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Solo Roleplaying Coriolis

INTRODUCTION. Solo Roleplaying rules and suggestions for Coriolis. These rules are intended to help new and inexperienced soloists get started with solo play.

by Peter Rudin-Burgess

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Introduction Once upon a time, solo roleplaying was a very niche

aspect of our hobby. In the past couple of years, it has

been pushed into the mainstream, and more games

than ever now arrive with solo as part of their core

rules.

Coriolis was released before this shift in awareness

of solo play. These rules add my take on solo playing

Coriolis.

These rules are intentionally simple, and they

repurpose rules that you will already be familiar with

if you have read the core rules or played a character

already.

e How does Solo play work?

Solo play works by offloading some of the decisions

made by a human GM to simple dice rolls. If you have

played the role of GM before, you will be familiar with

having to improvise on the players' actions. Solo play

is very much about improvising based on dice rolls'

results, and inspiration prompts.

Inspiration prompts are two or three words that you

combine into an idea. You then try and insert the idea

into the current scene.

Solo play is not just telling yourself a story, nor is it

just daydreaming. Your games will use all the rules of

Coriolis, just as when playing with a group.

One of the cornerstones of solo play is asking

questions. Simple questions that can be answered

with a yes or no are resolved using the same rules

that govern skill tests. You will roll a pool of dice, and

the more successes will mean, the more emphatic

the answer.

Questions that cannot be answered yes or no, use

inspiration prompts. The prompts are arranged in

D66 tables, each with a theme. You pick the lists that

have the most bearing on your situation and roll two

or three words. You then use those prompt words to

inspire your imagination.

The words do not need to be taken literally, and the

meaning can change from scene to scene. The word

fire could mean literally burning flames or the order

to shoot or threaten to end your employment. The

context is the most important element when

answering these open-ended questions.

Regular games are normally organized around

sessions of several hours. Just like Coriolis, solo play

is more commonly organized into scenes. A scene

could be anything from a few minutes to several

hours of play. Before you start each scene, you will

make a few dice rolls to help set up the scene. Solo

games are intended to be far-reaching and surprising,

with prompts taking your stories in directions you

may not have considered before.

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Answer A Simple Question The simple question is the cornerstone of solo play.

When you normally ask a human GM a question to

clarify something about the scene you are in, you

would ask a question of the solo rules.

It is a three-step procedure.

1. Think of the question. Word it in such a way

as the yes answer is best for your story if

that applies.

2. Consider what a yes and the no answers will

mean; what would that look like to your

character?

3. Roll 5d6; if any dice show a 6, that is a yes.

If you roll more than one 6, the yes answer becomes

more emphatic. Thi sis using the same technique as

a basic skill test, with successes replaced by the

strength of the yes answer. You can interpret

stronger yes's as more than you were expecting.

For example, if you asked if there were any

Legionnaires on the promenade, one yes may mean

there is one legionnaire that can be obviously seen.

Two successes may increase their numbers. Three or

more could mean an entire squad, with an armored

personnel carrier parked to one side.

Any question that can be answered with a yes or no

can be answered in this way.

Always have a clear idea of what both the positive

and negative answers mean. If you cannot imagine

one or the other, don't ask the question, the answer

you can imagine must be the reality.

e Controlling NPCs

Sometimes you will want to play a single lone

character, your avatar, in the world of the third

horizon. Other times you may need NPCs to help you

out. Being completely on your own limits your ability

to take on some challenges. No character can do

everything, and flying a ship single-handedly is

difficult.

When you control more than one character, you can

give them more autonomy by deciding on a couple of

courses of action in the current scene and then

asking if the character does the most sensible thing?

That will give you a yes or no answer.

e Not All Questions are Equal

Rolling 5d6 gives you a 60% chance of rolling at least

one 6. The question-and-answer rules are skewed

towards positive answers.

Not every question is likely to be biased towards yes.

If you had asked an NPC to go back to your ship and

grab some excavating gear, chances are that they

would go and get the gear. But, what if you had had a

series of acrimonious conflicts with that NPC? There

is a fair chance that the NPC could think, "Get the

stuff yourself," and go off to have a tabak cigarette

just to get away from you for five minutes.

In this case, the less likely you think any question is

to be a yes, reduce the number of dice rolled.

4d6 gives a 52% chance of at least one yes.

3d6 is a 42% chance of a yes.

2d6 is a 32% chance of a yes.

1d6 is a 17% chance of a yes.

You can also increase the number of dice rolled when

the chances are much more in favor of a yes answer.

You can add +1 to +3 dice for more certain questions.

e Questions vs. Skills

I suggest rolling skills first before asking questions

that relate to them. Before asking if you can see any

tracks on the ground, you should roll an Observation

check before asking the question, for example. If you

fail the Observation check, you don't need to know if

there are tracks or not. These questions are not a

replacement for the built-in skill system.

