Solo (Zoser)

The Solo system for Cepheus Engine has always been strange to work with, and it differs from the more popular Mythic Solo tools in a few significant ways. For one, in Solo, you make a plan, determine the difficulty and danger level, tally up the modifier to the roll, and then roll the dice.

Success means the plan worked, and you are done.

Failure means the plan failed, and now you must adjust.

Consequences are rolled for either result. If the plan succeeds, this has a positive modifier and can include results where characters get killed, with a greater chance of this on a dangerous plan that fails.

Then, you write a story answering the question, "What happened?"

It is a strange system because I don't see the need for skill checks. You just determine if you have the skill, which is a positive modifier. It is like I don't need characters at all, just plans. Skills play into positive modifiers, and characters play into plans, but I don't see too much of a need for characters.

The system is innovative in that I haven't seen too many "plan-based" solo play systems.

Myself? The future is not predetermined. If a plan signals a failure, and something terrible happens, I will start the end of the mission in media res and have characters fight to avoid that fate or make it worse. Most "easy-peasy" plans, yes, just say what happened, but there are times when I want to know what went down, have a chance for characters to play a few turns of combat, and try to salvage a bad situation for the better.

Something worse could happen. A result where nobody gets killed could be that half the party gets wiped out. That is the price for trying to change history. Could they change history, turning a failed plan into a success? It may be possible with a few critical success rolls, but that adverse fate will haunt them later.

Is the failure or success still predetermined?

Yes. A failed plan is still a failed plan.

How it fails will be how you play it out. The same goes for success. You may get to the end and wonder how you could fail, but you still do. You could lose it all, yet that roll for success means you still won. It may fail or succeed in a way you did not expect.

The consequences can change more drastically. You tried to change fate. Or maybe you did.

I like to use my starship combat systems, run interpersonal combats, and do my Car Wars battles. I don't want an abstract system taking it all away, only for the boring parts. So "be kind, rewind" is still how I use the system to lay out what happened. I go back and fill in the middle. But that is when I start playing if I so choose. If I don't like the result, I can change things. Maybe.

But I always leave the door open to return to the critical moment, set up the scene, and begin a short play session to figure out what happened. This has full combat, skill rolls, exploration, and all the other parts I love using. A character may be able to talk themselves out of trouble. They may have failed the mission, but what damage did they inflict?

It is a different take on solo gaming, but I like deciding when it is "play time" versus "plan time" and letting the dice fall where they may.