ALONe Beta 12 13 15 Updated

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Harvison Maldonado (Order #33135560)

The GameMaster’s Apprentice
A Lonesome October Night:
Solo Game Engine
Author: Nathan Rockwood
Graphic Designer for GMA Cards: Max Johnson
Cover Artist: David Tanimura: http://www.musashimixinq.com/
Special Thanks
The GameMaster’s Apprentice, without which ALONe would not work, was backed on Kickstarter by
more than 360 supporters. Without their help, The GameMaster’s Apprentice would never have been
more than a pet project in my own home games. Thanks so much!
Visit us online at www.LarcenousDesigns.com

The GameMaster’s Apprentice deck and documentation, and A Lonesome October Night, copyright 2014 &
2015, owned by Larcenous Designs, LLC. Larcenous Designs, LLC, and associated marks are owned by Nathan
Rockwood. Graphic design and iconography by Max Johnson.
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Introduction 4
Beats
Downtime
Fragments
Descriptors
Vignettes
The GameMaster’s Apprentice in ALONe 5
Likely Odds
Difficulty Generator
Random Events
Tag Symbols
Fragments in Detail 7
Fragment Uses
Gaining Fragments
Descriptors in Detail 8
Descriptor Uses
Temporary or Lasting, and Disappearing
Creating Descriptors
Vignettes in Detail 10
How to Play 11
Beginning
Playing
Either you explain, or you ask!
Seek inspirations, not instructions!
There is no Spoon Game Master!
Recording of Play
Ends and Other Consequences
Answering Questions 15
Decide or Draw?
Asking Questions: The Explanation
Narrative Causality
Circumstances
Asking Questions: The Flowchart
Selecting Odds
Drawing a Random Answer
Apply the Results
Appendix: Example of Play 19
Random Setup Generation Example
Character Creation Example
Actual Play Example
Appendix: Tactical Play and Beyond 24
Appendix: Non-Player Characters and Companions 25
Appendix: Optional Descriptor Rules 26
Appendix: The Doom of Damocles 27
Appendix: Randomizers! 28
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Introduction
A Lonesome October Night (ALONe) is a single-player role playing game of narrative
description. As a solo game engine that supports the telling of a story, ALONe’s purpose is to maintain
internal balance even while taking advantage of one of the most important freedoms that a
single-player game has: no feet to tread on.
As a solo game, any character, ability, or story is equally valid. Whether you wish to play a
street urchin in a steampunk nightmare, or an immortal demi-god leading an army against the lords of
Avalon, the same rules will apply. Without any other player characters of differing power levels, or any
players who have different assumptions about challenges, ALONe can easily handle any situation.
However, to keep things interesting, ALONe allows you to impose randomness, challenge, and
the risk of not only failure, but of qualified and costly success. In order to do that, a game of ALONe
relies on the interaction of five key concepts, outlined briefly here, and a deck of the GameMaster’s
Apprentice cards of your choice, as explained below.
Beats
Play takes place almost entirely during Beats, the scenes of interplay between characters,
dramatic action, or other activity you play out moment-by-moment (more or less); you are actually
engaging the mechanics and writing (or just telling) the story as you go, by asking questions and using
the rules to answer them before you describe the consequences of your actions.
Downtime
Between the Beats of the story, you may have Downtime, be it five minutes or five months.
During downtime, “business as usual” continues, and you don’t bother describing what happens save
in broad strokes, glossing over any content that does not include chance or challenge or other interest
to you. No serious mechanical updates or drastic narrative changes happen unless they are obvious
and unavoidable, like the healing of a broken leg or the expiration of a coupon; if you want to go into
more detail or make more changes, you either need to move into the next Beat, or to engage in a
Vignette, as explained below.
Fragments
Fragments are the mechanical currency of the game. They are spent or gained when modifying
or rewriting elements of the story, even during setup and character creation, or to alter the results of a
draw. The default rule is to start with five, but you can also randomize that instead. The number of
Fragments you currently have is the only out-of-game number you’ll need to keep track of; all other
information you track will be narrative in nature.
Descriptors
Everything about your character and their game world is built in narrative text with highlighted
(all caps, bolded, underlined, etc) words and phrases, like crack shot with a rifle or owes money to the
mob. These Descriptors make up the pool of skills, powers, allies, complications, gear, and literally
anything else that changes the game mechanically--this includes other characters and their character
traits, if necessary!
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Vignettes
Brief scenes that are entirely narrated by you, without random draws to change things (unless
you draw to add flavour or make it easier to come up with ideas). A Vignette serves as a flashback or
Downtime moment that allows a change in the story, including the justification of changing Descriptors
mid-Beat (think the flashback revelation scenes in Leverage or Ocean’s 11). A Vignette can take place
at any time, but unlike Downtime, a Vignette costs you a Fragment to justify the changes.
The GameMaster’s Apprentice in ALONe

