5 scene sessions

 5 scene sessions

After playing around with a lot of different adventure structures, i have found that one of my favourites for structuring sessions is a modified form of the five room dungeon (with modifications heavily influenced by interface red)

The 5 room dungeon is a great simple setup for a session.

At its simplest it involves 5 "rooms" that can each be played out as a scene. Although these do not need to be literal - they could easily be scenes based on locations or events instead.

The important thing is that the session has a goal it is working towards and that this goal will be met at the climax of the session.

The traditional 5 room dungeon (as envisaged by John Fior) has the following rooms:

1) Entrance

2) Puzzle or roleplaying challenge

3) Trick or setback

4) Climax

5) Reward/ revelation/ plot twist

Room 2 and 3 can come in any order.

There has been plenty written about the 5 room dungeon elsewhere so I won't go into any more detail here other than to say it forms the basis of my most successful session structures to date.

I have however modified it a little, partly inspired by the story structures from Cyberpunk Red...

The modified 5 room dungeon (the 5 scene session

As always, start with some story seeds to create a premise in a similar way to how you would create a premise for a scene.

Hook: this isn't really a part of a traditional 5 room dungeon, and isn't necessary if you already have a strong hook in the premise. Often however, it helps to run a scene simply focused on getting the characters involved with the session.

1) the Hook/ inciting incident: This could be combat, a puzzle, a social event, or some other form of challenge. The important thing is that it draws you and the characters into the action. Often people spend a few scenes meandering and exploring before finding something that hooks them into a story, but I find that with limited time and attention I need to jump right in.

This scene needs to fulfil two goals: firstly it needs to introduce (or bring front and center if it has already been introduced) the problem the session will focus on solving, and second it needs to be interesting and unexpected enough to get the ball rolling.

The middle scenes (challenge, and revelation) can come in any order.

While wrapping up the hook I roll 1d6 to see which scene will come next: on a 1-3 it will be a challenge. On a 4+ it will be a revelation. That

2) challenge.

A challenge scene involves some kind of dangerous activity that puts the characters in jeapardy. It could be a fight, a chase, an ambush: anything that creates an immediately dangerous and pressing situation. Secondary challenges or complications may be present as well or may develop as the scene plays out.

3) revelation. Or skill based challenge.

A revelation scene could be finding or processinginformation, an unexpected meeting, a twist that shakes things up. There may be a challenge or complication of some kind, however the stakes will be lower than in a challenge scene.

The important thing about a revelation scene is that it must have at least the potential to impart new information to the characters - either encouraging them to forge ahead or demonstrating that they are on the wrong track.

4) climax

The climax generally takes the form of a challenge of some kind, but it might take the form of a revelation. It might even be a mere formality as everything falls together or falls apart.

Either way, it should provide a satisfying conclusion to the session.

5) Resolution or surprise.

The final scene in a session needs to wrap things up, either tying up loose ends or preparing them as seeds for future sessions.

Generally it will simply be a narrative scene, perhaps with an oracle being used to clarify any remaining questions.

Sometimes however it may include a surprise that might introduce a final challenge of some kind.

The variable scene session

The 5 scene session, much like the 5 room dungeon is a useful structure however it has one flaw that has always bothered me: it is very short, and it is always the same length making it too predictable.

This can be changed easily however.

Scenes 3 and 4 (the middle scenes) can simply be repeated multiple times before reaching the conclusion.

I generally prefer to play full iterations of both middle scenes.

After playing the second middle scene I roll 1d8: on a 1-6 I play another iteration of the middle scenes. On a 7+ I move straight to the climax.

After the second iteration I roll another d8. This time I move to the conclusion on a 5+.

After the third iteration I move t to the conclusion on a 3+

After the fourth iteration I automatically move to the conclusion.

This gives me a session running between 5 and 11 scenes.

Sometimes I want to have shorter session, in which case I roll a D6 instead of a d8, giving a maximum session length of 9 scenes. 

Scenes

 Scenes

I always set up scenes in a similar way.

1) purpose

Every scene serves one or more purposes, and the first job in setting up a scene is to establish the scenes purpose.

I have distilled a number of general purposes for scenes, but different structures and circumstances may provide others.

Hook. The first scene in a session will often provide a hook into the sessions events. Something to get the ball rolling.

Action. These used to be the only scenes I ran at all. They are the scenes that most RPGs mechanics support, and provide the excitement.

Development. Interface Red introduced me to these scenes. I intersperse them with action scenes and they provide space for reflection, plot development, character interaction etc. stories are much richer for their inclusion.

Climax. Every session should build to a climax. A big event of some kind that ties everything together. Often I play this as an action scene.

Resolution. I finish sessions by tying up loose ends, seeding hooks for future sessions, and generally rounding the adventure off.

Seeds

A scene begins with one it more seeds. These are ideas that can be combined to give a premise for the scene.

I have found that generally I want two or three seeds, and pull as many of them together into a scene premise as possible.

Seeds can come from (amongst other places):

Character goals

Scene types

Random idea generators

Game structures

NPC goals

RPG specific generators

Never be afraid to gather more seeds for a scene, especially if no premise springs to mind. You don't have to use them all, but weaving as many together as possible can lead a story in unexpected directions.

Once you have your seeds, pull as many ideas from them as you can into a single sentence describing what the scene will be about. This is the scene premise.

Test the premise

Once you have a premise for the scene it is best to test it using a GME.

