[Twilight Time] Prophecies: readers' tips

[Heather Grove]

March 24, 2003 - Prophecies: readers' tips
Volume 4, Issue 4

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Good morning!

I'm sorry there's been so little activity on the site. The only 
article since the last zine issue is a review of the "Lord of the 
Rings" RPG core book; we haven't updated the links; and I know there 
are some emails I haven't replied to. I've been sick for a while, so 
I've been getting a lot of rest. Soon things will be back on track.

The link to the review can be found after the zine article as usual. 
You'll note that this one is posted on the Epinions.com website. When 
I write RPG reviews for Epinions, I tend to aim them at a less 
RPG-literate crowd, because plenty of the people who read reviews 
there don't even know what an RPG is, much less how it works. If you 
have any interest in posting reviews on Epinions, the best suggestion 
I have for you is to *read* some reviews for a little while before you 
post any. It's important to have a good idea of what's expected from a 
site before you dive in.

For the April issue (next month) we have something special: an article 
by Richard Dansky, former "Wraith: the Oblivion" developer and 
long-time freelancer. I hope you enjoy it. In the meantime, here are 
the reader responses on prophecies that I promised!

Have a great day,
Heather



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Prophecies--Readers' Tips

We got enough readers' tips on prophecies that I decided to run them 
all as their own issue. These range from general tips and hints to 
variations on the theme to specific implementations. Thanks for the 
great ideas, guys!

Additional resources on prophecies:

Our original "Prophecies Amuck!" zine article:
http://two.pairlist.net/pipermail/twilighttime/2003/000016.html

Our "Prophecy Confusions" article:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/Essays/prophecyconf.html

Roleplaying Tips Weekly Issue #165: Prophetic Double-Whammy: Special 
Two Article Issue About Using Prophesies In Your Games
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/issue165.asp



 From James O'Rance:

Hooray, another issue!  :)

It's also quite well timed; one of my players just created a PC with 
the "Prophetic" Merit last week! Looks like I'll have plenty of ways 
to use that.

I guess that prophecies as a plot device an be used in almost any way 
that the game master wants. However, that's not how they've been used 
in my games in the past. Some game systems (such as Wraith) give PCs 
the ability to draw upon prophetic powers when the player wants them, 
not when the game master chooses to use them.

One of my players had a character who couldn't perform such 
traditional PC activities such as combat and theft, but she could see 
the future in half a dozen different ways. Naturally I was called upon 
to give her prophecies and visions quite a bit.

I had some idea of where the campaign was going, but hadn't really 
decided on all the details, and I wanted to be flexible enough to 
change if the PCs went somewhere weird or introduced unexpected 
complications. So I had to create prophecies, foretellings and visions 
that were worth the player's effort to have.

Visions are often supposed to be symbolic, but people who claim to 
have had visions in real life also get an emotional experience that's 
hard to convey as a game master. Symbolism can work well, but it can 
also be a huge pain. No-one wants to go to the effort of having a 
vision if all they get is a bunch of symbols that could be interpreted 
to mean anything.

So whenever possible I steer away from dream or occult symbology and 
use more straightforward, effective stuff. If the Smiling Lord is 
going to be responsible for a terrible war, let's show him shrouded in 
nuclear winter, with blood running from his hands. That's symbolic 
(and it doesn't reveal specifics of plot), but it's also very clear.

The kind of stuff that you get in the German Expressionist plays seem 
to work, if you can bring yourself to watch one...

Another approach that is sometimes easier is to make the prophecy 
quite plain and easy to understand. There's no interpretation required 
- the prophecy states in no uncertain terms that such-and-such is 
going to happen. Of course, if you do this then you need to make sure 
that such-and-such -does- indeed happen, and in such a way that you 
aren't stepping on PC free will.

Perhaps surprisingly, this is easy to do. The trick is to describe 
events that the PCs would not have been able to change anyway. Don't 
show the confrontation that the PCs will be involved in, but one of 
the events leading up to it instead. The PCs should be able to figure 
out what's coming next, and prepare for it.

For example, the PCs might find a Medieval manuscript that prophecies 
that the Evil Occultist will be visited by an evil from out of 
spacetime, and bind it to his service. There's no way for the PCs to 
prevent this - it might have already happened! - but knowing this 
gives them an advantage.

Or a psychic PC might receive a vision of a villain loading a firearm 
while wearing a heavy green coat. Indeed, the villain plans to 
assassinate a presidential candidate. If the PC later sees him at a 
political rally wearing that green coat, she has a chance to act.

