TEXT: STARS 
  WITHOUT NUMBER 
  PLAY ANYTIME, ANYWHERE
  SOLO ADVENTURES
  
  • 1
  Contents
  Introduction  
  2 
  How This Book is Organised 
  2
  What is a Role Playing Game? 
  2 
  Then there is solo play. 
  2
  How Does Solo Play Work? 
  2 
  Closed Questions  
  3 
  The Oracle  
  3 
  Open Ended Questions  
  4
  Record Keeping 
  4
  Clocks 
  4 
  NPC Conversations 
  6
  NPC List 
  7
  Scene List  
  8
  Loose End List 
  9
  Sample Scene 
  20
  Credits
  Written By:
  Peter Rudin-Burgess
  Cover Art:
  Peter Rudin-Burgess,  Dina Dee
  Interior Art:
   Dina Dee, Kieran Vinay and Gerhard Janson
  Game Icons:
  Creative Commons 3.0 BY license https://game-icons.net, and 
  Various artists, https://commons.wikimedia.org
  License:
  This work is covered by the Creative Commons License: 
  Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
  You are free to:
  Share: copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
  Adapt: remix, transform, and build upon the material
  for any purpose, even commercially.
  The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow 
  the license terms.
  Under the following terms:
  Attribution: You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the 
  license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any 
  reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor 
  endorses you or your use.
  No additional restrictions: You may not apply legal terms or 
  technological measures that legally restrict others from doing 
  anything the license permits. 
  
   2 •
  Stars Without Number Solo Rules
  Introduction
  Stars Without Number [SWN] is one of the most popular OSR 
  role playing games ever released. While it is every similar to a lot 
  of dungeons & dragons derived games it diverges when it comes to 
  the skill system. Outside of combat SWN is mostly driven by 2d6 
  rather than the ever present d20 so common in other OSR games.
  If you have never solo played an RPG before I will ease you into 
  that as it is a different experience to any other form of role playing.
  How This Book is Organised
  All the rules in this book are at the front. You then get three useful  
  record keeping pages which you may print multiple copies of for 
  your own use. Finally, there are ten pages of ‘game icons’. These 
  you may also print off if you prefer to have them on paper.
  What is a Role Playing Game?
  •
  I recently read this definition:
  •
  It’s a game you play with friends in a social setting. …
  •
  It’s an exploration of intriguing or fanciful scenarios. …
  •
  It’s a chance to be someone you’re not. …
  •
  It’s a celebration of sticky situations. …
  •
  It’s collaborative daydreaming. …
  •
  It’s exercise for your personal sense of drama. …
  •
  It’s a way to trick ourselves into creating interesting things. …
  •
  It’s something you’ve been doing all along.
  What Is a Role-Playing Game? Ravachol, E., Dig a Thousand Holes 
  Publishing, USA, 2013.
  At first glance that seems to fit the bill quite nicely until you think 
  about our modern lives. Today scheduling a regular game session 
  is harder than it seems with work and family commitments. If you 
  have moved from one town to another it may be easy enough to 
  find D&D group but once you start to look for less popular games 
