I've played a Dungeon World campaign. It was fun enough, but the system isn't very well balanced
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
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Playing Tabletop Roleplaying Games Alone
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Welcome to the SoloRPG community!
Some people prefer to play their tabletop roleplaying games alone, to avoid the drama and scheduling issues of traditional group games, while others play solo because they're unable to find a group to play with.
Whatever your case may be, you're more than welcome here to discuss your experiences as well as ask any questions that you might have.
For an introduction to this style of play, read Why Play Roleplaying Games Alone.
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Oh? I have the book, but I haven't tried it. Any examples of how it's unbalanced?
If you're interested in hearing it played, I would highly recommend the podcast "Spout Lore". They, in my opinion, are the platonic ideal of how to play a PbtA game, which is to mostly ignore the rules and bang them into a shape that fits the fiction, rather than the other way around. PbtA games are meant to be unbalanced, I think, because fiction tends to favor the protagonists.
I think that's by design, honestly. DW (and all Powered by the Apocalypse games) are effectively just creative storytelling rules with the occasional die roll. You can (and often do) go whole sessions and roll only a couple of times. Its combat rules are virtually non-existent, and it doesn't even have turns, so balance is not only not a concern, but probably impossible. That's because the players will win or lose not by dice rolls, but by where the fiction takes them. If you like a lot of crunchy stats and rules, PbtA is probably not the path you want to go down.
I have both editions (1st and 2nd) of the Mythic GME, but I've only tried the first one. The second one (the one you linked) does look very promising though, and I know a lot of people have had very good results with the first one.
I'm legitimately quite impressed with it. It's very well written, and the system is simple enough to be rapidly applied effectively. It feels a lot like having someone to bounce ideas off of and occasionally surprise you. I'm also getting ready to run a game of Beam Saber with a couple of friends, using Mythic. Very excited to see how a "writer's room" approach to roleplaying will go.