Ironland Oracles

Overview

Action: dice: [[Oracle 1 - Action#^action|^action]]

Theme: dice: [[Oracle 2 - Theme#^theme|^theme]]

Region: dice: [[Oracle 3 - Region#^region|^region]]

Location: dice: [[Oracle 4 - Location#^location|^location]]

Coastal Waters Location: dice: [[Oracle 5 - Coastal Waters Location#^location|^location]]

Location Descriptor: dice: [[Oracle 6 - Location Descriptor#^descriptor|^descriptor]]

Settlement Name: dice: [[Oracle 7 - Settlement Name#^settlementname|^settlementname]]

Quick Settlement Name: dice: [[Oracle 8 - Quick Settlement Name Generator#^prefix|^prefix]] dice: [[Oracle 8 - Quick Settlement Name Generator#^suffix|^suffix]]

Settlement Trouble: dice: [[Oracle 9 - Settlement Trouble#^trouble|^trouble]]

Character Role: dice: [[Oracle 10 - Character Role#^role|^role]]

Character Goal: dice: [[Oracle 11 - Character Goal#^goal|^goal]]

Character Descriptor: dice: [[Oracle 12 - Character Descriptor#^descriptor|^descriptor]]

Ironlander Name: dice: [[Oracle 13 - Ironlander Names#^name|^name]]

Elf Name: dice: [[Oracle 14 - Elf Names#^elfname|^elfname]]

Giant Name: dice: [[Oracle 15 - Other Names#^giant|^giant]]

Varou Name: dice: [[Oracle 15 - Other Names#^varou|^varou]]

Trolls Name: dice: [[Oracle 15 - Other Names#^troll|^troll]]

Combat action: dice: [[Oracle 16 - Combat Action#^action|^action]]

Mystic Backlash: dice: [[Oracle 17 - Mystic Backlash#^backlash|^backlash]]

Major Plot Twist: dice: [[Oracle 18 - Major Plot Twist#^twist|^twist]]

Challenge Rank: dice: [[Oracle 19 - Challenge Rank#^cr|^cr]]

How to use the Tables

• Ask your question and choose an appropriate oracle table.
• Roll your oracle dice (page 22) to generate a number from 1-100.
• Check your roll against the table. The oracle will reveal its answer.
• Consider the answer in the context of your question and the current situation. Is the result a good fit? Does it trigger a spark of inspiration?
• If the answer is difficult to interpret for your situation, you can check up or down one row from your original answer, or reverse the digits (37=73).
• If you’ve got your answer, you’re all set! Play to see what happens. If you want further detail, you can talk it out with other players or roll on another oracle table.
• If you’re having trouble, you can roll again, try a different table, or just fall back to your instincts and decide what happens next.

When Answers Lead to More Questions

You aren’t limited to a single roll on a single oracle table when asking a question. If you like, you can let the result from one table inform your interpretation of the result on another. You can even refer back to the Ask the Oracle table (page 107) to clarify an answer with a yes/no question.

However, use caution with this technique. Too many questions and too many rolls makes your session feel like an exercise in randomness. Lead with your instincts. Leverage the oracles to fill in the gaps. Keep it moving.

You use the Character Goal oracle (page 182) to identify an NPC’s primary motivation. The answer is “Avenge a wrong.” You don’t have any immediate ideas on how this relates to this character, so you roll on the Theme table (page 175) for more detail. “Land”, the oracle answers. You decide the NPC’s home and farm was taken by a rival. This is the wrong she seeks to put right.

Oracle Tables and Matches

Matches don’t have special significance when rolling on these oracle tables. They can be ignored.

Intro to the Oracles

This chapter includes a variety of oracle tables. Use them in whatever way best fits your preferences and the needs of your story, but here’s some basic recommendations.

Oracle 1 - Action

Action: dice: [[Oracle 1 - Action#^action|^action]]

Use this table to inspire a discovery, event, character goal, or situation. A roll on this table can be combined with a Theme (see below) to provide an action and a subject. Then, interpret the result based on the context of the question and your current situation.

Oracle 2 - Theme

Theme: dice: [[Oracle 2 - Theme#^theme|^theme]]

As with the Action oracle, this is an interpretative table which you can use to answer questions or generate new situations. Combined, the Action and Theme tables provide creative prompts suitable for most situations and questions. In fact, with some creative interpretations, it’s entirely possible to play with only these two tables.

