You are a rancher in the land of Thalos. Your people (and your enemies, the savage Karosseans) have built huge robots for many purposes. With a skilled operator at the controls, a robot can replace a hundred men - to mine ore, erect buildings - move cargo, or just about anything else.

Your robots are also your best defence against the vicious dinosaurs of Thalos. Many years ago, the great lizards caused much destruction.But now mankind has learned to tame the beasts, and many of the folks of Thalos - including you - are dinosaur ranchers. The ranchers use Mark5A utility robots, known as "cowboys", the herd the dinosaurs! But wild dinosaurs are still dangerous and all robots have guns to defend themselves.

Early one morning, you are just finishing your breakfast when one of your assistants staggers into the kitchen. "So sleepy." he says. Then he sits down at the table, pillows his head on his arms and goes to sleep!
You shake him, but you cannot rouse him. Alarmed, you go for help. But everyone else you see is asleep.

You rush back inside and switch on a radio. But you can get only scraps of messages: "Everybody asleep... Karossean attack... can't stay awake..."
Soon there is nothing to be heard. You go outside again and pur cold water on several of your friends - but they just snore and mutter.

Then you hear a rumble overhead, like thunder out of the clear sky. You look up. Streaking overhead is the unmistakeable shape of a Karossean robojet!

You realise what must have happened. Somehow, the Karosseans have managed to put everyone in Thalos to sleep... everyone but you. For some reason, you are immune.

Over the next few hours, you listen to the enemy communication and piece together the story. In the past, the Karosseans have steered clear of Thalos; with its brave warriors and its many robots, your land was too tough to attack. But Minos, their leader, hit on a clever plan. His sees spread capsules of a virulent sleeping sickness - and before long all Thalos was asleep!

Soon you hear a broadcast from Minos himself, talking to his invading troops. An elite force of a thousand warriors, with hundreds of robots, has invaded Thalos. But this is only the beginning. With the population helpless, Minos plans to loot your country. Its riches and its robots will be his; its people will be sold as slaves! And only you can stop it...

You know what you have to do. You walk back inside and pick up your trusted energy whip. Food will be no problem - you know supplies will be easy to find - but you pick up a supply of five medikits. Then you head for the robots parking area. Alone, you must find a way to defeat the Karossean invaders and free your land!

GET READY!

This message was last edited by the GM at 22:34, Mon 14 Dec 2020.

The solo adventure will follow taylor made Stellar Adventures rules (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/p...3/Stellar-Adventures), that are in practice the sci-fi counterpart of the super-classic Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG.
For a quick (and free) introduction to the "standard" (and fantasy) Advanced Fighting Fantasy ruleset you can go here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/p...g-Fantasy-Quickstart however, below there is a summary, with various house rules (simplifications) suited for the specific (sci-fi) setting of this adventure.

Your character will be defined first of all by three main characteristics:

• SKILL: this Characteristic tells you what the Hero is capable of mentally and physically. The higher the SKILL score, the faster their minds work, their reflexes are quicker, they have better social skills, and they are more capable of handling themselves in dire situations.
  
• STAMINA: is a record of the Hero's ability to take damage and other forms of punishment, and the higher it is the more they can take - when your STAMINA drops below zero, you are dead! To prevent that, you can make good use of the Medikits: each of them can restore two points of STAMINA.
  
• LUCK: sometimes good old fashioned LUCK is what you need to get you through the dangers of the universe. LUCK is exactly that, a pool of points that help your Hero along the way, and it can decide fate, change the tide in battle or even save a life. LUCK is incredibly handy but be careful – it does run out.

UNOPPOSED SKILL TESTS
When you want to overcome some obstacle that is not a willing obstacle (for example, you want to climb a cliff, jump across a chasm, or swim across a raging river), you are ultimately challenging your own limitations rather than an opponent. In these cases roll 2d6 and check if the roll is equal or lower than your current SKILL (plus or minus potential modifiers provided by the Director). If your roll is below that target, you passed the test.
For this reason, you can say that, for unopposed tests, you have to roll under.
If you roll a 2 you always pass and if you roll a 12 you always fail.


OPPOSED SKILL TESTS (MELEE COMBAT ETC.)
Opposed test are instead required when you compete against a willing opponent and therefore they are mostly used during melee combat. In this case you roll 2d6 and add that figure to your SKILL and the appropriate Special Skill (this is the attack roll). Then your opponent will do the same with their appropriate Special Skill. The highest attack roll wins the round (next roll will be to determine the damage caused) and another round will follow, until the end of the combat.
For example, if you are fighting, you will add your Special Skill score associated to your weapon and your opponent will do the same, but, for example, if you are trying to sneak past a guard, you will add your Sneak Special Skill score and your opponent will add their Awareness Special Skill score. It all depends on the situation.
For this reason, you can say that, for opposed tests, you have to roll over.
Rolling a 2 is a fumble and a 12 is a critical hit (the Director will let you know more detail about their effect when you roll them). If the attack rolls have a difference between them of 6 points or more, it is as well a critical hit even if nobody rolled a 12.


