Modern Solo Gaming - Cepheus Engine
Using the Cepheus Modern Core Game And Solo Oracles
Picture this.
The date is today. The location - Planet Earth. Britain. Some lonely wintery scene, driving along an all-but-empty motorway. It’s almost Christmas, and the sun set about an hour ago. It’s pouring down, windy, freezing, and you’re driving along this motorway, nothing but your dog in the passenger seat for company.
Oh, and you are on the run. Not from who … from what.
Welcome to Cepheus Modern, a roleplaying game based on Cepheus Light, a roleplaying game based on a system originally developed for a vintage science fiction roleplaying game which came out in 1977.
There are so many science fiction games out there which focus on a far future setting. Cepheus Modern keeps the action grounded in the present day, whatever era the “present day” is set.
And now, enter the world of solo gaming.
Traditional tabletop roleplaying focuses on a group of people playing together with a single participant, the Referee, moderating the game play and unrolling the adventure for the players piece by piece. In contrast, a solo game involves just one player, running a single character while taking on the actions of a bunch of non-player characters to interact with. Team members, contacts, allies, and enemies - you run them all.
There doesn’t seem to be a solo game specifically for modern games - but there are enough solo oracles which can be used within that genre. So, in addition to a bunch of solo oracles I’ve collected, I’ll be running this game ad keeping a story journal of the adventure.
An adventure I began just above. And which continues below:-
Ahead, an exit ramp looms. You head a beep from your phone. It’s resting on the dashboard. An arrow shines on the inside of the windscreen. You’re to go left, along the exit ramp and off the motorway.
You follow the off-ramp. The road is narrow and dark. Too dark. All the streetlights are broken. Deliberately.
Headlights shine ahead of you. Two vehicles, blocking both lanes of the road. You can’t make out what the vehicles are, other than they are both cars, not vans or lorries. You stop the car. Your dog’s ears prick up. It raises its head.
Shadowy figures emerge from between the vehicles and approach you. You realise that they are armed with actual guns.
A hard, metallic object taps against the driver’s side windscreen. You look down the barrel of a pistol. A masculine voice calmly says “Get out!”
The story continues soon …