Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?)

Landwalker · 10-24-2018, 11:04 AM

It's been a good long while since I've been around here, but today I'm trying to find something that has brought me back to old stomping grounds.

A couple of years ago, I believe, I ran across someone's GURPS blog in which they developed, and then proof-of-concepted, a sort of style of "self-directed" gaming. They had a system for laying out the basics of the world, generating adventures, determining how things might react to player actions, etc., and then "proofed" it by playing a solo adventure... with themselves.

As I recall, the adventure was something to the effect of a rural village lad undertaking a quest to a ruined castle at the behest of a local witch, with the goal of retrieving a particular item for said witch in order to get her to lift a curse on a friend of said lad.

Unfortunately, that's pretty much the extent of my memory of this. I know that the adventure itself used GURPS, and I am about 95% certain that I encountered this blog, either directly or indirectly, through my time here on these forums. I'd like to find it again and reread it and pillage it for ideas of my own, but that first part is proving a challenge.

So, if anybody has any idea what I'm talking about and can help me find said "self-GM'd adventuring," I would enormously appreciate it, and I assure you I will give my cats many scritches in your honor.

ericthered · 10-24-2018, 11:08 AM

You're probably thinking of The Collaborative Gamer.

Daigoro · 10-24-2018, 11:15 AM

There's a guy who had some clues a little while ago...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landwalker

Well, it's been a long time since I've haunted these... haunts. But Joe's GURPS blog has managed to drag me back out of my cave. I find what he's doing over there fascinating, both in terms of procedural game-generation and in terms of GM-less gaming as a whole.

Was that the link you were looking for?

Landwalker · 10-24-2018, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daigoro

There's a guy who had some clues a little while ago...

Was that the link you were looking for?

....
....
....

Well then. Insert riotously laughing emoji here, I guess.

Thanks to both you and ericthered for so quickly setting me on the right track! I honestly had no memory of doing my own spin on the world-building part of it. (Looks like I never made it all the way to an adventure. How typical of me.)

That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again, fine individuals.

Daigoro · 10-24-2018, 09:11 PM

I was following the same threads, so I thought it'd be easy enough to find. When I googled "solo gaming" your old thread looked the most likely, but I had to double check that it wasn't Google throwing this thread at me :)

Anyway, see you again in 2 years?

Landwalker · 10-25-2018, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daigoro

Anyway, see you again in 2 years?

That does seem to be my current orbital period here, doesn't it? Guess I'll see you again in two years. =P

Joe · 10-25-2018, 09:52 AM

This thread made me laugh - thanks, everyone!

And it brought me back to Landwalker's old thread, which I'd someone missed entirely when he was doing it two years ago. So thanks for that, too - it's super-satisfying to see other people getting some use out of all the system.

Landwalker · 10-25-2018, 10:56 AM

What would I be good for if not for laughs (and, occasionally, tax compliance)?

Joe, I always enjoyed your blog many moons ago when I was more of an RPG regular, especially as someone who can struggle with / get bogged down in world and adventure creation. Aside from my "practicum" back then, though, unfortunately I never got the chance to put it into true effect. While I've moved away from GURPS in recent years, though, I'm hoping that I might be able to adapt it for other systems at some point. Hell, if I get ambitious enough, one day maybe I'll try a solo adventure in the footsteps of Temian Fell himself!

Joe · 10-25-2018, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Landwalker

What would I be good for if not for laughs (and, occasionally, tax compliance)?

Joe, I always enjoyed your blog many moons ago when I was more of an RPG regular, especially as someone who can struggle with / get bogged down in world and adventure creation. Aside from my "practicum" back then, though, unfortunately I never got the chance to put it into true effect. While I've moved away from GURPS in recent years, though, I'm hoping that I might be able to adapt it for other systems at some point. Hell, if I get ambitious enough, one day maybe I'll try a solo adventure in the footsteps of Temian Fell himself!

If you do, write it up so I can read it! (In your copious free time, of course... :) )

binn05 · 11-19-2018, 07:27 AM

I'm creating a solo adventure using Joe's The Collaborative Gamer blog as a guide.

Posts will be slow since I write them in English and Brazillian Portuguese. But, if anyone wants to read, here are the links.

Character Sheet.

Creating the Quest.

10-24-2018, 11:04 AM	#1
Landwalker Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Cumberland, ME	Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?) It's been a good long while since I've been around here, but today I'm trying to find something that has brought me back to old stomping grounds. A couple of years ago, I believe, I ran across someone's GURPS blog in which they developed, and then proof-of-concepted, a sort of style of "self-directed" gaming. They had a system for laying out the basics of the world, generating adventures, determining how things might react to player actions, etc., and then "proofed" it by playing a solo adventure... with themselves. As I recall, the adventure was something to the effect of a rural village lad undertaking a quest to a ruined castle at the behest of a local witch, with the goal of retrieving a particular item for said witch in order to get her to lift a curse on a friend of said lad. Unfortunately, that's pretty much the extent of my memory of this. I know that the adventure itself used GURPS, and I am about 95% certain that I encountered this blog, either directly or indirectly, through my time here on these forums. I'd like to find it again and reread it and pillage it for ideas of my own, but that first part is proving a challenge. So, if anybody has any idea what I'm talking about and can help me find said "self-GM'd adventuring," I would enormously appreciate it, and I assure you I will give my cats many scritches in your honor.

10-24-2018, 11:08 AM	#2
ericthered Hero of Democracy Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: far from the ocean	Re: Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?) You're probably thinking of The Collaborative Gamer. __________________ Be helpful, not pedantic Worlds Beyond Earth -- my blog Check out the PbP forum! If you don't see a game you'd like, ask me about making one!

10-24-2018, 09:11 PM	#5
Daigoro Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Meifumado	Re: Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?) I was following the same threads, so I thought it'd be easy enough to find. When I googled "solo gaming" your old thread looked the most likely, but I had to double check that it wasn't Google throwing this thread at me :) Anyway, see you again in 2 years? __________________ Collaborative Settings: Cyberpunk: Duopoly Nation Space Opera: Behind the King's Eclipse And heaps of forum collabs, 30+ and counting!

10-25-2018, 09:52 AM	#7
Joe Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?) This thread made me laugh - thanks, everyone! And it brought me back to Landwalker's old thread, which I'd someone missed entirely when he was doing it two years ago. So thanks for that, too - it's super-satisfying to see other people getting some use out of all the system. __________________ My (ahem... hugely entertaining... ahem) GURPS blog: The Collaborative Gamer

10-25-2018, 10:56 AM	#8
Landwalker Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Cumberland, ME	Re: Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?) What would I be good for if not for laughs (and, occasionally, tax compliance)? Joe, I always enjoyed your blog many moons ago when I was more of an RPG regular, especially as someone who can struggle with / get bogged down in world and adventure creation. Aside from my "practicum" back then, though, unfortunately I never got the chance to put it into true effect. While I've moved away from GURPS in recent years, though, I'm hoping that I might be able to adapt it for other systems at some point. Hell, if I get ambitious enough, one day maybe I'll try a solo adventure in the footsteps of Temian Fell himself!

11-19-2018, 07:27 AM	#10
binn05 Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Bahia, Brazil	Re: Searching for Self-Directed Gaming Blog (I think?) I'm creating a solo adventure using Joe's The Collaborative Gamer blog as a guide. Posts will be slow since I write them in English and Brazillian Portuguese. But, if anyone wants to read, here are the links. Character Sheet. Creating the Quest. __________________ My Blog - https://nohrpg.wordpress.com/ Mostly GURPS. Last edited by binn05; 11-19-2018 at 07:30 AM. Reason: Better writing.