TEXT:  
   
   
  SOLOIST RPG 
  Quick Start 
   
   
   
  Draft Version 0.1, May 9, 2017 
  chrisatthestudy 
  chris@the-study.net 
  
  CONTENTS 
  Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 1 
  Guidelines ........................................................................................................................................... 1 
  Randomisers ....................................................................................................................................... 3 
  Randomiser - Genre ........................................................................................................................ 4 
  Randomiser - Characters ................................................................................................................. 5 
  Randomiser - Adventure Seeds ....................................................................................................... 8 
  Randomiser - Locations ................................................................................................................. 11 
  Randomiser - Events ..................................................................................................................... 13 
   
   
   
   
  
  Page | 1 
   
  INTRODUCTION 
  Soloist is the RPG rule-set that underlies my Soloist Online solo-rpg game assistant. The tables which 
  are included here are also part of Soloist Online. 
  Role-playing games (whether solo or not) tend to range across a spectrum from strategy / war-
  gaming at one end through to almost pure story-telling at the other. Soloist falls at the story-telling 
  end of this spectrum, with dice-rolls and randomiser tables to act as prompts or suggestions, and 
  leaving everything else to the player's imagination and creativity. 
  GUIDELINES 
  Soloist basically consists of the following set of general guidelines. Feel free to ignore or change 
  anything that doesn't suit you, or that doesn't seem applicable to the current game: 
  1. Determine your setting and background, and write a brief description. 
   
  1.1. If you need help, use the Genre randomiser table. 
   
  2. Determine your main character(s) and write an introductory description (you can add more 
  details as the game progresses). 
   
  2.1. If you need help, use the Character randomiser tables. 
   
  3. Determine the starting point for your adventure, and possibly decide on some features of the 
  adventure. Write an introductory account of how it begins. 
   
  3.1. If you need help, use the Adventure Seed randomiser tables. 
   
  4. Dice Mechanic: when you need to check whether a character succeeds or fails at some non-
  automatic task, pick a Difficulty Rank for the task, ranging from 3 (easiest) to 12 (hardest), and 
  roll 2d6. If the result is equal to or greater than the Difficulty Rank, the character succeeded,  
  otherwise they failed. 
   
  4.1. If you are familiar with the "but/and" concept and want to use it, take the difference 
  between the Difficulty Rank and the actual result. If this is 1, then add 'but' to the answer. If 
  it is 6 or more, add 'and' to the answer. 
   
  5. Combat (or any kind of conflict) is treated as alternating rounds between the characters, 
  switching between attacker and defender. The Difficulty Rank is based on how good the 
  defender is at defending as opposed to the attacker. The attacker rolls 2d6 to see if they hit. 
  Subtract 2 hit points for every successful hit. Player characters start with 9 hit points, minor 
  NPCs start with 7 hit points (adjust up or down by 1 to 3 points for particularly weak or 
  particularly hardy characters). 
   
  
  Page | 2 
   
  5.1. Optionally reduce the damage to 1 hit point if the difference between the roll result and the 
  Difficulty Rank is 1. Increase the damage to 3 hit points if the difference is 6 or more. 
   
  5.2. Optionally determine a Fear level for opponents, based on how impressed or fearful they 
  are concerning the player character, and use this as a Difficulty Rank at the end of each turn 
  (that is, after each side has had a turn at being both attacker and defender). Roll against this 
  to see if they continue to fight. If they fail the roll, they either flee or surrender (whichever 
  seems appropriate). Decrease the Rank by 1 each time they score a hit against the player  
  character, and increase it by 1 each time the player character scores a hit against them. 
   
  6. If you need to have a decision about something which is outside the player character(s) control, 
  you can consult the Oracle. This uses the same basic dice mechanic, but instead of a Difficulty 
  Rank you decided how likely or unlikely a given fact or event is. The more unlikely it is, the higher 
  the Rank. Roll 2d6. If the result is equal to or higher than the Rank, then the event happened or 
  the suggested fact is true. 
   
  6.1. This is used for things like 'is the door locked?', 'are there orcs in the next room?', or 'will it 
  rain in the next half hour?' 
   
  7. If you need a random non-player character, use the Character randomiser tables. 
   
  8. If your story is stalled, try the Events randomiser table for a suggestion on what might happen 
  next. 
   
   
  
  Page | 3 
   
  RANDOMISERS 
  The Randomisers are sets of tables to give you hints and suggestions for your game. You roll 1d6 (or 
  occasionally 2d6) and look up the result in a table. Most of the randomisers include several tables 
  which work together to give you a final result. 
  In every case, you can ignore any tables that you don’t like or don’t think are appropriate for the 
  situation that you want to roll for. You can also re-roll any set of results if they don’t spark any 
  inspiration for you – the whole point of these tables is not to restrict your options (although you 
  could use them that way if you want a challenge!) but rather to give you pointers and ideas, and 
  perhaps some unexpected directions for your developing adventure to go in. 
   
