Reposted by Lightcraft System 🏳️⚧️
(Funnily enough, Traveller's 1977 text also directly frames many activities that modern RPGs characterise as "GM prep", such as designing NPCs and locations, as forms of solo play – a stance that, if you're been following this blog for any length of time, you may recognise as one I happen to share!)
![Any of these three may be unsupervised (that is without a referee; the players themselves administer the rules and manipulate the situation). Recommended instead is the refereed game, where a separate player runs the situation and administers the rules.
The Solitaire Game: One player undertakes some journey or adventure alone. He or she handles the effects of the rules as the situation progresses. Solitaire is ideal for players who are isolated by situation or geography.
In addition, there are many aspects ideally suited to solitaire consideration. A single player can spend the time generating characters, designing starships, generating worlds and subsectors, planning situations, and mapping out ideas to use in later group adventures.
The Scenario: Several players embark on a journey or adventure together. The scenario resembles a science-fiction novel, in that some basic goal or purpose is stated, and the adventure occurs as the group strives to achieve the goal. Usually, the scenario is a one-time affair and ends when the evening is over or the goal is reached. An example of a simple scenario might proceed like this: players generate characters (Book 1) and then look for a patron (Book 3). When they find one, he suggests an expedition to a world orbiting Sirius, a world reputed to be the source of "diamonds as big as your fist."
In most cases, the scenario is intended to be a one-time affair, with the characters and situation to be discarded at the adventure's end. Strangely enough, players generally become attached to their characters and usually want to continue their lives in further adventures. To this purpose, the campaign is designed.
The Campaign: Several players manipulate their characters in a series of continuing, linked adventures in a consistent universe. The referee is responsible for generating the basic facts of the universe before play begins. As the campaign unfolds, the players may range far and wide through the universe [...]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:2eo6pqby4dzwy4lz2f44p53x/bafkreie4kdidkpq5krvjfoycmmtk6tkdkixkzoxcnqm7gwmhona7uqugvm)
