# Loner tags: #game/rpg/loner ![[Loner (cover).jpg]] ![[Loner - World Builder's Guide (cover).jpg]] So, you've decided to embrace the inherent solitude of your existence and play a game called **Loner**. How fitting. This minimalist, "fiction-first" solo role-playing game dispenses with the pleasantries of crunchy rules and complex statistics, opting instead for a narrative experience where you, the player, are saddled with the responsibility of interpreting cryptic answers from a dice-based oracle to forge a story. It's designed for a single protagonist navigating a world that unfolds based on your choices and the whims of fate (or, more accurately, the dice). You don't get a pre-written story; you get to ask the dice questions and then make sense of the chaotic, often contradictory, answers. Good luck with that. The core of this game, the mechanic you'll be leaning on like a crutch in a hurricane, is the Oracle. To use it, you'll need two pairs of different colored six-sided dice (two "Chance Dice" and two "Risk Dice"). When faced with uncertainty—which will be often—you pose a yes/no question and perform the basic roll: one Chance die against one Risk die. If the Chance die is higher, the answer is "Yes." If the Risk die is higher, it's "No." If they're equal, you get a "Yes, but…" and add a point to the "Twist Counter," a delightful little mechanic that introduces a major narrative upheaval when it reaches three. But wait, there's more. The game adds nuance with modifiers. If both dice are 3 or less, you add a "…but…" to the result. If both are 4 or more, you add an "…and…" This gives you a range of outcomes from "Yes, and…" (a resounding success with a bonus) to "No, and…" (failure with an extra kick in the teeth). Character traits and situational factors modify the basic roll by granting "Advantage" (roll two Chance dice and take the highest) or "Disadvantage" (roll two Risk dice and take the highest). Don't get too excited; they don't stack. If you have both, they cancel each other out, leaving you with a standard, unadorned roll. It's a simple system, designed to get out of the way and let you get on with the business of telling a story to yourself. Regarding editions, **Loner** has seen a few iterations. The first edition was a spartan, ten-page document. The community, apparently needing more guidance, prompted a second edition that was significantly expanded with more examples and diagrams to be more beginner-friendly. The third edition, which is the current one, further refines the presentation for clarity and adds an optional diceless mode for those who prefer to resolve outcomes with a decision matrix based on character abilities and circumstances rather than the fickle roll of the dice. The core mechanics, however, have remained largely the same throughout, a testament to either their simple elegance or a profound lack of imagination. You decide. ## References - [Loner Official Website - Zotiquest Games](https://loner.zotiquestgames.com/) - [Loner - Core Rules (3rd Edition) on DriveThruRPG - Zotiquest Games](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/427674/loner-core-rules-3rd-edition) - [Review of Loner & Expansions - Reddit r/LonerRPG](https://www.reddit.com/r/LonerRPG/comments/1nil6x0/playing_with_myself_again_loner_rpg_expansions/) - [General Discussion and Review - Reddit r/Solo_Roleplaying](https://www.reddit.com/r/Solo_Roleplaying/comments/14sp50w/loner_another_solo_rpg_any_good/) - [Video Review of Loner: Another Solo RPG - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_469sxjbLI) > [!note] Editor's Note > > **Loner** is based on the mechanics found in **[[FU RPG|Freeform Universal]]**, which is pretty fantastic and you should probably check it out too.