Individual Role-play

Individual role-play, or self-play, is a form of solitaire-like role-playing in which randomly rolled dice stand in for the dungeon master in determining elements of the setting and what's encountered. The method can be used with any type of game, but since an extensive set of tables is required to give the remotest semblance of gaming, usually the game played is Dungeons & Dragons. The game's emphasis is necessarily on combat, with some elements of exploration and managing resources. Combat requires the player to choose the actions of both sides; however, unlike self-play with chess, which involves no random element, each combat offers doubt as to who will win and who will lose, which gives an element of anticipation.

Individual role-play can help a new DM acquire experience in running a proper game, as playing out multiple combats improves the DM's familiarity with rules, patterns, class abilities and strengths, strategy and memorisation. With 20 to 50 hours of role-playing combats, the DM learns to recognise hitherto unforseen situations that emerge from each combat. Further, the DM can take his or her time studying and contemplating the combat system in a way that wouldn't be possible in actual game play, where time presses the DM to make rapid decisions without time to consider. Reinforcing the rules in one's mind, and having read the rules while applying them, the DM is made ready for questions and resistance against the rules from players who count on the DM's lack of hard knowledge.

Those who resist the idea of individual role-play as "not real" fail to recognise that the style is more a sort of "practice" than a replacement for role-play. Practice is an efficient way to become a better dungeon master.

Rolling Characters

The game begins with five characters, using the character creation page, with each character starting at 1st level. For a basic game, a minimum amount of information is used for each: name, class, race, ability stats, hit points, spells, weapons and armour. Further details, including an expanded equipment list, can be added now or later, as desired. The character's armour class needs to be calculated, while keeping track of the character's coins and experience. Initially, the emphasis is upon creating combatants who may or may not survive the first few fights. The less investment given to the characters at this time, the better.