A person who writes emails is in the military sent me an email asking a bunch of questions. Most of the questions were matters of taste rather than questions about factual differences. The questions were all very interesting, but they were not all, of course, the same. Comics, games and speculative fiction book are all wonderful topics. Which comics, games or books are better or worse, even when there are awards aiming readers to search and over time there develops a general consensus in any industry regarding the most innovative, the most ground breaking or interesting is a fair question, and has merit.
In the area of RPGs I have stunted growth. I'd bought and played many systems, but, being in a field where reward is not great, even if you are well talented, I stopped buying new games or game supplements by around 1996. Prior to that I'd traded for, bought, or borrowed most systems. I had across the Role Playing Game world exposure or involvement. I gleaned the aspects about each system that had positive or negative qualities. I became conversant in the language of each game, and I had game play and knowledge of the settings. Ultimately I never really left AD&D/D&D, as I judged most games upon the things I liked about AD&D.
The question asked by the emailer asked "Which RPG game, as you know them, is best for playing alone." The concept of Roleplaying Games is cooperative story telling, with rules to govern interaction and determine results of contested events. So the idea of what is the best game to play alone when you are essentially supposed to have a group and they gather to create their own story, should be something quite impossible.
But it isn't.
I found the game magazine Sorcerer's Apprentice in my local game shop, but they didn't carry Tunnels&Trolls. When I inquired after why, they said, SA (the magazine) was superb, and the game, was just 'eh'. So I did buy the magazine if I had the funds. And it was excellent, and the gaming portions and the game specific portions for T&T weren't intrusive. Frankly, the way I applied the TSR magazine Dragon to my game, was similar. I never liked pre-made modules or rules heavy settings, and I had no problem figuring out how to be a DM or gamemaster and create my own settings and scenarios. I did look for T&T when I visited Minneapolis or LaCrosse Wisconsin, bigger than Marshfield Wisconsin... And until I graduated college long years thereafter, I didn't see a copy of the game. When wife and I moved to Casa Grande, AZ we discovered the things that were best in Arizona, Bookmans I discovered the mother lode of games. Tunnels & Trolls was finally in my grubby hands.
And compared to D&D I knew it would work, but my friends who gamed weren't going to abandon D&D to learn a new system, hell, they didn't even want to read the rules or look at it. I didn't think I was screwed however. No, when I lived in Fargo, ND going to grad school when visiting a couple used game, comics, books stores, I found a rather steady appearance of used and inexpensive T&T solitaire modules. I gathered a stockpile for future use.
No one wants to hear the drama of the first Christmas together after a long period apart with my wife, but let me say, I had the cats, I had a warm apartment, and my wife was visiting Canada and her family in Washington state for the duration of the holiday. No, it isn't a happy memory. But, I was finished with my grad school work, and had 3 weeks off before resuming courses. I didn't get cable. I didn't have a computer. But I had dice, I had T&T, and I had a dozen solitaire modules to explore and play. It was fun, it was simple to learn, and it was fast moving. Deluxe Tunnels &Trolls is the newest edition, expanded, and more detailed of the game. I have a copy, my son is going to take it with him when he goes away to college. And I am sure, he'll be able to utilize the system for the many strengths it has. The system works, and it has the advantage of being especially flexible. That comes from the core system of the game that focuses on what I have to call a pragmatic system. It makes game play wicked fast, and it doesn't bother trying to create a flavor distinct from other fantasy worlds, but creates a setting that says look, here is the world, that's how it works, now lets play. As such, it will work for any level of gamer, for group play, and I loved the crap out of it playing solo.
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