This guide has been so incredibly helpful for me! I deal with chronic illness and a lot of fatigue and brain fog. I got into solo rpg's to give myself a hobby and minimize my screen time as it triggers migraines, brain fog, and fatigue for me. As much as I'd love to learn them, my brain just doesn't have the energy to learn and implement lots of rpg rules and "crunch." I was feeling really frustrated trying to figure out how to move forward with solo rpg's until I found this guide. It has helped me figure out a style of play that works with my limitations and allows me to play in ways that work for me and my limitations. It also fills in the holes that I was finding in references for new rpg players. So much of new guidance is "and then you just play..." That doesn't tell me HOW. I needed to know HOW to play, help for my imagination to get going again, which hasn't been used in many years. This guide has helped me figure out the "HOW" of playing an rpg, help and guidance that is missing from so many "newbie" resources. Thanks so much for this!!
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i really relate to this, my chronic illness has left me with a lot of difficulties using my imagination and creativity and just playing. between the brain fog, ocd perfectionism, the lack of dopamine and serotonin reward systems, and just the fact that i have less energy and need to be careful what i use it on, it feels next to impossible to retrain my brain to do something that other people seem to do without even trying. these kinds of resources are really valuable for that for me!! it serves as an exercise and an explanation of both the actions and the mindsets involved in the creative process that most people overlook, i assume because it's something most people learn as a kid? but plenty of people who want to get into creative hobbies struggle with things like idea synthesis.. either way, i hope more things like this come out, i resonated with it a lot :))
Thank you, I'm very happy that this has resonated with you. You're right, freeform really is a mindset. I'll take a mindset over a ruleset any day! I think the key is to just allow yourself to be completely free, and remember there's nobody watching, nobody judging. You can play in your imagination however you like. It can be hard to find a system or ruleset that's perfectly suited to your own needs or taste, and when that happens I think it's easy to get side tracked with making your own ruleset or system. (It happened to me! Until I went freeform...) In solo play it's so easy to just go without a strict or stable system - you can just relax and use your imagination, no pressure, no rules, no "wrong way". It's just you and your imagination, and whatever tools and procedures you feel like throwing into the mix on a given day. Since I went freeform I've had far more vivid and amazing sessions than I ever did while using a rulebook. Sometimes people use the phrase "writing with dice" as a kind of insult or takedown, but I actually really love this way of putting it. It's discovering a story as it happens, with some procedurally generated randomness thrown in to keep things surprising. I'm not so interested in HP and XP or endless combat - I just want to "be there" the story-world, really get to know my characters, and have as many big surprises and unexpected experiences as I can trick my imagination into creating.