If you are familiar with the GameMaster’s Apprentice, you can likely skip this section. If you
aren’t, read on for a basic introduction to the cards that ALONe uses instead of dice or (most) tables!
The GameMaster’s Apprentice (GMA) is a deck of cards that, on their own, provide character
traits, story seeds, random events, and over a dozen other things that anyone involved in story gaming
might find useful. One of those things is the core of a solo engine that ALONe completes.
You can read all about this and other possibilities in the instructions for the cards, which are
available for free on their store pages, and are also included as a file along with ALONe’s PDF, including
a half-length deck of PnP-friendly cards from the GMA’s genre-neutral base deck. However, in brief,
ALONe makes special use of the engine built into the GMA deck to generate inspiration, prompts, and
the answers to questions you ask, in order to move the story forward. ALONe does not require a Game
Master or other players because the GMA deck acts as a narrative engine in their place.
Here are the most critical parts of the cards to understand; for more complete descriptions, see
the instructions for the GMA!
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Likely Odds
The heart of the ALONe’s engine is the asking of Yes/No questions. By themselves, the Likely
Odds boxes (#2, in the upper portion of the card) produce four possible answers that cover both
normal and ‘emphatic’ results: YES!/Yes/No/NO!
Each category of Odds (Bad, Even and Good) has a different distribution of those responses:
25%, 50%, and 75% “Yes or YES!” respectively. The rules of ALONe will tell you which Odds to use, and
also allow you to enhance the results by using ‘qualified’ answers, adding “but,” “and,” or “if.” This
feature relies on the Elemental Symbols, the second-from-the-top icon in the upper right corner of the
card, which shows sigils representing Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.
Additionally, to keep things from getting boring, when you draw for a Yes/No answer you will
often have a chance of triggering a Random Event; see Difficulty Generator and Random Events, below.
Difficulty Generator
#1, in the top left-hand corner of the card, shows a number from 1-10, but the exact
numbers are distributed on a bell curve. Because most Difficulty Generator (DiffGen) results will fall
between 5 and 6, you can easily use this to suggest a relative difficulty, reaction, or power level--or
anything else that is likely to fall along a spectrum with a weight towards the middle.
When answering a Yes/No question with the Likely Odds field, you trigger a Random Event if
the card has a low enough DiffGen number, as explained in the section entitled Answering Questions,
below.
Random Events
The Random Event Generator (#6, a band across the card, just below the Likely Odds, DiffGen,
and Elemental Symbol fields) consists of three words. These are always, in order, a Verb, an Adjective,
and a Noun. When drawing for a Random Event, you draw two cards, and use the Verb from one and
the Noun from the other; if you need further inspiration, you can draw a third card and use the
Adjective from it, but I suggest just starting with a Verb/Noun combo.
Once you have your keywords, you explain them into the story. “Destroy/Wealth” could mean
that you discover you have had your identity stolen and your accounts drained, or that you accidentally
break a priceless artifact you were transporting or trying to steal, for example; it all depends on
context. See the GMA instructions for more examples and suggestions!
Tag Symbols
Tag Symbols are #8 on the cards, the three circles in a band across the approximate middle (not
counting the far-right circle, which is a directional scatter die). There are ten possible symbols, and a
unique combination of them on each card, with all possible combinations represented. When you draw
for them, you draw only one card and use all three symbols on it, together.
These can be used to make thematic suggestions, once you get used to them--drawing a Skull, a
Crown, and a Sword could suggest to me a wealthy, dying individual who wants to go on one last fight,
or that the hoard of loot contains a magic sword, an enchanted piece of jewelry, and a poison-tipped
trap for the unwary thief--but the Tag Symbols are often used in conjunction with a table created for
the situation. There are many examples in the section entitled Appendix: Randomizers!, so take a look
there for some ideas.
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Fragments in Detail
Fragments represent your current level of power to alter the story without the need for an
in-world excuse. They and their limited availability exist to push you to find avenues of plot and
character development you would not have explored with the unlimited redoes and at-will story
rewrites of pure fiction.
Fragment Uses
Fragments have three primary uses.
Redraw: Spend one Fragment to supplement any draw from the GameMaster’s Apprentice
deck with two more cards; pick your favorite from amongst them. In a Random Event, for example, you
would draw the usual two (or three, if including an Adjective) cards, and then decide if you want to
spend a Fragment. If you do, you would draw two more cards; you could then replace any one of the
Random Event cards with either one of the new draws, or stick with your original cards.
Descriptors: Spend one Fragment to gain one level of a positive, lasting Descriptor; you can
earn a Fragment by adopting one level of a lasting negative Descriptor instead. You can do this at any
time something has happened or occurred in the story that might make sense as a descriptor, or at
literally any point afterwards, as long as the text is still relevant. See “Descriptors in Detail” for more
information!
Vignette: If you want to change part of the story without playing it out (or after the fact,
through flashbacks that are “more accurate” or show “new perspective”), you can spend a point and
activate a Vignette. Check out “Vignettes in Detail” for more information!
Optional Fragment Debt: If you wish, you can permit Fragment debt to occur when you really
want to spend a Fragment but currently have none, and also don’t have any good ideas for lasting
negative Descriptors. For each Fragment you go below 0, you suffer both mechanical and narrative
penalties. In any situation where a -1 (or -2, -3, etc) penalty would be harmful, apply the negative
number of Fragments as a penalty; in ALONe, this means when calculating the player total before
drawing a random Yes/No answer, but if you are using ALONe in combination with another RPG (see
the section Appendix: Tactical Play and Beyond), it should apply as a penalty to any other rolls or draws
as well. In a narrative sense, things are just going badly, until you take enough lasting negative
Descriptors or gain Fragments (see below) to buy off the Fragment debt.
Gaining Fragments
Of course, before you spend them, you need to have them. How often you earn Fragments
beyond your starting allotment and those you gain from Descriptors will make a huge difference to
your gameplay. Below are the two primary options, which can be used together or separately,
depending on the nature of your game!
Per Session: If you tend to sit down to play for significant chunks of story at a time on an
infrequent basis, and/or especially if your stories tend to be long, on-going affairs that rarely include
neat divisions of plot (completed quests or episodic stories), you should gain one new Fragment
automatically at the start of play. In games intended to have significant power creep or to emulate
“leveling up” in more traditional RPGs, combine this with the Per Chapter rewards below. If you sit
down to play for very short sessions with high frequency, you may want to use Per Chapter rewards
INSTEAD of Per Session, entirely!
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Per Chapter: When major plot points happen (completed quests, the end of an act in a
movie-style game, a major discovery is made, etc), reward them with one to three Fragments,
depending on how long the ‘chapter’ was, and how dangerous or difficult it was to complete.
Individually, large rewards can be fine, but consider your relative power as well: if everything you do is
epic in scope just because you happen to be playing a minor godling, then perhaps those feats aren’t
actually worthy of three points for you, in this particular game.
Optional Random Fragment Check: If you aren’t sure if you should gain a Fragment, or if you
want to make all Fragment gain random, consider drawing a DiffGen result when you would potentially
earn one; if the number you get is higher than your current Fragment total, you get it. This makes it
much harder to gain Fragments when you already have 5 or 6, and provides an absolute cap of 10.
Descriptors in Detail
Depending on your preference, you may be writing your entire story in the form of a narrative
that starts with a description of your character, or you can simply jot down notes to keep track of
Descriptors in a list format, and play the rest out in your head. Either way works identically, following
these rules for how to track Descriptors of different levels of significance, modify them, and so on.
Descriptor Uses
The basic functions of a Descriptor are twofold: to give you altered abilities and character traits
beyond (or below) the baseline you set for your game, and to make things more or less likely to occur
when drawing from the GameMaster’s Apprentice deck for the answer to a question the Descriptor
might somehow influence (see the Asking Questions section, below, for more on these mechanics).
As a justification for special abilities and powers, Descriptors cover literally anything you want
to have outside the norm for your game. Generally, I tend to consider ‘the norm’ a young-adult to
middle-aged, able-bodied adult human who has a place to stay and a subsistence-level job a decent
starting point, but that implies a game set in a world much like ours.
Descriptors such as wealthy, cursed with lycanthropy, and -:THE OUTCAST GOD, HUNTED BY
DEITIES:- are all possibilities, and they grant you the narrative ability to do the things those qualities
represent, whatever they are. However, while any Descriptor is theoretically fair game, each time you
play you will need to carefully consider what makes a good descriptor for the current g ame. If you are
playing a vampire politicking and hunting amongst other vampires, you don’t necessarily need a
Descriptor to justify the basic benefits and drawbacks of the average unlife. On the other hand, if you
are playing one of the few creatures of the night you’ll encounter, then vampire might be an
appropriate Descriptor, since the basics aren’t already assumed.
As a mechanical advantage, every positive level of a Descriptor counts in your favor when
deciding whether to use Bad, Even, or Good odds to answer a Yes/No question, and every negative
level counts against you. What Descriptors influence a given draw will depend entirely on the situation,
but keep in mind that if a Descriptor has both negative and positive qualities, or multiple levels of each,
that does not mean they always all apply. A vampire who is trying to use their superhuman strength to
lift a car would get only a bonus, while one trying to stay awake during day would get a penalty, and
one trying to persuade a human to help them might get either or both, depending on whether they are
trying for intimidation, persuasion, supernatural seduction, or something else entirely.
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Temporary or Lasting, and Disappearing
Descriptors can be temporary or lasting. Whether you buy them at the start of the game or
during play (when justified by the plot, random card draws, or Vignettes), lasting Descriptors cost or
give Fragments (depending on whether they are positive or negative). Temporary descriptors, such as
feeling especially cheerful right now or arms tied behind my back, don’t give or cost Fragments. If a
temporary Descriptor becomes lasting, the cost or gain can happen belatedly.
Judging what justifies adding a temporary Descriptor is for you to decide; just be equitable
about positive and negative Descriptors, so one isn’t easier than the other to gain. I usually require
some mechanical justification, such as the result of a Yes/No question, Random Event, or a Vignette.
Also, even lasting Descriptors can go away, either because you wanted them to, or because the
plot demanded it. If a plot point renders a Descriptor moot or destroyed (be it negative or positive),
you can choose to either be refunded or charged the appropriate number of Fragments, or you can
simply replace those Descriptors with new ones that make sense in the wake of the change. This kind
of Descriptor transformation turns “leveling up” into a more true evolution of the character, with their
abilities and complications changing to suit the story.
Creating Descriptors
Descriptors are positive and helpful if any combination of bold, underlined, or all-caps; they are
negative and harmful if italicized, or bracketed by colons or dashes. These elements can be combined
to any degree; for example, A FAMOUS MOVIE STAR is positive in three ways and negative in one,
representing both the advantages and drawbacks it brings. Mechanically speaking, in most situations it
is the same as being famous, wealthy, and living a childhood dream, while still being bombarded by
paparazzi; whether you prefer combination or individual Descriptors is up to you.
Combination Descriptors do tend to work well when what you’re really going for is an upgrade
to a particular, clearly defined power or ability. For example, a powerful psychic would logically be able
to read minds, but how is that any better than just psychic? Consider how high a bonus and what range
of powers it should grant, and if necessary, just go with psychic until you spend a second Fragment to
upgrade it to powerful psychic!
On the other hand, Descriptors that indicate broad concepts might be harder to “math out”
because of their versatility. A VAMPIRE might be hard to kill, stealthy, and also be superhumanly
strong and fast, though they must drink blood and avoid sunlight; on the other hand, perhaps a
vampire never ages and has the drawbacks of an undead, but can also justify later earning abilities like
turning invisible, controlling animals, or even being REVERED AS A GOD BY A COVEN OF HUMAN
THRALLS, once they have enough Fragments to build them into the game. Basically, if you think three
Fragments isn’t enough to justify the level of power the Descriptor grants, you should break it up into
multiple Descriptors in order to maintain balance--but what that power threshold is, exactly, will be up
to you.
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Vignettes in Detail
Vignettes serve as a way to justify entirely narrative changes to the story, without providing
unlimited opportunities to do so. The activation cost of one Fragment is in addition to the Fragment
cost of changing Descriptors, but even so, this might seem to raise the question, Why not use a
Vignette to beat every single challenge?
You can, provided you have enough Fragments (though that is unlikely), and here’s the thing:
There’s nothing wrong with that. If you are playing a farmer’s son, and suddenly want to become the
Goddess of Vengeance, a Vignette can make that happen. Congrats; you’re playing a very different sort
of story, with new challenges and goals! If, on the other hand, you are in a climactic confrontation, and
you want to earn a victory, rather than simply writing it… well, there’s nothing wrong with skipping a
Vignette and forging ahead along the more difficult path!
Vignettes also serve other purposes. Sometimes, Random Events (or other random information)
you draw won’t fit into the immediate story, but will make logical sense as past or distant events, as
played out in a Vignette. If this happens, you may trigger a Vignette in order to help you explain the
event; these forced Vignettes don’t cost you Fragments to activate, but they can still result in you
gaining positive or negative Descriptors and losing or gaining Fragments accordingly.
Optional Modifications: Some genres make use of Vignettes in very different ways: heist and
similar “success porn” genres use them constantly, to let the protagonists show off their clever tricks,
while horror films will use them mostly to reveal how the villain is preparing to strike the unknowing
victim. You may want to consider altering the Fragment cost requirement for your story’s Vignettes,
making them more or less expensive to better match both your genre and play style.
Some possible genre mods:
Heist: One free helpful Vignette after every second negative Random Event, provided the
Vignette does not totally negate the Random Events, and instead merely shows how you incorporated
it into your “plan” all along, managed to rig a quick fix, or were otherwise ready for it (almost certainly
resulting in one or more temporary Descriptors to counter the problem; remember that temporary
Descriptors are ALWAYS free, as long as you have a justification for working them in, such as a
Vignette).
Horror: The first Vignette in which you can demonstrate the origin or nature of the bad guy,
monster, or problem (think the opening moments, before the title, where we see them strike), is free,
as long as it only provides you with clues and assumptions, rather than letting you immediately strike
back and defeat your enemy; each further voluntary Vignette costs +1 Fragment, making them more
expensive as you use them. If the game is longer than one movie-length survival attempt, reset the
cost to 0 when you have a significant break in the plot, such as between sequels or episodes.
SciFi Heroic Adventure: Once per chapter or episode of your story, you get one free helpful
Vignette, as long as the content centers around analyzing a problem, reversing your shield polarity,
recalibrating your weapons, inventing an entirely new theory of matter-phasing, or something like
that.
Any Coming of Age Tale: Once, after suffering a setback (Random Event, simple failure, or a
narrated plot point that seemed logically unavoidable) that might reasonably provide the impetus to
achieve a new level of inner strength or drive, one free Vignette AND one Fragment’s worth of lasting
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Descriptor, as long as your content is an epic training montage. Bonus Descriptor if you can set it to the
tune of Mulan’s “Be a Man!”
How to Play
Beginning
Start by describing your character(s) and situation. Make use of any randomizers that you wish:
on the GameMaster’s Apprentice, from the tables included in the Appendix: Randomizers! section, or
of your own selection or creation from outside materials.
Gain five Fragments to begin (or the number you get from one DiffGen draw, if you want to
randomize it!); apply some of them to the purchase of Descriptors, highlighting parts of your character
description (or adding new ideas as necessary). You may take lasting negative Descriptors to gain
additional Fragments, but beware overloading your character; it’s entirely valid to have many juicy
pieces of character background that COULD be Descriptors but simply aren’t, yet!
Part of generating a character for you may have been the simultaneous creation of a setting
and/or starting scene, but if not, generate those things. They are likewise up to you to build or
randomize. If nothing occurs to you (though I usually find I have a strong idea of how I want the game
to start, once I’ve got a character in mind), I suggest the section Appendix: Randomizers! below and
the GameMaster’s Apprentice cards, with their Random Event generator, Catalysts and Locations, and
so on. Alternatively, you can even throw yourself into a pre-written adventure!
With the stage set, select an appropriate Tension level. Tension is rated from 1 to 10, and the
higher the number, the more likely Random Events will be. Three or four is a good start if things are
meant to begin with few surprises; scenes of action and chaos (or scenes where you want to be given
plenty of random inspiration) deserve something around a 6 or 7.
Playing
Gameplay in ALONe takes the form of a story you narrate, and is governed by three basic
principles.
Either you explain, or you ask!

