Prophecy

VISIONS OF WHAT WILL COME ●Cost: NoneDice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Fate knows what story it is telling, and it is in the power of Prophets, even the most minor, to have a hint of Fate’s plan. At the beginning of a Story, a Scion with this Boon will have a prophetic vision in a manner appropriate to their Pantheon, maybe spontaneous, or for some Pantheons, requiring to be provoked through ritual.

This Vision they gain will be a cryptic explanation of an important event that will come to pass during the Story, the Storyteller providing it, and encouraged to be cryptic with their language describing the event.

When a Scion with this Boon believes they are in the moment they foresaw, they may tell the Storyteller. If their assumption is reasonable (though not necessarily correct) the Scion may double the value of their Legendary Deed if they use it during this event. If they have already spent their Legendary Deed that session, they gain a new one, though it is a normal, unimproved one.

Using a Legendary Deed in a Scene they foresaw immediately causes the Scion to gain a new, or a Dot of an existing Fate that is appropriate for the situation as they are touched by Fate.

Prophecy Two

INDOMITABLE WILL OF FATE ●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: Prophecy + Occult

Type: Reflexive

Fate is mighty, spelling the doom for Pantheons, or individuals. The Pantheons withdrew from the world to avoid being compelled by their Fates as often, Fate dictating the will of all those who have Ichor in their veins.

A Scion with this Boon may activate it on a target to increase the penalty for refusing to follow one’s Fate by one Success, only able to be resisted by a contested Magic + Prophecy + Mystery roll (Only using the Automatic Successes from their highest Ranked Fate Purview) roll. All beings who don’t have one of these Purviews may not resist it.

This Boon lasts the remainder of the Story, and the Storyteller should find ways to show the consequences caused by this Boon if the target spends most of the Story off screen.

PALM READER ●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

The Fates of others are complicated things, woven loosely, a simple guiding tug for Heroes, to a tight noose around the necks of Gods and Goddesses, leading them like a leash. With this Boon, a Scion gains two abilities. Firstly, they may perform a ritual relevant to their Pantheon to learn all of the Fates that another willing being has, and their current penalties for not following them. Secondly, they may use this Boon to see what the close future holds for them.

By using this Boon in its second manor, they give their target a temporary Fate, ranked equal to their Prophecy Rank (Capping at 5), randomly drawn from the following list.

Prophecy Three

FATE’S FAVORED ●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Prophets, speaker of Fate’s will, tend to be her favorites, more often than not following its will, but more importantly, informing others of its will. In gratitude, in a moment of great need, it allows one of its mouthpieces to wield their Fate with greater of ease.

Mechanically, once per Story, the Scion may channel both a Fate and a Virtue on the same roll.

THE WILL OF FATE ●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Fate’s will is complex, a plan with an unknown end, but, a Prophet may ask their Patron for guidance. When presented with a situation where there are multiple choices, a Scion may activate this Boon to become aware of what choice Fate would prefer to come to pass, the Scion can reduce the penalty another being (or themselves) are suffering for violating a Fate by one tier. (One Success at Hero, two at Demigod, three at God). If the Scion has the Magic Purview, they may instead reduce their Ire by three. If they have no penalties to reduce, they may instead gain +2 Successes to their next use of Prophecy.

Prophecy Four

MOUTH OF FATE ●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: Prophecy + Occult

Type: Reflexive

Now a Demigod, the Prophet can ask Fate to give them a vision of another beings future. This vision is cryptic, and confusing as all prophecies tend to be, but gives the target a new Dot of an existing Fate, or a new one, with the vision hinting towards an upcoming situation where the Fate will be relevant.

Being who wish to resist may roll Magic + Mystery + Prophecy, only using the Automatic Successes from their highest Ranked Fate Purview. If a being has none of these Purviews, they may not resist this Boon.

OMENS OF WHAT WILL COME ●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Now a Demigod, a Scion with prophetic skills of this magnitude may share their frequent visions with others, empowering them as their Vision arrives. Each being this Boon is used on, if present in the Scene the Prophet declares they foresaw in their Vision (again, they still don’t necessarily have to be correct about that, but the connection must be reasonable to the Storyteller) may double the output of their Legendary Deed, or if they already used theirs this Session, gain a temporary, but normal one to use.

