Answers to a "Where should I start with solo?"
@snowkeep I noticed you have mentioned solo RPGing several times. I am interested in giving it a try and have several options already on my shelf, but I have yet to try one out. Do you have a recommendation of a good place to start for solo RPGing? I have solo dungeon delvers such as Four Against Darkness and d100 Dungeon. I also have StarForged. And I have the Mythic GM Emulator Card Deck. I also have Thousand Year Old Vampire
It's the same answer to any "what should I play?" Whatever interests you. I've heard good things about 4AD, but haven't played it and don't know much other than I believe you're playing a group. I've heard d100 Dungeon is a bit board-gamey, solve-the-puzzle. Mythic GME is generic rules to run anything solo. I believe TYOV is very narrative - more of a prompt based writing exercise. SF is all-in-one-solo rules for an epic space-opera.
For recommendations, SF is a great place to start. It teaches you most of what you need to GM a game you're playing. Or Ironsworn, for low-fantasy. The base IS is free, but the non-free Delve expansion adds a lot to the game and is worth it. Then pay attention to what you like and don't like in the mechanics. You have a lot of experience in RPGs, so that will go easier for you. When I started, I knew IS and the very narrative prompt-and-write style. I had no interest in the second. Turns out I really struggle with the IS/SF progress tracks, but it took trying a game that didn't have them to realize that.
What have you played solo? And what have you enjoyed most?
My personal favorites: Fallen is the best RPG. Full stop. I'm not playing it solo anymore because I'm part of xxxx's Sunday game. My only complaint is the healing rules, as xxxx knows. My favorite pure solo is Broken Shores. But it's brutal, and being skill-based, it's a lot of effort to create a character that will likely have the lifespan of a mayfly. Riftbreakers is the best I've seen for solo-as-a-group and is a lot of fun. It's a MMORPG implemented as a TTRPG. Can also easily be played as a group. I run it for my kids when our schedules allow. It's a tough one to run without the dead-tree book because of looking up the companion and monster moves every turn.
It turns out I like my solo games to be more OSR-ish than IS/SF. But Cairn is getting a bit too rules-light. Fallen and Knave seem to be the sweet spot for me. Right now I'm doing a solo Pirate Borg, but it's still very early so haven't got much into the *Borg mechanics yet.
If you do try Broken Shores, I wrote a couple of player aids before it was available in print to minimize PDF flipping/searching, that are up on the Blackoath discord. I can send you copies.
When you're playing Fallen and Knave solo, are you using Mythic as the Oracle?
Fallen has it's own solo rules. They're much simpler than Mythic. I used something similar for Knave: https://perplexingruins.itch.io/deluxe-campaign-notebook, https://perplexingruins.itch.io/solo-gaming-sheets and the GMA decks for sparks. Basically simplified Mythic without the lists. A used a less formal version of IS/SF vows for keeping the story going. I am using Mythic 2e, for Pirate Borg.
Deluxe Campaign Notebook by Perplexing Ruins
Small notebook tool for generating and organizing ttrpgs
Solo Gaming Sheets by Perplexing Ruins
Thanks to the chaos factor and lists, Mythic pushes a much more chaotic story with lots of coincidences and curve-balls. IS/SF kind of incorporates that when dealing with failed progress rolls, but it feels very different. Something like Perplexing Ruins's systems lets you keep a tighter grep on the plot. Depends on what you prefer.
FYI - I have since, switched to Mythic GME 2e for most solo games that don't have their own engine, because I have a much better idea what I'm doing now, and the Chaos Factor is fun.