PDA

View Full Version : Prophecies in adventures



BerronBrightaxe
2011-11-28, 02:35 PM
I wonder if there are any DM's out there who use warnings of TPK's prophecies in their campains. I enjoy working with them, especially if it takes 10+ lvls before they become 'relevant'. And my players seem to have fun figuring out what is going to happen :smallbiggrin:

I try to make them myselves, but anything begged/stole/borrowed and then altered to fit my needs will work too. But it turns out to be hard to find decent prophecies. So if you got them, plz post them, so others (including me) can use and abuse them. I can use a few more good ones.

An example of what I've made up (copied and altered from 'Sword of Truth' (Terry Goodkind))

On the red moon will come the firestorm. The ones who had been bound to the Weapons of Old will watch as all the people die. If they do nothing, then they, and all those they love will die in its heat, for no blade, forged of steel or conjured of sorcery can, touch this foe. To quench the inferno, they must seek the solution in the Second Moon. Lightning will find them on that path, for the one of the Blood and bound to the Song…


And another (the last verse is copied and adepted from 'the Wheel of Time' (Robert Jordan)):

The night was darkened
The moons' light faded
The stars fell from the sky
And the heavenly bodies were shaken.

Born from a battle
Fought between the Sisters
Grown in chaos and destruction
Now leading the Four.

Twice he blessed our lives
for we bathe in his Divine presence
and been granted the powers of his champions
Living a life in His Service.

Now we ride on the winds of the rising storm
We run to the sounds of thunder
We dance among the lightning bolts
And tear the world asunder.

Yitzi
2011-11-28, 04:44 PM
In a campaign I've got planned, there are several relevant prophecies, but only one is actually written (as that's the only one I have planned for the PC's to encounter.) It's quite campaign-specific, so a bit of background is appropriate:
Long ago, an evil kingdom known as the Dakh discovered some extremely powerful, extremely nasty, dark magic. They were destroyed (the individual leading the force who destroyed them and got their territory as a reward became known as "The Conquerer" due to the act, and his descendant in the "current day" is quite feared by the Drow), but some time later a blackguard rediscovered some of their magic. He used it, among other things, to create a creature known as the Black Golem, put his own mind into it, and give it the "invulnerable except to one thing" package; its non-invulnerability is "the breath of a humanoid". Normally that's not such a strong one, as it makes the creature vulnerable to any spell that acts directly (i.e. allows spell resistance) and has a verbal component (since words are essentially breath). But this is a golem, and so immune to magic.

The actual prophecy (which is actually only the last 2 paragraphs of a 3-paragraph message):
"In a time to come/ the Black Golem shall meet its destiny
My second self/ shall prove his worth
Before the ancient bastion/he shall show his greatness
Paragon of wickedness/Offense to the very land.
The enemy of the pure/avenger of the Dakh
He shall slay the scion of the conquerer/and destroy the slayer of drow
Though the earth rage, he shall yet stand/ Though the sky weep fire, he shall yet stand
Only by a breath may he be destroyed/ But of what good breath to harm a golem?"


Actually, I suspect I'd be pretty good at writing prophecies, if you enjoy the "highly poetic, confusing until you see it but obvious after" style, so if you want to send me a PM with the information you want made into a prophecy, you can do so. (Results and satisfaction not guaranteed.)

Stealing prophecies from elsewhere is probably not a good idea if you can help it, as they work best when made specifically for the event in question.

BerronBrightaxe
2011-11-29, 06:29 AM
Prophecies work the best when you have the complete adventure :smallbiggrin:

In my campain I intend to use several of them. Some they will find along the way. Some they will receive from me. When a player turns in their history, I write them a short story, which will turn out to be significant somewhere in the adventure.

Some of the prophecies will be about the same part of the adventure, some will be about different parts, some will turn out not to be relevant in my adventure. It will be up to my players to figure it out.

If anyone wants to know about the setup or anything like that PM me. I don't know if any of my players are on these boards and for them to find out.. :smalleek:


In a campaign I've got planned, there are several relevant prophecies, but only one is actually written (as that's the only one I have planned for the PC's to encounter.)

why do you make that choice? Why have prophecies if you don't share them with your players? I enjoy to see them worry about they think is coming...


