itch.io

This is a standalone game, with all the rules needed to play! Core Rules are free, so you can peek if they can be useful to further clarify the rules for you

Loner has experienced a real boom, and I’ve been increasing its exposure on specialized Solo RPG YouTube channels. This is, of course, incredibly exciting for me, but I’d keep working on it regardless, as it’s my “favorite child.”

Most interactions with the Loner community happen on r/LonerRPG and the Facebook group managed by Chad Robb. These platforms provide enough opportunities to discuss preferences with dedicated players and give me a clearer idea of what to prioritize among the drafts and ideas I’m currently working on.

Before diving in further, I want to remind you about the ongoing game jam on itch.io. Using the Creator’s Kit, you can publish your own Geared Towards Loner game under the Creative Commons license that I use for all my games!

A quick recap of 2024

This year, I’ve released four Geared Towards Loner games (a fancy way of saying “games based on Loner”):

1. Cog & Compass: Set in an alternate 19th century with a pure, old-school steampunk vibe—no gaslight fantasy here! Think steam engines, intricate mechanisms, and airships.
2. Mech: Requiem: Probably the work I’m proudest of—a reimagining of mechs in the vein of Battletech, but without kaiju (because honestly, since Pacific Rim, it’s been all kaiju everywhere). It’s also the most experimental and ambitious Loner title so far, using a tag-and-procedure system to handle the complexity of mechs.
3. Legends of Camelot: Arthurian fantasy at its finest, featuring illustrations by Henry Justice Ford and loads of tables to immerse yourself in Camelot’s court. Thematically, it’s my personal favorite!
4. Loner: Pulp Adventures: The youngest of the bunch and, so far, the most popular after Kwaidan! Maybe that’s because Loner players have impeccable taste and love the same stories I do. This is pure pulp, drawing from magazines like Argosy, Oriental Stories, and Doc Savage.

Each of these games reflects my deep love for genre fiction, so you can expect more in the same vein. Let’s take a closer look at what’s coming next!

Planned Releases

With several drafts already complete, I’ve let the two communities vote on what to prioritize. Here’s what’s coming up next:

1. Steel & Sorcery: As you might have guessed, this one’s all about good old sword and sorcery. For the occasion, I’ve created an original setting: the continent of Khor’Dara, heavily inspired by Clark Ashton Smith while also nodding to the usual genre tropes (without leaning too heavily on R.E. Howard, though he’s certainly honored). This will release by March.
2. Arabian Nights Adventures: The One Thousand and One Nights have been a huge inspiration for many of my favorite authors (Howard, Smith, and, of course, Lovecraft). Over the years, I’ve developed a peculiar fascination with this material, so it felt natural to create a Geared Towards Loner game focused on this fantastical, Orientalist theme. While the literary roots of this might be less popular today, the draft has been ready since last summer, and I don’t want to delay it further. ETA: June.

Revisiting Loner: Kwaidan

Kwaidan originally began as an Adventure Pack (you know, those small 20-page supplements in the Loner Complete volume). But it got out of hand and doubled in size, eventually becoming the prototype for the later Geared Towards Loner games.

Some reviews pointed out that the Express rules in the appendix aren’t enough to play on their own, and they may be right. So, I’ve decided to turn Kwaidan into an official Geared Towards Loner game this year, expanding it where necessary. This also means I’ll no longer need a separate game set in feudal Japan—it will all be covered in Kwaidan!

The price won’t increase drastically—just enough to cover the extra pages. The digital version will be automatically updated for current owners and remain available at the current price.

Completed Drafts

In addition to the two planned releases, I have at least twice as many completed drafts:

1. The Shattered Reach: An original setting heavily inspired by Freelancer and Starcraft. It’s dark, adventurous sci-fi set in a quaternary star system with dozens of explorable worlds.
2. Savage Blades of Xylandra: The evolution of Zalanthar, this is a fully realized sword and planet setting—a desert world teeming with life!
3. Loner: Dungeoneer: Currently available as a playtest on Facebook and r/LonerRPG. This experimental game lets you play a classic dungeon crawler using Loner rules instead of a more traditional old-school system.
4. Loner: Spacer: The “twin” of Dungeoneer, this one aims to create a “paper Elite,” where you explore and trade across the cosmos.

