The Lone Toad Newsletter - March 2023 - Starting to hit my stride

 Hello everyone! Below is the Lone Toad Newsletter, March edition. If you'd like to get these in your email box when they are released at the start of the month, be sure to sign up for my newsletter here!

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Welcome back to The Lone Toad Newsletter. Wow, another month down already! They sure do fly by, especially when there are so many RPGs to play, read about, and write about, and all that.

Last month was another big month for the blog and Croaker RPGs, so let’s get straight into it.

New to the Lone Toad Newsletter? It’s about solo games and the Croaker RPG solo blog. Subscribe below!

Favorite Blog Posts from February 2023

Solo Not Alone 3 Bundle Highlights

Great games, a great price, and a great cause. 
Hands down my favourite blog post of February was my overview of the Solo But Not Alone bundle on Itch.io. I was able to look at a few games there (including my own) and to a quick summary of those games. So many good solo games in there.

Have you bought the bundle yet? Yes! Good for you. If not, C’mon what are you waiting for? Tons of great games and it’s for a good cause.

Check it out here!

Review: Golem - Stories of a Person Twisted By Magic

Sneaking it just before the end of the month was my review of Golem, a solo card deck-based game by Bardic Inquiry. I reviewed a game of his in the past, Grimoire, which I really liked. So when I saw this game was recently released, I thought hell yeah I’m going to review it. It’s a pretty cool game about wandering a land as a magical Golem, and trying to help people even if they are suspicious of you.

Check out my review here!

New Game From Croaker RPGs - The Ferrum Mysteries

When we came to The Forge the Iron Pillars were here waiting for us. Located on every planet, moon or astronomical body explored, the Pillars gave up none of their secrets. Despite decades of study, our scientists could find no clues. Until the pillars activated...

The Ferrum Mysteries is an adventure to be used with Ironsworn: Starforged by Croaker RPGs.

This seven-page PDF contains six random tables ensuring that the mystery your character attempts to solve is different than any others.

Perfect for starting a new Starforged Adventure or ratcheting up the mystery in an ongoing campaign.

Will you discover the secrets behind the Ferrum Mysteries?

https://croakerrpgs.itch.io/the-ferrum-mysteries

Be sure to check out all the cool entries in the game jam! https://itch.io/jam/starforged-2023-jam/entries

Insights into my Solo Campaigns - When you Just Don’t Feel Like Playing

I think there is a misconception out there that we need to be productive all the time, be it work or play. That we need to make progress, improve, or get better at stuff. And sure, it's great to advance a story or improve a technique, but what if you just don’t feel like playing a solo game?

Then don’t. Don’t feel bad that you don’t feel like playing. It is a game after all and there should never be pressure to play it if you aren’t enjoying yourself.

As 2022 was ending and 2023 was starting, I was struggling to get a solo game going. There was lots going on in my life so perhaps I shouldn’t have even tried. I was getting frustrated. No concept I started was getting traction. The stories felt flat or forced. And I wasn’t enjoying it.

So I stepped back for a while. I played some solo board games, which take the narrative pressure off me as the player. And I waited. It did feel weird or off. I’m so used to moving a story's narrative along every couple of days. I didn’t have a larger campaign to think about or characters to daydream about.

I tried not to feel guilty. I told myself my passion and interest would come back when it was time.

And you know what? It did come back and I powered straight into a Blade Runner RPG campaign, which I’m loving so far.

So the moral of the story is… It’s solo play! Do what you want but make sure you're having fun when you're doing it.

Cool Solo Game I Haven’t Played Yet

Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition!

The top selling on Drive Thru since it was released in January, this is a general update to the first edition. I’ve actually bought it and I’m skimming it when I can but haven’t put it to use just yet. Really excited to try out all the tools that people have raved about for so long

Check it out here!

What the League of Incredible Soloists is doing

Who is the League of Incredible Soloist? Just the coolest group of solo actual play writers and podcasters. We are always doing fun stuff, so be sure to check them out!

SGH

And in a big, big move for us, we’ve added a fourth member of the League! You may read his Stonetop Actual Plays already (which are fantastic). Welcome SGH of the PTFO substack.

And conveniently he just posted a newsletter about his top five episodes.

Check it out here!

Black Dragon Dungeon Company makes podcasts about solo RPGs

Check out his play-through of Ghostbox, which sounds like a creepy solo game about finding letters in an abandoned post box.

Tavon at GXYZ is a fantastic writer and has a cool Starforged Adventure for you to play

The second season of Thunderfang is banging away. Make sure you start reading at the beginning.

The Dragon’s Den by Drakonspyre has recently released a cool RPG called Feyroam and posts Solo Actual plays also.

His Wings of Rot campaign has just come to an end. Make sure to catch the dramatic ending.

He also makes custom maps for VTTs and other things.

Other RPG Stuff

• Are you a fan of scary RPGs set in isolated motels? Try out (No) Vacancy by Eldritch Gremlin. Meant to be played with the modern Horror RPG Liminal Horror, (No) Vacancy takes the vibe from movies like Psycho and throws it into an RPG. Check it out here for $1. https://eldritch-gremlin.itch.io/no-vacancy

• Ever been interested in how to write a one-page RPG? It can’t be that hard right? It’s just one page in all. Well, listen to this podcast episode about Writing One Page Games from the excellent RPG Design Panel Cast. It’s a bit trickier than it seems. The first game I wrote, I Come From a Land Down Under, was supposed to be a one-page RPG but ended up at like 10 pages… So I failed there.

  Presented by Grant Howitt (of Spire and Honey Heist), Matt Jones, Alexi Sargeant, Jeeyon Shim, and Jason Tocci. https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-95iwa-120b163

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• I recently picked up the Fallout RPG Starter Set. It’s great and I look forward to bringing it to the table or playing it solo soon! Check it out on DriveThru here.

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• Ever pick up an old school yearbook and wonder about the stories that it must contain? Wonder no longer with Tower Tree Stories by David Harris. It’s a game that was built from an old yearbook from the year 1927. Looks seriously cool. Check it out here!

Next Month on the Blog

We have a big March month for the blog. Firstly I’m happy to say that we are going back to Rebel Sworn, my Star Wars-inspired Starforged Adventure. Always a great time.

Then we have a review of a big game as it gets ready to launch on Kickstarter. So very excited. I also have my next two games planned out after Rebel Sworn.

Thank you for Reading!

Again and 100 times Thank you for reading. And I’d like to ask you a question, What would you like to see more of in these newsletters? I’d love to hear it.

Thanks and have a great month of solo gaming!

- Croaker

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