Most of what happens is as a result of you simply deciding what to do, in the context of your
character and setting, and then applying logic and explaining the results. You can start with any actions
you wish, and narrate any results that seem unavoidable--but because this is a game, and not simply a
story, you don’t have as much control over the outcomes of challenges and important narrative turning
points. In those situations, you don’t explain; instead, you ask.
Whenever you find yourself wondering “What happens next?” or “Who is that person?” or even
“Does anything interesting happen on the way to the store?” and the answer isn’t immediately both
obvious and exceedingly certain, before you can narrate it, you consult the GameMaster’s Apprentice
deck.
If you are asking a Yes/No question, which should be the case most of the time, see the next
section, Answering Questions. These are the primary focus of the engine of ALONe, but not its only
use. You can also use other parts of the cards to answer questions of other kinds, but if you aren’t
already familiar with the cards, you may want to consult the GMA Instructions.
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Seek inspirations, not instructions!
The reason ALONe relies on a deck of randomizers instead of dice is NOT just to avoid rolling
the bones. The real goal is to force your imagination to slip sideways, sometimes, and not just follow a
linear path based on what seems “most likely” or “the obvious answer.” Even when you draw a card to
answer a question, you are meant to interpret the results so they fit your tale.
This also means that, sometimes, you might benefit from drawing a Random Event, a Sensory
Snippet, some Belongings, a Location, a Catalyst, or a Virtue and a Vice--or anything else on the
cards!--merely as inspiration for what should happen next (or if, for example, you asked “Does
anything interesting happen on the way to the store?” and were told that Yes, it does, but you want
more details).
So go ahead; draw from the Random Event generator just to shake things up, use the Scatter
Die to tell you which way the tracks lead, or even look at the Tag Symbols to decide what the NPC’s
hobbies are. See the GMA Instructions for many, many other ideas, and the GMA Adventure Guides for
genre-specific adventure generation advice!
There is no Spoon Game Master!
Despite the fact that you are asking questions of the GMA deck and using it to inspire
unexpected twists, it isn’t really your Game Master. The real meat of ALONe gameplay is meant to be
the intersection where random content and the management of your Fragments forces you to take
your story down unusual, unforeseen narrative paths, combining the excitement, suspense, and fun of
not knowing all the answers with the freedom and control of pure fiction.
Once you have asked your question or drawn cards to provide random seeds, narrate the
results into your story. If you have an idea for the outcome, but aren’t sure of it because there are
multiple options, or your first idea seems “too easy” or “too terrible,” you can continue asking Yes/No
questions or drawing other cards to refine, verify, and so on--or, if you prefer, you can simply make a
decision, narrate it, and move on, even in contradiction of the first two principles.
And don’t worry about the consequences. There is no one to tell you not to do it, which is
probably one of the best reasons to play ALONe--be sure to check out the Appendix: Example of Play to
see what all of this looks like when you put it together!
Recording of Play
If you are writing out the entirety of the game, you may wish to record questions, draws, and
results as notes in the story. Inside parenthesis or square brackets, use B, E, or G for the Odds,
Y!/Y/N/N! for the results, and record any other pertinent information afterwards, such as Random
Events, numbers from dice rolls, sensory results, or even character information you generate for new
characters.
For example, look at this section of play:
“Am I able to spot any likely marks to pickpocket? [E:Y; RE: Ponder Haven] Yes, but it looks like
the rich man I’ve spotted is considering leaving the marketplace via one of the carriages, so I’ll have to
act very quickly...”
This would indicate that Even Odds resulted in a Yes, and a Random Event was triggered that
resulted in the Ponder Haven Verb/Noun combo, leading to the result after the brackets. Similarly,
“Are there any gamers in the audience? Maybe 1d10 of them? (G:Y!; water=and...) There are 15, and
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even some game designers!” shows an emphatic YES! resulting in a higher number of gamers being
present than the 1d10 roll could have resulted in. Also, the player apparently decided that the
emphasis on YES! doesn’t just add numbers but also makes things more interesting by adding the
qualifier ‘and…’ to it.
Of course, recording this data is not truly necessary; it can be skipped unless you feel you want
to document how the rules impacted the game, or if you want to be able to reference the specific
questions you asked later! If not, all you need to do is keep track of highlighted Descriptors and the
number of Fragments you have.
Ends and Other Consequences