   
  
  Page | 4 
   
  RANDOMISER - GENRE 
  It is unlikely that you will start an adventure without any idea even of what genre you want to play, 
  but if that really is the case, you can use the following table to give you some options. 
  Roll 1d6 for the main genre. If you want something more specific, roll again to select from the 
  relevant sub-genres. If you roll a number that doesn't have an entry, just roll again. 
  The sub-genres are still very general. 
  Roll 1 
  Genre 
  Roll 2 
  Sub-genre 
  1 
  Fantasy 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1 
  High Fantasy (Tolkien, Dunsany, etc.) 
  - 
  - 
  2 
  Low Fantasy (Conan, Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Grey 
  Mouser, Pratchett's Discworld) 
  - 
  - 
  3 
  Historical Fantasy (The Three Musketeers, Pirates of the 
  Caribbean) 
  - 
  - 
  4 
  Steampunk 
  2 
  SF 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1 
  Hard SF (Ringworld, Interstellar, Honor Harrington) 
  - 
  - 
  2 
  Soft SF (Star Trek, the works of Ursula K. LeGuin) 
  - 
  - 
  3 
  Pulp SF (Lensman series, Star Wars) 
  - 
  - 
  4 
  Time Travel (Doctor Who, The Time Machine) 
  - 
  - 
  5 
  Parallel Universes (Sliders) 
  3 
  Superpowers 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1 
  Pulp Crimefighters (The Shadow, Doc Savage) 
  - 
  - 
  2 
  Golden/Silver Age 
  - 
  - 
  3 
  Bronze/Modern Age 
  - 
  - 
  4 
  Future 
  4 
  Crime 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1, 2 
  Noir (Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet) 
  - 
  - 
  3, 4 
  Mystery (Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, Campion) 
  - 
  - 
  5, 6 
  True Crime (Ed McBain, modern detective serials) 
  5 
  Horror 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1 
  Gothic (Dracula, Frankenstein, Hammer Horror films) 
  - 
  - 
  2 
  Eldritch (Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith) 
  - 
  - 
  3 
  Psycho / Slasher 
  - 
  - 
  4 
  Modern Zombies/Vampires/etc. 
  6 
  Espionage 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1, 2, 3 
  Spies (John LeCarre's Circus) 
  - 
  - 
  4, 5, 6 
  Secret Agents (James Bond, Harry Palmer, John 
  Steed/Emma Peel) 
   
     
   
   
  
  Page | 5 
   
  RANDOMISER - CHARACTERS 
  Use these tables as starting point for your own character if you are stuck for ideas, or use them as a 
  way of quickly generating significant NPCS (more nondescript NPCs, such as villagers in a fantasy 
  game, or cops on the beat in a crime game should just select an archetype, or possibly not even that 
  – they are just generic characters, after all). 
   
  ARCHETYPE 
  Roll 
  Archetype 
  1 
  Fighter / Soldier 
  2 
  Rogue / Thief 
  3 
  Pirate / Smuggler 
  4 
  Monk / Cleric 
  5 
  Wizard / Technologist 
  6 
  Healer / Medic 
  7 
  Assassin / Agent 
  8 
  Sage / Academic 
  9 
  Merchant / Businessman 
  10 
  Sailor / Pilot 
  11 
  Noble / Politician 
  12 
  Courtier / Diplomat 
   
  PERSONALITY 
  Roll 
  Personality 
  1 
  Reckless 
  2 
  Wary 
  3 
  Cheerful 
  4 
  Grim 
  5 
  Hearty 
  6 
  Ascetic 
  7 
  Jovial 
  8 
  Morose 
  9 
  Implacable 
  10 
  Devious 
  11 
  Calm 
  12 
  Hot-tempered 
   
   
   
  
  Page | 6 
   
  POSITIVE ATTRIBUTE 
  You can choose either a positive or a negative attribute, or if you want you can have both. 
  Roll 
  Attribute 
  1 
  Strong 
  2 
  Agile 
  3 
  Knowledgeable 
  4 
  Charismatic 
  5 
  Perceptive 
  6 
  Skilled 
   
  NEGATIVE ATTRIBUTE 
  Roll 
  Attribute 
  1 
  Indecisive 
  2 
  Vain 
  3 
  Corrupt 
  4 
  Vindictive 
  5 
  Miserly 
  6 
  Treacherous 
   