If the scene is altered or interrupted, you can use the seeds to help guide a new interpretation of the scene.

Build challenges

Once I know what the scene is going to be about, I can use the rules of the RPG I am using to build any challenges or set up any mechanics I will need for the scene.

The more I can set up in advance, the less I need to set up while playing and the smoother the scene will run.

End scene

Once things have run their course, I take stock and Update anything that needs updating.

Then I look at character goals (both pc and NPC) and note down any changes that might lead to seeds for new scenes - the goals and plans of my player characters are especially useful for this. 

On Campaign Structure

On the structure of campaigns

Recently I have been experimenting a lot with the structure of stories and campaigns.

I have a number of competing needs in terms of structure when I play a solo game:

- I like to create a meaningful story with narrative beats.

- I like flexibility so that a story can take any shape it needs to

- I like epic (and so long) campaigns

- I need stories to be short enough that I can get a sense of completion before I get bored and wander onto something else.

- many RPGs assume you will play in "sessions" however these are difficult to define in solo games that tend to be played in a more as hoc fashion.

There are plenty of story structures out there, and I will hopefully cover some of them in their own posts.

Many narrative structures provided by early pioneers in the hobby, such as 9 questions and 5 room dungeons provided great narrative beats and short stories but I found the structures a little too predictable in some respects.

Many GM emulators (such as mythic and PUM) later developed their own story structures with narrative beats that were less predictable but also considerably longer.

After a lot of experimentation I have settled on creating campaigns using a layered structure with elements from each layer combining to make the next in a similar fashion to a Fate fractal.

Let's start with the smallest building block of a campaign:

Scenes

It is possible to play a freeform game using a GME without breaking it into scenes, however they are a foundational narrative building block for a reason - they work.

I tend to have a scene comprise a single main challenge or activity, and potentially a couple of extra complications.

Sessions

Outgunned breaks stories down into "one shots" (or just "shots"), which are complete stories beginning with a hook and ending with a climax and resolution, that are short enough to play in a single session.

The idea is that every session should provide a satisfying story with a conclusion.

I love this idea, and have adopted it whole heartedly. It both provides me with short but satisfying gaming goals, while at the same time gives me a mechanic for tracking a "session" for games that need it.

On average I play around 9 scenes per "session" with a loose minimum of 5 and maximum of around 12.

Story Arc

Sessions are grouped into story arcs consisting of between 5 and 12 sessions (again, with an average of around 9).

Much like a session, a story arc will have an introduction and a climax of some sort.

If I have a group of characters, I will often play through separate introductory sessions for each before bringing them together in the first story arc.

Often each story arc will culminate in facing a mini boss or completing a larger goal.

This layer provides a slightly longer term goal and gives structure to a campaign.

For a more complicated campaign, there is nothing to stop story arcs from overlapping or interweaving with each other.

Campaign

Story arcs are grouped into a campaign, with the first story arc introducing the campaign and the final one providing the conclusion and resolution.

Again, a campaign should generally consist of between 5 and 12 story arcs with an average of around 9.

This layer gives me the epic campaigns I am looking for.

Game structures

The nice thing about treating a campaign as a fractal is that the same (or similar) structures can work at any layer of the fractal.

Story structures providing around 5 to 12 scenes can be used to structure a session, but with a little tweaking they can structure a story arc or even a whole campaign.

You can play around with different structures at different layers to give the campaign a unique feel.

A 5 room dungeon for example could provide a small dungeon fit for a sessions exploration, an in depth exploration covering a story arc, or even the focus of an entire campaign.

 

Otherscape character creation

 Anatomy of tags

Based on their purpose, there are 3 basic types of tag:

B - Broad tags

This category includes both broad tags themselves, and tags whose primary function is to support broad tags and increase their power.

Broad tags are flexible in allowing (or supporting) a whole range of actions, but the downside is that you have to spend an action preparing first by converting them into a more directly useable form first. 

There are two ways to do this. Firstly, if you simply want to enhance the power of an existing tag you can create a status. This has the benefit of converting into power on a 1 to 1 basis, but doesn't add any flexibility.

Secondly you can create an entirely new tag. This gives the flexibility of enabling an entirely new action, but it sacrifices power in order to do so converting on a 2 for 1 basis.

A - action tags

Action tags most important job is granting narrative permission to perform an action. 

S - support tags

In reality these are action tags with overlapping permission meaning that they support each other in performing a single action. If you have 3 tags about attacking, then effectively two of them are acting as support tags.

In practice, careful wording might stretch the actions they can apply to but for the most part support tags are about enhancing the power of a single action rather than adding the flexibility of new actions.

One theme

A theme consists of 3 tags, so it is useful to look at how this basic element can function as a whole. 

There are several different possible configurations;

AAA

The most intuitive thing to attempt for a new player is three tags, each of which adds a separate action. This is not always acheivable in practice, because it is harder to make the title tag an action tag.

It gives you narrative permission for 3 actions. The problem is that each of those actions will only be rolling with 1 power.

Extended across all 4 themes, this ends up as probably more actions than you need none of which are especially powerful, which is why you need tags that support each other (either within a theme or across themes).

This is the only configuration which I see as a "trap" option in otherscape. 

SAA

The next logical step is to use one of those tags to support another. This still gives the flexibility of two actions, but increases one of them to two power which I feel is a big deal.

Some clever thinking, and actions that are not too diverse might allow both actions to be supported, but for the most part you will end up with one at 2 power and the other at 1.

