TEXT: PRO
  PRO
  PRO
  PRO
  PROPHECIES
  PHECIES
  PHECIES
  PHECIES
  PHECIES
  as narrative tools
  as narrative tools
  as narrative tools
  as narrative tools
  as narrative tools
  
  P R O P H E C I E S
  A S  N A R R A T I V E  T O O L S
  Para mi madre, gracias por enseñarme que tan divertido puede ser el lenguaje.
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, D&D, Wizards of the Coast, Forgotten Realms, Ravenloft, Eberron, the dragon
  ampersand, Ravnica and all other Wizards of the Coast product names, and their respective logos are
  trademarks of Wizards of the Coast in the USA and other countries. This work may contain material that
  is copyright Wizards of the Coast. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content
  Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material in this work is copyright 2020 by
  Martín Davico and published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
  
  rophecies are, in essence, stories about
  the future, and like all stories they shape
  culture and are, in turn, shaped by it.
  They travel long distances from mouth to
  ear, to written word, to hungry eyes.
  Inspiring us to believe that we might be
  the chosen few who will lead the charge
  and see destiny fulfilled.
  Saving the world, rescuing those in need, stopping an evil
  tyrant, or becoming who we were always meant to be, are
  but a few of the myriad of futures these tales promise. Yet,
  they also speak of great disasters, the rise of evil, and even
  the end of all things.
  Over the centuries, prophecies have made their way into
  our stories, myths, and legends, and are now a staple of the
  modern fantasy genre in which most D&D games are based
  on—so its hardly surprising to find them on our tables,
  accompanying character backstories or even as the plot of a
  campaign. They give the story a very specific direction in
  which the players can strive towards. They can create great
  expectations, rivalries, a sense of purpose, and a great deal
  of confusion, but most importantly, they can be a powerful
  tool for the Dungeon Master to create a sound and
  interesting narrative that will engage the players and make
  for a great game.
  I’m willing to bet, however, that if you have been playing
  for long enough, you have had one or two games go awry
  because of a prophecy. Which makes sense, since most
  Dungeon Masters can’t see the future and have limited
  control over the actions that often define a character's fate.
  Yet, a prophecy entails defining a pre-written destiny, so in
  making use of one, the DM creates a lose-lose scenario,
  either taking away the player’s ability to impact the game or
  risk seeing that prophecy go unfulfilled.
  OK, BUT WHAT IS THIS?
  That’s all well and good, but I'm sure at this point you're
  wondering what I’m mumbling about. Well, this is a
  supplement about the creation and use of prophecies with
  which a narrative direction can be suggested to the players
  and that, through its resolution—or resolution arc—a desired
  point in a story can be reached. That’s to say, using them as
  tools to guide your story.
  The document is focused towards Dungeon Masters and
  handles everything from planning, to execution. It provides
  guidelines on how to create a prophecy that satisfies your
  specific narrative needs, the process of making them sound
  abstract and poetic, as well as how to effectively introduce
  them into your game. Providing examples along the way in
  the form of roll tables, because, well, I like tables.
  PROPHECIES IN TTRPGS
  Prophecies can take on three roles in a story: they can be
  the focal point to the narrative, serving as the foundations
  with which we’ll construct our story; serve the purpose of
  adding color to an otherwise dull narrative, adding
  mysticism and a sense of importance to a plot; or they can
  be a minor element, ushering the audience towards a plot
  point that would otherwise go unnoticed or be deemed less
  relevant than we would like.
  In most forms of storytelling, they serve as foreshadowing
  tools, sometimes going as far as outright revealing what the
  story is leading up to. This makes absolute sense since no
  matter what happens, the story will reach a point in which the
  prophecy will be fulfilled, and while that will also happen with
  our games, the characters in books and movies don't need
  the prophecy to actually transmit any comprehensible
  information for them to take the actions needed to bring it to
  fruition since they're controlled by an omniscient force, which
  is not the case for the player characters.
  This becomes more of a problem when we take into
  consideration that tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs)
  don't have passive spectators, but rather, an active audience
  that defines not only the outcome of any given conflict but
  also the directions, pacing, and the overall flow of a story.
  With this in mind, the mere idea of predicting the future
  seems ludicrous at the very least, but prophecies can be not
  only interesting, but really useful tools.
  A well-placed prophecy can get your game back on track
  after it has lost all semblance of focus, or it could recapture
  your players' interest in the story, or even serve as a way to
  reintroduce your group to the narrative after a long hiatus.
