This is the gameplays of a solo RPG game known as Alone Among the Stars. Set in a distant galaxy, the journal entry-style story is generated using dice rolls and playing cards. Here is the notes taken during gameplay, hope you enjoy.
Burnir, one of the last survivors of the Palian race from the planet Palrun, now known as New Teblov. He is bored of living in hiding and decides to steal a ship to explore the stars in search of a new life for himself. So, with his broken ship’s AI he flies away from his home world.
Star System: Aura
Planet: Ahato, home of the Spirits
Cycle 1: Natural phenomenon/Steep Canyon
Burnir cannot fly a ship. Why he thought he could, is beyond any intelligent life forms guess. But he tried and failed. Leaving the ship to crash on the home of spirits. A sacred planet with deadly natural forces, the Teblonian empire has sanctioned this planet and the entire star system too dangerous to encounter. So this is exactly where Burnir decides to land, violently. Leaving the ship in search of parts, he comes across a steep canyon, a crack in the planet surface. Being the mindless creature he is, he goes down to find any sort of metal that could be mined for repairs. Luckily the fabricator is still functional meaning if he finds enough metal, the ship will be able to sustain more space travel.
What was unexpected, was to find the hopeful Palian running back to the ship, followed by some very angry and pale faced spirits. But at least he had some form of metal ore in his mining pack. The ship wasn’t completely useless and he was able to flee from the spirits before he met his demise.
Cycle 2: Plant forms/Canyon
Upon escaping the angry spirits, Burnir lands the ship near a very strange sight. Instead of a towering tree, there seems to be inverted spire digging deep into the centre of the planet. Burnir, being the curious soul he is, decides to leave the fabricator running whilst he explore yet more underground terrain. It takes him 3 cycles to return. Where is frantically explains the remains of an ancient city living within the inverted tree roots and bark. With a magnificent shrine dedicated to a former hero with magical abilities. Aeris Faux. A protector of the trees on the verge of extinction. With their mystical powers, they hid the trees and destroyed oncoming invaders. A story lost to time and the souls of the afterlife. But the repairs were done, and he could return to the sky to find more mysteries. Hopefully without disturbing the locals.
Planet: Asteroids of Dhovah
Cycle 7: Natural phenomena/Cliff face
Parking on a local asteroid whilst the engines prepare for a hyperspace jump. Burnir takes the chance to sit outside and watch the planet below, known as Dhovah. Home of the dragons. Mystical beasts with wings and a force to be reckoned with. Wild and mindless creatures according to Teblonian records, but Burnir thought different. See he watched the swarm of dragons from high above. Watching them fly and form shapes in their skies. Perhaps they were migrating. Perhaps they were in formation for a battle, or maybe they just enjoyed flying together. Whatever they were doing, the curious Palian described the flying as some kind of spectacle to behold and enjoy. The AI disagreed but he didn’t care. He was happy to sway his legs in low gravity and watch the dragons do their thing.
Star System: Huvei
Planet: Whardoe Studios
Cycle 12: Plant life/Wall
Our idiot of an adventurer found himself back in his home star system but definitely not in his home. Instead he found the barbaric and torturous asteroid home to the star systems most popular broadcasting frequency. Whardoe Studios. A frequency dedicated to showcase sports, fights and the misery of contestants in various game shows. Burnir found himself in one of these shows, a personal favourite of mine, Vines of Araka. The premise is simple, get through the thick walls of the vines and reach the trophy before the other competitors. The catch, is that the vines belong to a giant alien named Araka. And its an angry alien. I use the term ‘alien’ as well due to the fact no one in the galaxy exactly knows what it is. Another mystery that our stupid Palian has found. He has a habit of that. and there is no way of escaping, so might as well watch and see how well he does.
Cycle 14: Intelligent life/ Deep underground
A few days has passed since Burnir made a fantastic victory in Vines of Araka. The way he climbed to the top and befriended the alien was impressive. And for that he was able to contact the ship. In his note, he explains the contract he signed in working for Whardoe. He must survive 3 game shows in order to be released. Which is strange, as he doesn’t remember signing anything. But contracts are contracts, so his next appearance will be in Labyrinth. A team game, where one member must walk through a pitch black maze. And the only directions they have are from the teammates above who can see maps of the maze. The catch is that, the map readers can trick the mazer and claim the prize for themselves. Its full of spikes, pitfalls, moving walls and a beast known as the minotaur. It is usually unfair for the mazer so we shall see how our Burnir handles this one.
