Why Wrath & Glory Works Alone
The Gilead System is cut off from the Imperium by the Great Rift. A lone agent on a mission there, with no reinforcements and no way home, is already a good solo story. Alone, you play your character and let the dice answer the questions a Game Master would. The tool for that is the one you already use: a pool of six-sided dice where 4s and 5s are icons, 6s are Exalted Icons worth two, and one die is the Wrath die.
Everything on this page except the rules of Wrath & Glory itself is a house rule. The oracle, the scene check, the Ruin clock, the attitude roll and the sparks are tools for solo play, not part of Cubicle 7's rulebook.
What you need
- A character built with the normal rules for your Tier, or one of the Character Examples.
- About ten six-sided dice, one of them a different colour for the Wrath die, or the Solo Tool below.
- Somewhere to write: a notebook, or the session log built into the tool.
- A mission. One line will do: who sent you, what they want, and what stands in the way.
The Oracle
When you want to know something a Game Master would tell you ("Is the shrine guarded?"), phrase it as a yes-or-no question, decide how likely a "yes" is, and roll that many dice. One of them is the Wrath die. Count icons against DN 3, just like an ordinary test.
| How likely is "yes"? | Dice |
|---|---|
| Nearly impossible | 2 |
| Unlikely | 3 |
| Even odds | 4 |
| Likely | 6 |
| Almost certain | 8 |
- 3 or more icons, with an Exalted Icon to spare: Yes, and… Better than you hoped. (The same test as shifting: you would still have 3 icons without one of your 6s.)
- 3 or more icons: Yes.
- 2 icons: No, but… Not what you asked for, but something close or useful.
- 0 or 1 icon: No.
- Wrath die shows 1: whatever the answer, add a twist that works against you, and add 1 Ruin.
- Wrath die shows 6: add a twist in your favour.
Don't spend Wrath or Glory on oracle rolls. They belong to your character; the oracle is the galaxy.
Exact odds
Worked out from every way the dice can land. The Wrath die gives a twist one time in six each way, whatever the pool, and twists overlap the answers.
| Likelihood | No | No, but | Yes | Yes, and | Any yes |
|---|
Scenes, People and Sparks
Scene check and the Ruin clock
In a group game the Game Master spends Ruin. Alone, Ruin becomes a clock from 0 to 6 that measures how close the enemy is to catching up with you. Add 1 whenever the oracle's Wrath die shows 1, and 1 by hand whenever you suffer a Complication on a real test or do something loud: a firefight, a tripped alarm, an act of open heresy.
At the start of each scene, say in one line what you expect to find, then roll one die. If it is equal to or under the Ruin, the scene is interrupted by the enemy you've drawn. Play it out, then clear the Ruin to 0. Otherwise a 6 means the scene is altered: one important detail is different. Anything else and the scene is as you expected. With Ruin 0 that is 1 in 6 altered and 5 in 6 as expected; every point of Ruin adds a 1-in-6 chance of interruption.
NPC attitude
When you meet someone and their mood matters, roll 3 dice and count icons. Add a die for each keyword you share with them (IMPERIUM, ADEPTA SORORITAS, your [ORDO] or [REGIMENT], and so on), just as shared keywords help with Influence.
| Dice | 0 icons: hostile | 1–2: wary | 3–4: helpful | 5+: devoted |
|---|
Attitude is a starting point, not a verdict. A wary Arbitrator can still be persuaded: that is a real Persuasion or Intimidation test.
Sparks
When the oracle says "but" or "and", or a scene is interrupted, and nothing comes to mind, roll two dice and read them together: an action and a subject.
| Die | Action | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Purge | a holy relic |
| 2 | Protect | a hidden heretic |
| 3 | Steal | a xenos artefact |
| 4 | Reveal | a psyker |
| 5 | Corrupt | a forge-world shipment |
| 6 | Bargain for | a shrine and its pilgrims |
Playing the GM's Part
Tests and fights
Anything your character does that could fail is a real test: Attribute + Skill against a DN that you set before you roll. An attack's DN is the target's Defence. Roll damage with its Extra Damage dice against Resilience, and track your own Wounds and Shock. The Dice Roller does all of this.
