We’ve all been there – a convention you couldn’t make, or just didn’t fancy, and the FOMO that sometimes hits when you see the pictures of the happy gamers on your social media. Even worse, sometimes you see the swag they’ve bought! For a number of (happy) reasons, I wasn’t at UK Games Expo last weekend, and although it’s not a con I hold in much affection (it’s just too big – and it’s not really about the games), I did get a few wistful feelings about it.

So I did what every self-respecting gamer does – some game stuff, and then I felt better about it. Feel like you’re missing out on game stuff, either through cancelled sessions, a missed convention, or a spare evening you could have been gaming? This sort of stuff used to be called “lonely fun,” which I think sounds a bit too sexy, but here’s a few things to do to cope with not being at a convention.

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Get That Back Pocket Game Prepped

I’m a great exponent of everyone having a few back pocket games ready for when a game night gets cancelled, or when you’ve got to fill in a convention slot. For this you’ll need pregens, a few scenes, and a sketch of the start and end. If you’ve nothing but a game idea, start with pregens – if you can get a solid set made, you’ve already done the hardest part of prep. If you aren’t quite up to that, try an easier set-up – a DCC one-shot with the character generators at Purple Sorcerer, or read through a quickstart and make some notes. Myself, I was getting the new Candela Obscura prepped to run a YouTube game of it – watch out for it soon!

Do Some World Prep

If you’re not ready to prep a whole one-shot, why not get some prep done in a game setting. The original lonely fun (to a certain definition of fun) is, I guess, rolling up Traveller worlds, but there are so many random generators out there it’s a great opportunity to get a setting sketched out – and maybe then an adventure will come from that!

Notable resources that are well worth digging out to do this include Stars Without Number (or indeed any of Kevin Crawford / Sine Nomine’s stuff – most are available in free or deluxe versions), Tome of Adventure Design, or any number of old-school procedurally generated stuff (1e DMG, anyone).

Alternatively, why not dive into a rich, detailed setting? I often don’t have enough time for this, but Glorantha, the Forgotten Realms, or even Dune offer lots of options to dig into a setting. A proper setting sourcebook should spark a bunch of adventure ideas, which you might or might not come back to – who knows?

Play a Solo Game

I’ve got more detailed posts coming about solo gaming, but in case you’re curious, you could check out Ironswon or Starforged for a way to play solo that embeds the game into this approach. Alternatively, try the Mythic GM Emulator with your system of choice (you might still need pregens, mind). There’s been a real explosion of solo games recently – and some will give you a really close approximation of a traditional game. I found this interview from the Grognard Files with Jon Cohen, the host of Tale of the Manticore really useful to picture how a solo game of a more trad game might look.

Watch Some Actual Play

Okay, I’ve said what I’ve said about Actual Play, but there are some good ones. I’m planning to be contributing to the good ones soon with Unconventional GMs, but in the meantime try Jason Cordova’s youtube channel for some great demos of PBTA games, or the One Shot Podcast.

Or, as I did, you can spend yet more time trying to learn some basic photoshop and video editing to get yourself onto the AP scene. Still a way to go there.

So, four options for your lonely fun. What does your coping-with-con-absence prep look like? Comment below or catch me on other social media.