As you begin reading through my Well… that was interesting series of posts in regard to my play sessions, it might be helpful for you to have a bit of a reference guide to how I structure those posts. This will undoubtably change over time, and I’ll do my best to keep this guide updated.
Basic Post Structure
Aside from the introduction, my plan is to separate each section in a play session post by game story time that contains the story as it progresses. Throughout there will be various annotations to explain the player and game master mechanics, along with callouts for resources used. The post will end with a summary section of resources used.
The post itself will consist of events and techniques used for a unit of actual time, whereas the sections will contain units of game time, generally based on a day or series of days in the given RPGs unit of time. For example, a play session post may only detail the events in a given game day, or the continuation of a day, or even contain multiple days of game time.
We’ll use an example here and then break that apart.
Example Post Content
In today’s Well… that was interesting, we will continue with the party in Day 5 of their adventure.
The Story So Far
The party was sent by the constable of the town to a dungeon to retrieve the stolen gold and was about to enter a dungeon.
Day 5 continued
The party enters the entrance of the dungeon where they encounter 4 goblins.
ATGM: I used Chapter 6: Dungeon Encounters from The Solo Adventurers' Toolbox (TSAT) to determine the type of encounter and Chapter 16: Monster Encounters For The Solo PC to get the specifics.
After the goblins were defeated in combat, they searched the room for treasure and found an Oathbow.
ATGM: I used Chapter 7: Treasure from the Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG) to randomly determine the type of treasure. I lucked out on the chance to roll on the magic items chart which resulted in the party discovering the Oathbow.
The party then returned to town to tell share the story of their adventure in the tavern.
Day 6
The party set out….etc., etc.
Bookkeeping
Exposition, exposition, blah blah. I should get to the point and actually make a post!
Resources Used
- The Solo Adventurer’s Toolbox (TSAT)
- Dungeons & Dragons Core Rule Books
- Players Handbook (PHB)
- Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG)
- Monster Manual (MM)
Post Structure Breakdown
This example starts out as an introduction to the post, followed by The Story So Far which will provide a synopsis of what has transpired from the previous post to catch the reader up.
A Day 5 continued section that leads off with what we’ll call Story Mode.
Within Story Mode, various annotations are made describing the techniques and resources used.
As often as possible and as I remember to do it, I’ll try to link to those resources, or directly to an Investigation Check I performed on the resource if I have it.
A section may then continue with more elements of Story Mode before the end of the day.
The example post continues on with the events of the next day and ends with a bookkeeping session and summary list of resources used.
Annotations
Annotations within a story element should look like the following:
ABBREVIATION: Details specific to this annotation including bold elements to indicate chapters, sources and other abbreviations for lions, tigers and bears oh my!
The Abbreviations break down as follows:
ATGM – As The Game Master
These are the actions and tools I used acting as the Game Master (GM) for the game.
Example
ATGM: I utilize the random creature chart in the Book on my shelf and roll 1d100 to select a creature from it.
ATPC – As The Player Character
The actions and tools I used acting as a Player Character (PC) in the game
Example
ATPC: Morn rolled a critical failure on his attack roll, and using the Critical Failure event chart, rolled another 1d20 to determine that he broke his sword.
ATOB – As The Old Bard
This is just me neither acting as the GM nor the PC but interjecting something noteworthy within the story.
Example
ATOB: Thus far we haven't established a marching order for the party, so I want to take about what this is quickly in case you didn't know.
These annotations will certainly grow as we progress so I’ll include a link to this page at the beginning of each post.
Time Tracking
For D&D, I use both my journal and a Time Tracking sheet I downloaded from olddungeonmaster.com to keep track of where I was, and how much time had passed. I believe the “tenday” is truly only a Forgotten Realms thing, but it seemed interesting to me, so I went with it.
I used the Travel Pace section from the core rules to estimate travel across the maps of the world I’ve created, with each square on the area maps representing about 3 miles. I don’t currently have a hex map for this but planning on getting one in the future. The Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG) also has more information on using Maps.
I keep a few printed copies of this time tracking sheet next to my note pad, and tick off hours on the sheet as I feel appropriate for the amount of travel, time in town, etc.
Bookkeeping
This is a section where I try to wrap things up. End of session post notes go here. Discussing anything related to the session as a whole, and possibly any follow up items I need to take care of, and of course a summation of the resources used.
Resources Used
The first time a resource is used in a story section, I may be explicit about the full name of the resource followed by an abbreviation. Further references in the post, will just use the abbreviation. However, the resource will be added to the end of the post in the Resources Used section.
Where I already have an Investigation Check for the resource (BTW, that’s just a fancy name for a Review), the link will take you to that, otherwise it will take you to the actual resource from the publisher. Over time, as I get them done, more links will favor the Investigation Check for the resource.
I hope this guide helps you to understand the structure of my solo game posts!
Let me know if you have any feedback so I can refine this over time and improve your experience following me along on my adventures.