# Loner - Core Rules 1st Edition (Legacy)
Roberto Bisceglie
2026-07-31

# Loner (1st Edition)

Another Solo RPG Game

CC BY 4.0 by Roberto Bisceglie

Loner is a bare-bone freeform solo RPG designed to play with a solo
character in “narrative” mode. You’ll guide your character through the
story that will unravel during the game, asking closed questions to an
oracle who will assume the role of Game Master. Every now and then the
game will surprise you when an unexpected plot twist happens!

To play it, it is assumed that you are already familiar with the world
of role-playing and solo games. Good places to get an idea are the [RPG
page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game) on Wikipedia and
the [Lone Wolf
Roleplaying](https://www.reddit.com/r/Solo_Roleplaying/wiki/guides)
subreddit.

## Minimum Requirements

You will need: - **4 six sided dice** (also known as d6s): two pairs of
different colors - **paper and writing tools**: at least a sheet of
scrap paper and and pencil, but index cards or sticky notes are a fine
addition - **character sheet**: you may use the provided sheet at the
back or a simple index card. - **notebook**: Loner is not a solo
journaling game, you can easily play it in the “theater of mind”. But
you can keep track of you game if you feel the need!

## Make a Character

Your protagonist (or hero if you wish) is described by some fixed
traits:

- **Name**: the name should be iconic and consistent with the tone and
  setting of the story
- **Concept**: A concise description of the character’s profession,
  background, and abilities. The best are adjective-name pairings, like
  *“Venturous Smuggler”* or *“Child Prodigy”*.
- **Skills** (x2): abilities not necessarily character-specific but not
  characteristics common to all. *“Smart”* is not a skill, *“Engine
  Whisperer”* is.
- **Frailty**: something that could potentially get in the way of the
  character, either physically, mentally, or socially.
- **Gear** (x2): particular equipment supplied to the character in
  coherence with the setting. Everyday items are taken for granted and
  do not fall under this trait.
- **Goal**: the long-term objective.
- **Motive**: what drives the pursuit of the goal.
- **Nemesis**: a person or organization that hinders the protagonist. It
  can emerge during the first game sessions, it may or may or not be the
  direct antagonist of the story, ready to appear to make life even more
  difficult
- **Luck**: 6

**Example** \> **Zahra Nakajima** Witty Street Cat. Streetwise, Nimble,
Merciful.\
\> Knife, Low O2 Supplement.\
\> She wants to obtain unknown technology to save her planet from
atmosphere collapse.\
\> **Nemesis**: The Naturalist Order\
\> **Luck**: 6

Everything else in the game is a “character”. The are the living (the
Non-Playing Characters), and inanimate characters (such as vehicles and
crafts). Inanimate characters do not have goal, motive or a nemesis.

**Example** \> **The Century Skylark** Spacecraft in bad shape.
Hyperjump Drive, Camouflage Circuits, Midlife Courier.\
\> Shields, Turrets.\
\> **Luck**: 6.

## Start your game

Decide on an initial scene for your adventure. Starting the game in the
middle of an action scene is a good way to set events in motion. If
nothing comes to mind, roll on each of the following questions to
generate a random adventure seed.

| D6 | Who?<br>The proposer | What?<br>The mission | Why?<br>The incentive | Where?<br>The target | How?<br>The seed | Obstacle?<br>The complication |
|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|
| 1 | Authority | Rescue | Help | Person | Casual encounter | Opposition |
| 2 | Organization | Protection | Fortune | Group | Old acquaintance | Deception |
| 3 | Ally (friend, relative) | Exploit | Coercion | Treasure | Rumors | Environment |
| 4 | Mentor | Explore | Impulse | Location | Capture | Disguise |
| 5 | Help-seeker | Escape | Ambition | McGuffin | Mishap | Time |
| 6 | Blackmailer | Pursuit | Revenge | Confession | Object (map, journal, letter) | Space |

**Example** \> **Who?** Mentor\
\> **What?** Exploit\
\> **Why?** Help\
\> **Where?** McGuffin\
\> **How?** Rumors\
\> **Obstacle?** Time\
\> Tobias Wethern took Zahra under his wing when her parents died.
That’s why she can’t say no to him now. Tobias wants Zahra to steal a
datapad from the Leton Corporation’s subsidiary. He doesn’t know
precisely where it is stored, but that in 24 hours it will be taken from
the company’s security corps to be transferred to another location.

