Why Champions Works Alone
Superhero stories are full of lone heroes: the night patrol, the secret identity, the one person who noticed the pattern. Champions suits solo play because its rules already do most of the work a GM's judgement would: every attack, defense and point of damage has a number. What's missing is someone to decide what happens next, and that's the job of an oracle. You ask the yes-or-no questions a GM would answer ("Are the robbers still inside?"), and the dice decide.
Nothing on this page is from the rulebooks. The oracle, the scene check and the tables are tools for playing alone; anything that changes a rule is labelled house rule.
What you need
- A hero built with the normal rules (see Character Creation).
- Three six-sided dice, or the tool on this page and the Dice Roller & Damage Calculator.
- A city, a problem and a villain with a plan you don't know yet.
- A notebook, or the session log below.
The Oracle
Ask a question that can be answered yes or no, decide how likely a "yes" is, and roll 3d6 against the matching number, just like a skill roll:
- Very likely: 14-
- Likely: 12-
- Toss-up: 10-
- Unlikely: 8-
- Very unlikely: 6-
Then read the answer by how much you made it or missed it by, the way HERO already reads rolls. A 3 always counts as made it, an 18 as missed it.
| Result | Answer |
|---|---|
| Made it by 4 or more | Yes, and… You get it, plus something more. |
| Made it by 2–3 | Yes. |
| Made it by 0–1 | Yes, but… It's true, with a cost or a complication. |
| Missed by 1–2 | No, but… Not that, but something useful. |
| Missed by 3–4 | No. |
| Missed by 5 or more | No, and… Not that, and things get worse. |
Twist: if the three dice make a straight (1-2-3, 2-3-4, 3-4-5 or 4-5-6, in any order), something unexpected also happens, the kind of turn a comic saves for the last panel of a page. It leans your way on a "yes" and against you on a "no". Roll a spark if you need an idea.
Exact odds
Worked out from all 216 ways three dice can land. The tool on this page uses the same calculation.
| Likelihood | Yes, and | Yes | Yes, but | No, but | No | No, and | Any yes | Twist |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very likely (14-) | 50.0% | 24.1% | 16.7% | 7.4% | 1.9% | 0.0% | 90.7% | 11.1% |
| Likely (12-) | 25.9% | 24.1% | 24.1% | 16.7% | 7.4% | 1.9% | 74.1% | 11.1% |
| Toss-up (10-) | 9.3% | 16.7% | 24.1% | 24.1% | 16.7% | 9.3% | 50.0% | 11.1% |
| Unlikely (8-) | 1.9% | 7.4% | 16.7% | 24.1% | 24.1% | 25.9% | 25.9% | 11.1% |
| Very unlikely (6-) | 0.0% | 1.9% | 7.4% | 16.7% | 24.1% | 50.0% | 9.3% | 11.1% |
The table is a mirror: "unlikely" is "likely" turned upside down. The bell curve of 3d6 means the middle answers ("yes, but", "no, but") come up most on a toss-up, and the extremes almost never: a "very likely" question can't come back "no, and". Twists come up one time in nine at every likelihood, because a straight doesn't care what number you needed.
Ask only questions where both answers would be interesting. If you already know the answer, or a "no" would stop the story dead, just decide.
Scenes, People and Sparks
Scene check
When you start a new scene, decide what you expect to happen, then roll 1d6:
| 1d6 | The scene is… |
|---|---|
| 1 | Interrupted: something else happens instead. Roll a spark. |
| 2 | Altered: as expected, but one important detail is different. Ask the oracle what. |
| 3–6 | As expected. |
NPC attitude
When you meet someone whose attitude isn't obvious, roll 1d6:
| 1d6 | Attitude |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hostile: an enemy, or someone who blames heroes for the last disaster. |
| 2 | Suspicious: won't help without a reason; PRE-based skills are at −2. |
| 3–4 | Neutral: scared, busy, or star-struck; helps if it's easy. |
| 5 | Helpful: points the way and answers questions. |
| 6 | Eager: wants to help more than is safe for them. |
Sparks
Roll 2d6, one for an action and one for a subject. Interpret freely; the first idea that fits is usually right.
| 1d6 | Action | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kidnap | a scientist |
| 2 | Steal | a hero's secret identity |
| 3 | Unleash | a prototype |
| 4 | Frame | the city's power grid |
| 5 | Threaten | an old rival |
| 6 | Rescue | a landmark |
Playing the GM's Part
Fights
Your hero's actions use the normal rules: the Speed Chart, attack rolls, damage and defenses. For the other side, decide each opponent's action in their Phase by asking the oracle "Does it do the obvious thing?" at Likely. On a "no", roll a spark for what it does instead. Let villains be clever, not cruel: a villain who goes for a hostage or a getaway is better comics than one who simply hits harder.
