Doom & Dread

A story engine for running solo RPGs

Playing RPGs solo requires some gamified creativity. This can feel like an oxymoron — it’s rules-based spontaneity; but, it’s just the thing that helps drive a story in a way that I can discover as I play. And for me, discovery is the true essence of solo roleplaying — it’s the “play-n’see” principle that brings me back to the table. 

Now, there are tons of tools for this: random encounters, card decks, oracles, spark tables — the now ubiquitous hazard die. I love the hazard die. It’s a simple way to track time, resources, and inflict misery on players. That’s where it shines: with multiple players. Playing solo, though, means my character encounters monsters very often (which is grueling) or loses a torch every 10 minutes (which is ridiculous). So I needed to modify The hazard die to make the solo gamer’s experience better. 

I stitched together a few systems I like to make one that drives the narrative openly and amplifies danger systemically. 

I call it Doom and Dread.

The Doom Dice

Doom Dice are d6s with half their faces marked and half blank. I made mine from wooden cubes that I shaped, painted, and lacquered.

My well-worn Doom Dice

If you’re not into making dice, you can also use d6s, distinguishing between the low side and high side. 

Each Doom Die represents roughly 15 minutes of action in and around a hazardous environment. This can include actions like exploring, battling, recovering, investigating, or something else that’s active and consequential.

The Dread Die

The Dread Die is dynamic — that means it shrinks and grows throughout the session. It begins the session as a d4 and can grow to a d12. 

The Dread Die represents the growing terror and lack of control my characters have over their circumstances. When the characters encounter something dreadful, I grow the die. When they encounter something safe or helpful, I shrink it.  

The Dread Die pairs with a d6 Oracle die, and I roll them together whenever asking the Oracle questions. 

• If the Oracle Die is higher, the answer is “yes”

• If the dice are equal, the answer is “yes, but”

• If the Dread Die is higher, the answer is “no.” 

• For double 1s, the answer is “extreme no”

• For double 6s, the answer is “extreme yes”

Here’s how the math breaks down:

• d4 Dread: Yes= 59% No = 41%

• d6 Dread: Yes= 41% No = 59%

• d8 Dread: Yes= 31% No = 69%

• d10 Dread: Yes= 25% No = 75%

• d12 Dread: Yes= 20% No = 80%

Likely and unlikely outcomes

If I think the odds are likely or unlikely, I roll 2d6 Oracle Dice and keep the highest or lowest, respectively. 

A little luck

Finally, I start the session with 3 Luck Dice (d6s) that I can add to any Oracle result when I really need something to happen. Once they’re gone, though, they’re gone for good. 

How Doom and Dread work together

Whenever my characters move from one scene to another, I add a Doom Die to the pool. You can see this in my solo journal, noted as (+1 Doom Die). 

When there are 4 Doom Dice in the pool, I roll them all, count up the marked faces, and check the result on the Doom Table (this is OSR, remember: low goes; high dies).

Doom Table

• 0: Boon — I find something of value or someone helpful. The Dread Die shrinks one size.

• 1: Dread — The oppressive dread is starting to eat my characters’ nerves. They lose something they can’t afford to lose right now. The Dread Die grows one size.

• 2: Upheaval — The environment shifts, affecting the characters’ sensory perception. The light dies, cold rushes in, gas strangles the air, something echoes in the distance.

• 3: Encounter — Roll a d20 random encounter. 

• 4: Disaster — Whatever the current situation is just got way worse: maggots in the rations, screams in the dark, hail and lightning, spawning monsters, and new devilry.

After reading the results, I reset the pool to 0 Doom, and shrink or grow the Dread Die as indicated. 

One cycle represents roughly an hour for the characters. After one cycle, I reset and re-roll any lasting effects like torches, spells, or weather.

After two cycles, I usually end the session as this tends to resolve most scenes.

Doom & Dread is a blend of many systems (including my own Dreadnought). It’s yours to use, hack, and develop into something better and more suited for your game.

Forth, and fear no darkness.