Stop whenever you feel like it, obviously--but it is also possible that you might have a more
entertaining experience if you play a game where you have to carefully avoid less excellent endings of
an involuntary nature. Before you start play, be honest with yourself about what kinds of endings and
consequences (especially as a result of failed questions and harsh Random Events) are acceptable.
Because of the narrative nature of ALONe, and the fact that there is no one to call you out for
‘cheating,’ death, loss, insanity, and other serious consequences are only on the table if you want them
to be, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the game must be one where survival is assured, or that
danger is immaterial. If you want the game to include high levels of danger, simply be strict about
including it as the likely outcome of a failed attempt to do something. Failing to climb a wall means you
fall; failing to avoid a guard patrol means you are attacked and killed or captured. Personally, I find that
as long as I am getting into the game, it becomes obvious when I’m in serious danger, and accepting
the consequences becomes a part of the fun of telling my story.
If you want to take some of these things out of your hands, at least partially, use a Tag Symbol
table for consequences, like the one below. You can draw a card and consult this table either as a
scene begins, to inspire you to include elements or foreshadowing of the appropriate dangers, or when
something bad is happening but you don’t yet have specifics. If a draw suggests that death is a possible
outcome, then you have to deal with it!
And if that still doesn’t satisfy your need for quantifiable danger, check out the Appendix: The
Doom of Damocles for an optional system for tracking how close to defeat you are.
Symbol Consequence of Failure
Moon Mental consequence (confusion, existential crisis, madness)
Sun Loss of opportunity (fired, job offered to someone else, bounty caught by
another)
Sword Physical consequence (injury, disability, scarring, stunned)
Shield Material consequence (lost money, lost or destroyed equipment, robbed,

swindled)
Target Loss of motivation (home destroyed while away fighting for it, the goal becomes
worthless)
Tower Loss of freedom (captured, imprisoned, trapped by a falling wall)
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Crown Loss of authority (status lost, rank stripped, humiliated in front of troops)
Heart Emotional consequence (shock, heartbreak, loss of a loved one)
Skull Death (instant, deadly infection, lingering death due to injury)
Wand Loss of ability (de-powered, supersuit damaged, wand broken)
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Answering Questions
Decide or Draw?
Most of ALONe is played out by asking questions: Who do I meet at the bar? Can I climb the
wall before the guards spot me? Can I persuade them to let me go? Can I fight him to a standstill?
However, before using this system to answer your questions, first be sure that you really need to.
Generally, if something seems likely to be possible AND is of little consequence, or doesn’t have
a significant cost for trying multiple times, then just assume the answer is ‘yes.’ If there is no real
tension--or should not be--don’t invent it. Have other characters follow their motivations, and have the
world behave according to whatever physical or arcane laws apply!
Or, if you wish, select an option with true randomness: a draw from any part of the GMA deck,
percentile dice, roll on a table you made, or whatever fits the situation. Draw a card for sensory data,
character traits for NPCs, the weather, or whatever it is you need, and decide for yourself what the
answers mean. Narrate and/or write the results into your story, and move on! There is often little point
to complicating questions like “Is the weather decent today?” or “Did the local team win their game
last night?”
On the other hand, if the answer is less clear or is fraught with peril, you’ll need to draw a
random answer. Once you get the hang of it, you will rarely have to consult these rules, since the Odds
to use and how to divine the results becomes reasonably intuitive once you understand the system.
Until then, follow the directions below!
Asking Questions: The Explanation

There are two common kinds of questions you’ll find yourself asking in order to advance the
game; both use the same system, below.
The most numerous questions are almost always about what happens in the world around you,
due to either random chance, or the actions of other characters. Because the results are, logically,
almost always out of your character’s direct control, in these situations you set the most appropriate
Likely Odds (Bad, Even, or Good) and draw an answer by using the selected Likely Odds field from the
GameMaster’s Apprentice deck.
The majority of other questions will be about things you are trying to do. If there is a definite
chance of failure or a cost to attempt an action--or the result will alter the plot significantly--then you
set the Likely Odds based on your situational advantages and disadvantages, as defined by your
Descriptors, the current circumstances, and the principal of Narrative Causality (see below).
You add together the total numbers for your side (the player total) and any obstacles (the
difficulty total, including a 0 if unopposed completely, 5 for an arbitrary average, a random Difficulty
Generator draw if you want to, or another number 1-10 which you set as appropriate), and compare
those results. If they are the same or within one point of each other, you use Even Odds; if they differ
by two or more, then you use the odds that favor the higher total.
In any case, be careful to phrase the question to be reasonable. Keep in mind both the most
likely, logical outcomes, and avoid phrasings that intentionally break the narrative (either in helpful or
baneful ways). With a well-phrased question and your Odds selected, draw a card!
When drawing an answer, “Yes” is self-explanatory. “No” usually means the next-most-likely
outcome will occur, not necessarily the exact opposite of what you asked--for example, when falling a
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long distance, if you ask, “Do I break my legs on impact?” and get a No, the result is probably a
sprained ankle, and not a complete lack of injury. Emphatic answers, YES! or NO!, are carried to some
extreme or especially important consequence.
Optionally, in order to keep things from being too all-or-nothing, consider using ‘qualified
answers,’ which means you also look at the elemental symbol on the same card as your Likely Odds
draw. Depending on the element, the answer may be modified with “and,” “if,” or “but,” as shown in
the flowchart below. You can decide on a case-by-case basis if you want a qualified answer, but decide
BEFORE each draw.
Narrative Causality
Narrative Causality is a concept that represents the weight of your narrative’s genre, tone, and
related tropes on the cosmic scale. It can add +1 or +2 to either the player total or the difficulty total
when drawing an answer, but it can also be much more than that.
Sometimes, what “should” or “should not” happen will be fairly clear, but still not clear enough
to prevent you from drawing a card. Some games call this the rule of drama, or karma, or other things,
but the idea is this: You can and should weigh the odds in the direction of what seems likely to make
the best story.
This is NOT to say that the Narrative Causality effect is always a bonus! When making a random
Yes/No draw, your character may certainly want things to go against Narrative Causality, so be sure to
keep in mind that the best story is not often the one where your character is happiest!
The exact nature of Narrative Causality in your game will be drastically altered by the genre you
play, and while that’s a good thing, there is still one more important element to consider. Narrative
Causality might make things hard for your character sometimes, but it will generally fight against
completely destroying them and ruining the story before it has achieved an appropriate finale!
Before you draw, whether Narrative Causality is providing a bonus, a penalty, or nothing, you
should eliminate any unacceptable answer from the pool of options! Whatever happens, you should be
willing to live with the consequences; though a setback should indeed be bad, it should never
immediately make the game so un-fun that you want to quit.
Circumstances
Like Narrative Causality, circumstances (favorable weather, taking extra time to be careful,
having excellent tools, a powerful weapon, etc) can add +1 or +2 to one side when calculating odds.
When deciding if and how much of a change the circumstances make, consider the most important
factors in play, and compare the relative advantages of each--then decide on either no change, or the
addition of the bonus to one side or the other. Keep it simple, even if it represents complex ideas and
situations!
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Asking Questions: The Flowchart
Selecting Odds
1) Narrative: If the question is about the world around you, another character’s behavior,
or something otherwise outside your character’s control:
a) Keep in mind any relevant factors of Descriptors and plot: “Does Bob like me?”
may be outside your control, but whether or not you recently punched Bob will
certainly alter the Odds.
b) As long as the world and characters are internally consistent, select the Odds
that feel most narratively satisfying or appropriate.
2) Mechanical: If the question is about whether you can succeed at something, or your
skills, abilities, traits, and so on are being otherwise tested:
a) Player Total: Tally up all relevantly positive Descriptors, and add up to two points
for Narrative Causality and/or circumstances.
b) Difficulty Total: Count any base Difficulty (0 if there is no actual opposition, 5 for
an average difficulty, randomized by the Difficulty Generator if desired), plus up
to two points each for detrimental Narrative Causality and/or circumstances.
c) Compare the totals; if they tie or are within one point of each other, use the
Even Odds. If the difference is two or more, then use the Odds that favor the
more advantaged side.
i) Optional Overwhelming Probability: If you are beating the difficulty total
by 5 or more, you only get a harmful result if the answer is emphatic: if
you wanted Yes, then a No counts as a Yes, and NO! counts as No).

