Fate Oracle

An Oracle to be used with games powered by Fate

• (CC) 2019 Fábio Emílio Costa
  • Using the Random Grid by John Reiher

The Fate Oracle can be used as a GM Simulator for GM Less or Solo games using Fate as rules. Also, it is totally compatible with Powered by Fate games.

The Oracle

Everytime you need a non-obvious answer by something happening in the scenario, you'll use the Oracle Grid. To use it, roll 4dF: for each + go a column to the right, for each - a line down.

	0	+	++	+++	++++
0	No, but	Yes, but	Yes	Yes, and	Yes, and
-	No,but	No, but	Yes, but	Yes
--	No	No, but	No, but
---	No, and	No
----	No, and

Explaining the results for this Oracle:

• No, and: the event don't happen or the target doesn't get into. Besides, an additional complication happens (new enemies, some informants notices the character);
• No: the event don't happen or the target doesn't get into.
• No, but: the event don't happen or the target doesn't get into. However, some small nice thing happens to help the character a little (maybe you find a place to rest for some hours, or some enemy let some juicy piece of intel fall)
• Yes, but: the event happens or the target get into. However something happens to complicate things (some vital detail gets without noticing, or a small group of traitors put the characters on some problem in the future)
• Yes: the event happens or the target get into, no strings attached.
• Yes, and: the event happens or the target get into. Also, some additional thing happens to help even the caharacters (nearby villages supports the characters, a forgotten backdoor provides access for some extra juicy intel)

Exempla: Colton is playing a solo Masters of Umdaar game with his character, a defected lieutenant of the Masters search for some answers about his family disappearance called Delaware. He goes to the Fartime Monastery, a "neutral ground" in the conflict between the Lands of Light and the Masters, although with a slight favor for the Lands of Light as it is itself one. He is search for an answer for the question of "The Fartime Monastery has any information about my family?" As your Approaches can't be used to solve this straight away, and normally weould be a question for a GM to answer, he rolls against the Oracle for a 0-0+. Going a line down and a column right (thanks the non-black dice), he get the result No, but. This can means that the Monastery itself has no registry about his father or family or something else, but there's someone that can have this answer. He found about a sage called Nicodemus that has can have some answers and so he join him on some adventures as bodyguard for those answers.

Fate Points and the Oracle

A very important thing: the Fate Point Economy still works here. In fact, the Oracle receive at each scene 1 FP that can be used to modify rolls for the NPCs.

Also, Fate Pointes can be used either by the player and the Oracle to change the results on the Oracle, maximizing or minimizing the results of the roll. However, as all Fate Point uses, this need to be done via Aspects. This includes also Hostile Invokes to put mechanic pushbacks for the character: those points are gather back in the end of the scene, as by default on Fate.

• Maximize a result implies on turn a non-positive die into a +
• Minimize a result implies on turn a non-negative die into a -{: .fate_font}.
• You can use a Fate Point to maximize or minimize one of the 4dFs on the way you want. You still need to obey all the normal conditions to use a Fate Point, and you can't use more the 2 Fate Points to do this, and you need to do this on the same direction.
• However, if either the Character and the Oracle uses FPs for this, they can go in opposite directions. You then Maximize or Minimize only the difference.

Example: on a certain moment of the scenario, Delaware, now Nicodemus bodyguard, fought a small troop of Subordinates of the Masters of Umdaar. He then choose to see if those troops has clues about his father's whereabout. Rolling the dics, he goes for a 0++0, a Yes. But this is not enough: he invokes his Motivation I want to find my family whereabouts and changes one of the blank dice as an third +, for a Yes, and. He discover that his father for some reason deserted the Master their family worked for and now is a Persona Non Grata to be killed on sight. And he also discovered the last place anyone has saw his fater was the region where he and Nicodemus are going around, Greendale, home of the Usato Rabbit-people

Another Example: on Greendale, Colton choose to look if The Usato are straight away hostile against Delaware. Rolling the Oracle, he get a 00-0, a No, but result, but he thinks that life is so easy for Delaware and he Hostile Invokes Delaware's Personal Aspect of Former part of a Master of Umdaar Troop, maximizing the - die for a +, turning the Oracle result into a Yes, But. This way he says that the rabbit-men focus all the time on his clothes, parts of the armor and uniform from his past as part of the troops of the Masters, and got worried, some of them ready to kick his butt with their big feet. However, Nicodemus is the alibi for Delawere not being kicked out the Inn they will be at night in Greendale's entrance. However some messengers were sent with news about him to the Sages in the Dale.

Overcoming the Oracle with Narrative Details

At any time a call for the Oracle sounds at large, the player can pay a Fate Point to Invoke an Aspect to use a Narrative Detail to Overcome the Oracle, as by default on Fate Points usage.

Exempla: Delaware is annoyed of being looked with suspect by the Usato, and he get into another situation where The Usato suspects on Delaware. Instead of going for the Oracle, he pays a Fate Point to use his Motivation I want to find my family whereabouts to explain he had deserted the Masters to find his family. When he says about his father, many of the Usato let their ears flops over their eyes into a sad stance and one of their Sage, Shuto-Hay, shows Delaware a armor bodypiece similar the one he uses himself, blackened on laser shots. He recognized some of the symbols and Glyphs, showing his father's name. Shuto-Hay goes with him to a small garden with a small mount of earth and a sword craved in the ground. Delaware then discovers his father died protecting the Usato, after getting against an order about destroying Greendale. "Your father always said he wanted you to live your own life…", says Shuto-Hay, and Delawere choose to go for live his pown life… As soon he blasts the Master's head with his Energy Rifle.