You are sworn to recover a stolen artifact which is sacred to a community. In your search for suspects, you make a Gather Information move as you question the village leader.

You roll a strong hit, but where do the clues lead? You Ask the Oracle and, roll against the Action and Theme tables. “Leave mysticism,” the oracle responds.

Interpreting this result, you decide the likely suspect is a traveling mystic who left shortly before the theft was discovered.

Oracle 3 - Region

Region: dice: [[Oracle 3 - Region#^region|^region]]

Use this oracle when you want to randomly select a region with the Ironlands.

Oracle 4 - Location

Location: dice: [[Oracle 4 - Location#^location|^location]]

Use this oracle when traveling to generate a point-of-interest or to answer a question about a place where someone or something can be found.

Your roll may generate a place or geographical feature which doesn’t make sense in the context of your current location. If so, follow the guidelines on page 167 to generate a different result (look at adjacent rows or reverse the digits). Or, play off the original answer to introduce something unexpected.

You ask, “Where was the traveling mystic bound?”

The Location oracle answers, “River.” You decide she traveled south from the village aboard a merchant’s boat.

Oracle 5 - Coastal Waters Location

Coastal Waters Location: dice: [[Oracle 5 - Coastal Waters Location#^location|^location]]

Use this oracle to identify a point-of-interest or destination when you are traveling by ship or boat along the coast.

Oracle 6 - Location Descriptor

Location Descriptor: dice: [[Oracle 6 - Location Descriptor#^descriptor|^descriptor]]

Use this oracle to add detail to the Location or Coastal Waters Location oracles, or by itself to generate a description of a location. Roll more than once for extra detail.

You travel downriver on a hired boat. You want to add a bit of color to your journey, so you use the Location Description oracle for some detail. It answers, “Inaccessible.”

You interpret this result to mean segments of the river are shallow, forcing the crew to portage the boat along the shore. This sounds like a perfect opportunity for an ambush…

Oracle 7 - Settlement Name

Settlement Name: dice: [[Oracle 7 - Settlement Name#^settlementname|^settlementname]]

Ask this oracle for a thematic name for an Ironlander settlement. Roll once for the category, and again to pick from the examples. Alternatively, just roll for the category and come up with a name that fits the theme. In either case, consider the meaning of the name and how it impacts this settlement’s surroundings, livelihood, culture, or history. This may, in turn, inspire narrative hooks and opportunities for new quests.

Oracle 8 - Quick Settlement Name Generator

Quick Settlement Name: dice: [[Oracle 8 - Quick Settlement Name Generator#^prefix|^prefix]] dice: [[Oracle 8 - Quick Settlement Name Generator#^suffix|^suffix]]

Use this oracle as a simpler alternative for settlement names. Roll once for the prefix, and once for the suffix. If the combination doesn’t quite work, look at adjacent rows or reverse the digits. Once you have your answer, envision what feature, person, or event inspired the name.

Oracle 9 - Settlement Trouble

Settlement Trouble: dice: [[Oracle 9 - Settlement Trouble#^trouble|^trouble]]

Use this table to generate a narrative hook for a problem faced by a community. This oracle can help inspire a vow for your character or serve as a prompt for a trouble you encounter when you interact with a settlement. Use other oracles, as appropriate, to help flesh out the answer.

You were attacked by raiders while portaging the boat around some shallows, and barely managed to fend off the attack. Now, you seek out healing, rest, and supplies at a nearby village.

First, you generate a name for the settlement. You use the Ironlander Settlement Name oracle and roll “A historical event” as the category, and “Firstmeet” from the examples. You decide this village sits on the site of the first encounter between elves and humans.

You roll a match on your Sojourn move, and opt to trigger a new narrative hook. You ask, “What’s the problem here?” and roll on the Settlement Trouble table.

The oracle answers, “Debt comes due.”

Perhaps the band of raiders you encountered along the river have also been making demands of Firstmeet to supply them with food. The raiders are due to return soon, but the villagers won’t survive the winter without the meager provisions they have left. You Swear an Iron Vow to help them.

Oracle 10 - Character Role

Character Role: dice: [[Oracle 10 - Character Role#^role|^role]]

Use this oracle to define the background for a character, or to generate a random encounter.

Oracle 11 - Character Goal

Character Goal: dice: [[Oracle 11 - Character Goal#^goal|^goal]]

Use this oracle to define the primary motivation of an NPC or a faction. It can also be used to kick-off a personal quest for your own character.

