The Book

Part I teaches the engine; Part II (the 25 Lens Tables) and the Palettes live under The Tables and Palettes; the run-mode Reference Layer is the version you keep open while you play.

Lens

Solo Roleplaying Engine

Contents

Parts, chapters, and their sections in reading order. Pagination is set at layout; this page shows the shape of the book.

Front Matter

• Title & Credits
• Introduction — what Lens is: the GM’s “as you walk out, you notice…”, made mechanical

Part I — Playing Lens

1. Lens — what it is, and the games it sits over

• Lens works with the games you already play — modules, standalone solo/co-op games, generative play, GM emulators
• You and your Host RPG
• Conventions of Solo Play
• Using this book
• Your First Session — the character, the character’s eyes, the Golden Question
• Ignition — Sam ignites Kael: the Hook, the Problem, the Opening Beat

2. Ignition — starting the fiction from nothing or from a page

• How much of this do you need? · Where the fiction comes from
• The Hook · Problem Setup · The Opening Beat
• Back to Kael — and the latch

3. The First Roll — the core loop

• The Golden Question · The Table · Follow or Resist
• When the RPG Takes Over
• The Eight Conflict Tags

4. Pressure — the clock that turns rolls into consequence

• The Pressure Clock — the clock you already have; sizing; naming; lighter games
• Filling a Pressure Clock — what Lens rolls do; Lens and your RPG
• When a Clock Fills: Commit — the Commit procedure; Turn Spark; ending mid-clock
• The Pressure Card — the Card as oracle; the Failed Belief example
• World Pressure — advancing it; Confrontation
• Kael Plays Pressure · Troubleshooting · Summary

5. Perspective — whose eyes you roll

• Three Ways to Turn the Lens — read for perspective; shape behaviour through Commit; give the perspective its own clock
• The Rule Generalises
• Widening — the city, the council, the wood, the guild, the crypt, another player character
• When Not to Turn the Lens

6. Where to Start — modes of play

• Modules & Scenarios · Solo Mode for Traditional RPGs · Solo-First Games
• Dungeon Crawls — including The Room Speaks (optional mode)
• Hex Crawls · Mythic-Class Oracle Play · System & RPG Only

7. Lens Tables — reading results and when to roll

• Reading Lens Results — whose perspective; forming a Lens statement; the d6; the Impulse; making results concrete; common mistakes; what Lens does not do; the d10/d12 toggle; impressions; the Recovery Rule
• When Lens Fires
• The five clusters and When to Use Which Table — Reading the Situation · Engaging People · Finding Things Out · Executing · Forces and Consequences
• Lens and Combat — an extended worked example

Part II — The Lens Tables (L1–L25)

The reference layer — 25 tables, grouped by cluster. Each table: intent · stem · the d10/d12 results grid · First Sign (d6) · a worked example.

Reading the Situation

• L1 Suspicion · L2 Crossing a Threshold · L3 Read the Situation · L4 Disposition

Engaging People

• L5 Make the Move · L6 Terms and Leverage · L7 Masks and Status · L8 Under Watch · L9 Performance and Spectacle

Finding Things Out

• L10 Hidden Knowledge · L11 Hidden Mechanism · L12 Hidden Presence and Place

Executing

• L13 Operation and Infiltration · L14 The Shape of Violence · L15 Pursuit and Chases · L16 Temptation and the Offer · L17 Sustained Deception · L18 The Waiting Game

Forces and Consequences

• L19 Exposure and Hazard · L20 Invoke Power · L21 The Unseen Moves · L22 Escalation and Fallout · L23 Journeys and Travel · L24 Rest and Recovery · L25 Bonds and Trust

Part III — Palettes

Genre reading layers: what a Lens result looks like in your genre. Each palette — the Dial, Tag Reconciliation, the Translation Guide (L1–L25), and Specialist Notes.

• Heroic Fantasy
• Cosmic Horror
• Science Fiction
• Cyberpunk
• Crime & Modern

More online — free downloads: the Norse Mythic register, subgenre palettes (gothic & personal horror, gnostic/transgressive horror, sword‑&‑sorcery, post‑apocalyptic, and more), and system‑specific palettes where licensing allows.

Appendices

• A — The Reference Layer: the whole loop on a few pages, for use at the table
• B — Yes/No & Detail Prompts: the oracle and detail tools Lens leans on
• Glossary