Drawing a Random Answer

3) Decide if you are using qualified answers or not, and then draw a card and check the
appropriate Odds.
a) If the answer is emphatic (YES!/NO!), then either max it out to some extreme or
add an appropriate “but/if/and” to the end of it, your choice (but sticking
positive or negative).
b) If using qualified answers and it is NOT an emphatic answer, check the Elemental
Symbol:
i) Earth: Earth abides; no change.
ii) Air: Air hesitates; add “, but…” (moderates or qualifies the outcome; it is
less significant than the Yes/No would be otherwise)
iii) Fire: Fire demands; add “, if…” (result becomes more NEGATIVE unless
the “if” is fulfilled. This can spoil good results, or make bad ones terrible!)
iv) Water: Water supplies; add “, and…” (enhances the result, possibly with
a new and unexpected twist, making the Yes/No more significant than it
would be on its own)
c) Check the Difficulty Generator number against the current Tension.
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i) DiffGen is Equal or Lower: A Random Event is triggered! Draw a Random
Event, according to the normal rules of the GMA: One card each for a
Verb and a Noun, with a third for Adjective if you want.
(1) Generally, explain the answer before building the Random Event,
but modify the answer further if it helps you explain the Random
Event.
(2) If your Event does not fit here, trigger a Vignette (either a
flashback or a flash-sideways) during which it is explained.
(3) Proceed!
ii) DiffGen is Higher: No Random Event, so proceed!
Apply the Results
4) Narrate the outcome(s) into the story, including any Random Events and the answers to
further, minor Yes/No questions you asked to clarify things--when merely clarifying the
results of a previous draw, you will be setting the Odds narratively, and you should
probably ignore new Random Events.
5) If the results warrant, apply any new temporary Descriptor(s) (positive, negative, or
both); if it seems appropriate, you can gain a Fragment by making a negative one
lasting, or spend a Fragment on making a positive one lasting.
6) If you wish to record your play, write out the result… and play continues!
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Appendix: Example of Play
In this example, I will mix commentary in with actual-play content, writing down my thinking
more than I would when playing for my own sake--however, these are still the
stream-of-consciousness of my actual play, so this will read like ALONe gameplay in my head, before I
bother taking notes on it.
Random Setup Generation Example

I want to play a game set in a world with powerful demi-samurai who wield energy swords and
command a mystical force of some kind, so I grab the GMA-Sci Fi Deck and set out to make a character.
My first thought is that I want to play a young street-rat with delusions of smuggler-hood, but
who has some untrained talent in the mystical abilities of that ancient and hokey religion. I don’t want
to entirely copy my story from recent television shows, so I decide to randomize my background using
the methods in the Appendix: Randomizers! section of ALONe.
First, I draw two cards for names and pick [Morikai/Lan] for myself, but rearrange it into Lan
Morikai. I then draw a card for general traits of all my Family Members (because I’m too lazy to draw
for them individually). I get a [Moon/Sword/Shield], so they kept secrets and were extremely
demanding of me, but were also extremely protective. What were the secrets? Well, I hadn’t found out
yet; I assume they are smugglers, since that’s what I want to be when I grow up, but time to keep
randomizing!
On to Childhood; I draw a [Sword/Target/Tower], so I had to grow up quickly, and my family
had a future in mind for me, and I was adopted or fostered. Interesting; was my adoption the secret?
[G:N!] Huh; despite having given it Good odds, I drew an emphatic NO! and have to come up with
something that is very much the opposite: my becoming fostered is a RESULT of the secret! The fact
that they had goals for me and were keeping secrets makes me think, Were they worse than
smugglers, and more like part of an organized crime family? [E:Y] Since Even odds says Yes, they were;
was the secret they were trafficking slaves, and I found out, which is why I had to grow up so fast and
be fostered--because I left them? I could just decide that this is the case, but I feel like randomizing it.
[G:Y]
Ok, so I found out that my family is part of an organized crime syndicate and were actually
horrible when I was still a little kid. What exactly precipitated me being leaving them and being
adopted by somebody else? Time for a Random Event! I get [Create/Knowledge], so… did the
authorities catch them, and stick me in the system? [G:N] Ok, not that, so the next most likely thing
feels like I ran away as soon as I figured it out.
Alright, on to Youth! [Sun/Target/Heart] Good times, a goal for myself (against my family’s
wishes, hah!), and gaining friends and family. Actually, things appear to have gone surprisingly well at
this point! Having fled my family as a child, I jumped ship at a seedy port on a world of smugglers and
vagabonds, but got lucky enough to be “fostered” by a wealthy family (ie, I got to do chores and not
die). I set myself a goal of… earning my way as an engineer, since I’d learned a bunch of technical skills
growing up on a tramp ship with that demanding family, and now I want to be straight-edge to counter
my family background! Not my original plan, but I actually really like the idea of a smuggler/streetrat
who WANTS to go legit, but can’t afford it!
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Time to generate a random best friend: [Sarala/Tane/Charity/Fear/Fancy Gift] The family taking
care of me has a kid my age named Sarala Tane; she likes helping people (which is how I got my job,
when she brought me to her father after finding me… begging in the street? [E:Y]), but is of a nervous
disposition, and the fancy gift part is how I know she is related to the wealthy family taking care of me.
Now, to move on to the next stage, I draw another Random Event and get [Execute/Ship],
which I draw an Adjective for and expand to [Execute/Frightful/Ship]. Alright--it doesn’t seem like my
youthful Lan would be capable of ‘executing’ a ship at this point, but Random Events can be things that
are happening around you or that influence your game indirectly, so… did someone ELSE shoot down a
frightful ship? [G:Y]. Was the ship frightful because it belonged to a dark mystical-energy-wielding type
person? [E:Y]
Alright, so Lan saw a ship shot down...and that actually seems like a good place to really start
the game! Time to turn this into a description I can play from, and then to highlight a few Descriptors!
Character Creation Example

TALENTED ENGINEER Lan Morikai was the son of (he thought) a tight knit family of hard-bitten
smugglers, but as a child he discovered the horrible truth: his parents were trafficking in slaves, and
their constant drive to push Lan in learning his technical skills was so he could help them! Fleeing into
the streets of a backwater trade-world where one more urchin would go unnoticed, Lan hid until his
parents gave him up for lost and then began looking for a job--any job--so he could prove he wasn’t
just a criminal like them!
Fortunately, when Lan met the young SARALA TANE, who would become a good friend over the
years, he was able to use his ill-gotten engineering skills to earn a place in her father’s estate, repairing
computers, machinery, and ‘bots. Several years passed--good years, if filled with hard work, that left
him with SOME MONEY SAVED UP--and as a young man, just starting to consider his options (Setting
up a machine shop of his own? Asking Lord Tane for better work? Finding work on a ship, if only to get
passage off-world?), he finds himself constantly frustrated.
One night, nagged by an unshakeable premonition he does not realize might be the first hints
of MYSTICAL POWER, he goes out walking one night to clear his head...only to witness a strange and
ominous craft crash-land in the hills in the back of the Tane estate, where no one else would have seen
it.
Now, does Lan go to investigate? Of course he does… but what will he find there?
In this case, I wrote in 3rd person because it felt right, but I could easily have used 1st person
instead. In fact, I like this ‘opening title crawl’ as 3rd, but I think I’ll make the story itself in first person,
with 3rd person being used for big chunks of Downtime or similar.
In terms of Fragments, I started with the standard five, and took one lasting negative Descriptor
(his parents were trafficking in slaves) to indicate his shame, his unwillingness to do criminal things,
and the fact that they might come back to haunt him someday--but it’s only one level of negative
quality, because none of those things are really terribly impactful right now.
With six Fragments to spend, I decided to spend five and keep one. I got the two-level
TALENTED ENGINEER to justify how good he is with machines and robots--and repairing crashed
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spaceships?--and spent one Fragment each on SARALA TANE, SOME MONEY SAVED UP, and MYSTICAL
POWER.
Actual Play Example

