First off, on a personal note I would suggest a greater distinction between
(minor) divination and true (prophetic) oracles; while I realize that Arachne
Solara has been almost universally described as "cult-less", it has often
struck me that an "oracle cult" could be constructed around her/it (with
little material or spell benefit aside from the potentially inherited power
of being able to "cast" oracles) and tied to certain specific (quasi-neutral)
sites or individuals along the lines of the oracles at Delphi. In addition,
the RQIV rules I've seen had seemed to open up the interesting possibility of
adding a shamanic sub-ability along the lines of manteia, an inherited/grown
power of prophecy, thus allowing for a distinction between simple diviners
and true mantis/prophets. I'm afraid I have little argument to support this
direction except for a personal interest in Greek myth/cult practice and, I
suppose, MGF.
On a second note, to Martin's list of "Omens" (no. 1 on the list of divination variations), I would emphasize the appearance of aggressive or hostile enemies, in particular non-human or non-sentient monsters. If the appearance of rampaging critters is interpreted as an omen or sign, then this allows for adventurers to add a quasi-detective aspect to their actions against hostile marauders, having to not only avert the immediate danger to their communities but also investigate and discover the causes of such a "bad" omen to prevent either a repetition of the omen or some other looming disaster. Their success, or lack of it, against the "omen" can then itself be read as an omen, thus further emphasizing their role in a community as their every action is scrutinized and interpreted for sign of good or ill in the present and future. The notion of rooting out the sin to avert the bad omens may strike some as a bit Christian, I suppose, though I prefer to think of it as a kind of microcosm/mesocosm/macrocosm kind of thing (sort of reminds me of the first scenario in SotB, Gautama's Village was it?).
Lastly, I was curious to find out if Martin or others had considered the idea of a simple chart for generating omen effects (you know, stuff like "You see two crows flying backwards, it's a bad omen, you get -5% on your to-hits for the rest of the day", that kind of thing)?
Relurking,
Mark
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