Wrath and Glory alone
You still start each session with 2 Wrath, and you can award yourself more for the moments a Game Master would: completing an Objective, a great scene, a glorious act. The Glory pool works as usual, capped at 6 for a lone character. Ruin is already your clock, so the enemy's Elites don't need a separate pool.
A warband of one
One character can't cover everything a warband can, so pick missions that suit them, or give them an ally or two: an NPC servo-skull, a nervous Ministorum priest, a Guardsman who owes them his life. Roll their attitude, then decide what they will do. Corruption matters more alone, because there is nobody to notice you slipping: make the Corruption tests the rules call for and keep an honest record.
Solo Tool
Ruin: 0 of 6
Session log
The log and the Ruin are kept in this browser only.
Your First Solo Session
- Make a character and a mission. One character at Tier 1 or 2, one patron, one mission with a goal and a deadline.
- Investigate. Ask the oracle what the locals know, rolling their attitude first. Every answer is a fact you can act on.
- Frame each scene. One line of what you expect, then a scene check.
- Play it. Ask the oracle what a Game Master would tell you. Make real tests, with the DN set first, for anything your character does that could fail.
- Watch the Ruin. Every Complication and every loud move makes the next scene more likely to go wrong.
- Report back, or don't. End the session when the mission resolves. Whether your patron believes your report is a good first question next time.
An Example of Play
Sister Odile Varr is a Sister of Battle (Tier 2) with Agility 3 and Ballistic Skill 3. A canoness has sent her to a shrine on Enoch that has stopped answering. Ruin 0.
Scene 1: the pilgrim road. I expect an empty road. Scene check: the die shows 6, and Ruin is 0, so the scene is altered: pilgrims are walking away from the shrine.
Oracle: "Will the pilgrims talk to her?" First, attitude: they share the IMPERIUM and ADEPTUS MINISTORUM keywords with her, so 5 dice. They show 4 6 2 5 1: 1 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 4 icons, so helpful. They say the shrine's priest has stopped preaching and started whispering.
Oracle: "Is the shrine's reliquary still sealed?" Likely: 6 dice, the Wrath die first. [1] 3 4 6 2 5: 0 + 0 + 1 + 2 + 0 + 1 = 4 icons, so Yes. Without the 6 she would have only 2, so there's no spare Exalted Icon. But the Wrath die shows 1: a twist against her, and Ruin goes to 1. The reliquary is sealed, from the inside.
Oracle: "Did the cult already take the relic offworld?" Unlikely: 3 dice. [2] 6 3: 2 icons, so No, but… The relic is still here, but a shuttle is fuelling on the landing field.
A fight. A cultist bars the reliquary door. Odile fires her boltgun: Agility 3 + Ballistic Skill 3 = 6 dice, and in this example the cultist's Defence is 3. She rolls [4] 2 6 1 5 3: 1 + 0 + 2 + 0 + 1 + 0 = 4 icons, a hit. A boltgun does 10 + 1 ED; the ED die shows 5, so 11 damage. Against a Resilience of 6 (again, for this example) that is 5 Wounds, and the cultist goes down.
Scene 2: the landing field. The gunfire was loud, so Ruin goes to 2. Scene check: the die shows 2, equal to the Ruin, so the scene is interrupted. Spark: 4 and 4, "Reveal a psyker". The whispering priest is waiting at the shuttle, and the air around him is cold. After that scene, the Ruin clears to 0.
That's the loop: ask, roll, interpret, write a line, move on. Whether Odile reports the priest to the Inquisition or deals with him herself is a question only you can answer.
Where to Go Next
- Dice Roller: Tests with the Wrath die and exact odds, damage with Extra Damage dice, and Wounds and Shock.
- Running a Campaign: Missions and frameworks to give your solo play shape.
- Enemies of Mankind: What is waiting for a lone agent in the dark.