Divination, Reflecting On The Advice

Interesting how sometimes post topics get away from you.  I had only intended to write one divination post and here I am at number four.  In my last post, I was waiting for the party to decide on their next action and wondering how they would interpret and use the results of the two divination spells.

At the end of the evening, just before breaking up, they received the second divination.  They really wanted a result which did not involve heading back to civilization, and instead allowed them plunge ahead.  The parting conversation was all about attempting to interpret the result as positive, or finding the trickery in the words which would allow resolution of the problem.  If we had continued on that night I believe they would have rationalized going forward with the doom and death divination.

Ah, it was not to be.  The gift of time between sessions had them all reflect on the results.  They independently and uniformly decided the best course of action was to head back to civilization and seek the bard.  At the end of the last session they had made it back to civilization, leveled up, learned more useful information, and convinced the bard (though reluctantly) to accompany them.  We will see if this was wise in the end, or if they asked the correct divination questions.  I may even write another post about it after it is done if it does not spoil future play.

The group decision mechanics were interesting.  The frustration with the length of time it has taken to find the legendary artifact both in real and game terms has certainly played a huge part in the decisions.  I find the whole thing fascinating - I hope the players are having as much fun.  No spoilers for them here though - I know some of them actual read this darn blog.  Besides, do not post anything on the intrawebs you do not want everyone to know.

The (less than perfect cheap dice I roll which most certainly have a bias) never lie.  Cheers!

Sam Adams Chocolate Bock

Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock can be located in the Sam Adams winter mix pack.

It is a brownish towards blackish color with a limited head that dissipates quickly.  I was really looking forward to the smell, but I find it to be faint cocoa.  I would like it more if the aroma was stronger.
It tastes slightly malty and dry (almost dusty) just before the earthy, slightly sweet cocoa taste hits you.  That part is surprising and yummy. It is not particularly smooth, or deeply malty.  Not much like a bock to me, very much lighter than a bock.  Nice for a one off beer, the cocoa taste is quite intriguing and tasty.

I cannot see myself wanting more than one of these at a time, but I like it enough to buy another winter mix pack which is as far as I can tell the only way to get two of these at the moment.

Cheers

Samuel Adams Blackberry Witbier

Sammy Adams brewery does well for me more often than they fall short, so when I saw the Blackberry Witbier on the shelf I snapped it right up.

It has a hazy yellow/gold color, more color that I typically see in a wheat beer.  The first taste is the hardly hoppy at all wheat beer, followed quickly by the blackberries and spice, which fades to the only slightly bitter faintly sticky malt aftertaste.  The carbonation was medium.  I found it very well balanced and easy to drink.  It is very dry; the blackberries only provide a fleeting sweet note.

I enjoy a berry wheat style beer, so I favor this style when it is dry like this.  I like and recommend this brew, but not for just this style all night (if you happen to be one of those who will drink more than 1 or 2).  I found that I enjoyed 1 or 2 of these either as the first beer, or as a palate cleanser between changing beer styles.

Cheers.

I Read Some Raymond Feist

A number of people whose opinions I respect think he is a fine author and worthy of my reading time.  Looking for a little recreational reading, I endeavored to read some Raymond Feist.

Years ago I played the computer game Betrayal at Krondor.  I thought the game was mostly fun but was unsatisfied by the plot line.  At the time I chalked it up to the challenge of applying literature thinking to game design.  This summer I borrowed a copy of Krondor: The Betrayal.  I read roughly about a third of the way through the book and put it down.  Permanently.  I have probably only done that a half dozen times in my life.  At this point in my life I am less tolerant of books which do not reach an enjoyment threshold than I was in earlier times in my life.  This can easily be attributed to the various pressures on my time and the scarcity of reading time.

Why did I not enjoy Krondor: The Betrayal?  Quite simply, neither characters nor plot engaged me.  I found the prose did not create pictures in my head.

First week of December we did an island visit; it was a vacation escape from the cold.  Looking for reading material, I am advised Krondor: The Betrayal is not one of Feist's better books and am recommended to try the Conclave of the Shadows series.  Further advised that the first two books go together and the third is optional, I pack borrowed copies of Talon of the Silverhawk and King of Foxes.

They were better but still I find them wanting.  I never felt the characters progressed beyond two dimensional caricatures.  They never felt like real people to me, I was unable to relate to them.  The plot wandered like a pick your own adventure book.  Powerful background characters acted like omnipotent plot fixers, much like deus ex machina.  The plot fixers had knowledge the characters in the book and the readers never get to know.  They are just smarter than all of us.  I will try not to spoil the series but at one point the central character suffers a debilitating and supposedly permanent injury, which later is 'cured' by the omnipotent plot fixers.

I did read complete the two books while on vacation.  The good news is I did not put them down.  I do not think I will be reading any more Feist though.  As the old saying goes, his books are apparently not my cup of tea.

Divination, not the answer to who, when & where

So, to summarize what I said previously - we want a Divination to give useful advice commensurate to the level of the spell being consumed without spoiling a good time by solving the adventure outright. 

In my current campaign the party is in search of a powerful artifact/weapon.  They have found an ancient city in ruins occupied by a combination of humans, humanoids and nasty creatures in an uneasy and shifting balance.  They have reason to believe the artifact is in the city, hidden in the tomb of the original owner.  They have reason to believe they need a descendant of that owner, one of her bloodline, to overcome the protections surrounding the artifact.  They have reason to believe those protections are potent and dangerous.  They have a lead on a solution, but it is inconvenient.  They decide they want to find an alternate solution.  So far so good; I like it when they use their heads.

So they decide to ask the gods.  Priestess, fire up the Divination spell!  Now what to ask....  The first thought was "where and who is the closest bloodline and how do we overcome the protections on the artifact?"

