SoloAI Second Edition

Also known as "ESL-Anon Guide to Solo RPG with Novelai 2: Electric Bogaloo

Introduction

Hey you! Yes, you! Do you want to play rpg, but have no one to play with you? Do you want to write a story, but have no inspiration on how to continue it? Do you want to play a really long text adventure, but struggle with a beakless AI that can't keep your story coherent? Then, my partner, you have come to the right guide!
In this guide, I will show you how to take advantage of both the textual and technological worlds to have the best Solo Rpg experience available on the market!

This is an updated version of the old SoloAI guide, taking into account the various features introduced into Novelai since the last guide was created.

What is Solo RPG?

From the /srpgg/ FAQ: Solo role playing is a form of role playing where you play completely by yourself as both the player and to a certain extent the GM. Many solo RPG systems use oracles, which are tables of words and ideas, to answer questions and give inspiration to the solo player so that they can focus on playing instead of being the GM.

With SoloAI, you mix the traditional way of playing solo rpg and automate its most tedious parts with Novelai.

Requirements

Before you begin, you will need some "ingredients".

Novelai

Of course, you won't be able to use AI in your solo rpg without having an AI. For now, since neither Holoai nor Ai Dungeon is compatible with Novelai's lorebook formatting, this will be your best option. Once you get a Novelai subscription, I recommend you also get the latest version of...

Pocket Notes

This tool is extremely necessary for any quality story you want to generate with Novelai, as it allows you to have greater control over what exactly you want the AI to generate, when and how. We will use this tool extensively throughout the guide. You can skip it if you prefer, but I warn you that you will feel as if you are riding a bicycle without wheels.

You can get the latest version of Pocket Notes here: https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/868472982471843870/948359781180116992/Pocket_Notes_Complete_3.2_-_Euterpe_v2.png?width=315&height=473

Solo Roleplaying Toolkit

To speed things up, you can use this useful site that has all the functionality of both Mythic and several other solo rpg oracles. But remember to have somewhere to keep notes on your game! https://tayruh.github.io/solo/solo-roleplaying-toolkit.html

Mythic GM Emulator (Or any other Solo RPG Oracle)

You will need a good GM Emulator to continue this guide. The most famous and recommended would be Mythic, but if you prefer, you can use any other you like, or even just use the [ Question: ] command from Pocket Notes. Take a read of the Mythic manual to learn how the GM emulator works. It is quite simple, and shouldn't take too much of your time. If you want, you can still read the manual's expansions (Mythic Variations, Location Crafter, Creature Crafter and Adventure Crafter) and it's monthly magazines to get more ideas on how to use it to its full potential.

Fate Core (or any other RPG system you like)

Choose an rpg system that you are familiar with to use in your adventures. I recommend that you choose a system that is simple enough that you don't break your immersion by looking for rules in books, but at the same time has a strong focus on storytelling over realism. In this guide, we will use Fate, as its narrativistic and simple style seems ideal to me. This part is optional, you can safely use just Mythic and the AI to judge the success and failure of your actions, although in my opinion it would not be as satisfying.

More Optional Things

Obisidian
Obisidian is something like a text editor with a lot of features that works with markdown. It can receive various plug ins, such as dice rolling or character sheet creation, which makes it an excellent tool for keeping notes on your solo games.
Read more about it here: https://obsidian.md
And how to use it for rpg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLMcRiacY3g

Mythic Variations
The first Mythic expansion contains a section with specific rules for different game genres, such as horror, mystery, action, epic adventures, etc. I highly recommend using these if you want to further define what kind of adventure you want to play. Mythic Variations 2 contains rules for detailed questions, NPC behavior, etc. Mythic Variations 1 also has a backstory generator for your characters, and you can use it with this scenario to help speed up the process: https://story-explorer.ai/index.php?view=article&id=148:mythic-backstory-generator&catid=8
Instant Game
Do you want to play some setting, but are not sure which one? Ah, you already know the setting, but don't know which plot you will play? Novelai, with any scenario and plot generator, is your solution! But if you want to try the more traditional way, you can go for the Instant Games alternative! This manual contains tables for automatically generating scenarios, stories, and even characters. It is extremely useful to start your adventures if you don't know where to go.
https://www.nerdprideradio.com/Content/Downloads/InstantGame.pdf
The Universal NPC Emulator
This tool is especially useful if you want to define an npc well as soon as it appears. If you keep a character sheet on him, even better, as it gives you hints about how strong he is compared to your character.
Once you have the manual, you can use this tool to avoid having to check through the tables manually. Use this with the Universal NPC Emulator scenario for Novelai if you want to automatize all the process: https://story-explorer.ai/index.php?view=article&id=150:universal-npc-generator-uses-une&catid=8:scenarios
Fari.app
This page is simply the best page we have at the moment for playing Fate, being able to create completely customizable sheets, as well as scenes, aspects, etc. In your scenes, in the Notes section, you can even use it to keep track of the Threads and Characters of your adventure.