Cycle 16: Phenomena/ Underground
Somehow, Burnir isn’t dead. Who knew his species had night vision. He followed the instructions of his teammates until they betrayed him, at which point he walked straight to the trophy at the end. He is becoming quite popular in the galaxy. Which is probably a bad thing, given that he is meant to part of a dead race that was conquered by the almighty and powerful Teblonian empire centuries ago. But it makes for good entertainment, and he isn’t as dumb as initially thought by the AI.
Now, the final challenge for our gamer is Tunnel Goons. Contestants mist fight their way through the metallic tunnels and cyber rats in order to find the On switch. Then they must find the exit that has been turned on, but so has the Cyber Rat King. I sometimes feel bad for the cyber rats but it is very fun to see how they get crushed, smashed and sliced. Burnir doesn’t seem much like a fighter, but he might surprise us all yet.
Cycle 17: Intelligent Life/floating in the air
Once again, Burnir is frantically running back to the ship in order to escape the locals. I thought this wouldn’t happen, but I was wrong. Somehow during his final gameshow he was in the middle of an epic battle with the Cyber Rat King when the frequency suddenly went quiet. No audio or visuals. It was broadcasted that the show was having technical difficulties. But when Burnir returned, he informed the AI about an interesting collection of aliens planning to escape the studios. Including a Yhotan giant, Plutonians and a pair of Coddle. But he suspects by the way the fish-folk were screaming, maybe they weren’t part of the game crashers. Either way, he took the opportunity to make his own escape as he didn’t feel like Whardoe would be true to his contract. So yet again, our hero makes a grand escape and takes to the stars. Hopefully finding something more peaceful and less deadly. But I am starting to believe this repeated cycle of landing and causing trouble shall be a regular thing.
Star System: Solar
Planet: Mars
Cycle 40: Intelligent life/ River
Well, Burnir the Palian was initially looking for what lay beyond the stars. And he certainly found more of the unusual sides of it. Like battling slave traders above a toxic waterfall on Rhotan; a giant’s abandoned ship infested with flesh chompers and a broken transport doorway on the planet Violem. He has now ended up in a star system with little information on Teblonian records. The solar system is deemed not intelligent enough to interact with by the majority of the known star systems. But the fortunate Burnir found quite the opposite.
He landed the ship on a dusty, rocky red planet known as Mars. Hoping to find some liquid to freshen up, he instead found a dried up river. Following its path he eventually found a race of aliens who call themselves Martians camped on the river edge. They have set up a drill to find the cause of the missing river. Burnir agrees to help and discovers cold underground lakes under the surface. The Martians plans are to sell the water to other planets in the system to fund a secret project. The Palian didn’t ask any further and decided to stay for a few days to explore the drill further. Cause that always works out well for him.
Cycle 42: Intelligent life/ under moonlight
To everyone’s surprise, Burnir returned to the ship at a walking pace. Happy to return and show his new found friends the AI and hyperspace technology. Sharing the schematics of the ship in return for fuel and a few renovations on the ship. Burnir and the Martians worked together to add a new defense shield generator and communicator for the Solar system frequencies. By the tme they were finished, the planets 2 moons shone bright in the sky. They said their goodbyes and Burnir was left in the ship safe and ready for another adventure to try his new toys.
Cycle 43: Phenomena/ floating in the air
Just before entering hyperspace, Burnir steered the ship just outside Mars atmosphere and found the ship system’s were having major interference. It didn’t take long for him to work out the reason. For outside the window, he was able to see a large metallic sphere in ruins with massive sparks of electricity jolting out. Potentially a charging station or energy generator that has seemed to imploded on itself. But not completely broken as the lightning is sparking and disengaging his ship’s navigation and controls. He shuts off the ship and using his intelligence goes out the ship to release small gas compressions to steer the ship clear. Once out of range and moving at an alarming speed. He turns back on the ship and the AI advises a hasty retreat to another star system. The hyperspace engine cranks into gear and the Palian blasts into yet another space scenario.
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