  How you use prophecies to better your games depends
  entirely on your particular situation, but if nothing else, it's
  usually more interesting to participate in a story that tells
  about events that are happening or going to happen, rather
  than one that's about the things that already transpired.
  The Heroic Chronicle presented in the Explorer's Guide to
  Wildemount, for example, suggests the use of prophecies as
  aspirations or goals that the player has for their character,
  and through that it creates engagement. While they're not
  entirely the same as the concepts you'll find within this
  document, you can take the ideas your players come up with
  and flesh them out using the processes provided herein,
  creating something that not only follows what your players
  intend for their characters, but that also exists—and is part of
  —your world or setting. Adding to your story a narrative
  element that will accompany your players until its resolution
  arc, where they'll get to experience not only what they had in
  mind when creating their aspirations, but also the payoff of
  something that's been building up throughout the story.
  3
  INTRODUCTION
  
  THE TOOL’S PURPOSE
  A tool can be used in many ways, some of which the tool
  was intended for, and others not so much, but they're always
  made with a specific purpose in mind. Narrative tools
  function in a very similar fashion, their presence in a story
  serves a specific purpose and they can fulfill that purpose in
  many different ways. Often times, the mere fact that a
  prophecy is part of a story is enough for it to accomplish
  whatever it is that we want it to do, in other cases, it’s
  through its fulfillment that it has value to our story, but
  whatever the case, the successful use of one of these tools
  comes from understanding what it’s meant to do and
  planning accordingly.
  There are times in which a tool will fulfill many purposes at
  the same time—the bests ones do actually—some other
  times, a narrative tool will affect your story in ways you didn't
  anticipate. Your word choice, the overall tone of the narrative
  element, the way in which it’s presented, and even parties,
  factions, and characters associated with it have an impact on
  the way your players could interpret the tool’s meaning in a
  story. Even so, trying to come up with something that does
  everything you need it to do and nothing else, would be a
  task comparable to predicting the future—heh.
  The following options are examples, and there are plenty
  of other ways prophecies could be applied, the only limit is
  your imagination. Experiment, iterate, and find whatever best
  fulfills your specific needs.
  TRANSITION
  The first and most obvious way in which you can make use
  of such a tool is in taking your narrative from point A to point
  B. This is done by simply presenting the prophecy and
  clearly stating an outcome that the players will want to act on
  —that’s to say, something they would be in favor or against
  of—and a method of fulfillment that ties to the setting/location
  in which you want your next plot point to develop. This, of
  course, can be a narrative transition that takes your story
  from the end of a plot to the next, or something more literal,
  like having your players move to a different country following
  the story.
  The most important aspect when using a prophecy in this
  way is the presentation rather than its fulfillment arc. Being
  concise and explicit is preferred to remove any and all
  elements that could lead to different interpretations or
  deviations in your narrative progression. You can treat its
  fulfillment as an eventuality, but it needs to be interesting
  enough to catch your players’ attention.
  GIVE INFORMATION
  Sometimes all you need a prophecy to do is to help players
  figure something out, perhaps you need to transmit
  information in a way that they can’t possibly get wrong, or
  maybe you just need to help them piece together those plot
  points that are going over their heads.
  Whatever the case might be, prophecies are
  communication. They transmit messages and can convey
  information in many different ways. Due to the different
  elements of a prophecy, we have the opportunity to put our
  message in a specific context.
  The relationship that is created between elements gives
  clues to how one should interpret the information. That’s to
  say, if a certain character is mentioned in the prophecy in
  relation to the eventual resurrection of a great evil, one could
  assume the character’s involvement and, furthermore, draw
  conclusions as to how that character aligns themselves to
  said evil.
  This can be done by presenting a certain subject—a
  character, object, location, etc.— and defining through
  phrasing their relation to either the event the prophecy is
  foretelling or a second element within the prediction.
  BUILD ATMOSPHERE
  Prophecies are essentially promises of what’s to come, they
  might not necessarily come true in the way you envision at
  first, but when you introduce one of these predictions into
  your games, they create a certain expectation that something
  along the lines of what you described is going to happen—
  obviously.
  By adding narrative elements common to your preferred
  genre into your prophecy, you’re quite explicitly telling your
  players what your game is about and creating an overall
  feeling for the whole narrative. Dreadful monsters and horrid
  creatures might serve as an excellent way to portray a
  horror-survival type of game, while ancient relics and a
  chosen one might work best for some type of heroic journey.