  the groups dry up and are often unwilling to try new things.
  If no one plays the game you want to play locally then a lot of 
  people ‘play by post’ [PBP] where you submit a forum post with 
  your actions and the DM or GM coordinates the game and replies. 
  PBP post games tend to be fantastically detailed as you can describe 
  your characters words, but also the intonation, mannerism, posture 
  and expressions in far greater detail than you ever could sat around 
  a table. You have lost the first point in the definition above, the 
  game is no longer with friends and in a social setting. It could be 
  with people you will never meet and sat at your computer.
  More recently Discord and chat has been popular but it has the 
  same issues with scheduling, you need to be awake when the GM 
  wants to run the game and you need blocks of hours free to play the 
  game.
  Some people just cannot get either of these alternatives to work and 
  they get their role play fix in computer games but that trades off 
  depth of play with the convenience.
  Then there is solo play.
  Solo play has the convenience of the computer game, you can play 
  when and where you like for as long or short as you like. It has the 
  fantastic levels of detail of the PBP games. What you don’t get is the 
  social interaction.
  If you play role playing games to meet new people and crave that 
  social side then solo play is not for you.
  If you play role playing games to have wild adventures and develop 
  your player character then solo play could be exactly what you 
  need.
  Even if you have all the role playing friends you ever need solo play 
  may still serve you well as a method of learning the rules of SWN. 
  Characters you solo play up to a certain level may become the NPCs 
  in a regular campaign. Solo play can also help you test drive an 
  adventure idea before you set if loose on your players.
  How Does Solo Play Work?
  Solo play works through emulating the role played by the GM. 
  When you need more information about the scene you ask the 
  GM. In Solo play you will ask the rules instead. There are two 
  mechanisms in these rules. The first is the closed question that 
  acts like a magic 8 ball and gives you a variation of yes or no. The 
  second is for open questions and it gives you two prompts as an 
  answer. It falls on you to take; the story so far, the answer you 
  just received and the sort of adventure you want to have and then 
  decide what does that answer mean to my character? Solo role play 
  will improve your improv. skills immeasurably!
  If a solo game was just made up of yes and no answers things would 
  get boring rather quickly. To stop that happening there is an option 
  that throws a complication into your characters story. These can 
  twist the story and take it into new directions. You will learn more 
  about questions, answers and complications below.
  For the most part these rules work just like the built in skills system 
  in SWN. You want to try something you get a target number and 
  roll 2d6. Here you want to know something you have a kind of 
  target number and you roll 2d6. The point is to not interrupt your 
  flow of play by bringing in completely different rules.
  