  BACKGROUND 
  Roll 
  Background 
  1 
  Shrouded in mystery 
  2 
  Rags to riches 
  3 
  Riches to rags 
  4 
  Self-made 
  5 
  Impoverished nobility 
  6 
  Stranger in a strange land 
  7 
  Always on the run 
  8 
  Born to a life of crime 
  9 
  Born to wealth 
  10 
  Last of their kind 
  11 
  Thwarted ambition 
  12 
  Undistinguished 
   
   
   
  
  Page | 7 
   
  CHARACTER EXAMPLES 
  Roll: 8, 6, 3, 6 : Sage, Ascetic, Knowledgeable, Stranger in a strange land 
  S'sistak the serpent-mage wanders a fantasy world in search of ancient grimoires to further his 
  knowledge of the necromantic arts. His sinister appearance often makes people shun and fear him, 
  but he is at heart a kindly soul, in spite of his appearance and his rather grim subject area. He has 
  laid to rest more than one crypt-fiend, earning the begrudging respect of those whose lives were 
  imperilled, and his quest for knowledge has led him into strange and often dangerous places. 
   
  Roll: 4, 5, 1, 2,  4 : Technologist, Hearty, Strong, Vain, Self-Made 
  Hard-living, hard-drinking trouble-shooter, with a high opinion of himself (possibly deservedly), 
  Bruce Cordite is the antithesis of the timid, bespectacled nerd, but his expertise with computers and 
  all things electronic has made him a sought-after  freelancer, hired by governments and corporations 
  alike to defend against infiltration and technical sabotage, or to do some of their own. Any time, 
  anywhere, but always at a price. 
   
  Roll: 4, 6, 5, 1 : Monk, Ascetic, Perceptive, Shrouded in mystery 
  From the pages of the pulp magazines comes the enigmatic Li-Song, mistress of martial arts, whose 
  senses are honed so finely that no-one can ever take her by surprise, and who seems to anticipate 
  her opponent's every move. She works for no-one, and cannot be hired, but is driven by some code 
  of her own which impels her to brings justice to those who need it and whom she deems worthy. 
   
   
   
  
  Page | 8 
   
  RANDOMISER - ADVENTURE SEEDS 
  Loosely (very loosely) based on the Five Questions – Who, What, Why, Where, How – these tables 
  can be used to generate some generic (and rather abstract) hints for an adventure scenario. 
  PATRON 
  WHO?  Not all adventures need to start with a patron, but it is a common trope. If you want a patron 
  to trigger the adventure, use the following options. 
  Roll 
  Patron 
  1 
  ruler, person in power 
  2 
  business or corporation 
  3 
  friend or relative 
  4 
  victim of a crime 
  5 
  object (e.g. you obtain a map or some other clue) 
  6 
  (Roll again) 
   
  ACTIVITY 
  WHAT? What is the main activity for this adventure, or at least the activity that is the starting point 
  for it (it might well head off in other directions)? 
  Roll 
  Activity 
  1 
  investigation 
  2 
  acquisition 
  3 
  transportation 
  4 
  protection 
  5 
  captivity 
  6 
  elimination 
   
  IMPETUS 
  WHY? What is the motive that drives this adventure? Note that this is not necessarily the player 
  character's motive – it could be the motive of the villain, or of a patron or other NPC. 
  Roll 
  Impetus 
  1 
  poverty 
  2 
  wealth 
  3 
  fear 
  4 
  desire 
  5 
  ambition 
  6 
  revenge 
   
   
   
  
  Page | 9 
   
  TARGET 
  WHERE? Most adventures have some kind of target -- an item to obtain, a person to 
  capture/thwart/protect, and so on. 
  Roll 
  Target 
  1 
  person 
  2 
  group 
  3 
  item 
  4 
  location 
  5 
  yourself 
  6 
  vehicle 
   
  TRIGGER 
  HOW? How does the adventure begin? What event triggers it? Sometimes the results from the 
  previous table and your own thoughts about them will give you an obvious starting point, but 
  otherwise you can use this table to provide a suggestion. 
  Roll 
  Trigger 
  1 
  chance meeting 
  2 
  mistaken identity 
  3 
  tavern brawl 
  4 
  arrest / kidnap 
  5 
  accident 
  6 
  news report 
   
  COMPLICATION 
  Add a complication to make things more interesting. You could also use this later in the game to up 
  the stakes if things seem to be a little too easy. 
  Roll 
  Complication 
  1 
  competition 
  2 
  treachery 
  3 
  environment 
  4 
  Concealment 
  5 
  Time 
  6 
  space 
  The 'competition' option could simply mean that there is an active opponent to the character's goal, 
  or it could mean that another character is seeking the same goal. 
  The 'space' option could mean 'location', suggesting that the target is a long distance away, or it 
  could literally mean that space-travel is involved. 
   