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Answer A Complex Question A complex question cannot be answered with a yes

or no. If you want to know what someone wants, what

they are prepared to trade for, or anything of that

nature, you are dealing with complex questions.

For complex questions, we use inspiration prompts.

These are two or three words which when combined,

should suggest an answer.

You need to consider your story so far, the current

situation, and the words you rolled for, and then find

something that would make sense.

e CULTURE IS EVERYTHING

The word lists on the following pages have been

collated from the Coriolis Third Horizon rules. This

means that they are heavily flavored by the setting of

the game.

Each list is themed to one or more aspects of the

game.

To answer a question, you would pick two or more

lists and roll d66 against each one. This will give two

or more words. You then consider the adventure so

far, the current situation, and the words you have

rolled. Try and create an interpretation that answers

the question.

An alarm has sounded on my ship, and I head down

to the hold to find out what is wrong. As I climb down

the ladder, I look around. What do I see? I choose to

roll on the Events, Object, and Skill columns. Rolling

the dice, I get 53, 25, 46. Looking up the rolls on the

lists gives me Hits + Armor + Cryptography. The Hits

can be interpreted as damage, the armor I will

interpret as the ship's hull or a bulkhead, and the

Cryptography as a key or code panel. As I enter the

ship's hold area, the keypad to the hatch in the

bulkhead is sparking and arcing with electricity. I

have found the problem, if not the cause.

Scene by Scene The scene is the basic building block when playing

Coriolis. At the start of each scene, use the word lists

to find two or three words. You can then incorporate

these ideas into your scene.

Using the word lists in this way will push you to

include ideas you may not otherwise have thought of.

It is important to remember that you do not have to

include every word you roll. If something clearly

doesn't fit, you do not need to use it.

Having docked at Coriolis, I need to find someone

who can carry out the necessary repairs on my ship.

I start a new scene as I enter the shipyard owner's

office. I roll on the Lore, Place and Object lists,

coming up with Al Ardha + Shipyards + Technology.

I interpret Al Ardha as a piece of art behind the

owner's desk. Shipyards seem obvious enough. This

office has windows on every wall looking out over the

working shipyards. I decide that there is a piece of

gear on the owner's desk (Technology). To finish the

scene building, I roll some Characteristics for the

owner, and a Skill, which will help me decide what this

piece of technology on the desk is. The owner turns

out to be pale and sweaty, and the gear on the desk

is part of a comms unit.

NPCs During solo play, you will create a lot of NPCs

spontaneously. Some lists are designed to help

create quick NPCs. I suggest rolling 2 or 3

Characteristics, a Skill, and a name. You can go

further if you wish. Try to limit your rolls only to things

that your character could possibly know at the first

meeting. You can always add more details later. The

less you know, the more you have to discover through

your play.

Example

Example

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Adventure Structure The Coriolis rules suggest a structure of Prolog, Acts

I – III, and an Epilog. This is essentially a 5-Room

Dungeon, a technique developed by Johnn Four of

roleplayingtips.com.

The adventure structure looks something like this.

e Prolog

There needs to be a reason why your character is the

right person for this job. A guardian or challenge at

the start of the adventure is a good justification for

why the problem has not been solved already. Also, a

guardian sets up early action to engage your

character and energize a session.

e Act I

Make Act I a puzzle, skill-based, or roleplaying

encounter, if possible. If you are running more than

one character, Act I can shine the limelight on a

different character to your Prolog.

e Act II

The purpose of this Act is to build tension. Do this

using a setback to your character(s). For example,

when you think you have defeated a gang of

syndicate enforcers to release a hostage, you

discover the hostage has been moved elsewhere.

e Act III

Act III is the big showdown. It's the final combat or

conflict encounter of the adventure. Use all the

tactics and complications you can imagine to make

this encounter memorable and entertaining.

e Epilog

Your Epilog is a chance to reveal a truth, throw in a

twist in the tail, or signpost to another adventure.

You can also turn the tables on your character, or

their nemesis escapes to return another day.

The Epilog doesn't always represent a complication

or point of failure for the PCs, but it can. You can have

a happy ever after and collect your reward if your

adventure needs to make it satisfying.

Once you know the structure of your adventure, you

can place the scenes to follow that basic outline. This

is the loosest possible structure and does not confine

you in any way. You can even swap the contents

around to place your showdown at the end and have

the mooks on Act II trick you in Act III.