Dungeoneer and Spacer might release at any time alongside the other titles since they’re smaller supplements that can easily complement the main games.

Early Concepts and Ideas

Here’s a glimpse of what’s in the works, though these are more tentative:

• Loner: Grand Strategy: A highly experimental attempt at creating a pen-and-paper solo strategy game on the Loner framework. This will need extensive playtesting before I can release a blind playtest draft.
• Dino Breach: Imagine playing Jurassic Park or Dino Crisis. I said it. While there’s a preliminary draft, this one hasn’t generated much interest, so it’s been pushed down the release schedule.

Loosely Formed Ideas

These come from the Loner Facebook group—thank you to the members for sharing! They’re still in very early stages:

1. Ice/Stone Age: Prehistory with magical and shamanic elements. Inspired by Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver.
2. Pulp Heroes: A companion to Pulp Adventures, for playing characters like The Shadow or The Spider.
3. Weird West: Needs more thought.
4. Urban Fantasy: Inspired by Lost Girl and The Magicians. Open to suggestions!
5. Paranormal Investigators: Think Alone in the Dark, Nocturne, SCP, or X-Files. Let me know what you’d like to see!

One Day, Who Knows?

1. Wuxia: Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
2. Swashbucklers: Could include everything from musketeers to pirates—or both!
3. Horror Compendium: An ambitious project aiming to provide tags and procedures for various horror subgenres. Likely a 2026 project.
4. City Manager: A real long shot, but imagine a Sim City for Loner.

Thank you for your feedback! Glad you find it simple and usuful to ignite your games!

Dope! Love the concept!

https://zotiquest.substack.com/p/zotiquest-games-and-the-use-of-ais

No problem! It was my oversight after all.

Also the product is correctly labeled as for itch.io new policy

Here is a late discount link for this game: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=902a53dab9

Thank you!

I’ve just published a solarpunk game based on this SRD:

https://zeruhur.itch.io/seeds-of-renewal

This game is designed to convey solarpunk concepts to a broader audience (or so I hope)

No, only on Amazon

Alas improbable… Loner has not that kind of audience in Italy

I tried, but Amazon keeps refusing it for issues to the page margins I couldn’t fathom

A fine add to the rules!

Of course I have, but I prefer 24XX to the pseudo-pbta moves style of game. That’s because I wrote Special Ops

The map is dope! Thank you for the shoutout also!

This is excellent both as a Feudal Japan game and as a Cairn hack. Go ahead, can’t wait for the final product

Be my guest!

I could easily translate it, but translating and layouting from scratch is very time consuming and this game didn’t get much interest by far…

No, since this is an alternative experimental take on the “Consulting the Oracle” section

Here is the complete text of the game

https://loner.zotiquestgames.com/#/en/AP15_mech_requiem

the most positive!

I would say the best result overwrites the worst ones

Thank you! Had that book TBR since forever! Honestly flattered by the comparison

Thank you!

Grazie per aver preso le redini del progetto.

Avevo tradotto tutto e iniziato a impaginare ma purtroppo non ho potuto concludere il lavoro.

My pleasure!

Hi Matt, actually long time ago, last August!

I’ve just resent all the files, try to check also the spam box

Ti hanno quarantinato la pagina… io chiederei spiegazioni a itch.io

This is your submission link

https://itch.io/jam/384622/add-game/2627419/2241168?token=LCNmKAkG9cdMTaHX6MotoTk1r08

give me a valid email to refund you
I am not interested in support from people who cannot contextualize the use of AI for tiny independent authors

I am not hiding anything, it’s common and consolidated pratice to credit the art inside the book.

As for sales, I am not interested at all. If someone wants to give a small contribution for my work, I don’t bite the hand.

But every game I published has 1.000 community copies at launch or shortly after. With my blessing.

Also my games are always published under CC license.

I understand, but you wouldn’t ask that if I had said it was a human work

DALL-E as reported in the credits

I have actually drafted two adventure for this game: a one-shot and a mini campaign. But I don’t have many time at this time to make a well laid out supplement.

Thank you! Feel free to use it as a basis for your games

well, I guess we will go without it then

fixed

DALL-E, as credited in the footer

Il mio mercato primario è anglofono. Il mercato italiano non mi ripaga della fatica, quindi traduco e impagino quando ho tempo e voglia