Sitting Quietly And Just Reading A Book Is Back On The Menu!
‘The Horror! The Horror!’
Because the next month is going to see me visiting a relative’s home to look after his dog (Barney) while his owner attends daily kemo treatments I am having to find alternative diversions and projects to keep me entertained.
I’ve of the things I have decided to do is finally tackle my long neglected collection of solo role playing games based on the H.P. Lovecraft MYTHOS universe. In the past I have always found it hard to set aside a bit of ‘quiet time’ to tackle these books and games, finding model making projects more immediately accessible.
So, bits my chance to just sit down and page through this big collection of horror/mystery role playing games…
You Say BIG, But How Big is Big?
Well, now I have made time to sort through my collection - which was languishing and gathering dust in our spare room - I think I can say ‘quite’ BIG! 😂
I tried but can’t quite fit all the books and boxes into a photograph they does the collection justice, so I have made this chart instead…
I should explain this chart. I have organised my collection in what I perceive to be the level of complexity of each of my games - starting with a very simple ‘choose your own adventure’ book all the way up to the mind blowing sophistication of the king of Lovecraftian RPGs, ‘Call of Cthulhu’.
In short, these games range from simple ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ books type volumes, through boxed tabletop games and right up to role playing game systems which require additional tools to work as solo games! There are 14 items in this collection (luckily there weren’t just 13), but this does not include all the extra paraphernalia I have also accumulated in order to play some of these games.
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| Above: Some of the more advanced RPG systems are not really solo games but intended for ‘parties’ of adventurers and - crucially - a GAME MASTER to oversee the activities and ‘referee’. In order to play these games as solo activities you need mechanisms to undertake or simulate the role of the game master (who in the Lovecraftian RPG world is called the ‘Keeper’). Below these there are also some of the basic RPG tools that you might expect, like types of dice and card decks which are used to to introduce random chance and resolve uncertain actions, turning character stats into dynamic stories. |
Now, I should point out that when I started this collection I had intended *just* to begin with what I thought would be a good introduction to this genre for the complete novice to role playing. Just ONE book…
But, somehow, my obsessive nature turned this into something of a hobby in itself as I slowly added one after another until over time I have ended up with this glorious heap!
The irony is that I *still* haven’t completed the very first book and so I am still a beginner to this hobby.
Still, having to finally sort out and re-read the description - and research them online - has actually been a great way for me to get a general grasp about how solo RPGs work (in theory), and so I kinda know what I am getting myself into.
In fact, I have jotted down my thoughts - so that I don’t forget again what each of these game is - and will probably turn this into a beginner’s overview of them the form of a short video.
In the meantime, I’m off to look after Barney the dog and I will be using that time to actually start the first color in my collection - ‘CHOOSE CTHULHU: CALL OF CTHULHU’ by Lysander Pinto. The first book in the Choose Your Own Adventure series by Steve Jackson Games…
Wish me luck!
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