RANGED COMBAT
Ranged combat is considered a kind of special case (as per optional rule at page 24), as both opponent should be able to hit each other on the same combat round and it isn't really possible to parry. For this reason, there is a standard target of 15 (or more) to be achieved with the attack roll (after adding modifiers for range, partial covert, etc.) to hit an opponent in ranged combat.
Rolling a 2 is a fumble and a 12 is a critical hit (the Director will let you know more detail about their effect when you roll them). If the attack roll is 21 or more, it is as well a critical hit even if nobody rolled a 12.


DEALING DAMAGE IN COMBAT
When you hit in combat, you have to roll 1d6 to determine how much STAMINA you deduct from your opponent. Let's say that you have a Laser Pistol: the damage that you deal with it is this:
other weapons will deal different damages.

Damage in combat can reduced in the very same way. Lets say that you are wearing an armoured vest: you will reduce the damage by rolling 1d6 and checking the following:

Your opponent will make similar rolls, depending on who deals the damage and who receives the damage, and on their weapons and armour. The Director will communicate the specific characteristics of your weapons and armour.


COMBAT OPTIONS
When fighting, the following combat options may be used, depending on the situation:
All-Out Attack In hand to hand combat, a warrior may choose to throw absolutely everything into their attacks, making a series of wild blows. This reduces the attack total by -2, but does increase the damage inflicted by +1 STAMINA.
Defensive Stance A character may decide to spend a round avoiding damage rather than trying to inflict it. The defensive character gains a +2 bonus to their attack total for that round, but will not inflict any damage if they win. This option may be taken for both hand-to-hand and ranged combat, but if used for ranged combat the defensive character must still fire their weapon (and use ammo) which acts as suppressive fire.
Disarm In hand-to-hand combat, a character may attempt to disarm their enemy of a hand-held weapon. Attack rolls must still be made, but the Disarming character will not inflict damage if they win, rather they will keep out of harm’s way. However, once the combat is resolved (and whether the disarming character wins or loses), the disarming character must make a LUCK roll. If the character is lucky, their opponent is disarmed. If the character is unlucky, they themselves are disarmed! Like other uses of LUCK, an attempt to disarm costs 1 LUCK point.
Feint In hand-to-hand or ranged combat, a fighter can try to confuse and deceive their enemy as to their intentions. If the Feinting character wins the combat, they gain a +1 to their damage roll. However, if the Feinting character loses that combat round, the damage roll against them gains a +1 bonus.
Hyperfire A character with an appropriate gun may choose to empty their magazine in a single round, increasing both the chance to hit and any damage done. The magazine must have at least half of its capacity remaining in order for this option to be used, and the intent must be declared at the start of the round. When used, the attacker gains a bonus of +2 to their attack total for that round and a +3 bonus to the damage roll if the attack hits. That magazine is now completely emptied and must be replaced before the weapon can be used again.
Long Shot This option may be used to shoot at one further range category than the maximum listed for the weapon. Although this does not apply a modifier to the attack total, it does reduce the damage roll by -2 if the attack hits.
Push Back If this option is used, the main intent of the attack will be to drive the target back either physically or from the ferocity of the attack. It can be used for hand to hand or ranged attacks, and if the attack wins the round, the target is moved back an appropriate amount which will depend on the circumstances of the combat. The damage roll will be a 1 for that attack, although modifiers will still apply.
Rapid Shot An attacker using this option may make two separate shots in a round. If two separate enemies are targeted, separate attack rolls must be made at a penalty of -3. A D3 should be used to make the damage roll(s) rather than a D6. Modifiers to the damage roll will still apply to both damage rolls.
Sniper Shot If a character takes a full round to aim at a visible target and shoots at that target on the following round, they gain a bonus of +2 to their attack total. Further, if the attack hits, a penalty of -1 will be applied to the armour roll of the target. This option cannot be combined with Hyperfire, Rapid shot, etc.
Quickshot In most combats, all attacks in that round are resolved simultaneously, and even if a character is killed or immobilised by an attack, they may still be able to inflict damage themselves. If it is important to eliminate an enemy before they can inflict damage, a character may opt to attack earlier. The character may choose a penalty of -1 or more to be applied to their attack total, and will inflict damage before other attacks are resolved. If the target is killed or immobilised by this attack, the target cannot then act.
Surprise: a surprise attack will depend on the circumstances and ensuring that a surprise attack goes unseen will be determined by a test of SKILL. If there is actually a surprise attack, the attacker has a +6 on the attack roll and +2 to the damage roll.
Unarmed: if you have no proper weapon, you can use your fists, your kicks or improvised weapons, that are usually less effective than a proper weapon, but will nevertheless deal some damage. However, if an unarmed fighter is facing an opponent with a weapon larger than a dagger, the brawler suffers a -4 penalty to his combat score.
Escaping: sometimes escaping may be a good way to save your life, but on the round you attempt to escape, your opponent will be able to strike you without fear of being hit by you, if they fail their opposed roll against you.