Compelling Aspects

De same way, a character can Comple one of his Aspects to add a complication on a history without need to go for an Oracle roll, as by default Fate rules. Remember: a Compel changes what the scene is all about.

Example: after a series of events, Delaware got, with lots of toil, to get in the summit of the Four Moons Observatory, a big structury from the time of the Demiurges that, if the legends were right, had cut the ground, splitting Greendale from the Necrotic Marsh and forming the Amber Wall. While they are trying to uncover the way to use this power to protect Greendale against the Masters' invasion, he notice that one of the leaders of the troops of the Masters' are, surprise surprise, his own brother, Dakota. This is because he Compelled his Motivation I want to find my family whereabouts, and this make him goes Mad as a Turbo-Hare. He got the Laconian Wings that he recovered into the Observatory some time before, and looking eithe Nicodemus and the Usato that helped them, Tessa Lin, said: "You can go for the Troops, but his leader is MINE AND MINE ONLY!" mad as rabid badger, jumping and engaging the Laconian Wings to make a small pair of wings to feather fall against the troops… Giving a nice target for Dakota hit and try to kill his own brother.

Evolution Milestones

The Fate Oracle don't change how a character Milestones works. As a "house rule", you can consider a Milestone happens every time a No, and or Yes, and occurs. The Milestone level should be decided according the events that happened until them in the scenario

Example: after a very dear fight, Delaware ends killing his own brother Dakota… Feeling sad and lost, Delawate think if this is the end? The Oracle rolls for a -0--, a No, and result. Looking around, he saw that Dakota isn't the only of the Henchmen the Masters sent against Greendale: in fact, they are getting inside easily, the powerful Cannons of the Observatory being not enough to bleed the vast troops of the Masters. He looks to his own arm and noticed the tattoo that branded him as part of the Master's servants was burnt by one of Dakota's attacks (Stress he suffered). He tooks his brother's Energy Blade and looks for the dead bloodshot eyes from his brother: now he needs to avenge the lost of his family. This is part of a Minor Milestone where he changes his Motivation.

Also, if you want, when you get a Yes, and or No, and, you can start a Final Scene for the scenario, resulting on a Major Milestone, if it is conquered.

Example: while opening his way through the troops to get back to the Observatory, he asked himself ifg the Master he and his family served where there. E goses for the Oracle and gets a 0+0+ (Yes) but he wants blood and is seeing red! He pays a Fate Point to use his recently-changed Motivation of avenge the lost of his family for Maximize one of the blank dice for a +, turning the result into a Yes, and. Delaware ses there's not only Rhangtor, The Eldest, the Master they served, is there, but is fighting openly in the frontline. So he choose it's time to finish the Living Mystery, and for so, he runs trying to get to the summit of the Observatory. Everything right, he'll be there in time to alert Nicodemus and Tessa Lin about Rhangtor, and they'll have a rare chance to finish one of the Mastes of Umdaar once and for all… Into a Major Milestone for all of them!

Options - Getting new grids

The Oracle is based on the Fate Random Grid created by John Reiher. You can use this to simulate situations like thoses from Hexcrawl like games or other random tables.

Below you can see a "blank" grtid with the chances of a result.

	0	+	++	+++	++++
0	A	C	B	C	A
-	C	D	D	C
--	B	D	B
---	C	C
----	A

Result	Chances	Percent
A	1 in 81	1.2
B	4 in 81	4.9
C	6 in 81	7.4
D	12 in 81	14.8

When creating a random grid, the most "inside" the result is, the biggest is the chance of the result, and the most "outside" the result is, the smallest is the chance of that result. Take this into account when setting the chances of an enemy or something else happens. If you want to fill only some slots, fill the remaining ones with Nothing or Roll again.

Example: Ralph is playing a small, fluffy family friendly setting based on The Get Along Gang where he thinks its interesting that the character (and his gang) find some Magical Costumes that provides powers and quirks based on the costume theme, as its a Halloween game. So, he creates a Random Costume Grid to be used when he and the Gang find some old chests. The result is the Grid below.

	0	+	++	+++	++++
0	Fairy Godmoder	Little Red Hood	Ballerina	Big Bad Wolf	Merlin
-	Cinderella	Clown	Pirate	Animal (rolar em outra tabela)
--	Peter Pan	Hunter	Nutcracker
---	Snow White	The Beast
----	Alice in Wonderland

Look that there's a biggest chance to find a Clown, Pirate or Hunter costume, than to get an Alice, Merlin or Fairy Godmodther one. The last one probabler are rarer because can provide some special powers the other can't for the those who don them.

A very special thing is, you can Chain Grids like it's done on Master of Umdaar to randomly create some bioforms like the Mutabeasts, Centaurs and Beast-men, by setting the Pieces, like a Gryphon (Mutabeast = Eagle + Lion) or a Scorpotaur (Centaur with Scorpion body instead one of horse)

Example: In the grid shown before, a result +++- becomes an animal costume, that asks to roll on another grid for the kind of, like this one:

	0	+	++	+++	++++
0	Elephant	Beaver	Donkey	Sheep	Lion
-	Rabbit	Mouse	Cat	Monkey
--	Hamster	Dog	Horse
---	Lamb	Hare
----	Wolf