  Bear in mind, however, that you can mention or introduce
  the perceived meaning of a prophecy into your game without
  revealing the actual prophecy until later on. For example, the
  people of the kingdom could know that the druids keep an
  ancient prophecy hidden about the return of an ancient evil
  spirit, and many might even draw conclusions as to what that
  evil could be, but any and all interpretations of this prophecy
  are made with incomplete information until everything is
  revealed to the players. This way, you can create an
  atmosphere while also leaving the prophecy as a secondary
  element to your game, or something to be thought of
  afterwards.
  MORAL COMPASS
  Through the use of prophecies, one can present their
  intentions as to what should be perceived by the players as
  good and bad. This comes from the fact that the prophecy is
  not presented as the opinion of a character, but rather as
  something that transcends this individuality and allows the
  players to take this information as an objective fact about the
  world/setting.
  To accomplish this, one should present an antagonistic
  force within the prophecy that affects the world or the players
  in a way that’s harmful, or otherwise conflicting, using both
  phrasing and tone to depict it as something to oppose or
  prevent.
  Of course, there are plenty of elements, both from the
  prophecy itself and the environment in which it’s presented,
  that could affect the players’ perception of these moral
  grounds. If one wanted to ensure that these aren’t
  compromised due to the opinion a player might have about a
  respective character or faction, we should isolate the
  prophecy from the world and present it in a way that’s
  faction-agnostic. Like a ruined temple lost to time, or even
  foretold by one of the player characters during a vision.
  4
  
  iecing together a list of distinctive and
  recurring elements found in all
  prophecies proved to be a futile task, as I
  quickly found myself in a sea of
  exceptions. You see, prophecies as
  narrative tools tend to be all over the
  place, they have elements in common,
  sure, but for the most part, every prophecy seems to be its
  own thing. But what I did find was narrative similarities
  between many of them.
  In this section, you’ll find the three main narrative
  archetypes that prophecies usually follow, along with their
  respective recurring elements. But first, let’s cover the
  elements that are omnipresent throughout every prophecy:
  CONTEXT. As all things do, prophecies are made within
  a certain context. But, most of the time, understanding it
  —or at least being aware of its existence—is essential
  when trying to comprehend what’s being predicted.
  EVENT. All prophecies tell of events. Even when they
  refer to certain people, it’s always about something that’s
  going to happen to or because of them.
  PROPHET. Every prophecy has been made by
  someone. It might be irrelevant to the narrative or been
  forgotten by history. But at some point, someone uttered
  these words.
  HERE BE THE FUTURE
  Rather than interpretations of the future, these are
  predictions about what, when, or how something is going to
  happen. These cover unavoidable fate, things that will
  happen no matter what. The most prominent distinction
  between this and other archetypes is the lack of a condition,
  there’s no “if” with these, it’s just facts without variation.
  Contrary to what you might expect, these are actually the
  most commonly known prophecies in the real world, since
  everyone and their mother has tried to prophesy the end of
  the world. However, for the purposes of building a narrative,
  these are often counterproductive. While they can be used to
  set a tone for our story, as well as give a sense of inevitability
  —and therefore dread—they reduce player agency, which
  leads to unsatisfying decisions since there’s no chance of
  affecting the outcome.
  They can, however, be used effectively by building a
  campaign around them, or setting them up to be later
  revealed as fake or incomplete, in order to transition to
  another archetype.
  Another way to use them effectively is to present them
  after the fact, claiming that it was known all along that it
  would happen but it was kept secret for whatever reason.
  Furthermore, they’re a really useful tool when trying to set up
  a timer—something that demands immediate resolution.
  LIST OF COMMON ELEMENTS
  RENOWN. The person that utters the prophecy is often
  someone of renown or an important figure. They bring
  credibility to these prophecies.
  CONDITIONLESS. They speak of things that will happen
  no matter what. No one’s actions have any effect on the
  outcome or are often the reason why the prophecy is
  realized.
  SPECIFICITY. They speak of a very specific event,
  which would hardly be confused by another or pass
  unnoticed.
  Most prophecies on Macbeth would fall into this category,
  as would any event of Ragnarök, King Arthur's messianic
  return, or the one from Sleeping Beauty.
  How is this diﬀerent from des�ny?
