There are differences, of course. The end goal, for one. Solo role-playing is (often) not for any other purpose than to play the game, whereas prep is intended to facilitate a better group gaming experience at some future point. Unless the GM is going to make everything up on the spot by using improvisation and random tables, some prep is in order. Solo play is an end unto itself, but game prep is intended for future use at the group gaming table.

But on another level, these two RPG activities can be more similar than maybe we realize. Playing solo as a way to prep for a group game is somewhat more interesting and more ludic than what we’d categorize as “prep.” Prepping (i.e.: preparing) isn’t “playing;” it’s the antecedent to playing. Whereas solo play is just that: play. But it can help prepare a GM for the group game in an even deeper way than simple prep can. Solo play–because it involves participating in the game itself, as a PC, and interacting with the game world not just taking notes on it–creates a mental map and deeper immersion into the game world for the GM.

At least, that’s how it works for me. I find that I’m often more comfortable running a game for a module I’ve played through solo, or a hexcrawl I’ve interacted with in solo play, than I am with only prepping the adventure. This is the attraction of actual-play podcasts and youtube videos, I think. Not the Critical Role entertainment ones, but the normal groups and gamers playing a normal adventure without much editing or theatrics. We get to “play” the game alongside them and thus become better able to run the same adventure later for our own groups.

Admittedly, solo play is not the most efficient way to prep for a group gaming session. The players might not follow the same path as the GM did when playing solo. Solo play–through a module or hexcrawl or dungeon crawl–takes MUCH more time than simple “prepping” does. Traditionally, prepping for a game means reading the module or designing the dungeon or overland map (or both), coming up with encounters and NPCs, etc. It’s note-taking, essentially.

But solo play, while it involves bookkeeping and taking notes, is not a simple collating of material for the game to come. It IS the game. This takes more time, obviously. This involves rolling dice, having combats, imagining encounters, keeping track of character inventories and stats, etc. All of this may help prep for a future game, but it’s not efficient.

It is fun, though.

I sometimes struggle with prepping for games because the prep feels like homework. There’s a dutifulness to it that makes it the opposite of “play.” Play is exploratory; it’s done for its own sake; it doesn’t have any obligation attached.

Is there a way to meld solo play and game prep together? Can I find a way to “play” solo and prep at the same time, melding the immersion and fun of solo play with the more-efficient methods of game prep?

The biggest impediment is time. Solo play is simply not as efficient as game prep. I don’t have the time available to solo play every module or adventure I’m planning to run. And to fully prepare, especially if it’s a megadungeon, I would need to run multiple solo adventures, each time exploring a different section of the dungeon to make sure I’m ready for what my players might do when I run it for them. This is a massive time commitment. I’d be playing solo RPGs every night of my life for some of my games. Maybe that’s what I should do–maybe I’d even find it immensely fun–but I have a day job and a writing vocation and a family and a house to take care of. I don’t have time to devote that many hours to my RPG hobby without sacrificing other things that matter more.

Still. I’m curious to see if some compromise between play and prep might work. I often procrastinate game prep because it feels a little too work-like. A shift to something more playful might make it something to look forward to, something done for relaxation and enjoyment, not obligation.

How that shift might work is the tricky part, but perhaps I could vacillate between the two activities. Basically, game prep as usual until I get to a part that seems interesting or that I need to understand better, and then begin playing it out with my characters. Play out NPC encounters not as a way to predict what might happen with my group later, but as a way to better understand how the NPC would react in general, to get a better sense of their personality and goals. Play out combats to get a feel for how a monster might really react to hostilities and use its powers to survive. And solo play through a dungeon or level not as my only means of “prep,” but as a way to get an organic feel for the locations and how players might interact with the world.

Might is an important word here. Obviously, my choices as a solo player will not be the same as the choices of my gaming group. My solo play is only ONE possible path for the adventure to go.

But by running through one path, I’ll hopefully open up my imagination to other paths, and when the time comes to run it with other players, I’ll have a better imaginative landscape to call upon in adjudicating and describing what’s happening to their characters.

I’m not sure that solo play as a form of prep is the right call for every GM, but I do think it might work for me. When I ran Winter’s Daughter as a solo game, I felt much more connected to the setting and encounters. I understood how these rooms and encounters COULD go, and when I do eventually run the game for a group, even if they act in different ways than my characters, I’ll still have a deeper sense of how those actions should affect the game world. I’ll be able to describe the world to them in a more authentic way.

I don’t have to prep the whole adventure like this, obviously. I can dip into certain rooms or encounters that are complicated or more impactful to the module and play those out with my solo PCs. I can take notes and prep in my traditional way for other things. This will obviously take more time than just normal prepping, but what I’m hoping for is that I’ll be more eager to “prep” if I know that I’ll really be PLAYING as I go.

Just as players often enjoy making characters in their downtime between games, game masters enjoy playing out the adventures in their minds. Solo play is a way to formalize that process and familiarize oneself with game mechanics at the same time. These are games, after all. Playing is the whole point. Enjoyment, not obligation or work, is what matters.

Solo play as a form of prep may be the key to making the game-mastering experience a more playful and fulfilling one.

At least for me.