Each stage of the adventure is then broken down into

several scenes. Each scene should have an objective,

one that moves the story forward. At the start of each

scene, you will use the word lists to inject ideas and

elements that you may not have considered

otherwise.

e Journaling

It is useful to keep a journal of your solo games. A

record of your adventures is an aid that helps you get

back into character before you start to play. It also

helps you keep it straight in your mind, who each NPC

is, what has happened so far.

What format your journal takes is a personal choice.

It could be a long-format document or a video.

You can either separate out the game mechanics or

mix them in with the character play. For many months

I used just bullet points of the key facts as a memory

jogger. More recently, I have used word processor

documents with footnotes for the game mechanics

and the document's body just for the narrative.

There are no right or wrong ways to record your

games. Documents, lists, memory cards, anything

that works for you is good.

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Word Lists These word lists are themed into fourteen categories.

There is intentionally some crossover between the

lists. It is not my intention that you take these words

literally. They are intended to be an inspiration for

your improvisation. If the word fits as is, then fine, use

it. Don't make things more complicated for yourself.

I suggest drawing three words at the start of each

scene and when you need to answer a complex

question.

Words that do not seem to fit your question or

situation can either be discarded or keep a list of

these unused words and try and work them into

future scenes.

If you have an idea of the game you want to play, you

can start developing your own specialized word lists.

You can also make themed lists from other Coriolis

sourcebooks, as they detail more of the third horizon.

These lists are just a starting point.

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Characteristics Lore Emotion Events Place

11 Bows a lot Coriolis Desperately Born Jungles

12 Colorful clothing Ancient Enemy Raised Rooftop.

13 Flirty Portal Friend Chosen Street

14 Skinny Commerce Good Seizures Cover

15 Intense Cultural Opposed Loss Corridor

16 Wild eyes Wars Choice Hurls Spaceship

21 Slow thinker Songs Deadly Shot Corner

22 Vacant stare Poems Support Shake Medlab

23 Detached Books Luck Attacks Onboard

24 Pale Memories Suffered Claimed Slums

25 Twirls hair Colonized Critical Broken Planetside

26 Shifty eyes Al ardha Healing Aid Shipyards

31 Sweaty Empty Want Help Bridge

32 Slurs when angry Strange Bickering Spends Reactor

33 Humming laughter Artifact Fun Clinch Cabins

34 Tall Fate Eccentric Grapple Chapel

35 Icy stare Ruling Passive Firing Service station

36 Dominant Powers Sensitive Fire Stasis

41 Apprehensive Spacefaring Happy Disarm Hold

42 Squints against the sun Colonists Fury Drops Portal

43 Hunched posture Golden age Threatening Starts Workshop

44 Crooked smile Schism Violent Brought Cargo

45 Scratches chin Refuge Abusive Stabilize Star

46 Usually smirking Firstcome Fiery Injury Souk

51 Bites lip when worried Religious Forgiving Punctured Origin

52 Whispering voice Dissidents Fault Ram Desert

53 Gestures while he speaks Rebels Blame Hits Bazaar

54 Smacks mouth Overcrowding Guilt Create Kua

55 Rocking gait Pariah Pride Find Chelebs

56 Sharp eyes Dynasty Hubris Hunting Harima

61 Spitting and shouting Magnificent Wise Awaken Karrmerruk

62 Won't give up easily Icons Peaceful Conflict Darkos

63 Nervous Imperialism Need Charge Halgria

64 Drinker Crumble Fear Destroyed Daharab

65 Keeps a low profile Void Love Emerged Zalos

66 trusts no one Darkness tolerant collapsed Sadaal B Sample

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Objects Culture Combat Mystic Professions Skills