(One Fragment available; Tension is set to 6, since this is odd stuff)
START OF BEAT: A crashing ship!
The night is dark, and this estate is huge--and I have no vehicle or communicator, since I
specifically wanted to avoid dealing with people right now. So I can either run back home, or run to the
ship; does my gut, the same one that told me to go out here tonight, want me to go investigate on my
own, in the dark? Since this isn’t a skill test, I decide to go with Even Odds since I don’t see this
swinging either way as narratively much stronger, and decide not to use qualified answers for
now--this isn’t that big a deal.
I draw, and… [E:N!; RE: Unseal Weapon] Well, that didn’t take long; emphatic NO! suggests
that I have a bad feeling about this but I hear explosions and weapons’ fire, and I do have a small
holdout pistol I’ve been tinkering with, so I rush on to the crash site!
As I approach through the forest and near the top of a hill, I slow down to be a bit more
cautious. The situation probably makes it easy to be stealthy here, so the real question is, Is there still a
battle going on? This time, I’ll use qualified answers to make things more interesting: [E:N;
Water=and…]. No, the sounds of fighting have died down, AND… now, everything seems to be
completely still: not only is the battle over, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone left to continue it. So I
continue my approach, approaching through the woods.
Now, given how quiet it’s gotten, is anyone left alive at all? [E:Y, RE: Interrupt Relative,
Earth=no qualifier]
Oh, crap.
It seems like there was a reason I felt especially drawn here tonight, though I didn’t see THAT
coming. Is this… a parent? [E:N, Air=but…] Ok, it’s not a parent, BUT it’s still a very close relative… so
it’s my sister, whom I probably hate/am hated by.
My sister, whom I discover (how badly wounded, on a 1-10 scale? DiffGen on a card says [7])
bleeding and unconscious, but not actually dying. Everyone else is dead, and everyone else would be
that dark mystical energy wielder, as far as I know. Is there anyone else there? [E:N!] Alright--a ship
crashed, with a dead man who (characterized by sensory snippets from a GMA draw: [A moment of
deja-vu/The dank of a tomb]) looks oddly familiar; a man, wrapped in bandages and smelling of decay,
who I know I saw on my parents’ ship from time to time! He was a customer of theirs; in fact, was he
the one I saw buying slaves from them? [G:Y!: RE: Fix Legend] Not only that; he was someone I’d seen
before, and my parents told me was EXTREMELY powerful, and a good person to have on “our”
side--so clearly it’s good that he’s dead.
But how did my sister come to be on his ship? I don’t want to answer that one right now. How
can I get her to safety? Is there a speeder on the crashed ship? [E:Y; RE: Cleans Grudge; Air=but…] Yes,
there’s a speeder, BUT it isn’t working after that crash. As for the Random Event, I don’t see a way I can
cleanse a grudge with my sister this very moment, but does this mean, maybe, that I’d actually gotten
in contact with her after I fled, and made up, so we don’t hate each other?[E:Y]
Time to explain that! We have a free Vignette, because it was caused by a Random Event...
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VIGNETTE: Seven years ago...
After struggling with it, a year after I fled my parents’ ship, I used my new access and
knowledge to set up a secure terminal and send one message--just one--to the only relative I still
trusted: My slightly-older favorite sister (temporary Descriptor, which might go away when I get a
chance to talk to her, or become lasting and cost a Fragment), who had helped take care of me when
our parents were being particularly harsh.
Her name is [Veda] Veda Morikai, and when I recorded the message I set up a secure one-time
dropbox so she could reply. I told her I was still alive, but that I couldn’t live with what our parents
were doing, and I missed her but was doing well.
She replied, simply, “I love you. I understand.”
She shouldn’t have been able to trace the call, or find out where I was, but somehow....
END VIGNETTE: Back to the wreckage!
...somehow she is here, and hurt, and has just killed someone--probably!
So, the last Yes/No draw indicated the speeder I found was damaged. Fortunately, I’m a
TALENTED ENGINEER. I try to repair it!
It seems likely that there are basic tools salvageable here, and I can scrap spare parts from the
ship. I’d call that two points of circumstances in my favor. Also, it just seems narratively appropriate,
though not critical to the story, that I can do this, so I get one point for Narrative Causality. TALENTED
ENGINEER is worth two points, and because Veda is my favorite sister I’m working especially hard, and
gain one more! That adds up to six points for my character total. The difficulty is… well, random, plus
one for the problems caused by h aving a bad feeling about this. I draw a random 6; the speeder is
banged up pretty badly, but it’s all here, at least! That gives a 6 for me and a 7 for the difficulty; since
we’re within one point, we use the even odds, and I decide to use qualified answers.
The moment of truth: Can I repair the bike? [E:Y, Fire=if…] Excellent! Sort of!
I can get it working… if I am willing dismantle key components of the ship. This will make the
ship much harder to repair in the long run, since using its parts in the speeder will overload them,
destroying them AND the speeder. That sounds fair, so I don’t bother drawing another card to confirm.
No ship for me, for a while yet, but as I rev the bike and it finally hovers off the ground a reasonable
distance--sparking and sputtering, going to burn out after this trip--I think, “But I’ll bet Rei has an
interesting story to tell…”
I drive off, homeward, with Veda strapped into the speeder behind me. I wonder what Sarala
and her family are going to think of this development…
I could keep playing here, but I feel like it is pretty obvious where the first part of this will go,
so...
END OF BEAT
DOWNTIME: Urgent care!
Lan arrives back home with Veda just as the bike sputters and settles slowly to the ground. A
shout to a guardsman rouses several people, a medical ‘bot is called in, and Veda is escorted into the
house. Mostly, people are too confused to be angry at this point, and as Lan insists she is his sister,
Lord Tane has her seen to (he does care about Lan, after all), after extracting a promise of explanation,
and soon.
22
The real questions come down to whether or not anyone is coming after that ship, and how
long it takes Veda to wake up. Since we won’t know the former until they show up or Veda tells us
about it, Lan settles in beside her to wait.
How long does it take her to wake up? Well, it seems thematically appropriate to have Lan doze
beside her, and have them both wake up around dawn...or, that will be when Lan wakes up to discover
she is truly in a coma of some kind, and more help is sent for. So, Does Veda wake up at dawn? [G:Y]
Alright, then; we resume there!
END OF DOWNTIME
START OF BEAT: News from home!
As the first smog-dulled rays of dawn creep through the window, I blink and open my eyes, awakened
by murmuring from Veda. Sitting up, I rub sleep from my eyes and then lean forward, eager to see if
she is all right, even as the medical ‘bot does the same….
...and that’s where this example of play will end!
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Appendix: Tactical Play and Beyond
Even though danger and excitement are a part of ALONe (or can be, depending on your play
style), it is definitely more suited to narrative action rather than turn-based tactical combat… if used
by itself.
If you wish, ALONe can be readily combined with the characters and rules of a more crunchy,
tactics-heavy RPG. Simply decide before you play on the division of labor between your additional
system’s (abbreviated henceforth to “AddSys”) rules and ALONe’s engine, which will run narrative
elements of play.
When it comes to building a character, I suggest following the rules of the AddSys character
generation first, and then using your Fragments to highlight Descriptors like normal. Perhaps the
AddSys rules cover basic skills, powers, and so forth, but you can then use the ALONe Descriptors to
back those qualities up with narrative punch. By their very nature, for example, Descriptors work
equally well when translating “Archery: +5” and “Gain 1000 experience points for having saved the
village!” into qualities like can shoot a sword out of your hand or beloved by the villagers...except the
traitorous alchemist!
During actual play, ALONe and your AddSys can interact in many ways. Narrative segments will
mostly follow the basic rules of ALONe, but mechanics-heavy scenes will probably combine the two a
great deal. During combat, perhaps you use ALONe to make personalized, narrative decisions for your
foes, even using a Tag Symbols table to represent their likely tactics, while then executing those
decisions according to the rules of the AddSys. In a conversation or social interaction, you can use your
AddSys’ rules for persuasion or charm to tell you if you succeed or not, but then use ALONe to tell you
exactly what you learn from, gain from, or change about a person with that success (or even, to begin
with, what kind of person they are)! And it continues from there: AddSys to try and pick a pocket,
ALONe for what was in the pocket; ALONe for the personality and motivation of an NPC, AddSys for
their power levels; et cetera.
Depending on the AddSys you favor, it may have its own version of Fragments (points that
allow rerolls, extra actions, or similar things). Before you start play, simply decide: Do you keep
Fragments and these other points completely separate? Replace one with the other? Allow crossover
but track them individually? None of these options are necessarily any better or worse than the others,
and what makes sense depends entirely on the AddSys you chose.

