Reading the Omen - Part 2
An irregular update on the progress of the Omen Gamemaster Emulator
Call for volunteers
Are you a solo RPG-player and wanting to try a new gamemaster emulator? I’m still looking for testplayers!
If you like to help, reach out here via Substack or join our Discord: https://discord.gg/hwDRFxApNp
You can also help me a lot by giving Omen GME some more exposure.
By sharing this article, for example!
What is Omen GME?
Omen GME is a ‘gamemaster emulator’, an engine that allows you to play any TTRPG solo. It uses one D10 mechanic with 4 states (you know them! Fail, success, critical fail, and critical success) throughout the emulator.
Omen GME inverts the idea of the ‘expected scene.’: Omen is a scene generator that will present challenging scenes to you, the player. No expectations required. More Omen tools can be added on top of that: oracles, tables, an NPC-generator…
Players are given a unique role in the creation of the story by means of tokens. Spending tokens can trigger a rare ‘critical success’ but beware - tokens are hard to come by, and playing with few tokens means the world will be harder to play in!
100 subscribers
I’m thrilled to announce that 100 people have subscribed to my Substack. At the time I was just searching for a platform to share longer pieces about my solo play of the Pendragon RPG. Each session report attracted new subscribers, even though I didn’t enjoy writing them.
I noticed that new subscribers appeared more quickly when I shared bits of my progress on Omen GME. However, I’m still not sure exactly what the solo TTRPG niche would like to read or see. I guess I’ll find out in 2026!
So I disappeared for almost a month for my annual ‘digital’ detox. I spend my time working on Omen GME though, with a lot of playtesting and trying—and ultimately deleting—new additions.
Status of Omen GME
The PDF has been updated from the V1 to V1.1 and V1.2
The V1.2 PDF has now been downloaded 154 times. Not bad. In case you missed the button - Download here: https://the-random-refuge.itch.io/omengmeNew subscribers joined the Substack, and a couple of brave adventurers dared to join the Discord. I received mainly typo fixes so far and a few suggestions for mechanical changes.
Updates include:
Corrected typos, restructured and rewrote some parts, plus clarifications. Some language was changed so as to avoid using the same word for different things.
A new story thread oracle was added: how do new elements connect to your story?
Mentioned noteworthy, supplemental tables from other creators.
The levels of the ‘intensity die’ now have a name.
Silver Nightingale finished the illustrations I commissioned for the interior art.
Additional modes: Well… based on the Exploration mode, I went down the rabbit hole of dungeon generation. It became my main focus the past weeks, and I wanted to add this to the ‘additional modes’. My first efforts were utterly unsatisfying.
I then started removing more and more of the Omen GME procedures and adding bits from the excellent Just One Torch, by OneTorch, and it’s a nice tool now, but I realize it doesn’t belong under the banner of Omen GME. Partly because of the shared DNA with Just One Torch. But also because the mechanics don’t have much in common with Omen GME. It has become something of itself. I’ll just share the tool here, I think.
instructional videos: another sigh… I had the idea of making a step-by-step series to instruct test players how to run Omen GME. But I don’t enjoy making videos; I tried twice and disliked the result. However, I believe it’s the only way to lower the bar for newcomers?
Not all my work has been ineffective. I’ve finalized the Sceneless mode and the Adventure Module mode! I now also have ideas to add some options to it to support longer campaigns.
I now want to prioritize the layout—and in the end, the publication of Omen GME without its additional modes. So those experiments will have to wait for a bit.
Next steps
Putting the standard mode into lay-out
creating all art for the title pages and the cover art
Continue building the small development team and connecting with solo TTRPG players.
Creating step-by-step video’s to get new players up to speed quickly
Once that’s done, reigniting the design process for the additional modes and variants
Recommended additional tables
Omen GME adds ‘themes’ to some scenes. I’ve outlined a way to flesh out these scenes in the PDF.
Another way is to use your favorite tables in addition to Omen’s mechanic. Nothing wrong with that! Some games even have rules to create locations of encounters on the fly, so you can use those.
But if you’re looking for something specific, I’ve added a list of recommended tables that work well with Omen’s ‘themes’ to the PDF—they are geared to solo play and rather generic.
If you need an NPC:
UNE, The Universal NPC Emulator Revised by Zach Best
If you need a Location:
Ironsworn by Shawn Tomkin (Tomkin Press)
Mythic Bastionland by Chris Mcdowall (Bastion Press)
If you need a Dungeon
Ultimate One Page RPG Toolkit By Silver Nightingale
Old School Revival Solo Role-Playing Guide by Bryan Larkin (Arcane Sword Press)
Ironsworn Delve by Shawn Tomkin (Tomkin Press)
Just One Torch by OneTorch Games
Cairn 2e by Yochai Gal
If you need a wilderness
Sandbox Generator by Atelier Clandestin
D30 sandbox companion. by Richard J. LeBlanc Jr. (Big Dragon games)
This is what I have so far, I imagine there are a few tables missing. Anything you would include? Let me know!
Have you downloaded the PDF of even given Omen GME a try? I would love to know!
Downloaded the PDF and skimmed through like a third or so. Also joined the discord. I’ve basically no experience with the scene type of play, and I don’t have the mental capacity at the moment to dive into how it works, but overall it looked like a solid foundation at least.
Sounds interesting. I SHALL FOLLOW THIS WITH INTEREST