  • 3
  Clocks are not rules, clocks are a dynamic way of keeping track 
  of events happening in your sandbox world. You will learn about 
  clocks below and the clock theme will be repeated several times in 
  these rules.
  Closed Questions
  A closed question has a yes or no answer. A door is locked or 
  unlocked, a room is occupied or deserted and a grav-bike is left 
  unattended or it isn’t. The solo play jargon for the rules handling 
  closed questions is an Oracle. When you ask a closed question you 
  decide how likely it is to be yes or no. You then use that to set a 
  modifier. The chances of their being marines outside a starship brig 
  is very likely, the chances of a grav-bike being left unattended and 
  powered up is highly unlikely. Both of these are closed questions. 
  The marines are or are not there, the bike is powered up or not.
  In regular group play the main loop in play is that the GM describes 
  a scene, the players describe their actions the and the GM resolves 
  the actions before returning to the top and describing the new 
  current scene.
  In solo play you imagine the scene. If you want any clarification 
  you ask your questions and the oracle gives the answers. Once you 
  know the scene and setting you play out the scene using the regular 
  SWN rules until you have an unknown question. Then the solo 
  rules come into play again. The oracle does not replace the rules. 
  You can ask the oracle if there are marines but you would roll Notice 
  to know if your character spots them. At the end of the scene you 
  start the next scene and ask any questions that the scene throws up. 
  That is the basic solo play loop.
  The oracle is going to return one of three base answers; Yes, No or 
  A Complication. The Yes and No may be modified with an and…, a 
  but…, or because….
  •
  Yes and… is more than you expected. It could be better than
  expected or worse. If you wanted to know if there were any 
  marines on guard a yes and… result may say yes and there is a 
  sergeant screaming at them for being slovenly and inattentive. 
  Getting past them in the immediate future will be harder! If you 
  were hoping for a grav-bike to make your escape on the yes and 
  could mean not only there is a bike but it is powered up and the 
  keys are in it.
  •
  Yes is the standard answer. What you asked is what you get.
  Yes there are marines and yes there is a grav-bike.
  •
  Yes but… this is not quite as good or bad as it could be. Yes
  there are marines but they are watching a sports game on the 
  monitors. Yes there is a grav-bike but it is secured to a magnetic 
  shackle.
  •
  No because… gives a reason why the answer is a no and often
  you should aim for an explanation that the character could act upon 
  to turn the no into a yes. No there aren’t any marines as an alarm 
  has just sounded and they are leaving. No there is no grav-bike as 
  the rider has just returned and straddled the machine.
  •
  No is the default negative answer. There simply are no marines
  and there is no grav-bike.
  •
  No and… is the strongest negative. With the marines it is
  No and an announcement sounds demanding all marine back to 
  quarters or all marines to action stations. There are quite definitely 
  no marines around here. With the grav-bike there is no grav-bike 
  and you spot a sign saying Grav-bikes are banned from this street.
  •
  A Complication  changes the scene. Complications typically
  make the question you were about to ask irrelevant. Complications 
  can be small things or massive things. It is more to do with what 
  fits best with your game. An example of a small complication could 
  be as you approach the starship brig your personal communicator 
  starts to bleep. Who is trying to contact you and why? Do you 
  really want to get a look at the marines with your communicator 
  bleeping? A big complication could be you look to see if there is 
  a grav-bike and you see a biker get off the machine, takes off the 
  helmet and it is none other than your arch nemesis. How did they 
  get there, are they looking for you what do you do next?
  For each scene you should sketch a small circle and then depending 
  on how long you anticipate the scene to be divide it into segments. 
  For most scenes four segments are fine. This is the chaos clock. 
  If you roll a No and… result fill in one segment of the clock. 
  Once it has counted down all the segments the next question will 
  automatically produce a complication. The reason for the chaos 
  clock is that should you get a run of very poor dice rolls it can 
  stop your story progressing. If you were trapped in a room and 
  you ask if the door is unlocked and get a no and… it is likely to be 
  locked and the lock is really high tech. You try the windows and 
  get a no and… they are bullet proof glass, you look to see if there 
  is a ventilation shaft, no and the room seems hermetically sealed. 
  Finally, you ask if there is any kind of fire alarm trigger, no and…  
  You can see how a run of results that each make your situation 
  worse prevents you from making progress. The automatic 
  complication at least changes the situation, maybe a torturer with a 
  case full of ugly implements is buzzed into the room. Now you have 
  an open door, tools to work with, an NPC to talk to and a possible 
  hostage. All that in place of dead ends.
  The Oracle
  2 or lower
  No, and…
  3-4
  No
  5-6
  No, because…
  7
  A Complication
  8-9
  Yes, but…
  10-13
  Yes
  14 or higher
  Yes, and…
  Highly unlikely  -4 
  Unlikely  -2 
  50/50 
  +/- 0 
  Highly likely 
  +4 
  Likely 
  +2
  