Prophecy Five

WHOMSOEVER... ●●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Pulls this Sword from the stone, takes up arms first tomorrow, and more. Sometimes Fate doesn’t need a specific being, but just someone to place a mantle upon. A Prophet with this Boon may make a statement, saying that the first person to perform a specific task will gain a specific Fate. A Scion can affect the mortal world, naming kings, presidents, and the like, but they are unable to effect the Fates of the Gods or Pantheons.

The Fate is ultimately up to the player (though it is the will of Fate in character), though the Storyteller has the ability to veto any Fates in case they won’t fit inside Fate’s plans.

The user of this Boon may never be the one to claim the Fate.

GLIMPSE THE GLOSSARY ●●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: Prophecy + Academics

Type: Reflexive

How each culture explains Fate tends to be quite different, and distinct from each other. Some explain it as a tapestry, chains, and more. All of these understandings are correct despite contradictions.

By understanding Fate as a tale that has already been written, as the Babylonians believed with the Tablet of Destinies, a Scion can check the glossary of any tale they are in the middle of. At any point of a Story, a Scion may perform a simple ritual, such as throwing runes, checking the liver of an animal, and the like, and gain a list of words that will be relevant.

The Scion gains one word that hints towards upcoming situations, such as “Flood”, “Manticore,” or “Disaster”. For every five Successes past the first, they may gain one additional word.

Prophecy Six

CONDUIT OF FATE ●●●●● ●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

There is no equality among Fates, some doomed, some blessed with great skill. With this Boon, they may empower another’s Fate, binding the being’s actions, but leaving them with greater power to draw upon.

When used on a being below Legend 5, this Boon is permanent, or lasts until they become Legend 5. One Fate of the user’s choice that the being possesses (learned through using Palm Reader [Prophecy 2]) can function as if they were a Demigod, giving Successes when channeled, and giving a -2 penalty when ignored.

When used on a being above Legend 4, this Boon functionally increases one of a being’s Fates by one, even raising it to Six.

VISIONS OF WHAT MIGHT BE ●●●●● ●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Fate has an end in mind, supposedly, if it even has an end. But, for many cultures, not all situations are iron clad, there being a thousand ways the end might come about, Fate not one to have a single point of failure for its plan.

With this Boon, a Scion may look into the possible futures of another, catching brief visions of who they might become in the future, such as crowned and sitting upon a throne, carrying a bloodied sword in the threshold of their Overworld, or being gently lowered into the earth by their friends.

Obviously, all of these visions mentioned could mean numerous things, just as all Prophecies tend to. Everything is vague, and could be understood many different ways.

Prophecy Seven

FORETELL DOOM ●●●●● ●●

Cost: None.

Dice Pool: None.

Type: Reflexive.

Doom will come, Troy will burn, and its people killed save for a handful who will flee. Forspeaking Doom seems to come naturally to Prophets, always able to get anyone feeling down if given enough time to figure out some horrible thing that will come to pass.

With this Boon, the Scion may target a geographic region of Earth, they may declare a horrible event that will happen to it, such as “Fire will rain from the sky when a beast consumes thunder”, and that part of Earth (generally around the size of a very large city) is doomed to that Fate. How this comes about is up to the Storyteller, playing the role of Fate, though it need not happen instantly, as Prophets speak of things that will happen, not necessarily things that will happen right now.

The character is never the one in control of what doom they are speaking, for it is the will of Fate, but the character’s player is welcome to fill the roll of Fate for that brief moment, coming up with whatever complicated and poetic doom that will befall the poor mortals.

GRAND PROPHET ●●●●● ●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Almost a God or Goddess, with all the benefits, and difficulties it leads to, a Prophet of this rank is gifted greater power by Fate, altering the first abilities it allocated the Prophet to make them remain relevant as they go to walk among the Pantheons as its mouthpiece.

Visions of What Will Come: A Prophet now gains two visions, though they may only incite the bonus for one of them.

Indomitable Will of Fate: Penalty increases to Three.

The Will of Fate: The Scion, instead of reducing penalties or Ire, may gain dice towards all rolls for the Scene.

Mouth of Fate: The Scion may chose to give two Dots of a Fate instead of one.

