# Ensemble tags: #game/rpg/ensemble ![[Ensemble (cover).jpg|600]] **Ensemble** is what happens when a solo game grows up and learns to share. Roberto Bisceglie's 2024-2025 "emergent fiction" RPG is the multiplayer sibling of his minimalist solo game **[[Loner]]** — the same Chance/Risk dice DNA, now pointed at a whole table instead of a lone voice in the dark. It's an evolution of Nathan Russell's **[[FU RPG|Freeform Universal]]**, and it wears that lineage proudly: no hit points, no experience bars, no meta-currency, just Tags, Chances, Risks, and a shared commitment to letting the fiction decide. If you've played **Loner**, you already know the language; think of **Ensemble** as the mode you switch to once you've made friends. ## Core Resolution Mechanics Characters and scenes are built from **Tags** — descriptive phrases that state what's true about a person, place, or thing. When a character attempts something risky, you roll your **Action Die** (a d6) plus one **Chance Die** for every positive Tag working in your favor, minus one **Risk Die** for every negative Tag working against you. Chance and Risk dice cancel out one-for-one, so you only ever roll the Action Die plus whatever's left of one type. If Chance dice remain, take the highest result; if Risk dice remain, take the lowest. The result is read on the classic Freeform Universal scale: - **6** — Yes, and… (success plus a bonus) - **5** — Yes… (plain success) - **4** — Yes, but… (success at a cost) - **3** — No, but… (failure with a consolation) - **2** — No… (plain failure) - **1** — No, and… (failure with a complication) There's an optional **Luck** system for conflicts: characters start with 6 Luck, successes chip away at the opponent's, and hitting zero lets the fiction decide your fate — captured, disarmed, or merely embarrassed. Death is saved for when the dice really have it in for you. The whole thing runs on the principle that fiction precedes mechanics. You don't start with the dice; you start with what your character is doing, and the mechanics only show up when the outcome is genuinely uncertain. ## Edition Changes **Ensemble** launched in 2024 and reached v1.2 in 2025, all under Zotiquest Games and a CC BY-SA 4.0 license. It's explicitly the "multiplayer evolution" of **Loner**: the core mechanic is identical, and **Loner** content, adventure packs, and characters drop into **Ensemble** with minimal fuss. The real change is structural — **Ensemble** formalizes the table dialogue, reincorporation, and scene-framing procedures a solo game never had to spell out, and it supports both Game Mastered (Classic) and GM-less (Masterless) play. Same oracle logic, forced into a social contract. # References - [Ensemble - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/550068/ensemble) - [Zotiquest Games Publisher Page - DriveThruRPG](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/publisher/18634/zotiquest-games) - [Freeform Universal (FU) RPG - Peril Planet](https://www.perilplanet.com/freeform-universal) - [Loner Official Website (Ensemble's sibling) - Zotiquest Games](https://loner.zotiquestgames.com/) - [Zotiquest Games - itch.io](https://zeruhur.itch.io/)