TESTING YOUR LUCK
In your situation being lucky will be important. To test your LUCK, just try rolling 2d6 under your current LUCK (as if it was an unopposed test): if you succeed, you will be helped by your Luck, otherwise you will suffer the consequences of having bad Luck. Each time you test your LUCK, whether successful or not, then you have to deduct one point from your current LUCK.
During the adventure, the Director may ask you, on some occasion, to test your LUCK and you may do it (hoping you will be lucky, but anyway you will lose one point of LUCK) or you may decide that actually you don't want to test your LUCK: you will suffer the consequences of being unlucky, but you will preserve your point of LUCK.
Moreover, you can, anytime, declare that you want to take a test of LUCK instead of any other roll. If you succeed, you will will be lucky and the outcome of your actions will be successful, for that specific roll.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:13, Sun 13 Dec 2020.

There are many different kind of robots and vehicles in this game, and you will have a chance to pilot many of them (one at the time, of course!) Each robot or vehicle capabilities are described by the following characteristics:

• HULL: represents the robot's toughness and ability to take damage. It is a bit like your STAMINA.
• SPEED: tells how fast a robot or a vehicle can travel and this gives an advantage in combat. Robots or vehicles can be Slow, Medium or Fast (flying robots or vehicles can be also Very Fast). A faster robot gets a +1 bonus to its attack roll for each step of speed gap. A slower robot can't escape a fight against a faster robot.
• COMBAT: in fight, you will use your personal SKILL, as you are the pilot, but some robots are more or less suited for combat and they will give your SKILL a related bonus (or penalty).
• ARMOUR: represents how much damage can be absorbed by the armour before getting any HULL or critical damage. It can be None, Low, Medium of High.
• SPECIAL ABILITIES: these can be different for different models of robots and the Director will communicate them to you on each occasion.

ROBOT COMBATS
Robots can combat using similar mechanics that your character uses and that is described below.

• You declare your action for this round and do a piloting test (SKILL + Piloting Special Skill + COMBAT rating of the robot + the SPEED difference + 2d6). This is the Defensive Total, i.e. the target roll to hit the robot. Your opponent makes the same roll.
• Then there are the Weapon Attacks to be dealt with (SKILL + Weapon Special Skill (depending on the weapon used) + COMBAT rating of the robot + 2d6). This is your "attack roll" that needs to overcome the defensive total to hit.
• Damage and Armour rolls follow the same mechanics (roll 1d6 and then check the corresponding damage).
• After the damage is dealt, a new round can start.
• If there are 0 points of HULL left, all subsequent damage is critical damage (the Director will advise).

Needless to say that a person using weapons or personal armour designed to fight other persons can't deal any significant damage on a robot. They are two different "leagues".
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:16, Sat 13 Mar 2021.

Characteristics
Your characteristics are determined, not by random dice rolls, but by the expenditure of points following an alternative method compared to the one in the Stellar Adventures Corebook (originally proposed by Hugh Eldredd-Gigg).  You have 24 points to begin with, and may 'expend' them to gain your SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores as shown below. Any excess points will be lost.


Special Skills
You can choose one Special Skill at level (2) and two Special Skills at level (1). The following are the Special Skills that will be most useful during they adventure:

Personal Special Skills:
Animal Skills: you can understand the motives and behaviours of wild dinosaurs and you can control tamed dinosaurs.
Awareness: you have a special perception and intuition
Melee Weapons: this improves your combat rolls with the specific weapon (FYI, the Energy Whip is considered a melee weapon)
Firearms: this improves your personal combat rolls with the specific weapon
Ride: this allows you to ride a tamed dinosaur
Science: this represents your knowledge of Life Sciences
Sneak: this represents your ability to move silently and unnoticed

Piloting Special Skills:
Firearms - Vehicle: this improves your combat rolls with the specific weapon associated to a robot or a vehicle
Pilot - Air: this represents your ability to pilot flying vehicles or robots within the atmosphere (not in the space)
Pilot - Ground: this represents your ability to pilot vehicles or robots on the surface of a planet
Unarmed combat - robot: allows you to fight with a weaponless robot shaped like a humanoid, using its punches, kicks, etc.

Talent
You can choose one Talent from the following list of useful Talents for this specific adventure:
Defensive Pilot: +1 to all vehicle or robot armour rolls
Dogfighter: +1 to all vehicle or robot damage rolls
Hotshot: +1 bonus to all piloting rolls
Learned: +2 to all knowledge rolls
Lucky: can re-roll one failed test of LUCK each day, without deducting one extra point of LUCK
Technical Genius: you may sacrifice a point of LUCK in order to gain a +4 bonus to one technical skill roll (Science, Engineering, Medical, etc)

Objects
At the beginning of the adventure you have:
5 Medikits (each of them restores two points of STAMINA that you previously lost}
Your Energy Whip (see all description in your user editable Character Sheet)
Your Armoured Vest (see all description in your user editable Character Sheet)

You are no more just a space rancher, you are now the last freedom fighter of Thalos.
Best of luck!

This message was last edited by the GM at 17:08, Wed 30 Dec 2020.