use it. The link divides the amour into light, medium and heavy amour – whether or not you can use them is determined by your proficiencies (found in your other proficiencies section)

If you’re wielding a shield you add another 2 to your armour score.

Unlike weapons your generally can’t use armour that you are not proficient in.

 8.     Initiative

Unless you have a Feat or a special class based bonus your Initiative is your Dexterity Ability Score Bonus

9.     Weapon Attacks

https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Weapons#content

This link again divides the weapon up neatly into the proficiencies (simple and martial weapons).

There are 2 main scores to worry about with weapon attacks – Dexterity and Strength.

Dexterity based weapons are Ranged or Finesse weapons. Strength is everything else. Your attack bonus will be either your Strength or Dexterity Score (depending on the weapon) plus your proficiency bonus (although you can use weapons you are not proficient in, you just lose this bonus).

Your damage is the listed damage (see link above) plus either your Strength or Dexterity (again depending on the associated score).

(I’m not going to go into dual wielding here but feel free to ask if interested)

10. Equipment

Equipment will be listed in class and background – all you have to do is write it down in this section.

11. Gold

Gold normally appears in your background and class, but have a chat to your DM to see if they have a preference for staring gold.

12. Features/Traits

In the Features/Traits column you write down basically the things you can do (though people will use this column differently).

This includes things such as Darkvision, the ability you gain from your background and general abilities granted by your class (that are not spells or attacks). For instance a Cleric’s Channel Divinity might be written in this column.

 13. Spell Casting Ability

Your spell casting ability will be listed in your class – either Charisma, Intelligence or Wisdom. 

14. Spell Save DC

Your Spell Save DC will be your Spell Casting Ability Score’s bonus + your proficiency + 8. Ie. If my kobold is now a bard with a Charisma of 18 (+4) and is 1st level their Spell Save DC will be 4+2+8 for a total of 14.

 15. Spell Attack Bonus

Your spell attack bonus is your Spell Casting Ability Score’s bonus + your proficiency – for my previously mentioned kobold this would be 4+2 for a total of +6

16. Choosing Spells

There are 2 main ways classes determine what spells you have. The first method is, you choose new spells as you level up and those are the only spells you have (for example a Bard uses this method). The number of spells you have for classes such as this will be determined by the Spells Known column in your levelling up table. The second method is preparing spells. This means you can potentially cast any of the spells for your class, but each morning you choose certain ones for the day. The number of spells you can prepare will most likely be your Spell Casting Ability Score Bonus + your level (unless you’re a paladin).

17. The Other Stuff (alignment/personality)

The other stuff you can write or not write as your wish – this stuff is more for RP. Personally I will write my alignment and that is it – but you can plan as much or as little as you want! 

As usual feel free to ask for any clarifications/more information.

Hope this was helpful! (sorry of the length)

Amazing work from @mimles on insta

Some fun ideas for warlock pacts. You can see the rest of this series on my Kofi! I appreciate all tips.

The Pantheon Domain - A 5E Cleric Subclass Homebrew. For the cleric whose faith is as fickle as the gods themselves. Great for roguelite lovers. You’ll have to figure out what you can do with the tools at your disposal every day. Links in reblog!

kind of obsessed with thesaurus dot com claiming that lover is a synonym for knight