Why Firefly Works Alone
The Firefly Role-Playing Game is written for a GM and a crew of players, and the corebook has no solo rules. But Cortex Plus is surprisingly friendly to solo play. Every roll is already a contest between two pools of dice, so asking the dice a question is just another contest: a yes pool against a no pool. And because the GM's side of a conflict is just dice too, you can roll the opposition yourself without knowing how it will turn out.
The challenge is that Firefly is about a crew. This part shows you how to keep a crew around you when you're the only one at the table, then gives you an oracle, scene checks and sparks for everything a GM would normally decide.
The Black Is Your GM
At a table, the GM knows who's waiting at the dock. Solo, you decide what you expect, then let the dice confirm it, twist it or overturn it. You build pools and roll exactly as you always would, and the oracle answers everything else.
What You'll Find in This Part
- An oracle that rolls a yes pool against a no pool, with exact odds
- How to run a crew solo, and how to roll the opposition fairly
- Scene checks, job sparks and NPC attitudes for running the 'Verse yourself
- A routine and a worked example for your first solo session
Your Solo Kit
- Your dice (d4 to d12, two of each is plenty), or the guide's dice roller, which shows exact odds and tracks Plot Points and Complications.
- One or two crew members, built with character creation, and a ship with Engines, Hull and Systems.
- The rules. The Firefly Role-Playing Game corebook, or Part 2 of this guide for the basics.
- A journal for jobs, debts, grudges and who owes whom.
đź’ˇ Tip: General-purpose GM emulators such as Mythic Game Master Emulator (Word Mill Games) work with Firefly too. This part sticks to dice and tables built from Cortex Plus. For solo play in general, see Ray's Solo RPG Mastery guide.
A Crew of One (or Two)
Firefly assumes a ship full of misfits who cover each other. Solo, you have three good options:
- Two crew members is the sweet spot. A pilot and a mechanic, or a captain and a medic: you make both characters' choices, and they can help each other with Assets and teamwork.
- One hero plus the crew as Assets. Play one character and treat the rest of the crew as Signature Assets or created Assets ("Steady Hands at the Helm d6", "Mechanic Who Owes Me d8"). They add dice when they help, and they can become Complications when things go wrong.
- One hero alone works for a drifter, a bounty hunter or a stowaway story. Keep the stakes personal and the jobs small.
Rolling the Opposition
Without a GM, you roll the other side's pool too. Decide how tough the opposition is before you roll, and write it down. A handy scale, using the sample pools from Part 2: a pair of d6s for routine trouble, d8s for a real challenge, d10s for serious danger, d12s for a big moment, and an extra die for every Complication or advantage they have. Their two highest dice set the stakes; you have to beat them.
Jinxes, solo: since you're also the GM, use this house rule: every jinx you roll becomes a d6 Complication (step it up for extra 1s), and you take a Plot Point for it, just as if the GM had bought it. It keeps the Plot Point economy flowing and the trouble coming.
The Dice-Pool Oracle
Ask a yes/no question you genuinely don't know the answer to, and decide how likely "yes" is. Then roll a yes pool against a no pool. Stepping up the yes pool's dice makes yes more likely, exactly the way Cortex Plus handles advantage:
- Very likely: yes d10 + d10 against no d6 + d6
- Likely: yes d8 + d8 against no d6 + d6
- Toss-up: yes d6 + d6 against no d6 + d6
- Unlikely: yes d6 + d6 against no d8 + d8
- Very unlikely: yes d6 + d6 against no d10 + d10
Total each pair, counting any 1 as zero (it's a jinx), and compare. Read the margin:
- Yes wins by 5 or more → Yes, and… Yes, plus something extra (it's an extraordinary success).
- Yes wins by 3 or 4 → Yes. (If a yes die shows a 1, it's Yes, but… instead.)
- Yes wins by 1 or 2 → Yes, but… Yes, with a complication or cost.
- A tie → Twist. Both, neither, or something you didn't expect.
- No wins by 1 or 2 → No, but… No, with a consolation or an opening.
- No wins by 3 or 4 → No. (If a no die shows a 1, it's No, but… instead.)
- No wins by 5 or more → No, and… No, and things get worse.
The pools, jinxes and the beat-by-5 threshold are Firefly's own tools; the oracle readings are this guide's.
The Odds
Every combination of faces is equally likely, so these odds are exact (rounded to one decimal):
| Likelihood | No, and… | No | No, but… | Twist | Yes, but… | Yes | Yes, and… | Any yes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very likely (2d10 vs 2d6) | 4.8% | 5.1% | 9.1% | 5.6% | 15.3% | 12.7% | 47.5% | 75.5% |
| Likely (2d8 vs 2d6) | 7.4% | 7.8% | 13.5% | 7.8% | 18.6% | 14.7% | 30.2% | 63.5% |
| Toss-up (2d6 vs 2d6) | 13% | 12.5% | 19.4% | 10% | 19.4% | 12.5% | 13% | 45% |
| Unlikely (2d6 vs 2d8) | 30.2% | 14.7% | 18.6% | 7.8% | 13.5% | 7.8% | 7.4% | 28.7% |
| Very unlikely (2d6 vs 2d10) | 47.5% | 12.7% | 15.3% | 5.6% | 9.1% | 5.1% | 4.8% | 18.9% |
The table is a perfect mirror: "Likely" says yes exactly as often as "Unlikely" says no. Notice that a clean "Yes" is rarer than "Yes, but…" and that big swings are common. That's on purpose: in the 'Verse, things don't go smooth.