  While not immediately obvious, there’s a
  monumental difference between the two, and it
  lies in the fact that, while this type of prophecy
  speaks of destiny, it’s always the interpretation
  someone made about their experience—whatever
  it might be—foretelling the future. For us, this
  mostly means that the prophecy, unlike destiny,
  could be a misinterpretation or just a well-crafted
  lie. That in and of itself, allows us to narratively
  use the inevitability that comes with it, without
  having to worry about the implications it might
  have on our game in the long term since we can
  always blame the “human factor” as a liability and
  the cause for the prophecy’s falsehood.
  5
  THE ANATOMY OF A PROPHECY
  
  A HERO RISES
  Foretelling the arrival of hope, these are the second most
  common type of prophecies: a chosen one that will lead the
  way towards salvation. But for a hero to rise, a predicament
  is needed: either an antagonistic force or a situation that
  necessitates a savior to appear in the narrative.
  This type of prophecy usually requires the hero's
  compliance in order to be fulfilled, and even though
  reluctance is expected—and often part of its narrative arc—
  in the end, the prophecy can only be realized should the hero
  meet a certain condition.
  These are the ones you’ll often find at your tables. They
  give a story direction, clear moral standings, a sense of
  importance to the narrative, and—depending on the wording
  —a final confrontation that hasn’t been decided since the
  beginning. To be used effectively, they’re usually separated
  into three different parts—corresponding to a three arc
  structure—those are: learning of the prophecy’s existence,
  becoming the hero, and fighting the great evil. Contrary to
  the other two archetypes, this one doesn’t necessitate
  immediate action and greatly rewards preparation and
  patience.
  It’s important to know however, that while the hero is
  prophesied to end this time of great peril, it’s still an ordeal.
  The hero might lose a lot trying to fulfill their role in the
  narrative, perhaps even perishing in the attempt.
  LIST OF COMMON ELEMENTS
  PROTAGONIST. Often being our players, these
  prophecies require a protagonistic force that will rise to
  the occasion. A chosen one—or few—if you will.
  A TIME OF NEED. Heroes only rise when there is a
  need for them to do so. In the darkest night, even the
  faintest of lights shines brighter.
  CONDITION. If/when/while something happens, the hero
  will be able to defeat the great evil, or otherwise bring an
  end to these dark times.
  These are your Sword in the Stone type of prophecies, as
  well as many “chosen one” prophecies, like the one from The
  Matrix, or the one from Star Wars.
  EVIL APPROACHES
  These prophecies—while very similar to A Hero Rises—stem
  from a very different context than the other two. They speak
  of a great calamity that might yet be prevented. Most of the
  time, they tell of ancient evil defeated long ago,but promised
  to be returned to the world, to bring forth chaos and
  destruction.
  The worlds in which these prophecies are presented are
  often peaceful—if not nearly utopic—or at least lack a major
  conflict at the time the prophecy begins its fulfillment arc.
  Furthermore, the prophecy itself is often unknown or
  dismissed as nonsense, until everything is set into motion.
  Idiocy usually takes front stage when awakening this great
  evil, mistakes or greed being common reasons for its return,
  and even serving as the motivation for the players while
  dealing with the aftermath. After all, most people don’t want
  the world to end, and fewer want it to be their fault.
  This type of prophecy is used as a combination of the
  other two archetypes, in the sense that it provides both a
  clear direction to the narrative, as well as a necessity for
  immediate actions from the players. They usually come in
  two parts: first, the evil returns to the world—which is
  unavoidable—and then it tries to recover its former power, or
  finish what it started in the past. The whole idea behind this
  type of prophecy is to stop the second part from happening
  at whatever cost necessary.
  LIST OF COMMON ELEMENTS
  A PEACEFUL WORLD. For these prophecies to work,
  their arc must begin in a world without a conflict that could
  overshadow the evil’s return.
  LACK OF A SAVIOUR. Even though for the purposes of
  our narrative a protagonist will be essential, they’re not
  chosen for the task, but rather just along for the ride, and
  are neither special nor included in the prophecy.
  AN OBJECT OF DESIRE. The antagonistic force needs
  an object of desire in order to be stoppable. That’s to say,
  it has to desire something or someone, otherwise, there’s
  no foiling their plans. This often takes the form of a relic of
  times past, which will give the evil the power to destroy
  the world, figuratively or otherwise.
  Your favorite movies about mummies fall into this category,
  and, to a certain extent, the prophecy from Harry Potter.
