I've just started recreating the old solo campaign characters in the Shadowdark system because I'm tired of the D&Ds torture. I've only been GM-ing Shadowdark to my players for a year now (we'll finish two campaigns by the fall, and have one jungle adventure in progress). I can't wait to get home and get this zine!

Can't stop staring at Goku

Welcome to the dark side! I went down the solo rabbit hole a few years ago, and I absolutely love it! I always joke. I now have hobbies for my hobbies. I did the same thing, started painting more minis, oh I need terrain. I started book binding to make pdf's into physical media.

Just about to run this today! I'll check back with an update! 🧙‍♀️🐺

Hola Kelsey, estoy buscando los vídeos que van a salir por estás fechas, después de que salió tu libro de Shadowdark Solo. Ya bajé el mio de Arcane Library, y solo estoy esperando estos nuevos videos. Saludos con cariño de tu más grande fan de México.

I Love hearing about the design journey behind the game. And ecited to know how it leads from one project to the next... and even one hobby to the next... like painting and crafting.

Thank you so much for this!! I'm DMing for the first time and doing a mystery and this is so helpful!!

Wait… so you have a working printer?!

It's kind of crazy to hear that you've never done much with the crafting side of the hobby. I only say that because I've been an avid mini-painter and terrain maker for 40 years... which is what got me into RPGs in the first place. It's always amazing to me that peopel come to our little hobby from so many different pathways.

So I just have the QuickStart guide since I can't afford the actual book just yet, is there anywhere I can get a blank fillable monster stat block sheet? I don't think it's anywhere on there, but I wasn't sure if it's something that came with the actual book or not

I originally had not been interested in solo play rules, until a friend of mine (who also runs games for kids) pointed out it can also be used as good practice for upcoming games, especially if you are nervous about it. Take for example: I am in an online Tunnels &Trolls game every wed, and I had pitched running Shadowdark to them when the gm wants to take a break. I will totally be practicing and prepping more than normal for that group (because I’m hoping they’ll want to switch to Shadowdark ;-) ) I’m excited to see the next videos, and thanks for putting that pdf out!

Awesome! I'm looking forward to trying out the solo version of the game. I've tried Mythic with 5e, but have struggled to feel like I'm really using it correctly, and I ended up putting that project on hold. Can't wait to see more videos in this series, Kelsey. Thanks!

Welcome to the dark side Crafting and minis are another aspect of the hobby Cool

Is that a real cactus in the background?

The few times I've ran shadowdark for my group it has been a blast. I've been planning to do a solo campaign using the One Page solo engine by Karl Hendricks but think I'll switch to this since it's made with the system in mind. Thanks for all the hard work and quality material you put out for us to enjoy.

Great video! What happened to the Spotify playlist for Stingbat? Please ask Hank to update that gem!

Cards for rooms that have percentile dice to roll for traps, and inanimate objects. Cards for encounters that have percentile dice to roll for traps set by creatures, and treasure. Cards for objectives that have conditions to complete them, and potential for tangible rewards. Cards for special treasures that can be gotten for the risk taken. Cards for traps that will befall those whom dare to face challenge and danger, and make necessary saving throws. Cards for inanimate objects that add flavor, may be of use to a player, may be a danger to foes, or something someone else needs. I believe that drawing of cards that is akin to drawing cards from the Deck of Many Things. This can tempt players playing solo to want drawing another card. These groups of cards that make up these decks would have to strike a good balance between victory, and defeat. A player can view every card, plot, and scheme for success. Its the order they draw them in, the choices they make, and the results on the dice that determine their outcome. This may help with crafting solo adventures, and not become a pointless task of knowing the outcome before you even start.

This is great news! Thanks for sharing Kelsey!

Looks like I have a new system to make a series around! Cool

Thanks for the shout Kelsey!! Much appreciated. Keep your blades sharp!!