## Keep the action in motion

A game in Loner is a succession of scenes. A scene is a unit of time in
which a certain action takes place in pursuit of a certain short-term
goal. In a traditional role-playing game, it is the Game Master who
proposes the scene and moves the world and NPCs. In a solo role-playing
game, on the other hand, the player asks questions to an Oracle (as he
would to a GM) who will provide a closed answer. It is therefore
necessary to formulate questions whose answer is binary (Yes, No).

You’ll need 2d6 in one color (**Chance Dice**), and 2d6 in another
(**Risk Dice**).

To resolve a closed question, roll one **Chance Die** and one **Risk
Die**. If the Chance Die is highest, the answer is **Yes**. If the Risk
Die is highest, the answer is **No**.

Also look at the value on each die. If both are low (3 or less), add
**But**. If both are high (4 or more), add **And**.

**Example** \> You ask, “Does Zahra manage to force the hatch?” You roll
one Chance Die and one Risk Die and get (5) \[4\]). The answer is
**Yes**, because the Chance Die is higher. You also add **And**, because
both rolls are 4 or higher. If the Risk Die had come up as \[3\], it
would have been a plain **Yes** instead.

## Advantage and Disadvantage

If circumstances or positive traits grant an advantage, add a **Chance
Die** to the roll. Otherwise, when hindrances or negative traits cause a
disadvantage, add a **Risk Die**. In both cases keep only the higher die
of the added type when you check the roll.

**Example** \> You ask, “Does Zahra hack the datapad?” You roll one
Chance Die and two Risk Die, as Zahra does not have any advantage in
hacking and the datapad is the mission goal, compromising it would cause
the mission to fail. You get (4) \[4\] \[5\]. You discard the lower Risk
Die \[4\] and keep (4) and \[5\]. You obtain a **No** and add a **And**
since they are both 4 or higher. This hacking has gone really bad…

## Harm & Luck

When you are in conflict the game is played in turns alternating between
the player and NPCs. When you fail your defense, reduce your current
Luck according to the table below. NPCs also have a Luck trait. If you
attack in any form, reduce the targets Luck according to the table
below. When your Luck runs out you face mortal danger and the next
attack will take you out of the conflict.

The final outcome depends on the context. Do you get caught? Are you
seriously injured? You may even die if that fits the narrative.

| Answer    | Do you get what you want?                               | Harm    |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------|
| Yes, and… | You get what you want, and something else.              | Cause 3 |
| Yes…      | You get what you want.                                  | Cause 2 |
| Yes, but… | You get what you want, but at a cost.                   | Cause 1 |
| No, but…  | You don’t get what you want, but it’s not a total loss. | Take 1  |
| No…       | You don’t get what you were after.                      | Take 2  |
| No, and…  | You don’t get what you want, and things get worse.      | Take 3  |

**Example** \> Zahra confronts a thug in an alley. He is “Martial
Artist”, “Hand-to-Hand Combat”, “Feline” and “Short”. Zahra tries to hit
him with the knife, you throw (5) (6) \[4\] (“**Yes, And…**”, causing a
Luck loss of 3 to the thug). The thug throws a roundhouse kick at Zahra
(roll (3) (2) \[2\], “**Yes, but…**”, causing a Luck loss of 1 to
Zahra). Who will win?

## Doubles and the Twist Counter

The Twist Counter is a measure of the rising tension in the narrative.
At the beginning is set to 0. Every time a double throw (dice are equal)
happens, add 1 to the Counter. If the Counter is below three, consider
the answer as “**Yes, but…**”. Otherwise a **Twist** happens and resets
the Counter.

**Example** \> You ask if the datapad contains sensitive data about
Wethern’s illicit activities. You roll (4) \[4\]. The answers is “Yes,
but…”. You add 1 to the Twist Counter. But you were already at 2 on the
counter, so a twist happens! The counter resets to 0.

## Determine the Twist

Roll 2d6 and consult the following Twist Table to determine what kind of
twist happens.

| D6  |      Subject       |       Action        |
|:---:|:------------------:|:-------------------:|
|  1  |   A third party    |       Appears       |
|  2  |      The hero      | Alters the location |
|  3  |    An encounter    |   Helps the hero    |
|  4  |  A physical event  |  Hinders the hero   |
|  5  | An emotional event |  Changes the goal   |
|  6  |     An object      |   Ends the scene    |

Interpret the two-word sentence in the context of the current scene.
Twists will keep the plot and events going in unexpected ways.

> Now Zahra knows the content of the datapad, but you roll 1 and 5 on
> the Twist Table “*A third party*”, “*Changes the goal*”. An agent of
> the Leton Corporation appears before Zahra with a proposal….