  6
  
  erfect, so you have an idea of what are
  you prophesying. Let's take that concept
  and transform it into something we can
  use. You can either use one of the
  archetypes described earlier in the
  document as a template, or you can
  create your own thing as we go along.
  Tables are meant to be used as inspiration, so you'll find
  them lacking if you rely on them too much. For now, let’s
  define a couple of things.
  Is the prophet that made the prophecy important to
  the narrative? If so, who are they? Choose one or roll on
  the Prophet table below. It might be a good idea to have
  someone in mind should it become relevant later, but you
  can always dismiss it if it comes up.
  d8
  Prophet
  1
  A deity speaking through the body of a mortal.
  2
  An old sage interpreting the will of the land.
  3
  A tribe's shaman while on a drug-induced vision.
  4
  A talking fox who’s life was spared during a hunt.
  5
  A sick monarch on their deathbed.
  6
  A mythical creature, such as an Angel or a Fairy.
  7
  An old storyteller while mesmerized by the fire.
  8
  The antagonist of the story.
  What was the prophet’s intention when making the
  prophecy? Choose one or roll on the Prophet’s intent table
  below. While the prophet might not be essential to your story,
  the reason for the prophecy’s existence might be. Knowing
  what the prophecy is trying to accomplish is imperative when
  creating something that will satisfy your specific narrative
  needs.
  d6
  Prophet's intention
  1-2
  WARN. Prophecies that are used as a warning
  about some potential danger in the future are often
  more literal than the others, as it doesn’t care who
  hears the information, but it’s important that it
  remains as true to the original interpretation as
  possible.
  3-4
  INFORM. When using a prophecy as a way to
  deliver sensible information, the way things are
  described is often abstract in an attempt to make
  the information useless to anyone that doesn’t
  understand its context.
  5-6
  DECEIVE. Trying to use a prophecy as a way to
  bamboozle the heroes works wonders for a villain
  when trying to dispose of threats before they
  become a real issue. Because of this, prophecies
  that try to lie, lure, or otherwise deceive those who
  hear about it, are modeled around one of the other
  two options.
  To what event does the prophecy relate to? Choose
  one or roll on the Events Foretold table. This is the core of
  your prophecy, and it’s what the archetypes are for.
  d8
  Events Foretold
  1
  The return of an ancient evil.
  2
  A known character’s fall from power/grace.
  3
  A heinous betrayal.
  4
  A savior’s arrival.
  5
  The death of a prominent figure.
  6
  The fulfillment of an ancient promise.
  7
  The truth about a secret long forgotten being
  revealed.
  8
  The end of the world.
  Who are the actors involved in your prophecy? Are
  they mentioned in it? Choose one or more characters or
  roll in the Puppets of Destiny table. This works best if the
  players already know something about the characters, so if
  you use the table try to correlate the character to someone in
  your world if you can.
  d8
  Puppets of Destiny
  1
  The monarch of a great nation.
  2
  A powerful and dangerous creature.
  3
  Someone presumed dead.
  4
  A deity or someone related to it.
  5
  A nameless child.
  6
  A town, city, or country.
  7
  A regular farmer.
  8
  A player/s or the antagonist of the story.
  Is your prophecy unavoidable or does it have a
  condition? If so, what’s the condition? Choose one or
  more conditions or roll on the Condition table.
  d8
  Condition
  1
  While wielding a legendary weapon or an ancient
  relic.
  2
  On a specific date, such as the end of the year.
  3
  When a mythical creature is sighted.
  4
  When someone is born, or when someone dies.
  5
  During an astronomical event, such as an eclipse or
  planets aligning themselves.
  6
  When something that was broken is whole again.
  7
  When blood is spilled over a specific subject.
  8
  When someone enters into sacred ground.
  7
  CREATING YOUR OWN PROPHECY
  
  POETIC PHRASING
  Prophecies come in all shapes and sizes, from really direct
  and easy to understand, to rather abstract and cryptic
  messages. But whatever the case, it’s often written in a
  poetic or otherwise creative way, using phrasing that implies
  a meaning rather than stating it outright. What we have
  created so far is far from that, so let’s do something about it.
  In this section, we’ll transform your literal prediction into
  something more akin to what you might expect a prophecy to
  sound like. Whatever that might be. It’s a creative process in
  which we’ll alter the way in which several of the already
  defined elements of the prediction are expressed, while still
  retaining the same meaning.