24
Appendix: Non-Player Characters and Companions
In a game of ALONe there may be little difference between a player character (PC) and a
non-player character (NPC) ally or companion. In fact, if there is a difference at all will depend largely
on your preferred play style.
If you want to immerse yourself in a single character, narrated in either 1st or 3rd person, it
would break that immersion if you were to simply command friendly NPCs or followers to do whatever
you want at any time. In these games, you likely want to treat all characters except your own as beings
with their own personalities--including secrets and motivations unknown to you! Questions about their
behavior and insight into their natures will have to be answered by the GMA, and your understanding
of them will likely evolve as you play, just like with any other NPC.
On the other hand, if you want to play out the adventures of a troupe or party of PCs, narrated
in 3rd person (probably; that’s not a rule, just an obvious choice), you can direct their actions however
you’d like. Perhaps they are all friends and agree instantly on everything, or perhaps you will decide to
let all of your PCs have a little personality, building friendships and rivalries as they go, since while you
know all of their motivations, they don’t necessarily know each other so well.
Planning these things ahead of time becomes important so you can decide how to spend your
starting fragments. In most cases, just because you are controlling multiple characters, that does not
necessarily mean you need more Fragments--just that your party has to work together.
If you want to play with a single PC who gathers friends and allies, these individuals should
probably be played as NPCs, though you might want to sometimes gain a Descriptor to represent their
loyalty and assistance (or even your drive to save them from peril because of your obligations to them).
If you decide to play with a party of cooperating PCs, you can easily give them each their
complete backstories with as much detail as you wish, as long as you only give them Descriptors you
can afford--and remember, they can each also take negative Descriptors for additional Fragments.
However, if you feel strongly that the characters are too narratively weak this way, and
especially if you intend to inflict intra-party drama on them, it may be worth giving them each one
bonus Descriptor (so one Fragment per PC, spent on their own Descriptor immediately).
If you want to make NPCs a little more complicated--this is especially appropriate for recurring
characters like major antagonists or NPC companions, dependents, love interests, or allies--create
evolving Tag Symbol and Difficulty Generator ‘Personality’ tables for them as you go. Either or both
kinds of tables can be used to randomize encounter-by-encounter actions for an NPC.
For example, a DiffGen Personality table can be used to select combat maneuvers or use of
abilities, by putting their more common or repeatable abilities in the middle, and extreme-case or
rarely usable powers in the 1-2 or 9-10 slots. These can also be used to determine their current moods
in a similar fashion (so, for most classic anti-heroes, 2-9 could just say “Brooding,” while 1 says “Sad”
and 10 says “Disillusioned”). Tag Symbol tables could also be used for similar things, but might suggest
categories or styles of abilities, so that three symbols can be interpreted to give a free-form idea of
what their action is (Moon suggesting they use their stealth skills, a Sword meaning melee, and the
Crown meaning fancy or flashy, for instance, could mean that they cloak, teleport behind their
opponent, and perform a complicated acrobatic strike just as they appear).
As more facts come to light about the NPC, or their goals and powers evolve, just update or add
to the tables.
25
Appendix: Optional Descriptor Rules
Descriptors are simplest and easiest if they ‘level up’ by making you into a better and better
version of the same thing--turning swordsman into swordsman and finally SWORDSMAN, for example.
However, sometimes they get more complicated, as in the psychic and vampire examples used in the
section Descriptors in Detail, above.
I find it helpful to have a set method for determining the cost of Descriptors that change by
adding (or just start with) nuance or complication, since to me it feels more fair if I follow the same
procedure every time. This is especially appropriate for Descriptors that reflect very broad powers that
you don’t want to break into individual ideas.
Ask the following questions when building a Descriptor, keeping track of how many times you
answer Yes:
○ Does this Descriptor add enhanced or new abilities that make some things easier for
you, or even allow you to do formerly impossible things?
○ Is this Descriptor going to be useful in a majority of situations, or otherwise be helpful to
you very often?
○ Is this Descriptor highly powerful or extremely rare in your world?
○ Does this Descriptor detract from or remove abilities, making some things harder or
impossible?
○ Is this Descriptor going to interfere with a large number of situations, or otherwise
detriment you frequently?
○ Is this Descriptor unusually problematic or difficult to deal with in your world, compared
to the issues of most people?
For each “Yes” answer, add one positive (for the first three questions) or negative (the last
three) quality to your Descriptor, and change its cost appropriately. If you don’t have enough
Fragments, consider allowing yourself to go into Fragment debt and pay the rest when possible, or
perhaps only add part of the Descriptor for now, enhancing it further as you play!
This method of calculating cost still only accounts for Descriptors with up to three positive and
negative levels. If you find yourself wanting a descriptor that is both complicated and provides multiple
levels of quality for each of their quirks and effects, you may want to consider simply splitting the
complicated version into multiple, more self-explanatory Descriptors.
Or, if you really don’t want to break things up, you can simply drop the extensive formatting
required and note in parenthesis the total positive and negative qualities of a Descriptor, so you can
track how many Fragments have been spent, and how many points it is worth when calculating Odds
(see Answering Questions, below): VAMPIRE (6/-2) would be a very powerful Descriptor, and can be
written in any combination of highlighted formatting you prefer, since the numbers are doing the
heavy lifting--but I prefer the formatting method, trying to keep things as narrative, visual, and
numberless as possible.
26
Appendix: The Doom of Damocles
Whether the consequences of failure in your game are random or carefully selected, if you
want to make it easier for finality to loom, consider using the Doom of Damocles system. Like Health,
Hit Points, Stress, Fatigue, or any other countdown (or count-up) to a mechanical point of death in
other game systems, the Doom of Damocles provides a numbers-based, easily quantified way of
tracking how close to death, insanity, or other end you’ve gotten.
Start with, by default, five counters, or five empty checkboxes; these represent how far from
Doom you are. Every time you gain a negative health, sanity, or other-survival-related consequence
(usually resulting in a Descriptor, temporary or permanent), you lose a counter or check off a box. You
get the counter back or clear the box when you have successfully dealt with that negative consequence
and any associated Descriptor.
If at any time you have 0 counters or clear boxes left, the Doom of Damocles befalls you, or at
least attempts to: You suffer a major, story-finale-inducing consequence. Like the Damocles of legend,
who suffered under the threat of a sword falling on him as long as he held the throne, the death or
other story-ending scene that plays out may not be directly related to the series of consequences that
led to you losing your counters, but it should be related to the story or your character in a narratively
satisfying way.
However, if you have any Fragments left, you can spend one to either buy off a lasting negative
Descriptor or activate a Vignette that allows you to explain away temporary ones and other
consequences you may have taken without Descriptors at all, freeing up a counter or check box. In
these cases, you are still menaced by the Doom! Explain how you survived or avoided your fate
(barely), and continue play, until the next time you drop to 0 counters and are, again, faced with your
Doom.
When playing with the Doom of Damocles rule, carefully consider what kinds of negative results
would trigger it in your game; traditional high-fantasy RPGs tend towards combat and physical death,
but a crime drama or a heist game might lend themselves to characters being arrested and imprisoned
if they suffer a Doom, for example.
27
Appendix: Randomizers!
Use the Tag Symbol tables below to randomize character and setting elements, and introduce
or inspire unique content; this way, the game can more easily include elements that you might not
come up with on your own, the same way other players or a GM would introduce nuance and
complication you might not think of.
These can be used at any time, but I find them especially helpful during character generation.
You may want to consider implementing a method for randomizing parts of your backstory--then,
when spending your Fragments on Descriptors, you will have a richer tapestry of options. For example,
You might follow this pattern, using the first four Tag Symbol tables:
Family Members: Draw Tag Symbols (and possibly other random character elements, from
names to virtues and vices, or even belongings and sensory information) to generally describe family
members, as a whole or individually.
Childhood: Draw Tag Symbols for some elements to incorporate into your childhood. Explain
them, and then draw a Random Event; incorporate that as well.
Youth: Draw Tag Symbols to for your Youth, and then build one or more characters as best
friends or bullies; work them into the story, and then draw for another Random Event and incorporate
it.
Coming of Age: Draw Tag Symbols to describe your entry into adulthood or rites of passage.
Then, create characters for one or all of your first love, a rival, or a mentor. Keeping some or all of the
characters you’ve generated so far in mind, draw a Random Event and write it into the tale.
And then continue as you wish with other life stages: First job? College? Driven from your
homeworld? Entered the military? Consider creating your own Tag Symbol tables and generating some
random elements, characters, and events to populate these!
28
Symbol Family Members Childhood Youth Coming of Age
Moon Kept secrets, some Memories of strange There were dark Did something you
of which you may things that still don’t times, where must hide.
have found out. make sense, and which significant problems
your family has been affected your family.
unwilling or unable to
explain.
Sun Idolized them, at You were precocious There were good, Gained fame, earned or
least for a time. and stood out from carefree times. otherwise.
your family.
Sword Were demanding You had to grow up Lived dangerously, Involved in major
of you. quickly. possibly for fun or to conflict.
protect friends and
family.
Shield Were protective of You were very Lived carefully, Saved someone’s life.
you. sheltered. thought it may not
have helped you or
your family and
friends.
Target Were distant, Family had particular Set a clear goal for Left home and struck
emotionally goals for you. yourself, even if it out on your own.
and/or physically. conflicted with your
family’s wishes.
Tower Suffered major You were adopted or Family uprooted and Stayed stuck at home
ideological fostered. moved to a new longer than you
differences with home. wanted.
you and/or the
rest of the family.
Crown They were famous Grew up in luxury, Given responsibility Got a seemingly-ideal
or important in a highly privileged. that tested your job.
way that affected readiness.
your relationship.
Heart Cared for you a Felt loved. Gained friends & True love/arch nemesis.
great deal. family.
Skull Hated you a great Felt abandoned; may Lost friends & family. Killed someone.
deal. have lost one or more
family members.
Wand They did Discovered an unusual Uncovered a family Involved in strange

