Whether you want to play Star Trek Adventures from Modiphius or the free to download World of Dungeons-based Phasers + Photons you’ll be frustrated without both a GM and a gaming group.
So, Qwo has a solution in the form of the free to download Starlogs. It’s a framework for solo play.
I know, I’ve just mentioned two freebies; Phasers + Photons and Starlogs. Both are by Qwo, so if you’re a sci-fi RPG fan then they might well be worth following on Itch.io.
Starlogs is a generous 24 pages long for a freebie. It’s not quite a full RPG if you’re looking for a traditional game engine, but if you have your own house system, then you won’t need one. Otherwise, Starlogs is best thought of as a framework.
The concept of “automatic episode” is put to excellent use and is easy to learn. The core concepts stretch only a few pages. The rest of the download isn’t filler; it’s handy tables for NPCs, locations and events.
Using Starlogs
Begin with a mission.
Set the scene, either through your imagination, a table here or a pre-written scenario for a Star Trek or other sci-fi RPG that you’re trying to solo.
Then, control your character and have them do whatever makes in-character sense. Starlog’s Probability Matrix will tell you how NPCs react.
You will also check the Probability Matrix whenever details are uncertain.
Each episode is divided into scenes, as RPG scenarios tend to be, and in Starlogs framework, you progress through scene, after scene, at your own place and setting the scene each time.
If your character fails, or you’re not certain what happens next, then there’s a “Complications!”. That’s another roll on a Starlogs table to determine the incoming curveball. Once you’ve done this six times, there’s an escalation, and you start adding +1 to these rolls.
Alternatively, but only once per episode, you can take a “B-Story”. If you complete that, then all future “Complications!” rolls are also made at +1.
You’re done once the mission has concluded, either in success or failure.
Overall
I can’t fault Starlogs. It’s free!
What would make the framework better? More of the same; we could expand all the tables and cross-link them more (such as B-Stories triggering other generators or alien race generators starting a chance of reoccurring NPCs).
I think downloading a copy of Starlogs is a no-brainer. Even if you don’t imagine you’ll be soloing any time in the future, you can use Starlogs for GM or even PC background inspiration.
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