   4 •
  Open Ended Questions
  Open ended questions cannot be answered with a yes or a no. 
  These are things like what people are talking about, the subjects of 
  books, that is motivating people and so on.
  In these rules we use game icons. Game icons are deliberately vague 
  pictures which can be interpreted in many ways. When you start 
  mixing the context of your game and the icons they should suggest 
  a meaning. The same icon could present very different meanings in 
  different situations.
  A typical result may look something like this:
  The first image has associations with me to the musical Little Shop 
  of Horrors in which an alien that looks like a plant feeds on blood 
  and then eventually people. So that says to me Alien, Plant but also 
  Venus Fly Trap.
  The second says present, gift, package, bow, box.
  Imagine you character is spying on some gang thugs, you try and 
  catch a snippet of their conversation and you get those two icons. 
  My reaction is one is telling the other that they need to “plant the 
  package”, I can also imagine the first one handing over a small 
  envelope. I instantly have a conspiracy with something being 
  planted on an innocent person to frame them. It could be drugs it 
  could be forged documents.
  In a different situation is could have been read as alien and gift 
  and the then we have a back story about aliens gifting advanced 
  technology but what are their motivations?
  The icons are arranged in a HUD or clock. You should use two 
  counters and when you ask a question you move the counter 
  around the number of places equal to a d6 roll. You roll 1d6 for 
  each counter and move one clockwise and one counter clockwise.
  Use can use one clock per session or one clock per die. You can 
  also vary the clocks so the same icons do not repeat too often. It is 
  your choice as to which icon goes first. If the icons above had been 
  the other way around then my gut instinct would be for Package + 
  Plant or “packaging plant” which sounds like some kind of factory 
  unit and could have been the scene of a meeting or the cover for an 
  operation.
  Record Keeping
  With so much of the action taking place purely in your imagination 
  you are not going to be able to retain everything. 
  Most solo players keep a journal. How detailed it is depends entirely 
  on your personal style. Some players imagine the scene, roll a few 
  oracle questions to clarify a few things and then write out the entire 
  scene as if it were a chapter of a book. You can even use these rules 
  as a writing tool to write a book, one where you have no idea of the 
  cast of characters, the plot or the ending before you get there.
  My journal is much more terse than that. I keep use little more than 
  bullet points of the key facts, the questions I asked and the answers. 
  It serves purely as a memory jogger for my own personal use and I 
  do not share them as Actual Plays [AP], which is quite popular in 
  solo gaming communities. How much or how little you write or 
  type up is completely personal, but some form of journal is highly 
  recommended. 
  In addition to your journal a few simple lists are recommended.
  These are:
  •
  Scene List: A note about the setting, the NPCs present and any
  significant actions. It helps to know if you trashed the bar that
  the next time you visit how the NPCs may react or the physical
  state of the place. The entry and exit points tell you point of the
  scene, what you wanted to achieve and how the scene ended.
  •
  NPC List: I tend to even keep a note of nameless NPCs but only
  as a comment such as a few bystanders, For NPCs I give a name
  if any but also Class, Abilities and Skills. At the very least I leave
  room to fill them in as my story evolves. I also include where I
  met them. There is often a lot of cross over between the Scene
  and NPC list.
  •
  Loose Ends: A list of all the potential side missions or quests
  that you don’t follow up. This is the list that you will review
  once a session to see if there is a deep scenario happening in
  the world that you have only caught glimpses of. The individual
  entries need only be short but once you review and link them.
  I suggest using highlighter pens to make the linked threads
  obvious and then writing out the new Scenario in this list.
  Clocks
  These rules introduce clocks into your SWN game. A clock is 
  a simple circle divided into four, six or eight segments. What it 
  respresents is action or events happening off camera. What they 
  are good for is keeping track of things happening in your game 
  world during the session and between sessions.
  Take for example the security forces at a starport. There is plenty 
  of security cameras and patrols. It doesn’t take a lot to alet them as 
  they are on the ball. Your character wants to sneak into ‘Autorised 
  Personel Only’ areas. You quickly sketch out a four segment clock. 
  For each stealth failure you block out a segment. That could be a 
  skill check but it could also be having to take down a member of 
  staff. When you have counted down the clock security are alerted.
  You can have as many clocks running down as you like. It could 
  a locked personal communicator and every fail attempt to hack it 
  moves it one step further towards it destroying itself. It could the 
  progress that the villain is making to effect their escape. 
  
