Playing TTRPGs solo has been around almost as long as TTRPGs have been a concept. While a traditional TTRPG is a social group activity, solo roleplaying games can be more like a journaling experience or guided storytelling through a gamebook (some of which involve dice and stat-tracking, and even modified versions of rules from group-centered games). We’ve talked a bit about solo-tabletop RPGs before - the trouble with solo gaming when want to go beyond the limits of what's been written into a gamebook or published electronic RPG is the GM/DM. There are, of course, many ways people have attempted to solve this . There are the Mythic Game Master Emulator books . There are storytelling dice if all you need is a nudge in a direction. There are even systems that attempt bring in a few different approaches into a single package like RPG Solo . While these are all fine solutions, they all came out before we had AI, or at least before we had what we currently refer to as "AI"

This weekend marks a very special holiday that's important to many of us* - National Frog Jumping Day! While one might argue that the holiday started in 1865 with the publication of Mark Twain’s famous short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," , it wasn’t until 1893 that the tradition of an annual Frog Jubilee complete with frog jumping competition started. Held every May 13th, it's a tradition that continues today, with the record high frog jump still standing from 1986 at 21 feet and 5 ¾ inches. While neither of us here at Never Say Dice had heard of Frog Jumping Day, the jubilee or the record before this week (that we can recall), at the very least we're familiar with the works of Mark Twain, and it got us thinking about some very important frogs from other media. Specifically though, the frog that came to mind this week is none other than the amphibian hero of Frogger (apologies to fellow Marylander Kermit). What exactly is Frogger ? It&

This weekend is the unofficial start of summer here in the United States. For many of us, that marks a time full of grilled burgers and cold brews. Previously, we talked about how food might disagree with you, and how to get the help of Peter Pepper at your table top . This year, the focus is on the brew part of the cookout events. While half of Never Say Dice is a teetotaler, that doesn’t mean we can’t all appreciate the strange fun of beer and games. If you haven’t figured it out yet, this year we’re pouring one out for Tapper . We’ll get into a bit of the game's history and its main character. We’ll also put together a Risus version for you to include in your own games. (If you don’t know Risus, fear not! Check out some of our previous Risus posts where we’ve taken inspiration from other classic arcade games, including Gauntlet and Pole Position . (Not to mention out our very own "Introduction to Risus .") So sit back, pour yourself a cold one with us, and enjoy learn

Food disagreeing with you lately? The summer holidays are often full of greasy burgers and hot dogs. I know I’ve been grilling more than usual. That wasn’t what I was referring to, though. Does your food want to make hamburger out of you ? Then perhaps you need help from Peter Pepper. You might be asking yourself, “who?” Don’t worry, we’ll cover that in a moment. First we have the "how." We don’t need IntelliVision’s arcade-like super graphics for this post. We need Risus: The Anything RPG . What is Risus ? I won’t bore you with all the details here. (Besides, you can read our very own Introduction to Risus post.) In short, Risus is a rules-lite, versatile, and down-right fun “anything” TTRPG. In previous Risus posts , we have looked at converting the characters from Gauntlet , and taken inspiration from the Pole Position properties for an arcade themed setting I’ve been working on. In actual play, the game world would look something like Wreck-It-Ralph or ReBoot . For

Planning on a Sunday drive this weekend? Oh no you ain’t, you’re going to play Pole Position! You may not have your Atari 2600 or 800 set up and ready to go (mine are safely packed in their dust covers). You may not have access to a sit-down arcade cabinet with wheel, stick shift and pedals. What you do have that's ready and easy to access is Risus: The Anything RPG . What is that? You can read about it in various places, including my Introduction to Risus on this blog. In a sentence: Risus is a rules-lite, versatile, and downright fun “anything” TTRPG. In my last Risus post , we looked at builds of the characters from Gauntlet for an arcade-themed setting I’ve been working on for far too many years, reminiscent of media like ReBoot , Tron , and Wreck-It-Ralph . This week, we’ll add Pole Position to the ranks of games included in this procrastinated sourcebook. If you’re somehow not familiar with Pole Position , you may want to go check out this historic arcade racing game. It

If you don’t already know about Risus , you can find out a ton about it in various places, including my own Introduction to Risus post on this very blog. To put it simply, Risus is a rules-light,versatile, and downright fun “anything” TTRPG. If you’ve read my previous post, you’ll know I’ve been building a setting for this particular system: Risus Arcade, a world in the style of series like ReBoot and Wreck-It-Ralph . This week, I’ll be detailing my builds for the four characters from the arcade classic Gauntlet ! The original Gauntlet is a third-person, top-down, beat-em-up (so many hyphens) game you could play with three other friends at your local arcade. While I visited the arcade plenty of times growing up, I mostly remember playing it on home consoles. It was ported to a number of different systems, so there's a good chance your own experience was similar. The series has evolved and changed over the years, with the latest edition, also entitled simply Gauntlet , appearing o

While roaming the internet in the late nineties/early noughties, I came across a TTRPG that was rules-lite and called itself “the anything RPG.” Want to play a high school cheerleader/samurai-in-training part-time goth enthusiast fast food cashier? The hot pink stick figure art glared back at me. Nah, not interested. But I was wrong. The stick figures were actually purple, and Risus is a surprisingly versatile, handy and down right fun TTRPG. I wouldn’t figure that out though till I discovered it again several years later. Even though it was written as a comedy system (and somewhat lighthearted response to GURPS) you really can use it for just about anything: space opera, high fantasy, pulp, vampires,western, any movie setting you could think of...seriously anything. You can read a far more detailed and interesting history in a number of other places should it strike your fancy. It is time for your Risus indoctrination introduction. Risus really is versatile and fairly easy to learn

With much of the country in lock-down or self-isolation, tabletop gaming grinds to a halt. Right? Traditional board and card games may be difficult to manage without being isolated with your players. However, while you can't sit across the table with your chums, there are still many ways you can participate in "tabletop" role playing games. Please check out some of the following resources and keep your storytelling active in these trying times. Keeping the "table" in tabletop If you're considering moving your regular game to a virtual setting, you likely already have a communication tool in mind. There are a wide number of ways to communicate out there from voice only Discord channels to full video chats. We won't get into those options here as you likely already have your preference. Options for handling the table potion of the game are fewer, but alternatives do exist. A few popular ones are: Fantasy Grounds , Rolisteam , and Roll 20 . These pl