11 Technology Firstcome Firing Artificer Trailblazer Reputation

12 Airlock. Stationary Shot Trance Prospector. Survival

13 Vulcan Prayer Auto Understand Pilot Climb

14 Pistol Conglomerate Reloading Artifact Prospector Hiding

15 Knife Syndicate Ramming Clairvoyant Assassin Riding

16 M-Dose. Artifacts Cover Visions Judge Command

21 Carbine Djachroum Parrying Found Warrior Culture

22 Rifle Djinn Overwatch Locate Medicurg Observation

23 Wall Zenith Driving Exorcise Mercenary. Manipulation

24 Clip Fate Armor Spirit Corsair Dexterity

25 Armor Horizon Defending Intuition Enforcer Data Djinn

26 Suit Hand Fan Shout Question Emissaries Technology

31 Grav Bike Opor Comrade Thoughts Agitator Science

32 Missile Tabula Range Memories Courtesan Medicurgy

33 Gravcraft Arrash Bleeding Walker Musician Force

34 Proximity Sensor Murcurium Gut Sensory Poet Pilot

35 Comunicator Talisman Unconscious Experience Diplomat Infiltration

36 Dispenser Scripture Internal Prediction Analyst Mystic Powers

41 Cannon Reliquary Severed Séance Correspondent Music

42 Transponder Thurible Artery Powerful Data Djinn Composition

43 Sensors Cásula Arm Future Fugitive Dancing

44 Map Bazaar Weapons Questions Criminal Analysis

45 Tag Djellabas Leg Emotions Mystic Coding

46 Dura Kameez Jugular Mysterious Revolutionary Cryptography

51 Transactor Gallabeyas Aorta Ambiguous Peddlar Driving

52 Lockpick Kurta Pierced Premonition Guard Streetwise

53 Medkit Veils Crushed Impending Spy Disguise

54 Birr Embroidered Skull Looming Ascetic First Aid

55 C-Dose Beautifully Killed Threat Missionary Tinkering

56 P-Dose BURRA Knocked Out Forgetfulness Prophet Psychology

61 Trauma Kit Dance Ankle Telekinesis Archeologist Mathematics

62 T-Dose DHOTI Concussion Bend Technician Sculpture

63 Improvised Hood Bruised Force Engineer Gunsmith

64 Nestera's Grav Belt Dupatta Broken Move Deckhand Cooking

65 Battery Guttrah Teeth Control Dockworker Cybernetics

66 Doorway Caftan Lacerated Power Legionnaire Zero G Specialist Sample

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Names Icon

11 Abidah The Lady of Tears 12 Amirah The Dancer

13 Barika The Gambler

14 Botou The Merchant

15 Cantara The Deckhand

16 Dharr The Traveler

21 Dunyana The Messenger

22 Faridah The Judge

23 Fida The Faceless

24 Ghazalah The Lady of Tears 25 Ghazi The Dancer

26 Hameed The Gambler

31 Havima The Merchant

32 Iosop The Deckhand

33 Ithar The Traveler

34 Jabbar The Messenger

35 Jibril The Judge

36 Kef The Faceless

41 Khoury The Lady of Tears 42 Lunah The Dancer

43 Masruq The Gambler

44 Minnah The Merchant

45 Nada The Deckhand

46 Nadir The Traveler

51 Omran The Messenger

52 Qasim The Judge

53 Radwa The Faceless

54 Salam The Lady of Tears 55 Sani The Dancer

56 Shakir The Gambler

61 Ubaid The Merchant

62 Wazir The Deckhand

63 Yaqub The Traveler

64 Yarah The Messenger

65 Zahra The Judge

66 Zinah The Faceless

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Creating an NPC

You can use table 15.1 of the Coriolis core rules [page

343] to give your NPCs a coherent set of stats, skills,

and talents. To bring them to life, you can roll three

characteristics. I rolled Detached, Humming

Laughter, and Hunched Posture. As a name, I rolled

Ubaid, and they favor The Judge.

Creating a Scene

I am having trouble getting my ship repaired. The

owner wants to take me down to the work areas of

the shipyard to show me why. I roll three prompts to

set up the scene. I get Hunting, Trauma Kit, and

Diplomat. I interpret these as one worker is on the

comms link trying to negotiate (diplomat) to get an

ambulance dispatched. One worker is on the ground

and being tended by fellow workers and using a

Trauma Kit. More workers are searching through the

yard as a hew ad cry, shouting things like "Can you

see them?" or "Nothing over here!". The yard owner

explains that they have been plagued by sabotage

and attacks on his workers. This is just the most

recent attack.

Answering a Question

Looking around the shipyard, I am curious about the

other vessels here for repair. What sort of ships are

here? I rolled Engineer, Questions, and Coding. I

interpret these as three separate ships, an

Engineering platform, a research vessel, and a portal

drone.

Asking if the Shipyard owner looks concerned about

his staff is not a complex question. I assume that he

will be, so roll 7 dice, 6d6 +1 for being more likely to

be yes, for the yes-no question. I rolled 1 success, so

that is a yes. He is concerned about his staff.

Darkness Points It is important that you keep track of the Darkness

Points.

At the end of each scene, keep a track of the

Darkness Points that you have accumulated.

Darkness Points are an excellent tool for adding

drama to your scenes. No rule can tell you when or

how to use the GM Darkness Points against your

character.

You will have to decide for yourself.

As a guideline, if at the end of the a scene the GM is

holding 5 or more Darkness Points, spend them all in

the next scene to complicate your story on a grand

scale. You may find that you end up accumulating

even more Darkness as you pray to the Icons to help

you survive.

I also suggest that you spend any remaining

Darkness points during Act III, the showdown, to

make the villain of your story harder to beat.

When I wrote about throwing in complications and

stings in the tail during the Epilog stage, the

remaining GM Darkness Points can be spent to

create that sting in the tail.

Example

Example

Example

Example Sample

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