Mechanics of foretelling the future

[Fifth Element]

Foretelling the future is easy in fiction, since the author can just write the ending to match the prediction (or vice-versa). It's not so easy in RPGs, but seers and oracles are not exactly unheard of in the fantasy genre.

In D&D it usually boils down to spells like augury and divination, which give a character a % chance to get a "correct" reading, the specifics of which is left up to the DM, who of course usually has a general idea of what's likely to happen. And I suppose if something completely unforeseen happens, he can always claim that the casting was a failure...

Another option would be to give the player a discretionary bonus or whatever to be applied when desired, to help ensure the prediction comes true.

Are the any games/systems that handle this type of thing particularly well? Badly?

 

[john112364]

I've had some luck with this in the past by making a vague cryptic prophecy that sort of kind of points the PCs in he general direction. Then you sit back and let the players brainstorm and try to decipher the clues. Then I just plan the adventure around what they come up with plus a few added twists of course. Players are endlessly creative when it comes to this sort of thing. And the players feel like they figured it out and willingly work to fulfill the prophecy. Win all around.

 

[haakon1]

I've had some success with real cheap huckster fortune telling. Having the NPC in character try to do a "cold reading" on the PC and make stuff up if the PC goes along with it.

"I sense you are on a journey, but you are not sure how it ends."

"You have left someone behind, haven't you? But you feel somehow that the path you are on will lead you back to them."

"Someone important in your life has a name that starts with "J".
(For a campaign world where "John" is a common name.)

Disconcerting for the players because they know the DM is behind the fortune teller, so they think it must mean something . . . except the skeptics, but even they can't be quite sure. Evil DM mode, deactivate.

 

[LostSoul]

Burning Wheel has a novel mechanic, though I can't recall the specifics at the moment.

Vornheim has a mechanic for fortune telling - I think it's something like this: Roll on a table for the prophecy (which is sign + outcome); when the players notice the sign - that is, when those events occur in the game - they can declare that the prophecy is coming true. I think the DM can do the same. I'm pretty sure it's on the Playing D&D With Porn Stars blog.

(Actually I think that's similar to what BW does.)

 

[prosfilaes]

The Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path has a harrow reading at the start. It seems big on using it to give players information about what to expect; at least in an adventure path, the DM has a solid gauge as to what type of things will come.

 

[Ahnehnois]

There's a lot that one can say that sounds portentious but leaves an enormous amount of room for interpretation. Doing vague fortunes is a useful skill to have.

That being said, there's also the Oracle approach (as in oracle from the Matrix), where you know your players and you tell them something that you think will get them to go in the direction you want them to.

Mechanically I haven't seen any system that really did anything special. Bonuses to dice rolls and rerolls are fine. I like the idea of playing around with initiative order in combat (such that the seer acts out of turn, as if he readied an action even though he didn't), but I haven't seen that implemented in published form.

 

[phoamslinger]

something I did that worked very well was to put the party into a situation that was of particular note, and then a few game sessions later the party came across a prophecy which laid out what had just happened in a way that only made sense because they had seen the context of it and could start trying to pull more references out of the rest.

"a legendary skald storming the gates of Hel in the name of friendship"

the NPC monk was assassinated and the cleric was blocked from raising him (it's bad when the goddess of the underworld takes a personal interest). so the gnome bard (with 57 ranks in perform after items, etc) decided on his own to go down and find out why. the campaign was moving to an epic close, so I could reference major encounters I knew were coming up and things like a "turning of the moon" to let them know they had 30 days before Ragnarokk, so quit screwing around.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

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[Li Shenron]

Foretelling the future is easy in fiction, since the author can just write the ending to match the prediction (or vice-versa). It's not so easy in RPGs, but seers and oracles are not exactly unheard of in the fantasy genre.

In D&D it usually boils down to spells like augury and divination, which give a character a % chance to get a "correct" reading, the specifics of which is left up to the DM, who of course usually has a general idea of what's likely to happen. And I suppose if something completely unforeseen happens, he can always claim that the casting was a failure...

Another option would be to give the player a discretionary bonus or whatever to be applied when desired, to help ensure the prediction comes true.

Are the any games/systems that handle this type of thing particularly well? Badly?

I don't know any system dealing with this, but what kind of "mechanics" could help? I would think that it is mostly a matter of the DM winging it to make the foretelling plausible and later match the events with it.

I would also keep in mind a couple of ideas that might be handy:

- keep the form hazy: this is exactly what all real-world foretellers do, they give predictions so vague that almost certainly will happen ("you will have problems but eventually you'll overcome them"), although I wouldn't keep them that vague because RPG players are generally smart enough... Thus I'd make true predictions on what's ahead in the campaign, but retain a certain level of vagueness so that the details can change easily

- sprinkle with precise details: this sound the opposite of the previous point, but I mean that you can add a couple of precise but nearly irrelevant details to the foretelling, something that you'll have no trouble make it happen (e.g. which weapon the BBEG will use against you, what weather will be when the final battle starts etc.)

- what they discover will happen: try if you can to really make it really happen, what they are told, even if it requires some heavy winging; in the extreme case (e.g. foretelling a PC's death) try to build up tension and then really kill the PC (but ask the player if he's ok with it), not by cheating tho just with fairly regular in-game events but focus some hard challenge against him, but if he makes it alive by playing it very well then start a spin-off story that he's managed to cheat death and this opens up new campaign scenarios

NOTE: this is an extreme example that probably won't ever happen (unless perhaps the PC specifically asks to know how he will die) just to say that if you do use foretelling in your game, then you must make it mean something and be ready to pay the cost. Otherwise just don't use it, if you are not willing to make it work... But sometimes it might happen to have a player challenging the DM like that, and my suggestion is ask him (both in-character and OoC) if he understands the risks, and then make the foretelling happen, otherwise the whole foretelling thing becomes some sort of joke...

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

I always liked the way that the Ravenloft module dealt with this and made it meaningful. The Tarot-ish reading the PCs get from the Vistani seer actually sets key elements of the plot. This also made the module a bit more re-playable

But I agree, generally fortune telling needs to be kept general and vague.. altho it is a great feeling to pull off a specific foreshadowing!