   
  
  Page | 10 
   
  ADVENTURE SEED EXAMPLES 
  Roll: 1, 1, 2, 6, 6, 6 : ruler, investigation, wealth, vehicle, news, space 
  On board the Orient Express the fabulously wealthy Prince Renard of Nepotania has narrowly 
  survived an assassination attempt in mysterious circumstances. The newspapers are full of the story. 
  The Greatest Detective in Europe has not been formally asked to investigate, and the Orient Express 
  is on the other side of the continent, but these are minor details. The game's a-foot! 
   
  Roll: 2, 5, 1, 5, 2, 1 : business, captivity, poverty, yourself, mistaken identity, competition 
  Not long ago you were a well-to-do merchant. Now you have lost your money and your business, 
  and you are languishing in prison, all thanks to the machinations of a doppleganger who has taken 
  your place. Escape from jail, unmask the imposter, and clear your name. (With some minor tweaks 
  this scenario could be suitable for almost any genre.) 
   
  Roll: 3, 6, 6, 1, 1, 2 : Friend/relative, elimination, revenge, person, chance meeting, treachery 
  "My name is Inigo Montoya – you killed my father. Prepare to die!" 
  A chance meeting with someone who knew your father has revealed the name of the one who killed 
  him. You set out to take revenge. But can your father's old friend be trusted? 
   
   
   
  
  Page | 11 
   
  RANDOMISER - LOCATIONS 
  It's quite difficult to provide randomly generated locations that are suitable for all genres, so these 
  tables are rather generic and colourless. You will need to add your own creativity to turn them into 
  something interesting. 
  Roll 1d6 for the location type, then roll 1d6 again to get the actual location. 
  Roll 1 
  Location Type 
  Roll 2 
  Location 
  1 
  Business 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1, 2 
  Warehouse / Storage Area 
  - 
  - 
  3, 4 
  Market / Shopping Mall 
  - 
  - 
  5, 6 
  Bank / Money Lender 
  2 
  Rest & Recuperation 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1 
  Inn / Tavern 
  - 
  - 
  2 
  Club / Meeting-House 
  - 
  - 
  3 
  Theatre 
  - 
  - 
  4 
  Hotel 
  - 
  - 
  5 
  Coffee House 
  - 
  - 
  6 
  Temple / Shrine 
  3 
  Government / Ruler 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1 
  Palace 
  - 
  - 
  2 
  Castle / Fortress 
  - 
  - 
  3 
  Bureaucratic Office 
  - 
  - 
  4 
  Barracks 
  - 
  - 
  5 
  Parliament / Senate Building 
  - 
  - 
  6 
  (Roll again) 
  4 
  Transport 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1, 2 
  Ship 
  - 
  - 
  3, 4 
  Train / Wagon Train 
  - 
  - 
  5, 6 
  Bus / Carriage 
  5 
  Terminus 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1, 2, 3 
  Port / Dock 
  - 
  - 
  4, 5, 6 
  Station / Coach House 
  6 
  Workplace 
   
   
  - 
  - 
  1, 2 
  Factory / Smithy 
  - 
  - 
  3, 4 
  School / Academy 
  - 
  - 
  5, 6 
  Office / Library 
   
  LOCALE 
  Roll 
  Locale 
  1 
  Town / City 
  2 
  Village / Countryside 
  3 
  Mountains 
  4 
  Forest / Jungle 
  5 
  Skyborne 
  6 
  Island or Underwater 
   
  
  Page | 12 
   
  STATUS 
  Roll 
  Status 
  1 
  Active 
  2 
  Abandoned 
  3 
  Concealed / Camouflaged 
  4 
  Ruined 
  5 
  Besieged 
  6 
  Well-Guarded 
   
   
   
  
  Page | 13 
   
  RANDOMISER - EVENTS 
  Sometimes a solo game stalls, and you don't know what happens next. Use the following table to 
  give you a suggestion. 
  Roll 
  Event 
  1 
  Ambushed 
  2 
  Treachery 
  3 
  Unlooked-for assistance 
  4 
  Unexpected clue 
  5 
  Sudden accident 
  6 
  Crossed paths 
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Solo/2. GM Emulators & Generic Solo Rules/Soloist RPG.pdf