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FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit (multisystem: Pathfinder, P2E, 5E, OSR, DCC) $19.99 $2.99
Publisher: Infinium Game Studios
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by John B. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 12/28/2021 11:07:39

I appreciate that a LOT of work has gone in to this publication but I cannot see how this level of complexity would ever be something I can use in a solo game. There are some great solo products on Drivethrurpg but for me this is not one of them. It appears to be pages and pages and pages of explaining new systems to use in your game - new experience systems, new handicapping systems and so on but with little context of why this is a better way of doing these things than the core rules you are already using in your game. The text is constantly referring to other products in the same system despite being almost 600 pages long is not actually the complete thing. Why is this all needed instead of a decent Oracle and some keywords? One of the main issues with solo play is stopping the game flow to look up rules which can break the immersion and all of these systems (using a mass of icons) just add layers of this intrusion to the game.The design and layout is confusingly busy full of solid colour blocks and is really tough to use. The sheer amount of "stuff" in here is just overwhelming. Example : Table 650 : D12 table to generate month between January - December.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
Hi John--Thanks for your feedback! I'd summarize by basically pointing out that the reasons this book didn't seem to work for you is ironically kind of the reason it exists, in a way. :)

If you're looking for a simple five-page book of "Yes/No/Yes But Also" tables in the vein of oracles, those are plentiful already, and I'd encourage you to explore the many established booklets in that space.

That's not this book, for sure! Nor does it pretend to be that. I know that many solo players enjoy those sorts of tools, but they've never really helped much for me, or if they have, they've only just barely scratched the surface of what it is to truly replace a DM and group of players in a traditional gaming table.

In terms of the new rules and systems in this book, there's nothing to say that they're necessarily *better* than the rules system of your choice. They're there as options. Mix and match and choose whichever combination of elements and changes you wish--it's your solo game, after all! The reason they're there, other than simply offering more choices and options and tweaks, is because solo play tends to be harder, fundamentally, than traditional play, especially if you use OPOC (one player, one character). I can well appreciate that it's easy to overlook things in a 600+ page book, but this is discussed in the intro to those sections.

Other IGS books are referenced because, even at 600 pages, not everything can fit into a single book. Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm is six separate volumes, totaling more than 3,500 pages. FlexAI Guidebook is over 400 pages. And the upcoming FlexTale Encounter Generator books will each weigh in at several hundred pages. This book was designed to be a one-stop shop, complete in and of itself, for pretty much any possible thing you might want or need to run a solo game. It goes far, far beyond that, and includes tons of options that are immensely useful in a traditional game setting as well.

Do you *need* all of that? Good lord, no. Here at IGS, we tend to err on the side of overkill--we even have a DMs Guild book with literally that word as a suffix. I write the kind of books that I myself as a massive collector of RPG books enjoy buying and using. Your tastes, needs, and preferences might very well differ.

From your reaction, it looks as though this book isn't for you, and of course that's okay. Thanks for posting your thoughts--because maybe there's another potential customer who is looking for a simple 5-page oracle book, who won't accidentally buy a 600+ page in-depth host of over a thousand unprecedented and useful tools for dynamic rewards and penalties, generating infinite dynamic quests, and so on. :) That's meant completely honestly with no snark or sarcasm; some people want something quick and cursory, and that's totally great.


Onward!
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FlexTale Solo Adventuring Toolkit (multisystem: Pathfinder, P2E, 5E, OSR, DCC)
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