   •  5
  You can choose to count down a clock by events or by time.  You 
  can think of them as discrete events such as:
  1. Loading the passengers
  2. Securing the hatches
  3. Requesting clearance for take off
  4. Opening the shuttle bay doors
  5. Starting engines
  6. Exiting the space station
  This six segment clock started when the bad guys got to their 
  shuttle and when it counted down they made their escape. That 
  could have taken place over two or more game sessions.
  You may not know how they escaped, you don’t have a clear plan 
  but that doesn’t matter you can just have a clock and when it counts 
  down they are gone. You could assume you will catch up but block 
  out a segement every time you roll a complication that slows you 
  down or blocks your progress.
  Some clocks may take months to count down if they are measuring 
  amassing an army or mounting an invasion. 
  If you have gone through your loose ends list and identified a 
  potential parallel plot. You can then draw a clock as part of the 
  plot outline. Next time oyou want to use that plot line for a 
  complication it could advance the clock
   
   
  A two segment clock
   
  Four segment clock
   
   
      Six segments
   
                      Eight segments
  
   6 •
  NPC Conversations
  There are types of NPC conversations. The first is when they are 
  in full conversation and you can hear exactly what is being said. 
  The other is when someone is using comms or you cannot hear the 
  words but you could read the body language.
  In some situations both may apply where you can clearly hear only 
  half the conversation.
  To deal with the content you will use the open question rules, you 
  roll one die twice and move the counters around the icon clocks. 
  This gives you a prompt for the topic of conversation.
  To define the characters attitudes in the conversation then this 
  table gives a position.
  Roll
  Speaker 1
  Speaker 2
  Roll
  1
  Strongly Disagrees 
  with…
  Strongly agrees with …
  1
  2
  Disagrees with…
  Agrees with…
  2
  3
  Has news
  Is shocked by…
  3
  4
  Needs to know…
  Doesn’t care
  4
  5
  Agrees with…
  Disagrees with…
  5
  6
  Strongly agrees with… Strongly disagrees with…
  6
  
   •  7
  NPC List
  Game:
  Name
  Location
  Class, Abilities & Skills
  Notes
  
   8 •
  Scene List
  Game:
  Location
  Action
  NPCs
  Entrance/Exit
  
   •  9
  Loose End List
  Game:
  Who?
  What?
  Where?
  Connections?
  