The villain's plan
House rule: the villain's plan. A GM keeps the villain moving while the hero is busy; alone, a clock does it. Mark one step on the villain's plan each time the oracle answers No, and… or gives a twist on a "no", and each time the hero is Stunned or Knocked Out. When the plan reaches 4 steps, clear it: the next scene is interrupted by the plan's next stage, without a scene check. The heist happens, the device switches on, the hostage is moved.
A team of one
- Fewer, weaker agents: a lone hero can't trade blows with a whole villain team. Use a few agents with low SPD, or one villain and their gadget.
- Captured, not killed (house rule): when the hero is Knocked Out, they wake up captured, in the villain's lair, the way comics do it. Their BODY loss still counts.
- Recover between scenes: start each new scene with full STUN and END unless the story says otherwise.
Solo Tool
Villain's plan: 0 of 4
Session log
The log is kept in this browser only.
Your First Solo Session
- Make a hero and a city. One hero, their secret identity, and one problem the city has that a hero would notice.
- Pick a villain, not a plot. Write the villain's name and what they want, but not how they'll get it. The oracle and the plan clock will tell you.
- Frame the first scene. One line: where your hero is and what they expect. Make a scene check.
- Play it. Ask the oracle what a GM would tell you. Use the normal rules for anything your hero does that could fail, and the Dice Roller for fights.
- Split your time. Give the secret identity at least one scene: a job, a friend, a Complication coming due. Solo play drifts into nonstop fights without it.
- Stop on a cliffhanger. End when the plan clock fills or the hero is captured. That's next issue's opening page.
An Example of Play
Kestrel (Ana Ruiz) flies and fires bolts of force: OCV 7, SPD 5, an 8d6 Blast. Her city's problem: someone is robbing banks that have no money in them.
Scene 1: the alarm. A bank downtown is being robbed; I expect a getaway van out front. Scene check: 1d6 shows 4, so it's as expected.
Oracle: "Are the robbers still inside?" Likely, so 12-. The dice show 2, 5, 3: 10, made it by 2, so Yes. 2-3-5 isn't a straight, so no twist.
A fight. Kestrel blasts the first thug through the window. Attack roll: 11 + OCV 7 − DCV 4 = 14-. She rolls 4, 4, 5, 13: a hit. Her 8d6 Blast rolls 3, 6, 1, 4, 2, 5, 5, 3: 29 STUN, and 8 BODY (the 6 counts 2, the 1 counts 0, the other six dice 1 each). The thug's ED is 5, so he takes 24 STUN and 3 BODY. That's more than his CON of 13, so he's Stunned, and more than his 20 STUN, so he's out. Knockback: 2d6 rolls 7 against the 8 BODY rolled: 1 point, so 2 metres, into the deposit slips.
Oracle: "Is the getaway driver working for the Architect?" Toss-up, 10-. The dice show 3, 4, 5: 12, missed by 2, so No, but… And 3-4-5 is a straight: a twist, on a "no", so it goes against her. The driver is a nobody hired online, but he says the crew was paid to open one empty safe deposit box, and someone took the contents before they got there. The plan clock moves to 1.
Scene 2: Ana's day job. I expect a quiet shift at the newspaper. Scene check: 1, interrupted. Spark: 4 and 2, frame a hero's secret identity. Her editor drops a photo on her desk: Kestrel, leaving the bank, carrying a deposit box she never touched.
That's the loop: ask, roll, interpret, write a line, move on. Whether Ana runs that photo or buries it is a question only you can answer.
Where to Go Next
- Dice Roller & Damage Calculator: Attack rolls, damage through defenses and the Speed Chart.
- Combat: The full rules for fights, which you run on both sides when solo.
- Gamemastering: Villain design and adventure structure, which help you ask the oracle better questions.