Rather than just let them try the question and have it fail, I maturely interject as DM.  "Bzzzzzzzttttt, sorry that will not work."  Disappointed and confused look from the player.  So then I take a little time to explain the limits of Divination.  'Similar to augury but more powerful, a divination spell can provide you with a useful piece of advice in reply to a question concerning a specific goal, event, or activity that is to occur within one week.'  More confused looks.  I followup with examples of what successful and unsuccessful divination castings might look like; your character would have had some training at the temple and this is what you would know.  More player discussion ensues and they finally decide on the question.

“If we return to Penchawn to get the bard Faynie, is it our only chance to retrieve Gray Razor?”

The response is as follows:  Tula's children were few, and what still lives are spread far and wide. No path is certain, and no path is sure. A journey to Penchawn to seek the bard may yield what you seek through wise actions and honeyed words.

They think long and hard about this and decide, for now, they do not want to take the time to go all the way back to Penchawn.  They decide there must be a solution here in the ruined city.  So they set about finding the small pockets of humans left in this ruined mess.  At one stop, a middle aged man named Escovar claims to be in the bloodline of the artifact owner, a famous barbarian princess.  The party, ever suspicious, decides another Divination is in order.

"If Escovar joins us in our quest will we be able to obtain Gray Razor?"

The response is as follows: A cloud of doom hangs over this action. The path remains dangerous and the vision of death is imminent.

They decide against sharing this little bit of good news with Escover, telling him they will get back to him.  Away from Escovar they have a long discussion about the meaning of this divination.  Perhaps there is just trickery in the words, and the vision of death is simply the occupant of the tomb.  Ever confident, they discuss their chances of figuring out how to overcome the danger called out in the divination.  After all, the divination did not say absolutely it would not work and they would all die.  Next outing I find out what they decide as their next action.


Ah, the fun I have with Divination. 

Merry Christmas and Thanks

I have been otherwise occupied for the last few weeks, so I have not made time for a post.  I plan to catch up next week.  I had been busy with an island vacation, work, and holiday preparation.

I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you can enjoy it with friends and family.  Thank you all for reading, commenting, and fellow bloggers for their interesting musings.  Best to you all.

Here is a link to an old post of mine, a meager attempt at humor.  This was originally written for my PBP group and updated slightly for the blogosphere. The Night Before Christmas, D&D blogger style.

And last but not least - Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus.

Divination, lead me to the treasure

OK, so I got side tracked in the last post. (the evils of Google) What I really wanted to write about was Divination in a game. Since we play a house ruled 3.5 I will be referring to the actual spell. However, the concept of having divine or arcane magic which can provide useful information towards solving the in game challenge vs. just how much the DM reveals without spoiling the fun is not limited by edition.

I have read via the interwebs some DMs suggest simply striking the spell from the available lists. I do not subscribe to such an action. Divination has a rich history in literature and my game draws much from literature.  My homebrew is not a copy of some literary world but rather draws on elements that are common in literary worlds, and hence gives a familiar feeling to the players.  Removing divination type magic would would degrade that familiarity.  Additionally, I like to use NPCs with divination abilities in the homebrew.  Knowledge is power, even if that knowledge is limited or flawed.  I like the interplay of the diviners selling their wares as absolute knowledge while the buyers of such knowledge are skeptical and yet fearful to ignore the potential such knowledge could bring.  If they NPCs can use divination magic, then so should the players.

I have stricken spells from the game.  I have not done so without careful thought about how it impacts my homebrew, and I do it very sparingly.  Players choose a class expecting to have the abilities as stated (my house rules are written and public to the players so there is no surprise), and are disappointed to lose those abilities.  There may be a sense of making the character less valuable.

So, what is the problem with Divination?  Inevitably a character would like to cast the spell and ask: "Did Varalak the High Priest murder King Coriant?",  "Where does this magical portal lead?", "What terrible creature guards the treasure in the temple?", "Which hallway leads to the captive princess?".   Thank you for calling 1 800 ASK A GOD.  We are sorry, due to convoluted rules we are not at liberty to explain why your query cannot be answered and your spell is still consumed.  We look forward to serving you in the future in the service of your god.  Be sure to watch your alignment.  Have a nice day.

The conversation between Omnipotentia, the all knowing goddess of knowledge and the DM go something like this.
Omnipotentia - "Look, I know the answer to the priest's question.  She's been true to her alignment, she risked her life in my service five times last week, and giving her this bit of direct knowledge unequivocally advances my goals as goddess of knowledge.  What gives with me having to give some vague answer, that can be taken ambiguously, to this loyal servant?"
DM - "I have spent a pant load of time putting this adventure together so the players pulling the puppet strings on your follower will have a good time.  I am not about to have them solve the adventure with a simple spell casting in the first five minutes of the game.  It is not satisfying for them, and would really piss me off."
Omnipotentia - "It just doesn't seem right.  I mean, you go on about verisimilitude in your game and-"
DM - interrupting "Listen, I hear a loyal follower of Discordia the goddess of death, destruction, and generally uncouth behavior using a divination asking the goddess for the secret to slaying the goddess of knowledge.  Maybe you are right, maybe this is the time to start answering those questions with full disclosure.  You know a god war might be an interesting twist to this campaign....
Omnipotentia - "I am starting to see you point of view.  Let me get my thesaurus."

At the heart of it, Divination should give some useful advice but should not solve the adventure.  Seems simple right?  First off the players struggle with what to ask knowing 1 800 ASK A GOD will only answer a properly limited and formatted question.  Next, those darn players will spring a Divination question when you least expect it.  Now you have to come up with a cleverly written response which gives just just enough advice without spoiling the adventure.  No wonder some DMs squirm at this point.  I rather like it though, it keeps me on my toes.

Next post, I'll talk about my most recent experience with Divination in game.