   10 •
  
   •  11
  
   12 •
  
   •  13
  
   14 •
  
   •  15
  
   16 •
  
  • 17
  
   18 •
  
  • 19
  
   20 •
  Jesse 
  Str 11 
  +0 
  Dex 12, +0 
  Con 14,  +1 
  Int 10,  +0 
  Wiz 9,  +0 
  Cha 7  
  -1
  HP 
  6 
  Base Attack 0
  Physical  14 
  Mental  15 
  Evasion 15
  Background Academic 
  Class  
  Expert
  25 credits
  Skills
  Know 
  +2   Connect 
  0 
  Admin 0     Fix   
  +1 
  Connect 0     Shoot 
  0
  Specialist
  Once per scene reroll a fail skill 
  check
  +1/level on non combat/psychic 
  skills
  Focus Tinker Maintenance x2 
  ship/gear mods cost half
  Laser Pistol (1d6 damage), 2 type 
  A cells, Armored Undersuit (AC 
  13), Backpack (TL0), Monoblade 
  knife (1d6 damage), Compad, 
  Climbing harness  Metatool, 
  Low-light goggles  
  Sample Scene
  Below is a very basic PC “Jesse” and the opening scene of a solo 
  game. I start with a bit of world building using the Oracle. With 
  just those few details and a basic character I start my story. The 
  example covers just a single scene but uses the oracle, open 
  questions and clocks.
  Is this a High Tech world? 50/50 (9) Yes, but... it is cut off from other 
  worlds.
  Are Psychics common? 50/50 (9) Yes, but... they are state controlled and 
  used for law enforcement
  Does everyone live in the cities? 50/50 (6) No, because the cities are 
  controlled by the psychic security forces.1
  Opening scene is a roof top chase, Jesse is chasing down an 
  informer. When trying to ‘borrow’ books from a city school, for a 
  village school.
  What sort of person is the informer? 
  I can see a volcano and money. He is a hot-headed and volatile mercenary. 
  I add him to the NPC list and will fill in more details as they emerge.2
  Jesse races across the roof in pursuit leaping from roof to roof. 
  (Mercenary Save 15 roll 15, makes the leap – Jesse Save 15 roll 19, 
  all is good.) 
  I roll 3d6 to see find the Dex of the mercenary and it comes up 10. 
  Jesse is a 12 so I make Jesse a little faster in a dead sprint.
  Gaining a little as they race across the second roof top another 
  parapet looms they have to leap this one as well. Merc Save 15, 
  rolled 14, failed, Jesse Save 15, Roll 20. The mercenary barely fails 
  to make the jump and lands on the far ledge scrabbling for a hand 
  grip. Jesse lands, rolls and comes up with pistol drawn.
  “Why did you sell me out?” Jesse asks flicking the pistol off safety.
  We know the mercenary’s personality but now we want to why, his 
  motivation. The result is:
  Film and a book. Our mercenary explains that he had no choice they 
  [security] already had Jesse on film.
  I can now imagine both sides of this conversation.
  The mercenary [Levi Ward] finally confesses that he has been 
  leading Jesse into a Security trap.
  Are the security forces moving in [likely] Roll 8 + 2 = 10 Yes! Jesse rolls 
  Notice (6 – 1 for unskilled) Failed, Jesse doesn’t know they are coming. I 
  decide that Security have sent a standard Soldier Bot to collect Jesse. I start 
  a four sector Clock, when it runs down the bot arrives. I expect this to be a 
  fast clock.
  Feeling that Jesse has learned everything that Levi knows he gets 
  hauled up to the roof.
  <tick>�
  “Well, if this is a trap then you are in it with me. Let us get off this 
  roof and somewhere less exposed.”
  “Right, let’s get down amongst people, too much collateral damage 
  to take us out on the street.” Levi concurs.
  Is there a fire escape down to the street? Likely +2 5+2 = 7 A Complication 
  The bot arrives ahead of schedule and opens fire!�
  The Bot opens fire with a Rocket Launcher from several hundred 
  meters out. It rolls a 4 to hit and the fire escape is destroyed into a 
  tangle of twisted metal and that corner of the building collapses in 
  as rubble is blasted down into the street.
  The two characters open fire. The normal combat rules apply. The 
  Soldier bot is armed with its rocket launcher for ranged attack 
  batons for close quarters. The characters both have laser pistols 
  which start at extreme range (-2 to hit). The Bot has AC15 and HP 
  8. What follows is a barrage of laser fire in which no one can hit at
  the longer ranges until the bot is right on top of them when both 
  characters manage to hit and the bot crashes to the rooftop at their 
  feet�.
  Scanning the skyline for more bots Jesse says, “Let’s get off this 
  roof.”
  “Good plan!”
  At this point Levi, with surprise tries to shove Jesse off the roof. 
  He had already confessed to selling Jesse out to the authorities and 
  assisting in killing the soldier bot would not help his case. Rolling 
  the opposed check Jesse is thrown from the roof. They are 1d6 
  storeys up (roll of 3 or 9m to fall). Luckily for Jesse the falling 
  