Stealing prophecies from elsewhere is probably not a good idea if you can help it, as they work best when made specifically for the event in question.

several reasons tbh...
When I beg/steal/borrow a prophecy, I alter them to fit my needs, I don't use the original (which obviously doesn't work).
Secondly, I like using English for them, the language 'fits'. But English is my third language. I like to think, I'm doing pretty good with it, but prophecies are at their best when you use 'colorful' words/phrases. So using another and altering them will keep some of their strength/depth, which I doubt I could do better.

Yitzi
2011-11-29, 11:11 AM
why do you make that choice? Why have prophecies if you don't share them with your players? I enjoy to see them worry about they think is coming...

Maybe I was unclear; I didn't actually write the prophecies that I'm not going to be providing, but their existence is quite relevant, as it gives the good guys a clear advantage (one artifact actually has an ability put into it specifically for the purpose in which it'll be used at the end of the campaign, millenia after the artifact's creation.)


When I beg/steal/borrow a prophecy, I alter them to fit my needs, I don't use the original (which obviously doesn't work).

Obviously. It still doesn't work as well as naturally.


Secondly, I like using English for them, the language 'fits'. But English is my third language. I like to think, I'm doing pretty good with it, but prophecies are at their best when you use 'colorful' words/phrases. So using another and altering them will keep some of their strength/depth, which I doubt I could do better.

Ah, that makes sense. English is my first language, so of course that helps be able to write the proper style in it. I'm wondering, though, what are your first two languages?

Also, if the prophecy was originally in another language (not common), you might want to try writing it in your first language and translating, since that way you get the "translated" feel which you probably want anyway.

BerronBrightaxe
2011-11-29, 12:09 PM
Maybe I was unclear; I didn't actually write the prophecies that I'm not going to be providing, but their existence is quite relevant, as it gives the good guys a clear advantage (one artifact actually has an ability put into it specifically for the purpose in which it'll be used at the end of the campaign, millenia after the artifact's creation.)

makes sense. :smallbiggrin:
Personally, I still would prefer to write them down, especially when your players are able to cast spell 'Augury' and other more powerfull versions, and start asking their god questions about choices about the artifect or about the background.




Ah, that makes sense. English is my first language, so of course that helps be able to write the proper style in it. I'm wondering, though, what are your first two languages?

Dutch and Frisian (which is local language), I was raised bi-langual.



Also, if the prophecy was originally in another language (not common), you might want to try writing it in your first language and translating, since that way you get the "translated" feel which you probably want anyway.

I get your point, but there is a challenge too.. The guys I play with have about the same skill of English I'm having, so when I start to translating stuff from Dutch to English, it is very natural to them and not the 'weirdness' you have for a completly other language.

But I get your point, and I'm using google-translate to do that, so I'll translate it to another language (like Thai/Vietnamese) and translate it back.
My players are going to encounter something what I'll call 'Old Draconic' (they'll have to figure out what it really is) and the only way they can read it is with 'comprehend languages'. I'll also will give clues that this language is hard to translate, because it can have multiple meanings. So a second 'comprehend languages' will give slight differences compared to the first and maybe a third...

Mafic
2011-11-29, 12:37 PM
I use more of a week to week type of structure where there is an overall story arch but it can be difficult to decide what sort of prophecies to give them. That said I have a player who is quite into tarot cards and things of that nature so she decided to do so in game. Having little to no experience with that stuff I pretty much give her 3 bits of a vague prophecy based on how she rolled. Now that the party has some clearly defined goals I plan to give her clues to that goal.

Pyromancer999
2011-11-29, 12:43 PM
I used a prophecy for my first session. I gave each of the players one line of the prophecy, which their characters would wake up holding after a wild night of drinking. Then, the party gathered round by finding the others characters through seeing if the others had a prophecy line. Once the prophecy was completed, it served to give a preview of the first adventure.

Yitzi
2011-11-29, 02:47 PM
I get your point, but there is a challenge too.. The guys I play with have about the same skill of English I'm having, so when I start to translating stuff from Dutch to English, it is very natural to them and not the 'weirdness' you have for a completly other language.

But I get your point, and I'm using google-translate to do that, so I'll translate it to another language (like Thai/Vietnamese) and translate it back.
My players are going to encounter something what I'll call 'Old Draconic' (they'll have to figure out what it really is) and the only way they can read it is with 'comprehend languages'. I'll also will give clues that this language is hard to translate, because it can have multiple meanings. So a second 'comprehend languages' will give slight differences compared to the first and maybe a third...

Google translate isn't really good enough to give it a "from translation" feel, though...if your players also have English as a foreign language, then writing it in English should give that "other language" feel.