Prophecy Eight

SUBMIT TO FATE ●●●●● ●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Many Gods and Goddesses try to fight Fate by tooth and nail, and none have had success in the act. Prophets though tend to be different, having being, and always being, subservient to the will of Fate. A Prophet who has become a Deity in their own right may, at the beginning of a Story, appease their patron by submitting entirely to their will, becoming physically incapable of disobeying their Fates for the remainder of the Story. While under this potentially crippling limitation, the Scion may double the number of Fate channels they have.

BEG A FAVOR ●●●●● ●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

A servant of substantial power, and working to spread the will of Fate, a Scion may ask a boon of Fate. An uncommon power, as nothing comes without a price, but a Prophet of this might may ask for Fate to change its mind, or bind something to happen.

This power obviously has great versatility, but it comes at a colossal price, as the situation the Deity asked for help with will be left untouched past the favor asked, another situation the Deity has a hand in will become vastly more complicated, dangerous, or otherwise just a bloody mess. These situations, the ones Fate causes in return for its previous benevolence, can’t be altered by an additional use of this Boon.

Furthermore, Fate always has the ability to refuse a boon if it is too large, or it doesn’t believe it to be in the best interest for Fate’s story. For example, one can’t circumvent Ragnarok in its entirety with this Boon, but they might, with a lot of luck, be able to add a survivor to the short list, or add another to the massive list of the slain.

Prophecy Nine

NAVEL OF THE WORLD ●●●●● ●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Many of the Prophetic Deities have servants, beings who speak on their behalf to mortals, and Scions who wish to know the will of Fate. With this Boon, the Scion may select a mortal and elevate them to a Legendary Being of Legend three who holds great powers of prophecy.

The exact rules of their function, and where the prophet is based is up to the individual Deity, but a strong example is the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi. These prophets tended to spend most of their days answering questions about the weather, the harvest, and how many children they would have though, with only the occasional respite from boredom by the occasional Scion arriving and receiving a real (read: needlessly complicated) prophecy.

VESSEL OF FATE ●●●●● ●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

Submitting one to not stray from Fate’s Path is an ability that many of the Prophetic Deities have, but a more extreme continuation of the idea is entirely removing one’s will over their actions. At the beginning of a Session, a Scion may allow Fate to dictate their actions in return for Fate ensuring it will look kindly on the Scion next Session, some unknown benefit to be presented later.

Mechanically, the player still plays their character, and dictates their actions, but may be informed by their Storyteller that they must, no ifs, ands, or buts, do something as many times per Session that Fate requires.

Prophecy Ten

THE WEAVER’S WILL ●●●●● ●●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: None

Type: Reflexive

A Prophetic Deity of true might is not only a servant of Fate, but a trusted confidant of Fate, going as far to even listen to the opinions of their servant on occasion, though it’s best for the Deities not to think about it too much since that is the realm of paradoxes. Whenever a Scion has their prophecy from Visions of What Will Come, they gain more information than normal, though it is still exceptionally cryptic. Asides from an event, they are given a hint of the theme of the story, and the other beings who will be involved in the events.

When a Prophet has these visions, they may give Fate a single suggestion of something it could change about what the Scion saw, normally meaning the Deity has to be quick thinking and make a guess at the meaning of their vision immediately. If Fate likes the suggestion, it tends to like things that add more drama and depth to the story, it will take their servant’s suggestion, though the Prophet will not know if Fate decided to use it, or ignore it until the moment appears.

METIS’ PROPHECY ●●●●● ●●●●●

Cost: None

Dice Pool: Prophecy + Occult

Type: Reflexive

Prophets are often highly respected members of their Pantheon, as the future is always a worrying subject. One of the most frightening abilities of the greatest of Prophets is to simply tell another of their Fate, often a horrible one, and tending to leading to the being attempting to fight their Fate but managing, somehow, to cause it come true through their own desperate attempts to escape.

On a mechanical level, this power is slightly complicated. A character with this Boon may use the Boon to foresee a horrible doom of their target and tell them about it, though the character playing them is able to chose that Fate themselves. It is not ever the character that is in control of this, the character is only the mouthpiece for Fate, but the player of that character is able to control what the Fate they are assigning is.

After the being’s Fate has been revealed, it becomes Fated to come to pass, the being unable to escape their inevitable doom. It is unlikely that the doom will arrive immediately however, it possibly coming to pass far into the future. But, either way, the Storyteller, in their role as Fate, should try to see to it that the being’s Fate comes to pass, or at least the ramifications of speaking the target’s Fate, are evident to the player who used this Boon.