SSA

The next option is to keep the theme tight, allowing all of the tags to support one another. This limits its flexibility, but maximises its power and is definately worth dedicating a theme to for something you will be doing regularly.

BAA

The other option is to try and maximise flexibility at the expense of speed, and include a broad tag.

Given the nature of the title tag, it is a likely candidate for a broad tag making this a common configuration.

This is a fairly flexible set up, giving two actions with a single power but allowing the broad tag to charge either with a bit of extra power by creating a status, given enough set up time. 

BSA

I feel like there is little to gain from this set up. Another trap option. The broad tag is just acting like a supporting tag that takes longer to set up. It should be noted however that by taking multiple set up actions, the broad tag CAN stack a status creating a bigger boost so if the action is not time sensitive and you are willing to take the risk then it might be worth it.

BBA

In order to get the most out of broad tags, you need at least two of them. This allows you to create a tag, and unlocks their incredible flexibility.

You still have a single power action ready for immediate use, however now with set up time you can either boost that action to 3 power by creating a status, or create a tag allowing you to perform any action under the perview of the broad tags. 

This gives incredible flexibility, but shares the same problem as our AAA actions with their limited power. 

Adding another tag

It is clear that trying to combine three tags from a single theme into useful actions has limitations, however it is fairly easy to draw another tag into the mix either from another theme or from your load out giving you an extra tag to work with and opening up some useful options:

SSSA

First, just maximising power, giving your action 4 power. Definately worth considering as a dedicated action for mitigating harm. Probably worth considering for a powerful attack or similar.

SSAA

The second option is to have two actions both supported with 2 power each, making them both that bit more useful.

BBSA

This allows you to have an immediate action for 2 power while either setting up a flexible action with 1 power or charging your action for 4 power. 

BBBA

putting more emphasis on your broad tags gives you more power for your flexible action at the expense of minimising the power of your immediate action.

This setup gives you 3 options:

create a tag (for flexibility) and a status charging it to 2 power.

Charge your action with a status for 4 power.

React immediately for 1 power.

BBBB

The final option is to go all out on broad tags. This means you can't do anything without seeing it up first however it does give you powerful flexibility, allowing you to do anything in the themes perview with 3 power (using 2 power to create a tag and 2 power to charge it with status 2).

Mixing themes

Of course there is nothing to stop you from mixing themes together or drawing power from multiple themes for a single action.

With a full set of 4 themes you have 12 tags to play with. I think it is useful to think of this as 3 sets of 4 tags (meaning a set will draw from more than one theme), with load out tags providing flexible extras as needed.

Generally it is probably wise to devote a set to defence/mitigation of the most likely statuses. That leaves two sets for either immediate actions or broad actions.

Playing Wizards in WFRP 4e

 I often see posts from people asking how to optimise a wizard, or wondering if Wizards are even viable in 4th.

The most common response I see is to start as a witch (for instinctive diction) and then move into wizards apprentice and go from there. This is a hold over from when 4th was first released and channeling was arguably not worth the effort, and I don't believe it is necessary any more for reasons I will explain below.

Wizards apprentice and petty magic

Whichever wind you channel, you are going to start your career as a wizard apprentice/Acolyte/ or whatever else your order calls students of magic.

The only magic open to you at this point is petty magic, and frankly it might be best to skip it.

From a legal perspective, petty magic is considered to be dark magic and therefore discouraged at best. This is not something you are going to be taught by your order, and not something you should practice openly.

From a rules perspective it is not great - at least not in combat. Dart is probably less effective than a good staff or crossbow, so unless you desperately want to fling spells at people you should probably give it a miss. You are not a wizard yet, you are essentially a fighter. Get used to it.

This is probably the single most common complaint I see about people playing Wizards apprentices. They want to cast spells but end up hitting people with a big stick instead. WFRP characters start small. Relax, get used to using your weapon, that way you will always remember it is there as a back up.

If you are going to flaunt the law and make use of petty magic, stick with utility spells. Look for things that give your party capabilities they wouldn't have without that spell. Open lock can fill in a gap in the party of you don't have anyone capable of picking locks for instance. Eavesdrop is another spell that can trivialise some situations.

On the whole though, you essentially a not so big or  stupid are a fighter with a big stick. And not a very good one at that, because you are going to be spending your experience on things that you can't even make use of yet.

Aethyric Attunement

The big dilemma facing a Wizards apprentice is that aethyric Attunement is hugely useful later in your career but completely useless now, yet has to be bought now because it doesn't show up in later talent lists.

You need to take it, but it is a point sink that will do nothing immediately other than put you behind your allies in terms of effective advancement. That means it should probably be the last thing you take before graduating to become a proper wizard.

You need to get it once. This will mitigate miscasts when channeling, and make your channeling more effective. If you can spare the experience I would advise taking it a second time for an extra boost to channeling. You don't need any more than that because "winds of magic" gave you more efficient ways to boost your channeling that I will talk about later.

Characteristics

It goes without saying that you should be pumping Int and WP as high as you can. As a wizard, they will be your most useful characteristics by far. All through your career you are going to be judging whether it is more cost effective to boost Int/WP or language(magic)/channeling, or wether there is a different way to boost those skills more cheaply.

I would probably start with WS however as an apprentice, because it is going to be more immediately useful while you rely on your staff to get the job done.

