Start Your Game
Loner
To begin an adventure in Loner you will need to determine the initial scene:
Example
- You might think of a dramatic situation and start the game in the middle of an action scene. This will push events forward, allowing you to build the story as you go.
- Otherwise, if you prefer to define a framework for the adventure you can answer the classic questions, Who? What, Why? Where? How? Add also an Obstacle to overcome.
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 Loner at each scene:- Identify what you expect from the scene. Compared to traits, goal, and motivation determine the Protagonist's action. What might be the reaction of the game world?
- Test your expectations. When you are uncertain (or overconfident) about the reaction to your actions, ask the Oracle a closed question (answer is Yes or No), considering the tags involved to determine if there is an Advantage or Disadvantage.
- Interpret the result. Is the Oracle's answer in line with your expectations? If not, in the context in which the scene takes place, how should an answer that subverts them be considered?
Identify Your Expectations
The Protagonist's traits characterize their behavior within the fictional world and suggest the possible actions they takes in the situational context of the scene. Based on this, you can expect the world to react in the most logical way, and you will formulate a question that tests this expectation. An expectation does not necessarily automatically lead to a question, which you need to ask only when there are concrete risks or you want to be amazed. In other cases, simply let events happen. ExampleZahra sneaks into the Leton Corporation subsidiary. The expectation is that the place will be well guarded during the day and less so at night. To escape an inevitable head-on collision, Zahra decides to act at night and enter through the ventilation ductsYou don't expect there to be an alarm but maybe it's worth asking the question!