How to Play

Step 1- Define your Story

Once you have all the necessary material, you have a little bit of work ahead of you.
First, it is highly recommended that you have written down in Lorebook any relevant information from the scenario you will play in. I recommend that you choose or create a small scenario so as not to overburden yourself in this part, or even choose an already created scenario that you know well.
Second, you will need to create a sheet for your character if you have chosen to play with an rpg system. Even if you do not use an rpg system, you will still have to write down in Memory or an entry in Lorebook the most relevant information about your character. Focus more on his story and what he is capable of doing. Also write down the most relevant part of the plot so far and the mission you are on.
Third, if you are playing in a already established setting, create in your Characters and Threads list (as explained in the Mythic manual) a special Character and Thread that takes you to another list, this one containing important characters and plothooks from the setting you are playing in.

Step 2 - Play It

First, you need to start a new scene, according to the Mythic rules. Once you have done this, describe your first scene in a new Scenario, in Novelai. Be careful to establish your main character and the tone of the story.
Next, you will play through the adventure using Mythic's DM Emulator rules, as described in the manual. Use the oracle to answer your yes and no questions, write in natural prose your actions, and by interpreting the results of the oracle, write how the world and characters react around you. Remember to read the Mythic manual, as it contains all the necessary tips to play solo rpg satisfactorily. Use some third-party app to keep track of things like the Chaos Factor, your characters and threads list, and your rolls, but write the results in Novelai. In short, play Solo RPG normally, as any other /tg/ user would do.
Unlike them, however, you will have at your disposal the powerful tool that is Novelai.

Step 3 - Use Novelai on It

First, make sure you write anything that happens in your game within Novelai, using prose as best you can. Whenever you feel stuck on something, you can just press enter on novelai an let it generate something for you.
In Author's Note, keep a note of where your character is located like this: [ Place: <location> ]
In Author's Note, also keep noted all relevant characters present at the location like this: [ Cast: <characters> ]
Whenever you need to describe a place, object, or character, use the command [ Story: Describe <element you want to describe>].
Whenever you want to perform an action, but don't know how to write it, use the command [ Do: <action you wish to perform> ]
Whenever you have a question that the Yes & No oracle cannot answer, if you don't know what to do next, or whenever you are in doubt about what the GM Emulator meant by a random event, use use the command [ Question: <your question>?]
Whenever you want a character to say something, but you don't know how he will formulate that dialogue, use the command [ Say: <what does he say?> ]
Whenever you want to know the difficulty to perform some specific action, use the command [ Judge: <what you want to do?> ]

If the command doesn't work, try writing the beginning of the action you want to perform just below it. Example:

[Do: I jump the bridge]
I sprint over the bridge's edge

And then, let the AI generate the rest.

In short, use Novelai as a writing assistant, not as a writer, neither as a GM Emulator. You can use Novelai to generate descriptions, dialogues and even entire scenes, but the best thing to do is avoid leaving everything to the AI to generate, because in this way it can end up going off the rails too easily. Learn to use the things it generates as inspiration, rather than as a rule, because even with this method, the AI is still not perfect.

Extra Step - Use Hypebot

If you feel like you are really stuck on your game, use Hypebot! Just simply write at the end of your story something like

[ Hey, what should I do next? ]

And press on Hypebot's pic to let it generate some ideas for you!

Bonus - What about The Cooms?

Uh... Okay, you want to get really quirky with your story at some point, right?
Well, you will quickly realize that using this guide for smut doesn't work very well, and in the end, it will be looking like you are just doing ERP on yourself. This is not surprising, as RPGs are not really designed for this kind of situation.
However, today I bring you two alternatives that allow you to pause your story and focus on your kinky scenes.

Alternative 1 - Stop using the Oracle

This option is more geared towards those who want to play a long adventure, with pauses between scenes for some smut section.
At this point, you should already have some adventure written and generated on your Novelai Story. From here on out, if you want to have a "little colorful scene" with the tavernkeeper, or with your traveling companion, I recommend that you put aside the solo system a bit and focus on using Novelai for this as you would traditionally use for these kinds of scenes. Once your smut scene is finished, just go back to use your solo system and continue your adventure as normal.

Alternative 2 - Use Mythic Variations 1

On the other hand, if you are creating a story that is 100% erotic, I recommend that you use the rules in Mythic Variations 1 to play with the Social theme or to even create your own theme, setting up tables focused specifically on what genre of smut you need. Write the tables down somewhere, and whenever your Mythic Oracle creates a random event, roll it into your custom table instead.
In this case, for the rpg rules, I recommend that you choose a fairly simple system focused on this, or just skip the rpg system part and try to play without one.

Bonus - Adventure Modules

Adventure Modules are like outlines created to guide your Mythic adventures. Ready-made scenarios so you can simply create your character and play without having to think too much about the story behind the game. These were introduced in volume 11 of Mythic Magazine, and HERE you find how they work with SoloAI.

Conclusion

If you think there is anything to be changed, added, or removed in this text, please let me know. Oh, and if you want tips involving Solo RPG in concrete, you can always visit the /SRPGG/ thread at /tg/.
I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of stories you'll have using this. Have fun!