Skills

Basically the same advice as above, but it bears repeating; itgoes without saying that you should be pumping language(magic) and channeling as high as you can. As a wizard, they will be your most useful characteristics by far. All through your career you are going to be judging whether it is more cost effective to boost Int/WP or language(magic)/channeling, or wether there is a different way to boost channeling and casting more cheaply.

After that melee (pole arm) is going to be useful, especially early in your career. In fact I would focus on this first as an apprentice, for the same reason I would focus on ws first. Channeling and language(magic) are mostly useless until you actually have some spells to cast.

Cool is another useful skill to have, because not only will it help you resist fear but it will help retain the magic you have channeled when you get interrupted. And you will get interrupted.

Fancy robes

A small change with a massive effect is that magical robes now give bonuses to channeling - and you are given them for free when you rise in your career!

This means that as a graduate wizard with some standard robes you will be getting +1SL on your channeling tests (in addition to the aethyric Attunement bonuses you picked up). This should be enough to channel the power to cast a CN 4 or maybe even 5 spell in a single round.

As you get more powerful, and want to cast more powerful spells, your robes get fancier and the bonus grows with you.

 This is why you only need 1 or 2 levels in aethyric Attunement. 

Rituals are your friends

The second thing winds of magic added are rituals, and they provide a huge boon to Wizards.

Enchanting your staff will provide +1SL on casting tests and you should be capable of performing it during your second career as a newly graduated wizard. If you have access to your college (or an outpost of it) then you should probably be able to get access to a grimoire containing this ritual. It strikes me as something that should be fairly ubiquitous. Performing it from a grimoire requires channeling a lot of power however and as a graduate will require a lot of dice rolling (I was tempted to do it as part of my Wizards graduation until I realised that it would take an average of 200 or so channeling tests) and quite a few rolls on the miscasts table. Learning it will make it much more manageable and is a bargain  considering it is 100exp for what is effectively an extra level of instinctive diction that doesn't increase the experience costs. 

The second ritual you are interested in is summon familiar. A power familiar assisting you will grant +20 to both your channeling and casting tests. This takes a lot more channeling, so is probably best left until a bit later in your career. It is also probably harder to convince your college to give you access to it. Given the high CN it is also probably worth learning, if only to avoid endless dice rolling, but 450rxp for effectively getting +20 to two skills (and it helps with research as well) will quickly become a bargain as the costs of getting more advances in those skills mount. Once you have gotten your first familiar it can even help you summon your second.

Potions

They are expensive to buy ingredients for, but making them relies on a skill you are boosting anyway so potions should always be something you consider for your arsenal.

There are several potions that benefit you, but the most important is probably a draught of power because it can half the CN of a ritual - making it easier to get the enchanted staff and familiar mentioned above.

Spells

As I have mentioned, it is going to be some time before you have any effective combat spells available to you so you need to get comfortable using your staff until well into your second career.

Once you do however, you want to learn spells that you can reliably cast after channeling for a single round. Remember that you don't have to choose your spell until you know how much power you have channeled however so it is ok to learn one or two that need a higher channeling roll to prepare, just so long as you have something a bit more reliable as a backup. This means you are aiming to cast a spell every other round.

 As a freshly graduated second career wizard with 2 levels of aethyric Attunement and standard robes you will gain +3 to your channeling tests. Given that a successful test should get you at least 1SL, you should be able to reliably cast spells of CN 4 , maybe CN5.

As  you climb the ranks and gain fancier robes with higher bonuses, not to mention better skills and maybe a power familiar, the power of the spells you can reliably prepare and cast will grow. By the time you are a wizard lords with elaborate robes you will be gaining +5 on channeling tests with a further +20 to your test from your familiar (or +40 of you have two of them) allowing you to reliably cast the most powerful spells.

So why not start as a witch

In the early days of 4e, channeling was not seen as worthwhile by many. Now that reducing CN to 0 by channeling IS a viable game plan, I think instinctive diction is less essential than it once was.

Of course instinctive diction is still really good, but you have to balance the cost of taking a whole career to get it, further extending the amount of time you will be relying on your staff with no benefits until you finally get around to learning spells.

Given that you can probably get an enchanted staff early in your career that will grant an extra SL anyway, and you will be channeling to reduce CN to 0 and overcasting through that, instinctive diction can probably wait until your third career. The only real problem is that you will not be immune to miscasts when rolling total power.

It is a balance. If you are willing to wait to become effective and actually start casting magic, then starting as a witch to gain instinctive diction might be worthwhile (and has the benefit of role-playing a societal misfit as they find their way into the college's of magic), but I don't think it optimal.

Altering Reality Zones and the ascension war

 I have been feeling inspired by the mage 20 take on reality zones and how they can be altered, especially since reading the upcoming Victorian mage book. Partly because it gives an insight into how the ascension war is fought,  and partly because it helps define what exactly mages actually DO. It strikes me that,  given a bit of structure,  struggles to define reality zones can spin out entire chronicles worth of adventures. 

My instinct is to structure it around a mixture of altered challenge and contest from FATE.

Firstly, it is important to note that I am looking at this entirely from a player facing gamist perspective.  This is not intended as a simulationist model of waging the ascension war - it is a way to structure games and spin out world altering plots. 

It strikes me that there are 3 situations that can crop up in game;

1) (incursion) The players want to alter a reality zone to be more amenable to their paradigms.

2) (defence) the players want to stop someone from altering a reality zone

3) (ascension war) the players are simultaneously trying to stop an opponent from altering a reality zone while enforcing their own changes.