## Determine the mood of the next scene

At the end of the current scene, you may need to determine the general
mood of the next one. In this case roll 1d6 and consult the following
table:

| D6  |   Next Scene   |
|:---:|:--------------:|
| 1-3 | Dramatic scene |
| 4-5 |  Quiet Scene   |
|  6  |   Meanwhile…   |

- A **dramatic scene** does not break the tension of the previous scene
  but carries it further forward, introducing further obstacles or
  difficulties.
- During a **quiet scene** there is time to take a breath, to heal, to
  make plans for the next steps and to deepen relationships.
- A **meanwhile scene** takes place somewhere else, other than where the
  hero is. It cuts to villains or other plot-important characters.

**Example** \> Zahra accepts the proposal, you now roll for the next
scene: 6, *Meanwhile scene*. In the following scene, Tobias Wethern
hires a hit man to kill Zahra…

## Sibylline Responses

The Oracle might sometimes give answers that don’t make sense in the
context of the scene. Don’t be tempted to detail the answer with too
many questions in sequence. Three questions should be sufficient. If
you’re still stuck, try using an open-ended question to unlock yourself
or interpret the answer as “Yes, But…” and move the story forward.

## Open-Ended Question or Get Inspired

To answer an Open-Ended question, roll 1d6 once on each of the following
tables (roll at least a verb and a noun, adjectives are optional).

| Verbs |    1     |   2    |    3    |    4     |    5    |    6    |
|:-----:|:--------:|:------:|:-------:|:--------:|:-------:|:-------:|
|   1   |  inject  |  pass  |   own   |  divide  |  bury   | borrow  |
|   2   | continue | learn  |   ask   | multiply | receive | imagine |
|   3   | develop  | behave | replace |  damage  | collect |  turn   |
|   4   |  share   |  hand  |  play   | explain  | improve |  cough  |
|   5   |   face   | expand |  found  |  gather  | prefer  | belong  |
|   6   |   trip   |  want  |  miss   |   dry    | employ  | destroy |

| Nouns |     1      |    2    |   3    |   4    |     5     |    6     |
|:-----:|:----------:|:-------:|:------:|:------:|:---------:|:--------:|
|   1   |   cause    |  stage  | change | verse  |  thrill   |   spot   |
|   2   |   front    |  event  |  home  |  bag   |  measure  |  birth   |
|   3   |   prose    | motion  | trade  | memory |  chance   |   drop   |
|   4   | instrument | friend  |  talk  | liquid |   fact    |  price   |
|   5   |    word    | morning |  edge  |  room  |  system   |   camp   |
|   6   |    key     | income  |  use   | humor  | statement | argument |

| Adjectives | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|:--:|
| 1 | frequent | faulty | obscene | scarce | rigid | long-term |
| 2 | ethereal | sophisticated | rightful | knowledgeable | astonishing | ordinary |
| 3 | descriptive | insidious | poor | proud | reflective | amusing |
| 4 | silky | worthless | fixed | loose | willing | cold |
| 5 | quiet | stormy | spooky | delirious | innate | late |
| 6 | magnificent | arrogant | unhealthy | enormous | truculent | charming |

**Example** \> You ask: “Does Zahra have friends to ask for help against
the hit man?”. You roll 24 and 32: *multiply motion*. Zahra needs to
move quickly to reach Melina Reade, a hacker with contacts in the
underworld who might be able to help her!

## When the story ends

At the end of the adventure you may add another trait to the character.
It is better that this is related to how the story just ended and can be
either a Skill, Gear, a new Frailty, or even a new Nemesis! You can also
modify an existing trait to better represent an enhanced expertise.

Also note the list of contacts, enemies and any events, people or
objects that may show up again in future adventures.

**Example** \> Zahra secures the datapad in the hands of the
authorities, framing both Wethern and the Leton Corporation. Wethern is
arrested, but she has gained a powerful enemy working against the
Corporation. She gains “Wannabe Hacker” to her skills. Maybe Melina can
mentor her!

## Credits

[Recluse Engine](https://gravenutterance.itch.io/recluse) (CC BY 4.0) by
Graven Utterance and Tiny Solitary Soldier Oracle for the main
resolution and scene mechanics.

[Freeform Universal Roleplaying
Game](https://www.perilplanet.com/freeform-universal/) (CC BY 4.0) by
Nathan Russell as an inspiration of the whole game and the character
traits.

Harm mechanics are from [6Q
System](https://chaosmeister.itch.io/6-q-system) (CC BY 4.0) by Marcus
Burggraf.

With deepest thanks to Shane Conner for proofreading and revision of the
text.