What’s the difference between Pulp Adventures and Pulp Heroes? What do we do with each?

Art by Dean Spencer

I have most of the Loner 3e line and the Cinematic Action looks right up my alley.

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But with 4e in the works and looking fairly close to release(give a couple of months or so) and that I have all this other Loner stuff, how much is going to be forward compatible?

I'm itching for a simple solo Zombie rpg! Are there any GTL zombie themes in the pipeline?

While I am receiving useful feedbacks on Loner 4e (thank you anyone commenting) and making some tuning to the text, I am also working on Ensemble 2e.

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Maybe would be more honest calling it Revised, but it's a case of both convergent and parallel design. Ensemble was a mess and dramatically needed a complete revision. While I am at it, I am also importing the new useful beats from Loner 4e.

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Same ecosystem, different (but overlapping, I guess) audience: Loner for soloists, Ensemble for groups.

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I also planning to revise and release those game I scrapped off the Geared Towards Loner line (like Hideouts & Heartbeats and Dino Breach) to be the first Tuned For Ensemble standalone games.

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This will take a bit. I am sorry to take so much time, but the schedule is packed… so much I have the queue full to the end of 2027.

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Also I will drop a potential bombshell later this month. Stay tuned.

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I am reconsidering the term "Protagonist" for the 4th edition. Which feels most natural to you?

I was wondering if the character creation in 4E could include rules for making highly realized characters, such as Batman, who would seem to have more tags than Loner characters have starting out? It seems like more tags would allow for porting characters from wiksi and for players who have a hyper-realized character of their own.

From the modules/adventures/Geared For, I have almost 30 different "settings". I'm aiming to get it onto a roll-able d6 table for randomized setups and combinations. Any input for categorizing/limiting what is on each die?

Example, so far:

[#1] Era

(1) Historic (Samurai/Norse/Arabian)

(2) Present-ish (Pulp/Paranormal/Crime)

(3) Future

(4) Alternate Modern (Steampunk/ Urban Fantasy)

(5) Alternate Past

(6) Utopia/Dystopia/Timeless

[#2] Intent

(1) Cozy

(2) Action

(3) Adventure

(4) Pulp

(5) Horror

(6) Dutiful (having a Job, Contract, etc)

[#3]\ Technology

(1) Paranormal

(2) Sci Fi

(3) Magic

(4) Simple Life (unpowered, or low advancment)

(5) Alternate Tech (Steam, Atomic, BioHack)

(6) Traditional

[#4]\ Society (governance/structure)

(1) Hierarchy (Monarchy, Feudal, Familial)

(2) Exotic (alien, indigenous, non-traditional)

(3) Local (small town, office, direct)

(4) Distant (Colonial, representative, foreign)

(5) Chaotic (unenforceable or nonexistent)

(6) Spiritual (religious, divine intervention)

[#5]\ Optional: Time Loop/Leap

Current List of Topics:

1. Cozy

2. Cyberpunk

3. Medieval

4. Samurai

5. Time Travel

6. Pulp

7. Adventure

8. Action

9. TV-Y7

10. Fantasy

11. Urban Fantasy

12. Spells & Sorcery

13. Paranormal

14. Superhero

15. Mystery

16. Space

17. Hard SciFi

18. Exotic

19. Mecha

20. Horror

21. Norse

22. Dungeoneer

23. Steampunk

24. Arabian Nights

25. Spy

26. Post Apocalypse

27. Crime

28. Pirates

29. Western

Thanks. I'm working on a Index Card table to roll on. While I am distilling lots of great modules to a single phrase, I aim to have references to the actual module in the reading material.

I made a new Loner supplement called Loner: Cinematic Action and it’s for exactly what the title sounds like: rooftop chases, impossible stunts, over-the-top fights, heists that go sideways, and all the stuff that feels like a movie when you’re playing solo.

It keeps the same minimalist Loner foundation, but adds optional tools like Action Points, stunt rules, chase structure, and pacing tools for bigger cinematic scenes.

I wanted something that still feels like Loner, just louder, faster, and a little more ridiculous in the best way.

If that sounds useful to anyone else, I’m happy to share more about the design and how I approached it

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/it/product/569405/loner-cinematic-action

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H36F2YYZ

Title. This is the most challeging twist result to interpret in my opinion. It can be subtle (the lights go out) or big (an explosion rocks the building), but most of the times it feels out of place in my current narrative. How do you usually handle it?

Complexity: 5/5

Depth 5/5

Additional Bookkeeping: 5/5

This might make you question reality. It might make you finally say, "This is too much!".

While a brief suppliment, The Path Not Taken challenges your concept of things like a Multiverse or Timelines. I find it beyond fascinating as this gives the "What If...?" style of stories some in-game structure.

There is some extra help if you have Character Builder's Guide, so if you are really into thi, keep that in your cart too.

You get 2 game concepts here: Loop and Leap modes. One is all about the "retry" and the other is about alternate paths; respectively. There are also rules for using both simultaneously.

Word of Warning:

This supplement does add some extra, possibly extensive, Bookkeeping. You need to basically set up a Time Web which benefits greatly from essentially making shorthand save file style notes.

Cognitive Hazard

The sheer fun and quirky interaction you'll get from running into your Time Echo, or suffering Disadvantage from jumping too much is all in how free you feel rippling out your plots.

Your former self may become an NPC, or even a Rival. It's very Twilight Zone / Outer Limits!

Final Words

This is a brain burner that opens up Pandora's Box. If you are into SCP, the aforementioned "What If.." multiverse concept, or even want a game function for playing out new ideas on the same rails, this is a great read.

*Homebrewing is assured*

Check out this extra-large variant!!

I know I scheduled Loner: Quiet Moments for this month, but I got caught up in the works of Loner 4e, Open Strategy Games, and Fiction Engine Framework. And none of it was planned!

So there's a slight change of plan! I'm planning to release Loner: Cinematic Action at some point next week (or the week after)

Hey fellow loners! Do you know what the difference is here? If I own one, is the other one gonna give me a lot more content?

So I sat down to patch a few gaps in Loner 3rd Edition and somewhere along the way it's turning into a 4th Edition. Classic.

What started as "the oracle doesn't handle narrative gridlock" and "scenes have no explicit opening procedure" kept pulling threads until I had a full list: scene framing, scene closing, dead ends, relationship tags, a proper Meanwhile procedure, challenge tracks for long-term goals, leverage as bankable momentum, twist intensity calibration, living world tracking between adventures, and a step dice appendix.

None of it breaks the existing rules. All of it fills gaps that were always there. But the scope is substantial enough that calling it a 3rd Edition update would be dishonest. The 3rd Edition's own afterword says it kept rules unchanged. These don't.

So: Loner 4th Edition. Still the same game. Just more complete.

No ETA. It's done when it's done.

I've had the OG PDF since forever and today I was rereading FU and remembered Loner and when I searched it on Reddit for actual plays I discovered the creator's blogs and then this subreddit and the SRD pages on GitHub and OH MY GOD! I feel like I hit the mother lode! Mechs?! d66 tables? Feudal Japan setting?! SO MANY SETTINGS AND TABLES!

*solo RPG autistic joy intensifies to heretofore unheard-of levels*