  These changes, of course, will have a great impact on the
  overall tone of the prophecy, which in turn affects the way in
  which the players will perceive it. Even more, the subtext of
  the various words and phrases we decide to use could have
  a great impact on the perceived meaning of the prophecy.
  Having said that, creatively phrasing your prophecy not only
  makes for a better fit to your specific world or setting, but
  also makes it memorable and, sometimes, even a fun
  puzzle-like experience.
  In any case, this is an iterative process and, while the
  steps are numbered for ease of use, you could and should
  come back to each step if you feel like it merits a revision
  after a few changes.
  Step I: After you’ve gone through all the trouble of identifying
  each element in your prophecy, you’ll probably have a
  horrible array of words, so let’s tackle that. If you correctly
  identified every component, this should be fairly easy. For
  this example let’s say that I’m prophesying the following:
  When someone of low birth becomes a monarch,  
  a few nobles will break their vow to the crown
  and start a war with the kingdom
  The event is a civil war, the condition is a person of low-birth
  marrying into the royal family, and the actors are both said
  person and the nobles. The prophet isn’t mentioned and
  doesn’t seem to carry any narrative weight. The category of
  Evil Approaches better fits this prophecy, as it tells of
  something bad that’s going to happen in a scenario without
  any other preexisting conflicts, and has a condition that
  determines its fulfillment.
  Step II: What we’re looking to do next, is changing the way
  in which we express each of these parts while retaining the
  same meaning. That’s to say, we’re looking for poetic or
  otherwise interesting ways to say the same things.
  For when red blood turns blue, those bound by
  word shall kneel no more, and by metal and
  blood will future be forged
  For now, we’re trying to remain explicit in the things we say.
  The whole point is to communicate the same thing in a
  creative way, iterating and coming up with something that
  sounds allegorical but has a very clear message.
  If we're looking for a message that has low variability in the
  interpretations that someone could give to it, and conveys a
  very specific meaning, we should stop here.
  Step III: If you decided that your prophecy is going to have a
  hidden meaning, what we’re trying to accomplish next is to
  give an exact amount of information: being elusive in a
  specific part of the wording, but giving a hint on another part.
  Identify what information you wish to hide or obscure
  Remove anything that would directly imply what trying to
  hide, and give the information in the most abstract way
  possible
  Select another component from your prophecy, and add
  some phrasing or word that would hint towards the literal
  meaning of the hidden information
  Repeat with other components until satisfied
  For when that which is red turns blue, those
  bound by word, by fealty sworn, shall kneel no
  more, and by metal and blood will future be
  forged.
  In the above example, I got rid of the word “blood” in an
  attempt to obscure the idea of monarchy and added “by
  fealty sworn” to deepen that context. While subtle, this
  change makes the first part of the phrase a little less explicit.
  Let’s do that one more time.
  For when that which is red turns blue, those
  bound by word, by fealty sworn, shall kneel no
  more. The tower shall stand, ten swords will be
  drawn, and two cups on the table shall rest
  upside down.
  I thought that “by metal and blood will future be forged” was
  too easy to interpret as war, so what I decided to do is
  represent the concept of war using tarot cards. To help
  players figure this out, I’ll change the prophet to be a
  fortuneteller, and the tarot cards could serve as a prop that
  the players could find if everything fails.
  I could keep going like this until I have something obscure
  enough to not be immediately obvious. That said, what might
  seem obvious to me, will not necessarily be as easy to figure
  out for other people, so feedback is really important at this
  stage. Furthermore, there’re a lot of variables that could
  influence the ability of your group of figuring out what the
  hidden information is. If the players don’t know they’re
  supposed to analyze the information presented to them,
  they’ll probably write it off as unimportant or otherwise
  unintelligible (see Introducing a Prophecy below), so if you’re
  hiding information, treat the prophecy like you would a
  puzzle.
  8
  
  erhaps the most common quality
  prophecies have is that they possess a
  certain mysticism to them, after all, the
  ability to predict the future is nothing if
  not extraordinary. However, for as
  amazing as such a feat would be, it's
  from the weight these words carry that
  prophecies gain importance. After all, their mere existence
  might be quintessential to the beginning or resolution of a
  great conflict—which frequently serves as the foundation of
  our story. Therefore, a prophecy needs to be treated with
  importance to be useful for us as a narrative tool, and while
  there’s value in subverting this prestige, it should always be
  done by design.
  There are three main angles in which you should focus to
  make sure that your prophecy is—or isn’t—treated with such
  significance.
