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”):
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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:
- 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.
- 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:
- 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.
- Savage Blades of Xylandra: The evolution of Zalanthar, this is a fully realized sword and planet setting—a desert world teeming with life!
- 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.
- 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:
- Ice/Stone Age: Prehistory with magical and shamanic elements. Inspired by Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver.
- Pulp Heroes: A companion to Pulp Adventures, for playing characters like The Shadow or The Spider.
- Weird West: Needs more thought.
- Urban Fantasy: Inspired by Lost Girl and The Magicians. Open to suggestions!
- 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?
- Wuxia: Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
- Swashbucklers: Could include everything from musketeers to pirates—or both!
- Horror Compendium: An ambitious project aiming to provide tags and procedures for various horror subgenres. Likely a 2026 project.
- City Manager: A real long shot, but imagine a Sim City for Loner.