Oracle 12 - Character Descriptor

Character Descriptor: dice: [[Oracle 12 - Character Descriptor#^descriptor|^descriptor]]

Use this oracle to help flesh out a character’s personality or physical characteristics. Roll more than once to add additional detail. You can combine all three character oracles (10, 11 and 12), plus a roll on an appropriate name table, to build an outline of an NPC.

Oracle 13 - Ironlander Names

Ironlander Name: dice: [[Oracle 13 - Ironlander Names#^name|^name]]

Use this oracle to quickly generate a name for an Ironlander character. Roll on either table. Surnames are not used in the Ironlands and names are often gender-neutral. If a name doesn’t fit a character, or you don’t like the sound of it, look up or down a row for your answer, or reverse the digits.

You can also ignore this oracle and use your own preferred naming conventions or name generators for your Ironland characters.

What do the villagers know of the raider chief? You roll on the character oracles to learn more about him. The Role oracle tells you his background is a “Leader.” The Character Goal oracle tells you his mission is to “Fulfill a duty.” Then, you ask what makes him distinctive by rolling on the Descriptor table, and the oracle answers, “Obsessed.”

Putting these pieces together, you decide the bandit chief was once the leader of a settlement to the north. He and his allies were exiled following a coup. He is sworn to protect his followers and see them through their life as outcasts, but he is also obsessed with someday reclaiming his home. 

With a few rolls and a bit of interpretation, you’ve added a fair bit of texture and pathos to what might otherwise be a stock villain character. You roll for his name and the oracle tells you, “Khulan.”

Oracle 14 - Elf Names

Elf Name: dice: [[Oracle 14 - Elf Names#^elfname|^elfname]]

Use this oracle to generate a name for an elf character. To learn more about elves in the Ironlands, see page 142.

Oracle 15 - Other Names

Giant Name: dice: [[Oracle 15 - Other Names#^giant|^giant]] Varou Name: dice: [[Oracle 15 - Other Names#^varou|^varou]] Trolls Name: dice: [[Oracle 15 - Other Names#^troll|^troll]]

Use this oracle for other firstborn characters, including giants, varou, and trolls.

Oracle 16 - Combat Action

Combat action: dice: [[Oracle 16 - Combat Action#^action|^action]]

Use this oracle to help inspire an action for an NPC in combat. When you’re not sure what your foe does next, particularly when they have initiative, roll on this table and interpret the result as appropriate to your foe and the situation.

You face off against Khulan, the leader of the raiding party. You charge at him, sword swinging. He easily parries the blow, and takes initiative. What does he do next? You roll on the Combat Action table. The oracle answers, “Provoke a reckless response.”

Khulan laughs at you, slamming the haft of his axe against his shield. “C’mon!” he yells, goading you into a hasty attack. “You can do better than that.” 

You Face Danger to try to resist the taunt…

Oracle 17 - Mystic Backlash

Mystic Backlash: dice: [[Oracle 17 - Mystic Backlash#^backlash|^backlash]]

Those who deal in magic may find themselves at the mercy of chaos. This oracle can supplement, or replace, the Pay the Price table (page 105) when resolving the outcome of a failed ritual or other negative interaction with mystical forces. Use this oracle in dramatic moments, or to introduce an unexpected outcome triggered by a match.

Oracle 18 - Major Plot Twist

Major Plot Twist: dice: [[Oracle 18 - Major Plot Twist#^twist|^twist]]

Use this oracle to introduce a narrative surprise or revelation. Most of these results have a negative implication, and can be used to resolve a match at a crucial moment in your story. In particular, this is an effective tool to leverage when you make a move with matched 10’s on the challenge dice. 

This oracle offers similar results to the Pay the Price table (page 105), but is more focused on dramatic events tied to your current quests.

Khulan has been defeated, but you roll a miss with matched 10’s when you Fulfill Your Vow. Perhaps these raiders are part of a larger force? The village is still in danger, leaving your vow unfulfilled. To get some more detail and resolve the match, you check the Major Plot Twist oracle. The oracle responds, “Two seemingly unrelated situations are shown to be connected.” 

Based on that answer, you decide to connect this encounter to your original quest. The raider and his clan all bear branded scars in the shape of the stolen relic. What does it mean? Play to find out.

Oracle 19 - Challenge Rank

Challenge Rank: dice: [[Oracle 19 - Challenge Rank#^cr|^cr]]

Use this oracle when you want to randomly determine the challenge rank of a quest, journey, or fight.