I play with a regular group that loves the resource management side of RPGs, but to be honest, it doesn’t do much for me. When arrows cost a couple of copper pieces and my character has hundreds of gold, the time spent adds nothing to my experience of the game.
Translating that to solo play, you don’t need to play every scene, or even every encounter. I can understand how ‘minor’ encounters can be used to set the tone or foreshadow what is to come, but when they carry little risk, barely use any resources, what is the point?
Why not just turn the encounter into an oracle roll, and if the roll suggests that the encounter is going badly, then you jump in and set up a bad situation and play out it. Just the fact that you are starting in a bad situation instantly makes the encounter more interesting.
I don’t want to waste time fiddling about buying arrows, but if an oracle roll says that there are none to be bought, that will have implications for my adventures going forward. That is more interesting.
You probably have limited time to play, why waste that valuable time doing stuff that you don’t enjoy, just because the rules say you should.
This is a good one!! Thanks for these solo gameplay suggestions. They are nuggets of wisdom 🙂