After finally playing Solodark I had fun... though mine wasn't entirely completely solo..I might write the adventure and what all happened and how I did things in the Discord. Also you playing with minis had my wife and I and ROFL

I loved that more explosion video, btw. Thanks again for this vid.

Be sure to submit this for next year's ENNIES!

so hyped that you're getting into miniatures and terrain crafting. Awesome!

You're the best!

Jenga pieces are great for making your own minis terrain. I found a stone pattern to paste over it, two pieces high looks great with minis for easy to set up and clean up walls, and they cost almost nothing.

Thank you so much for doing that. Already download and pre-ordered! It was fun to play some of those rules in our one shoot. Say hi to Jessee for me.

The table dressing and minis really tie into an aspect of solo play I advocate. Solo play gaming as a form of self care. As much as I love time at the table in group, solo play is like the mental bubble bath of gaming. It's like making a nice meal, or cup of tea, for yourself with an eye to making consuming it enjoyable and not just functional / mechanical. It is an act of being fully present in the creation and consumption of your own joy. It is by you, for you. Making terrain and minis to enhance the story you are crafting and then gift yourself with is wonderful. All of this is setting the table for your own moments of restorative bliss.

I've always loved the Arcane Library modules, you write in such an efficient and effective way. Can't wait for Shadowdark to be fully integrated into the TTRPG canon.

Take my money!!! :) Seriously though, can't wait to read this and use it. Thanks again for all your hard work.

Crooked Staff Terrain channel shows how to make paper craft miniature terrain also. He has a bunch of PDFs he gives away with textures like various stone or wood or leaves. He has all kinds of stuff for making pillars, buildings, stairs, trees, small to giant mushrooms, etc.

I don't have Shadowdark yet but just downloaded the Solo PDF. I guess they are hard to get right now.

Thanks.

Kelsey! Where did you get that stingbat mini?!?! I must know!

Preordered and downloaded. Never did solo play but looking forward to trying it out.

Thank you very much for this. I was waiting for a while (as everyone else lol), and your "report" came as a great news, at least for me. Good luck on this new and "improved" solo venture 😋

Thanks for making it compatible with Shadowdark. Another game that has a very solid set of solo rules is IronSworn. It has a great oracle and several tables you can use while playing solo or while generating content to GM for others. I love RPGs that add solo mode because they let me test things out when I'm not sure if I've ever be GMing the game for others (3 GMs in our group and I've already 3 open campaign that I'm GMing). This also let me experiment the mechanics at work, as I love to see what makes them click.

This is such a wholesome Lu wonderful video, Kelsey! Thank you so much for what you do!

YES! I love solo gaming and I love Shadowdark. I can't wait to try out Solodark. Thank you Kelsey! 😁 🧙‍♂️

Dud the math wrong? Doesn't matter. Misread a chart? Doesn't matter. You had fun. And probably an exciting adventure with interesting characters. What are the great things about solo, how you do it doesn't matter if it works for you. With a group there's a certain responsibility to have the dynamic work for everybody, solo isn't like that.

Dedicated solo tools for a game system is almost always better than a universal tool like mythic (just my opinion). When the time is taken to curate solo content for a specific game it really helps with keeping focus when playing. Nice work!

I'm currently using Dragonbane for some solo gameplay, looking forward to trying this one out too :) I was really surprised as to how fun it is to do some solo content as well, and it really teaches the rules in a very natural way :)

We need stingbat minis!

Can SoloDark be used as a GMless game system for 2 people?

There are so much variety of crafts, arts, hobbies related to ttrpgs. So cool. The Solo Rules look great.

I just love Kelsey and all her videos and products. It is so much more fulfilling to support a company and creatives who are actually game players first and who don't hate most actual RPG players.

Can you make Solo Dark available as a Print on Demand zine on Lulu. The Cairn zines (with the velvety covers) that I have are really nice and I think they would be a good format for Solo Dark.

Thanks for the shout-out, K! Maybe I'll do a little Solo Shadowdark session my own self... ;)

Love it!

Welcome to the world of mini painting and terrain building!