Visions can also involve things that are happening -right now-. This 
kind of premonition has been reported in the real world. Unless the 
PCs have some kind of funky teleporting or time travel powers there's 
no way that they can prevent the event seen in the vision. However, 
they can still act on this knowledge.

Looking forward to next month's issue!



[Thoughts from the editor: the idea of having visions of things that 
have already happened (or which are already happening) is a great way 
to sidestep the "but what if it doesn't turn out that way in game?" 
problem associated with prophecy. In fact, there are a whole lot of 
great suggestions here for any game. Thanks James!]



 From Stephen (Marshdrifter):

 > #6. The PCs could use prophecy for fun and
 > prophet--err, profit.

Here's a variation for this one. Have the NPC tell the PCs he's going 
to arrange a prophecy they can benefit from with little work, but have 
the prophecy actually turn out to be true (mysterious bad guy *does* 
actually exist). At the least, the PCs will be  wondering how the NPC 
arranged all the appropriate  signs. At the most, the PCs will realize 
the NPC was actually right.

 > #8. Different versions of a prophecy exist.
 >
 > The PCs get their hands on an old prophecy about a
 > coming catastrophe.

Or, how about the PCs stumble across a prophecy that has already been 
fulfilled but, because it's so ambiguous, might still apply to those 
who didn't know. For example, they could find a prophecy predicting 
the downfall of the previous regime, but the party  interprets it as 
being for the current one.

As for the PC glow thing. I usually have some larger world event 
happening around them. They could easily take part in these events, 
but even if they don't,  they'll start to feel the effects at least 
eventually. The amount of involvement is up to them. I usually  let 
the players pick the campaign plot through their actions, although 
this can make it hard to the PCs to  stick together on any one plan.



 From Chuck:

 > But what if it's just a cryptic menu for the next holiday feast, or a
 > recipe for cinnamon rolls?

No fair!  I'm hungry!

Seriously, I love this idea.  Picture this.  Unlike many cinnamon roll 
recipes, maybe this one is ultra-precise (637 sand grains of pure 
Kandian summer cane sugar, etc.) and contains a couple of minor 
enhancements (1 finger's width of dragon's bane, badly wilted but not 
desiccated).  Alchemists and sages (or their agents, i.e. the players) 
are scouring the countryside for this recipe, because only this 
precise combination of sugar, spice, and dough will properly transform 
the subject into a true dragon-mage.  Any small miscalculation will 
result in hideous and painful deformation.  A large mishap would be 
suicide.

After braving the Pit of Sardoom, the players recover the formula. 
They scour the kingdom for ingredients.  Their enemies gather at the 
sage's tower.  Their only hope of survival is to complete the formula. 
  As the guards buy time, they sit down with their patron to make the 
transformative rolls and then they all realize to their horror - the 
width of whose finger?  Sand from where: fine beach sand or coarse 
desert sand?  I can hear the screams!

Too bad I'm running a Star Trek campaign...  I'll have to think of 
some way to make this work...

Anyway, I thought I'd share my amusement.



 From John Smith:

Greetings,

I am a GM and love you newsletter. This one was very good and gave me 
may Idea (Feel sorry for my PCs =)  )  One thing you did not have I 
think was ... The Greatly powered Being or something that seams to 
know what will happen. I had a Large Crystal it's name was Seer , It 
could answer questions , only a few could talk with it , but I seamed 
to guide others well it seamed to never be wrong <It had many "Agents" 
that help what it said come true > sorry getting a bit off point... 
in number 6# you had a few motivations for the NPC helper , you did 
not include they could be working for some greater power... < the 
Crystal Seer and it's Agents > Thank you for your time


What's Your Opinion?:

Comments on this issue's topic? Suggestions? Tips? Special topic 
requests? Drop me a line at (heather at burningvoid.com). If I pass any 
of your suggestions on (either through the newsletter or the RPG 
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don't want me to use your name and/or comments!

The next issue is coming in just a few weeks--mid April.

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SITE UPDATE:

Burning Void Roleplaying Resources:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/roleplaying/resources.html

This month's sole link is a review of the "Lord of the Rings 
Roleplaying Game Core Book," posted on Epinions:
http://www.epinions.com/content_92011859588
For those of you who haven't read the note on the reviews page, the 
reviews that I post on Epinions tend to be aimed at a somewhat less 
RPG-literate crowd, so there's a bit more explaining than usual.

Burning Void Writers' Resources:
http://www.burningvoid.com/users/heather/writing/resources.html


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