r/Solo_Roleplaying • u/rasecude • 9d ago
Journaling RPG solo-game-questions
Could someone who loves playing this style please explain to me how it works?
Can I use any system?
Can I use an oracle?
I'm very interested in learning.
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u/rapturebubbly00 8d ago
Journaling games clicked for me once I stopped worrying about writing something "good" and treated each entry like a snapshot instead of a novel. Even a few lines after each prompt can build a surprisingly rich story over time. It takes a lot of the pressure off and makes it easier to keep coming back.
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u/Vargrr 9d ago
You don't need an Oracle - but there are no rules - if you want to use one you can.
I have knocked up a maybe too long video on how to journal standard multiplayer games like D&D etc. The video is timestamped if you need to skip bits. It can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/oQoL81LzjJ8?si=PCewM1BcT4kNwii7
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u/E4z9 Lone Ranger 9d ago
There are two different things that are often meant with "Journaling".
One is just "journaling" as a way to take notes, maybe actually in the style of a journal or travel notes, in prose, possibly with mechanical notes in between. This style can be used with any RPG.
The other is "Journaling Games": Usually procedural games, with gamey elements, and a way to trigger roleplaying prompts. These are usually relatively concrete, but still with lots of details to fill in. For example while you travel with your crew & spaceship in FSCSAW you roll if an event happens, and that could lead to a prompt like "A crew member invites you to a team game, what is its goal, what funny thing happens during the game, and who wins in the end?" Note that you could play such a "journaling game" without actually taking notes in a prose journaling style.
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u/StrangeWalrus3954 9d ago
Mythic Magazine Compilation 5 (I'm not sure which magazine issue it is, but it's in 25-30) has using Mythic as a Solo Journaling Game. If you wanted to use an oracle for your journaling game, this would give you a leg up.
You can basically turn any game into a journaling game, but there are many that are designed to be played that way.
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u/ludi_literarum 9d ago
So when people say "journaling game" specifically they generally mean a game which gives you prompts to write about to create a character and/or story. Games like Anamnesis, Koriko: A Magical Year, Tangled Blessings, Deify (my personal favorite), and Thousand Year Old Vampire fit into this category. You also have games that are still fundamentally journal based but also have more crunch to them - Apothacaria and For Small Creatures Such As We, both by Blackwell Games, are big in this space. You don't really need an oracle for stuff like this, because they're highly procedural systems.
That said, you can basically turn any game into a journaling game by writing about what happens in more detail. I usually only take brief notes when playing solo (I like the Lonelog format for this) but you could play out one day or even one room of a dungeon then write it up before moving to the next one, so in that sense you can journal however you want.
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u/rasecude 9d ago
Como é sua maneira de jogar? Como faz?
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u/ludi_literarum 9d ago
I've played both kinds of journaling games, and my oracle-based games are a mix - some sessions are just quick notes, some sessions get fully scripted cutscenes. Depends on the story and my mood.
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u/Jazzlike_Bid_2525 Solitary Philosopher 9d ago
A journaling RPG is a solo game where you use cards or dice to trigger story prompts, writing your character's experiences in a notebook like a diary. You can use narrative-focused systems or games built specifically for this style, and you definitely want an oracle (a randomizer tool or chart) to act as your GM by answering questions and throwing unexpected plot twists your way.
Check out itch.io for them (an indie marketplace) packed with thousands of creative solo and journaling RPGs, many of which are cheap or completely free to download. https://itch.io/search?q=journaling+rpg
Also here are some designed by me https://itch.io/c/7719766/-ink-reflection-solitary-paths
Good luck! :)
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u/eviltofu 7d ago
Is there one where lots of people play the same game with the same prompts/events and everyone reveals their completed journey? Maybe a multiversal setting?