Let's look at these in turn;

Incursion

The most likely situation (especially at the start of a campaign) is that the mages want to create a reality zone that is a bit friendlier to their cause. 

First they need to decide on the changes they are going to attempt.  Each change will require a certain number of VICTORIES. the number needed can vary depending on your campaign, but I am going to start with an assumption of 3 victories being needed. YMMV.

Changes could include;

Making a vulgar effect using specific practices coincidental 

Making a certain category of practices effective cover for certain effects (removing witnesses) etc.

Second,  the characters need to plan out the CAMPAIGNs they will attempt in order to build VICTORYs towards the change.  A campaign intended to affect vulgar magic must include the use of vulgar magic. 

Each CAMPAIGN is broken down into a number of STEPs. In order to successfully complete an action, the characters need to be successful on a number of STEPs.  Each STEP should build towards a climactic final STEP which completes the CAMPAIGN. 

The campaign should involve a significant number of people from the area intended as a new reality zone,  and each campaign should target a different (although possibly overlapping) section of the population. 

Each step should also involve the use of magic, (with witnesses, as the whole idea is convincing them to beleive in magic).

For example;

An ecstatic dancer might work rituals in night clubs across the zone, gradually building acceptance among clubbers and working more and more obvious effects into the revelry.

They might start by building sensory effects and building a following,  move on to shaping the crowds emotional resonance,  and build into a climactic event where time actually stops and the moment is drawn out. 

A hermetic wizard might build a secret society whose rituals build steadily more obvious effects. 

Each step should be taken as an opportunity for the GM to throw in a complication.  Resolving the complication could be a scene,  or an entire adventure according to the needs of the Chronicle. This complication could be the result of deliberate opposition,  or simply events conspiring against the characters.  Successfully resolving the complication results in a successful STEP. Failing to resolve the complication results in a failed STEP.

Depending on the needs of the Chronicle there are two ways to complete a campaign;

Firstly,  a campaign could consist of EXACT 3 STEPS.  If two STEPS are successful,  the campaign grants a single VICTORY towards changing the reality zone. If 3 STEPS are successful,  the campaign grants 2 VICTORIES towards changing the reality zone. If a single STEP is successful,  then no VICTORIES are granted,  but the next campaign run towards the same change gains a single automatic success. 

Secondly,  if a more involved process is required,  the campaign could be counted as successful (and grant a victory) if 3 success are gained before 3 failures. As soon as 3 failures are garnered, the campaign fails and the character must try a different approach. 

Either of those approaches could be used for determining how many successful campaigns are needed to enact a change if desired. 

Defence

Once the characters have crafted a reality zone to their liking, they will need to keep it that way. 

This is where defence actions come in.  This follows a similar process to an incursion however this time the GM creates the campaigns on behalf of the NPCs, and it is up to the players to discover what they are doing and intervene. 

Because the aim is to generate adventures,  it is probably best to assume the NPCs will be successful without player interference, although dealing with the fallout from a failed STEP could be what tips the players off that someone is up to shenanigans.

Ascension War

It is likely that sooner or later both the players and their rivals will be trying to bend the consensus to their will.  When this happens,  all factions involved design their campaigns and set to work. 

The first faction to gain 3 VICTORIES enacts their change on the reality zone,  and the efforts of the other factions count for nothing. (Perhaps they could be granted some limited effect if they gained 1 or 2 VICTORIES).

This will spin out material for adventures all over the place as the characters scramble to deal with complications to their own plans,  create complications to their rivals plans,  and even deal with (or initiate) more direct attempts at sabotage or assassination.

This  can all either be the focus of a chronicle or stretch out in the background,  padding out and adding depth to stories about whatever other problems the mages are beginning dragged in to. 

 Solitaire System

The following is the system I use to plan Solitaire games.
Disclaimer – this system is always in development. I rarely play two games using precisely the same system. Each game I take what works, learn new things, try new things, and tweak things as needed.
It is also not original in any way. Everything here has been scavenged from a multitude of sources and cobbled together into a system that works for me.

Flexibility is the most important rule. The system has two purposes – to help generate ideas so the game does not stall, and to maintain a consistent narrative. It is a tool, not a straight jacket. Everything put in place by this system exists as a prompt and a guideline. I frequently alter, mix, or replace elements in play to fit the emerging narrative. Nothing is set in stone until it is engaged with directly in play.

A)    Setup

The first Job is to set up the game. I find that time spent on preparation pays dividends, and a well prepared game ends up more enjoyable, more productive, and more likely to last than one where I have just rolled up a character, grabbed an oracle, and got stuck in.
Setting up the game consists of a number of phases that I usually go through roughly in order. I never consider any of these phases to be “complete” however, and I constantly jump between them as inspiration takes me. Even once play has started the documents generated in these phases remain subject to regular updates.

1)    Genre

It is important to establish the Genre of the Game. For some this will be straight forwards because they approach the game with a particular Genre or a particular ruleset in mind. I almost always use a variant of Fate as my ruleset, so Genre is a wide open field.
I keep a document with a wish list of different Genres I am interested in playing, along with ideas I have for the focus of Games within those Genres.
My first step when setting up a solitaire game is always to revisit that list, see if I can add anything to it (even if I might not take that idea further until a later date), and settle on one for my current game.