something special talent or ability secret. events that seem
or important for almost impossible.
you.
29
Symbol Best Friend Love Interest Bully
Moon Started keeping secrets Had a crush on you for a Keeps secrets from you and
from you. long time before you excludes you socially.
realized it.
Sun Discovered a secret you You had a crush on them for Tormented you by
kept from them. a long time before they revealing your secrets to
discovered it. others.
Sword You have protected or They have a more aggressive Included outright physical
taken the fall for them personality than you, and violence in their
before. either did or will probably aggression.
initiate the relationship.
Shield They have protected or They are highly protective of You physically defended
taken the fall for you themselves, emotionally yourself from them once,
before. speaking, and are or were getting in trouble for it.
unlikely to ever make a
move before you.
Target You helped them achieve a You made plans together Has always picked on you,
major dream or goal. that have not been specifically, beyond any
achieved, and have likely other bullying.
been delayed repeatedly.
Tower They gave up a major They have grown Has locked you or trapped
dream or goal to help you. emotionally distant. you in a place.
Crown They have been much They surpass you in wealth, Uses official authority to
more successful than you property, or status in an bully you.
have, in the long run. important way.
Heart One of you developed Your relationship has Inflicts emotional violence,
unrequited feelings for the recently become more interfering in your
other. serious in some way, or you relationships.
have broached the subject.
Skull There is a shared secret in Your relationship has Causes mental and
your past which you do not intensified to unhealthy psychological torment,
speak of. levels of co-dependent including things like
attachment. gaslighting.
Wand Together, you have Your relationship is highly Seems to always have a
achieved incredible feats unusual: star-crossed, way to get to you or escape
that either did or could warring families, one of you punishment.
have earned you fame. is an AI...
30
Symbol Childhood Home Room-mate Current Home (House,
spaceship, etc)
Moon The place appeared dreary Is awake in your shared home Power is often an issue,
and dark, regardless of the (or awake and out) all night; flickering or even dying
family’s disposition. sleeps all day. regularly--or similarly
irksome maintenance issues.
Sun It was a bright, apparently Is annoyingly cheerful at all A place of warmth and
cheerful place to outsiders, times. coziness, at least in part, for
regardless of your actual those you call family.
family relationships.
Sword Had a gym, dojo, basement Always exercising, eating Sometimes, your family and
with exercise equipment, or protein-supplement meals, and friends suffer from
similar training area. generally a fitness nut. in-fighting and drama.
Shield Contained a secret or safe Is very, very protective of their A place of safety and a
space, like a panic room or space and property. source of independence, at
a crawlspace only you knew least in part.
about.
Target While you were living there, Always brings their work home Other people, probably
it was a place your parents with them, and never just enemies, are looking for it
or elder siblings brought “turns off.” (trying to find out your
their friends often as a address, etc).
gathering or party space.
Tower There was an area or room Constantly locked in their Because of its nature or
you were never allowed in, room, rarely emerging. Have location, it is somewhat
and you still have never they ever come out? isolating.
been there.
Crown The home was an historical Imposes arbitrary and Grants you some kind of
or otherwise ancient dictatorial rules on your shared authority (over tenants, local
building. space. farmland, etc).
Heart You and your friends spent Brings an endless succession of This particular home is more
a lot of time in your house. lovers (or large groups of special to you than it would
friends) home. otherwise be, for reasons of
personal history, or
symbology, or similar.
Skull Older relatives moved in Has a dark sense of humor, and Something about it is fearful,
with your family at some sometimes disturbs guests you dangerous, or otherwise
point, bringing change bring over. ominous, even if just in
(good or bad). appearance.
Wand The place was and is full of Decorates and cleans shared Has unique usefulness,
odd nooks, corners, spaces, and also has time for all perhaps in terms of
artifacts, collections, and so their own things; magically locations, quality,
on, and as a child you had awesome. furnishings, hidden areas,
no understanding of their convenience to water and
actual value or purpose. sustainability, or similar.
31
Symbol Early Education Career Mentor
Moon You spent way too much You have often had to work Speaks and/or teaches in
time up late partying. late or night shifts, either at metaphor.
your job or because of a
second job or obligation.
Sun You studied until the sun You got off to a great start in Always seems to know
came up. your chosen field. what you are thinking.
Sword A teacher of yours once A rival in the workplace has An extremely aggressive
staged a detention made it difficult for you to personality, getting
jailbreak with prop swords, advance. physical when you fail.
so students could attend
their class.
Shield You stood up to bullies, Work friends have helped you Seems practically
shielding a friend. out often, making sure you can invulnerable, mentally
cover all your responsibilities. and physically.
Target You were the target of You feel driven to pursue one Always trains you well,
bullying. particular goal as far as it will but perhaps for their own
take you. ends.
Tower You and a group of friends You have always (or just Has a secret base, lair, or
staked out YOUR SPACE recently) had few colleagues hideout.
during lunch and free time, you feel close with.
always hanging out there.
Crown You were varsity, or You have recently been tapped Has official authority over
valedictorian, or prom for a promotion. you and your training.
court--or all three!
Heart You were constantly You feel great about your Cares for you, whether
embroiled in drama as a current job and prospects for they show it or not.
result of your and your long-term advancement or
friends’ relationships. achievement of goals.
Skull You bullied others, and did Whether deserved or not, for Is always calm, reserved,
some real harm before you some reason your employment and serious.
realized how bad it was. is in danger (budget cuts,
outsourcing, a new boss who
hates you, etc).
Wand An unusual or unlikely Your current placement Has taught you more than
event at school led to you affords unusual advantages, you perhaps realize; you
changing in outlook in a such as access to useful are still unpacking their
particular way. equipment or information. teachings.
32
Symbol Recent News Coworker/Team Member Boss/Leader
Moon A rash of odd behavior or They don’t seem to be They have been working
strange crimes has sleeping well, and always look late, apparently planning
occurred. Are they linked? tired. something.
Sun A major local fair, festival, They are unusually cheerful, They have been keeping
gathering, or similar will be for some reason unknown. the team working longer
happening soon! hours than normal.
Sword An outbreak of violence They suffered an apparent Their leadership style is

has caused some kind of injury or accident. very aggressive.
civic disruption.
Shield A story of unusual heroism They should have gotten in They don’t seem
by an ordinary person trouble, but were interested in forcing the
makes headlines. mysteriously forgiven. team to work, as long as
they are left alone.
Target Political jockeying and They are being carefully They are driven, and seek
character assassination has evaluated. to focus the team on their
been making waves. own goals, whether they
are a good leader or not.
Tower A discovery of some kind in They have become withdrawn Their office is their
nearby wilderness has and disinterested in talking. sanctuary, and is thus
drawn explorers, tourists, sacred space.
or the like.
Crown A celebrity or important They were promoted over They are a natural leader
figure is visiting town! you. and an excellent
commander.
Heart Someone you once loved They seem to be developing They seem to truly care
has just gotten married. an infatuation with you. about their team, and
would do anything for
them.
Skull Someone has died Someone else on the team When crossed they can be
recently, in an ominous or has been trying to get them completely unforgiving.
at least unexpected fired.
fashion.
Wand Unusual weather, rare They are very, very good at They always have a
geological phenomenon, their job, almost to the point backup plan, so even an
or other curiosities of of supernatural ability. apparent failure turns out
science are making life to have been a Xanatos
strange. gambit.
33

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Harvison Maldonado (Order #33135560)

Visit us online at www.LarcenousDesigns.com

The GameMaster’s Apprentice in ALONe

Either you explain, or you ask!

Ends and Other Consequences

Symbol Consequence of Failure

Moon Mental consequence (confusion, existential crisis, madness)

Sword Physical consequence (injury, disability, scarring, stunned)

Shield Material consequence (lost money, lost or destroyed equipment, robbed,

Tower Loss of freedom (captured, imprisoned, trapped by a falling wall)

Heart Emotional consequence (shock, heartbreak, loss of a loved one)

Skull Death (instant, deadly infection, lingering death due to injury)

Wand Loss of ability (de-powered, supersuit damaged, wand broken)

Asking Questions: The Explanation

Drawing a Random Answer

Random Setup Generation Example

Character Creation Example

Actual Play Example

Wand They did Discovered an unusual Uncovered a family Involved in strange

Sword An outbreak of violence They suffered an apparent Their leadership style is

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ALONe Beta 12 13 15 Updated

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Copyright

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Did you find this document useful?

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Copyright:

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ALONe Beta 12 13 15 Updated

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Copyright:

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1

Harvison Maldonado (Order #33135560)

Visit us online at www.LarcenousDesigns.co​m

The GameMaster’s Apprentice in ALONe

Either you explain, or you ask!

Ends and Other Consequences

Symbol Consequence of Failure

Moon Mental consequence (confusion, existential crisis, madness)

Sword Physical consequence (injury, disability, scarring, stunned)

Shield Material consequence (lost money, lost or destroyed equipment, robbed,

Tower Loss of freedom (captured, imprisoned, trapped by a falling wall)

Heart Emotional consequence (shock, heartbreak, loss of a loved one)

Skull Death (instant, deadly infection, lingering death due to injury)

Wand Loss of ability (de-powered, supersuit damaged, wand broken)

Asking Questions: The Explanation

Drawing a Random Answer

Random Setup Generation Example

Character Creation Example

Actual Play Example

Wand They did Discovered an unusual Uncovered a family Involved in strange

Sword An outbreak of violence They suffered an apparent Their leadership style is

You might also like

Visit us online at www.LarcenousDesigns.com