  • 21
  damage is minimal (5HP damage and Jesse had 6HP leaving Jesse 
  with 1HP). Jesse staggers up and behind cover.
  Are more security forces come? Roll 9 + 2 for likely equals 11 and a Yes 
  answer. Sirens wail as they approach.
  Jesse looks around (Does Jesse know this street? Roll Connect, 
  Success, Yes.) Limping away Jesse knows someone who will offer 
  shelter. 
  End of Scene.
  By the end of playing this scene I know a lot more about the world 
  I am adventuring in. It has overtones of Fahrenheit 451. The cities 
  are controlled by a psychic elite and normal, or non-psychic people 
  are considered second class citizens. Like thousands of people Jesse 
  has migrated out of the cities in a bid to live a free life. Jesse is a 
  school teacher by day but at night Jesse enters the city looking for 
  books and objects with a cultural significance to steal away with. At 
  the start of the game Jesse has obviously overstepped the mark once 
  too often and the security forces are on Jesses case.
  On my record sheets I have added one NPC and one scene. I have 
  also added a loose end as although Jesse needs to survive tonight’s 
  raid in the city Jesse also wants to exact revenge on Levi.
  There is still one clock running and that will signify when the 
  security forces hit the ground. That clock will continue into the 
  next scene.
  (Endnotes)
  1	
  	These	first	few	questions	are	all	I	needed	to	start	to	
  imagine	the	world.	At	the	start	of	this	game	I	had	done	no	prep,	
  there	was	no	universe.
  2	
  	Initially,	it	was	just	Levi’s	personality	type	that	was	
  meant	to	be	mercenary	but	it	actually	fitted	quite	well.	When	
  fleshing	Levi’s	details	after	the	session	I	can	roll	using	the	random	
  NPC	rules	from	SWN	but	just	keep	the	details	that	are	already	
  pinned	down.
  3	
  	Every	time	I	think	the	characters	are	‘wasting	time’	I	am	
  going	to	count	down	the	clock.
  4	
  	Although	I	had	started	a	four	segment	clock	it	was	my	
  gut	instinct	that	the	security	trap	would	be	the	most	obvious	
  complication.	As	the	attack	misses	then	destroying	the	fire	
  escape	fulfils	the	idea	that	a	complication	renders	the	intended	
  question	unnecessary.	In	this	case	there	was	a	fire	escape	but	
  it	is	no	more.	I	will	keep	the	four	segment	clock	running	as	the	
  robot	is	still	at	a	long	range.
  5	
  	I	used	the	standard	SWN	combat	rules	which	involved	a	
  lot	of	failing	to	hit	initially	until	the	range	shortened.	Each	round	
  I	counted	down	the	clock.	They	killed	the	bot	in	the	round	that	it	
  would	have	arrived	and	entered	melee.	At	the	end	of	the	combat	
  I	discard	the	Security	bot’s	clock.
  
   22 •
  Solo Play Hints and Tips
  •
  The golden rule is do not ask too many questions. Ask a
  question and possibly a follow up if you are still not sure but then 
  just start to improvise.
  •
  Do not ask game breaking questions. Don’t ask if you wake up
  and find you are ruler of the galaxy or a plasma cannon at the end 
  of the bed. If you need these things just add them to your character 
  sheet. It is your game, no one will ever know!
  •
  Playing as a solo hero in a game designed for parties of 6-8
  heroes is hard. You may want to start at 2nd to 3rd level. This also 
  adds more scope for skipping back into your characters past to play 
  flashbacks.
  •
  Don’t start your first solo play sat in a cantina. Take a leaf from
  Hollywood and start right in the thick of the action, a roof top fight 
  against soldier bots, in a runaway shuttle careering towards a crowd 
  of people or surrounded by aliens at a crash site. You know the sort 
  of adventure you want to have. Start there and start in the thick of 
  it.
  •
  The first time you solo play it will probably be slow and stilted
  as you don’t know the rules or what to expect. Don’t worry, this 
  is normal and the more you play the faster and more fluid it all 
  becomes.
  •
  It is useful to have a stock of pre-generated NPCs. When you
  are learning a new game, it is useful to make a few characters to 
  try and get an idea for how the rules work. Keep those characters 
  and use them when you need an NPC. That saves breaking up your 
  game to create an NPC at a crucial moment.
  •
  Narrative Description is your friend. Have you ever had a
  character in a barroom brawl and asked the GM if there a bottle 
  or chair at the table you can throw? Or maybe you asked is the 
  chandelier secured by a rope, when you wanted to swing across the 
  hall. In solo play the answer to all these questions is yes. It is your 
  story, your adventure, you are star and director. The props will 
  always be in the right place.
  •
  Fail Forward. If something goes wrong and the adventure
  would end or there is no way out ask the oracle. In the movies 
  the hero faces seemingly impossible situations all the time and 
  somehow gets out of them. You are the hero, it is OK to save 
  yourself.
  •
  The questions you ask should be the ones best for the game
  and not what is best for your character.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Stars Without Number/Stars Without Number Supplements/Stars Without Number Solo Adventures.pdf