Wishlist
Once I have settled on a Genre, I make a wish list for that game of things I would like to see in the game.
One of the great things about solitaire play is that I don’t have to please anyone but myself, and having a list of things that interest me helps give me prompts I can keep returning to whenever introducing something new to the game to keep things focussed on what I enjoy.
This wish list of things I want in the game is one of the most useful things I have found to help keep the game focussed and enjoyable. I will sometimes add to it later on as inspiration takes me.
Occasionally I create a second list of things I want to avoid in the game, but generally this is unnecessary.

Ruleset
Again, this will be a simple choice for many people. Given that I generally play fate, and it is so customisable, I tend to look at the genre and my wishlist at this point and see what rules will best accommodate those.


Scale
The last thing I need to establish is the scale at which my game will be played. Again this helps maintain a focus for the game and helps provide a framework for the things I add.
Sometimes the scale will change during play, and sometimes I plan from the outset that the campaign will move across scales.
I choose between 4 different scales of play;
I Personal
Personal games focus on the characters and their interpersonal relationships. Everything is designed to impact them directly.
II Political
Political games focus on the interplay between the different factions involved in the game. Characters will have their own motivations and agendas, and the PC’s will need to navigate between them. This kind of game is often fairly limited in scope, with the action played out between well connected characters within a defined arena of some sort – either geographical, factional, or organisational. Often things will be tightly balanced between different factions and the choices made by the PCs will tip the balance one way or another – with resulting complications and fallout.
III Epic
Epic games play out over a broader scale, with factions being more clearly defined and often clashing over larger areas. This kind of game is often Global in scope with a bigger focus on factions clashing rather than manouvering within factions. Characters at this scale will tend to be representative of the factions they are acting on behalf of.
IV Mythic
Mythic games are broader still, with characters and factions  representing fundamental forces of nature. or abstract ideas. Rather than the global clash of nations represented on the epic scale, this is the clash between life and death, light and darkness. In all honesty I do not often play at this scale.
Example
I settle on Fantasy as a genre and brainstorm a wishlist of things I want to include;
Magic
Wizards
Fae
Duels
Mass combat
Subterfuge

I will keep these in mind when setting up the Game and introducing new elements, ensuring that they are what focusses the game.
Mass combat suggests an Epic scale for the game, with factions clashing on a broad scale.

2)    Setting and Factions

These come together in my setup process, because although I begin with setting before moving on to factions, I tend to bounce back and forth between the two quite a lot as elements of each spark ideas.

Setting
Setting is about looking at where the action takes place and brainstorming locations. These will be added to throughout the setup process and throughout play.
The first thing to do is to think about the scope of the setting, which will often  be linked to the scale. Remember to keep your wishlist in mind while thinking about the sort of things you want to happen in your setting – the setting should be built with your wishlist in mind.
Personal scale stories might take place over a single block or a small town with locations being Houses, buildings, parks etc.
Political scale stories might take place within a single city, or across the scattered holdings of a single faction. Locations might again be buildings within that city.
Epic scale stories might take place across a whole globe, or even multiple worlds or planes in some stories. Locations might be whole cities or geographical locations. For an interstellar or interplanar setting, locations might even be worlds or planes.
Mythic scale stories go outside of the box and so the settings might resemble any of the above, or might be different entirely.
Locations
For each location I fill in;
Breif Description: What does it look like? What is its function?
Nested locations: Sometimes the location will be nested within a larger location (eg a building within a city). Sometimes it will have smaller locations nested within it (eg. A building containing several important apartments)
Face: A character or characters linked with the location. People you can expect to find here.
Faction: Any factions that are linked with the location.
Notes: Any important information about the location with regards to Items/characters/plots. Usually this will not be filled in until play has started, but sometimes characters back stories have important links to locations.

Factions
Next I brainstorm the Factions operating within the setting. First I do this as a simple list before going back over them and adding details.
I sometimes leave locations until later, but I always begin with at least 3 different factions to create tension between them.
Remember to keep your Wishlist in mind when brainstorming factions. 

Each faction should then be developed by adding notes under the following headings (partly taken from Dresden files accelerated):
Description: What is the faction about? What do they do?
Goals: What do the faction want to achieve
Resources: What do they have at their disposal
Weaknesses: What problems do they need to overcome or solve? What stands in their way?
Characters: What characters are involved in the faction?
Locations: List the locations the factions are linked to
Instinct: As a stereotype, how does the faction behave? What kind of thing are members trying to do as a short term goal?
Actions: List 3 to 5 generic actions the faction is likely to take to achieve their goals

UPDATE

after reading more game books and playing more adventures I have realised that the information above is not immediately gameable and have started listing a number of agents for each faction and given each agent a set of possible actions rather than (or sometimes as well as) actions for the faction as a whole. I have found that this helps make the factions more concrete and gives them a way to directly impact the story. 

3)    Create Characters

Once I have the basics of a setting and a bunch of factions with conflicting goals, I look through them and brainstorm a list of possible character concepts. Generally I try to think up at least 1 character from each faction, but more is fine.
Note that your characters should be linked to a faction, but they don’t necessarily need to agree with it – they could just as easily be opposed to the faction.
I draw my player characters from this list, but any left over can easily be introduced as allies or villains later on.
Looking back at your wish list can help with inspiration for characters, but don’t hesitate to include any concepts that appeal to you – this is another wishlist of sorts.
Then create your characters using whatever system you have decided upon. They will already be tied into the setting because they were created with a link to a particular faction in mind.