Running Scenes Solo
The Scene Check
Before each scene, decide what you expect to happen, then roll a d12. This is a house rule, not a Firefly rule:
- 6–12 (about 58%): As expected. Play the scene as you imagined it.
- 3–5 (25%): Altered. It's mostly what you expected, but one detail is different.
- 1–2 (about 17%): Interrupted. Something else happens. Roll a spark and build the scene around it.
Sparks
When you need ideas, roll a d6 on each of these tables. They're this guide's tables, not official ones. For more, the toolkit's generators make job hooks, clients, worlds and trouble.
Trouble (d6)
- An Alliance patrol wants to look in your hold
- A rival crew wants the same job
- Someone you owe money to is in town
- The ship breaks something it needs
- Reavers, or the rumor of them
- Local law with a grudge
Complication (d6)
- The client lied about the cargo
- The pay is short
- An innocent is caught in the middle
- The deadline just moved up
- Someone recognizes you
- Two parties both think they hired you
Opportunity (d6)
- A side job that pays in fuel
- A clue about something you've been chasing
- A friendly face from the war
- Salvage nobody's claimed
- A passenger who needs passage, no questions
- A favor you can call in later
NPCs and Attitudes
Firefly doesn't track NPC attitudes with a number; it handles them with conflicts and Complications. When you meet someone and their mood isn't obvious from the story, roll a d8 (this guide's table):
- 1–2: Hostile. They want you gone, or worse.
- 3–6: Wary. They'll deal, but they're watching their back.
- 7–8: Friendly. They're glad to see a friendly face.
Then play the scene with the real rules: talking someone round is a conflict like any other, with Social and a skill such as Influence against their pool. Winning can give you an Asset ("Marshal Looks the Other Way d6"); losing can saddle you with a Complication ("Owes the Fence a Favor d6"). For everything else, ask the oracle.
🎲 Try the Solo Tools
Session Log
- Your rolls will appear here.
Keeping Flying Without a Crew
- Watch your Complications. There are no hit points: harm is a Complication, and one stepped past d12 takes you out of the scene. Solo, back off before something reaches d10.
- Spend Plot Points. The solo jinx rule hands you plenty. Spend them to add a die to your total when it matters, or to create the Asset that gets you out of a jam.
- Make Assets out of your ship and friends. "Tougher Than She Looks", "Old War Buddy on Persephone": anything that helps is a die in your pool.
- Pick fights you can win. Decide the opposition's pool before you roll. Talking, sneaking and running are all good choices for a crew of one.
🛠️ How To: Your First Solo Session
- Choose your crew: one character, two, or one plus crew-as-Assets.
- Take a job. Roll on the toolkit's job generator, or write one line: "Haul medical supplies to a Rim clinic before the Alliance inspection."
- Picture the first scene and make a scene check.
- Set the opposition's pool before you roll, and write it down.
- Play. Build pools, roll the opposition, turn jinxes into Complications, and ask the oracle about everything you don't know.
- Note debts, grudges and Plot Points, then move to the next scene.
- Stop when the job is done (or has gone gloriously wrong) and write a short journal entry.
Example of Play
"Doc" Tre Argent, the medic from Character Creation, flies solo between jobs: Mental d10, Social d8, Physical d6; Treat d10, Know d8, Influence d6; Distinctions Ship's Medic, Soft Heart for the Helpless and Disgraced Core Worlder.
Scene check: Tre expects a quiet delivery to a Rim clinic. She rolls a 4 on the d12: Altered. The local marshal is at the clinic door, and he's not letting anyone in.
Attitude: She rolls a 3 on the d8: wary. He's heard rumors about a Core doctor.
Talking her way in: it's a conflict. Tre's pool is Social d8 + Influence d6 + Soft Heart for the Helpless d8 (she's here for the sick kids, and means it). She sets the marshal's pool first: a real challenge, 2d8. He rolls 5 and 7: stakes of 12. Tre rolls 6, 1 and 7. The 1 is a jinx, so her total is 7 + 6 = 13: she beats the stakes and he steps aside. Using the solo rule, the jinx becomes "Marshal's Watching Me d6" and she gains a Plot Point.
Question: "Is her brother's name in the clinic's records?" It's unlikely: yes 2d6 against no 2d8. Yes rolls 4 and 5 (9); no rolls 3 and 7 (10). No by 1: No, but… His name isn't there, but a doctor's note in his handwriting is pinned inside a supply crate.
Common Questions
Isn't it boring to know everything already?
You won't. Scene checks, sparks, attitudes and the oracle answer the questions you'd normally leave to a GM, so you discover the job as you play it.
Can I play a published adventure solo?
Yes. The Echoes of War adventures are built around jobs, which suit solo play well. Read only one scene ahead and use the oracle for anything the adventure doesn't cover.
What if the oracle gives an answer that makes no sense?
Reinterpret it before you roll again. A Twist is an invitation to be creative. If an answer truly breaks the story, treat it as a "but" answer or ask a smaller question.
How do I avoid fudging for my crew?
Write the opposition's pool down before you roll, take every jinx as a Complication, and ask the oracle rather than choosing when you're tempted.
Key Takeaways
- Firefly's contests make a natural oracle: roll a yes pool against a no pool, and step up the dice to make an answer more likely.
- Two crew members, or one plus crew-as-Assets, keeps the game feeling like Firefly.
- Set the opposition's pool before you roll, and let every jinx become a Complication (and a Plot Point).
- Watch your Complications: past d12, you're out of the scene.
đź““ Journal Prompts
After your first solo session, jot down:
- How did the job go sideways, and what made it?
- Were your opposition pools too easy or too hard?
- Which Complication will follow your crew to the next job?
- Who owes you, and who do you owe?