One of the great things about Solo Play is that you can try wildly different things in terms of a games cast of characters than you could get away with in a more social game where you are limited by the size of the group. Here are a few ideas I have tried;

Solo Solitaire. One possibility which from the atual plays I have read seems popular is to simply create and play a single character. This has the benefit of letting you get to know that character really well, and is probably the most “immersive” option, although given that solo play already requires you to split your hats between player and GM, I am not sure how much benefit this actually grants.

Traditional Party. An obvious option, and one I tend to favour for a lot of games, is to play through the adventures of a traditional adventuring party- Just taking on the roles of all the players (or partially automating the characters in some way). This takes more book-keeping than a single character, but many games are easier to balance encounters for this kind of setup.

Marvel Teamup. Often I begin with a single character and introduce more later. Sometimes I do this by playing a scenario with each character as individuals before bringing them together for a scenario as a team, in a similar manner to how marvel movies build up. This enables me to get to know each character without having others to distract from them, which can be helpful in cutting down the mental load when playing a whole group solitaire.

Split the Party!! One of the benefits of Solo play is that nobody is sat around bored if you split the party, even if you ignore some characters for a while and concentrate on others. Taking this to an extreme you could even explore a game from multiple perspectives by creating and playing multiple different characters who have nothing in common and possibly never even meet – each exploring the events of the game from the perspective of a different faction, location, or situation. Think the way characters are spread out in something like Game of Thrones, with each character getting a chapter or two at a time before the spotlight shifts. This feels especially appropriate for Epic games, but I can see some political games working like this as well.

4)    Create Problems

Look over your Wishlist, your Factions, and your Characters and come up with 2 or 3 problems affecting the setting that will need to be resolved. More can be added later, but these will help provide the structure for your campaign, at least to start with.
The nature of the problems will vary depending on your scale:
Personal Problems will be aimed at directly affecting the characters and things they care about, so pay particular notice to the character and their backstory. You might want to add detail to the characters back story to more firmly embed the problem,
Political problems will  be rooted in the Factions you created and divisions within those factors. This may be an external problem which factions have different ideas about how to deal with, but pay attention to your factions and how they will react when creating the problem. You may want to revisit the details of your factions to build on this.
Epic problems are clashes between the factions themselves. You may want to revisit the factions to ensure there is scope for an epic clash. You may also want to add a faction at this point which is specifically designed to clash with the others.
Mythic problems are more conceptual in nature. They could share similarities with problems from other scales, but will involve Gods and Ideas.

Once you have a problem begin by thinking what its endpoint will look like if it plays out without interference, then work your way backwards step by step to the situation at the campaigns start.
If the Problem is a villain, then consider this their plan for enacting their end goal. If the problem is more of a force of nature then this is the series of events that will lead to calamity unless the characters intervene.
Problems do not necessarily have to be something that the characters are working to stop either – they might just as easily be working to ensure the climax of a problem DOES happen, either because they are working for somebody else, or because they are furthering their own plans.
Sometimes they might switch between attempting to progress a problem and attempting to stop it as events unfold.
These are a bit like dungeon world Fronts.
Make sure there are at least 3 to 10 steps in the plan.

EG.
Problem; The Lord of Blades is preparing an army to invade Breland
Climax:         A horde of Warforged warriors descend on Breland
        A Brelish Fort is put under siege and sacked by a warforged army
        Warforged scouts infiltrate the Brelish border, sabotaging key positions
        Warforged agents infiltrate Breland, surveying defences and looking for weaknesses
        Warforged soldiers begin to desert the army
        Agents openly recruit Warforged soldiers to the Lord of Blades employ
        Warforged begin to go missing – they are joining Lord of Blades warbands

This provides a rough map of how events will play out without interference.

5)    Create Hooks

Start with the first step of each problem, and create 2 to 5 ways the characters could be hooked into dealing with that problem. Look at your characters and their backgrounds while doing this, that way you can make the hook personal.
One of these Hooks will form the basis of the first session of play. The rest can be put to one side and used to introduce other problems, or deepen problems the characters are already dealing with, once play has started.
Once the characters have begun dealing with the first step of a problem, you will need to start looking at the second step and brainstorming hooks that will get the characters involved and move the problem on.
During play, problems will most likely become derailed. When this happens, Use your knowledge of the factions, characters, and other elements involved in the problem to alter the steps leading to its conclusion. It may be that the situation has altered so radically that even the climax of the problem will need to change.
If the characters make it impossible for a problem to reach its climax, then that problem has been dealt with.

6)    Outline adventures

You should outline an adventure stemming from each hook you create. This does not need to be detailed, as you can build the details in play – just a rough idea of the events the hook will drag the characters into.
Adventures can take a number of different forms, but it is probably best to keep them short so that the game maintains its pace.
At this stage I would probably just record the kind of framework I think the adventure might use, and any ideas that leap out at me as being must-includes for the adventure. Both of these things would remain subject to change depending on both my whims and the state of play when the hook was actually triggered, but having some ideas in place already just helps keep things moving smoothly.
I suggest varying the frameworks used, to help keep the game from becoming predictable.

Frameworks I have found helpful include:

9 Questions: Written by John Fiore back in 2013. This is a fairly solid framework for a short adventure. This was the first form of adventure framework I started using when I first began playing solitaire games. It works best for adventures comprising a conflict between two parties, with steadily escalating risks.
Here is the gist, but I suggest searching for the original documents as they contain good advice on running it, and mush more detail.
1a) What looming hostility inherent within the setting unexpectedly comes into conflict with the heroic motivation, threatening to worsen over time?
This is basically developing how the characters find and interact with the Hook.
1b) What actions consistent with the heroic motivation do the heroes take that bring them into conflict with a looming hostility inherent within the setting?
In other words, how do the characters react to the Hook?
2) What unusual event occurs soon afterwards?
3) What elements of the results of Q1a or b and Q2 suddenly get twisted together in a surprising manner, increasing the danger to the heroic motivation?
4) How can the fight be brought to the enemy, gaining ground for the heroic motivation?
5) How can any heroic gains from the results of Q4 suddenly be undermined as new information about the true face/scheme/power of the enemy becomes known?
6) How can the adverse results from Q4 and Q5 be further intensified, forcing the heroes to commit to a do-or-die course of action in accordance with the heroic motivation?
7) Where can the heroic motivation be most effectively redeemed?
8) Where does the final showdown between the heroes and the enemy take place in relation to the results of Q7?
9) Where does the world stand after the results of Q7 and Q8?
This is a good place to insert another hook…

5 Room Dungeon: Designed by John Four as a quick method for games masters to create short dungeons, however the format can easily be adapted to situations other than literal dungeons.
They work well when for an adventure in which the characters will be moving from one situation to the next in search of the adventures climax.
Again I would suggest searching for the source material. A lot has been written about using 5 room dungeons in various contexts, and they are a flexible resource once you get the hang of them.
Room 1: Entrance and Guardian
The Hook
Room 2: Puzzle or Roleplaying Challenge
For Solo play, this really means a skill challenge for the characters
Room 3: Trick or Setback
Room 4: Climax
Room 5: Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
This is a good place to insert another hook…

Perilous Intersections: Written by Rory Bracebuckle. This is a more freeform adventure framework than the above methods, and was a gamechanger for me when I first discovered it. It is also more difficult to describe in a short form than the methods above.
The Gist is that you roll up a series of random “Seeds” and each scene is setup with one of these seeds providing inspiration for a situation that challenges the characters goals.
It is a useful framework when you want something a little less structured than the above methods, and I find it works well when you have an idea for the starting point (the Hook) but want to play to find out what is actually going on.

Story Questions: I have found that a similar framework to Perilous intersections can work by generating a series of questions that the adventure will answer and using them as frameworks for scenes in a similar method to Perilous Intersections. In fact I have found that this works really well when combined with Perilous intersections, replacing the Big Questions with more story specific ones.
This is a useful framework when you want a freeform adventure, but actually have some idea about what is going on but the questions instead revolve around the characters actions and their consequences.

There are many more frameworks that can be used for adventures, and I will probably add more here with time, but these are some of the methods I have had the most success with.
To prepare an adventure record the following information;
Hook:
Frmework: (subject to change)
Ideas:
Ramifications if the Hook is ignored:

7)    Begin Play

Pick a hook (I sometimes do this randomly), prepare whatever you need to for the framework you have chosen, and get started on the first scene.

I like to keep a handy list of Possible hooks to be introduced ready nearby, so that I can constantly be on the lookout for opportunities to introduce a new hook. Unless I am overwhelmed by the number of Hooks that are opened (probably about 3 open at a time), I introduce a new one wherever possible. This means that I can keep the characters options open within the game and ensure they are busy juggling priorities.

Of course, triggering a hook doesn’t mean the characters have to follow up on it, and I like to have an idea of the ramifications for the hooks I leave dangling for too long…

At a minimum I try to finish each adventure with at least one hook open, so that I can move straight on with things without losing pace (which in my experience can kill a solo game).

I label hooks with the problem they stem from so that I know what they should be building towards, and I mark hooks which lead into the next phase of a problem.
When I feel ready, and the narrative supports it (sometimes before I feel ready) I trigger a hook that moves a problem into its next phase. I do not necessarily (or often) wait until all of the previous phases hooks have been triggered before moving to the next phase. They are simply options intended to provide inspiration on exploring that phase of the problem. 

Sometimes inspiration will appear from the narrative and new hooks will suggest themselves, or hooks I have listed will become irrelevant.
Sometimes my characters will begin working on long term goals of their own, in which case I will go through the Problem creation process and create the steps needed to accomplish their goal. Sometimes a new problem will rise in play and I will go through the process in a similar fashion.

When the characters derail the intended steps of a problem I will attempt to create a new set of steps for that problem to attain completion. If this is not possible then the characters have successfully dealt with that problem (and the fallout may well create the impetus for new problems).

Lastly I should note that although I always plan with the intention of running an entire campaign, I never begin play with the expectation that I will successfully do so. The realities of Solitaire play are that it is often difficult to maintain motivation past a handful of adventures, and I generally regard fully completing a single adventure as a win. I find that for me it is easier to maintain my interest if I focus on the present moment of the campaign and don’t put any pressure of expectaction to take it any thurther. I also find however that it is easier to keep going if I have some kind of framework in place for the route ahead, and there is nothing worse than a successful and enjoyable game grinding to a halt because I don’t know where to take it next, or because it is starting to feel like it is not really going anywhere.

I hope that this helps others with inspiration in finding their own system for setting up and playing solitaire games. Please feel free to cannibalise whatever you like and make it work for you - after all, that is what I have done. 

Happy Gaming.