  Firstly, it needs to be the focal point of its scene, not an
  afterthought. It's the thing the heroes go to the dungeon for,
  rather than a random encounter. Write it in metal, stone, or
  even bone, make those who keep it secret fight for it to the
  death, and try to keep any other important element out of the
  picture when presenting it to the players.
  Secondly, it needs to be at least partially relevant to the
  current narrative arc. If it doesn't communicate something
  that's immediately significant, it serves the same purpose as
  a random array of words. It should at least allude to
  something that the players could correlate it to, or at least
  conclude something from, even if such a conclusion ends up
  being wrong.
  Thirdly, the process of getting to know the prophecy
  should be an undertaking. Access to this information
  shouldn't be immediately available to anyone, and reaching it
  should be challenging. Don't expect players to devote much
  thought to something that you could find out going to the
  library. There's a correlation between the effort that someone
  puts into something and their interest in the result. However,
  this is a double-edged sword: the more complicated
  something is to get, the more your players' expectation rises.
  You mustn't betray this expectation, or you run the risk of
  achieving the opposite effect.
  Going in the opposite direction with any of those angles
  would make the prophecy seem unimportant, or otherwise
  dismissible. Furthermore, you can use subversion as a tool,
  for example: having the information be widely available could
  be a helpful way of making the players believe there must be
  some hidden information, making the prophecy unrelated to
  the current context of the story could make for a great "AHA!"
  moment later on, and presenting it as a secondary element
  in the scene could make it appear less important than it
  actually is.
  THE PASSING OF TIME
  You might have a specific intention in mind when presenting
  your prophecy to your players, but most of the time, their
  interpretation will be off by a wide margin—as is the nature of
  these games. Normally, the more and more your players
  interact with what you designed—or any game element for
  that matter—the closer their understanding will be to what
  you originally envisioned. That being said, sometimes one
  makes mistakes that are not going to disappear by
  themselves, that's where the passing of time comes in.
  In the real world, very rarely does something survive the
  passage of time intact, and prophecies are no exception.
  Cultural and social context have a tremendous impact on
  how a prediction made long ago about the future—or the
  present—is perceived. Not only that but as culture
  incorporates prophecies into its folklore, they often take the
  role of tales, changing and being shaped by the narrator to
  better suit the medium. Many interpretations surface, and
  messages that could have been clear as water in days of old,
  become murky with many different meanings.
  Now, that’s the real world, but to us this means nothing. In
  a fictional world, every piece of history and culture remains
  the same with the passing of time unless deliberately
  changed. And this is often a good thing, but in this particular
  case, having multiple versions and meanings for the same
  prophecy could serve as a tool to create some interesting
  situations. But most importantly, this lets us mess up all we
  want. If you made a mistake, you can introduce a different—
  this time correct—version of the prophecy or different context
  in which the meaning changes, in order to fix whatever
  problem arises.
  Obviously, every time we use this method to fix our
  mistakes, the less effective the tool becomes, losing
  credibility in the process. So it should be used sparingly, and
  knowing that admitting you made a mistake and telling your
  players that the prophecy is incorrect or that you need some
  time to think about it, is always an option.
  Removing a prophecy from the narra�ve
  As the game moves forward, you might find
  yourself in a situation where you might already
  have satisfied your prophecy's original purpose or
  it might have become irrelevant along the way, yet
  your prophecy remains unfulfilled. In such cases,
  there are three ways to handle the residual
  narrative element: you can either never talk about
  it anymore, claim it has already been fulfilled
  outside the narrative, or create a sidequest that
  matches your prophecy's elements. None of
  these option is elegant—of course—but it's not a
  situation that should arise much either.
  9
  INTRODUCING A PROPHECY
  
  oring over every word in this supplement
  is a really good way to acquire
  knowledge about such a deep concept,
  however, actually applying it into your
  games can prove to be tougher than
  what one might initially expect. There's a
  lot of minutiae that comes hand in hand
  with building a narrative element that carries purpose behind
  it, and seeing as the process itself doesn't lack specificity,
  you might find yourself looking for guidance inside the pages
  of this document. I’m saddened to say, however, that there's
  very little I can do to provide instructions since I don't know
  what your specific narrative needs are, and I can't really see
  into the future—I lied, sorry about that.
  Now, the only way I see to somewhat fix that issue is by
  providing you with as many examples as I can of me using
  the system to create different prophecies. That being said,
  there's little point in providing you with a vast array of
  examples that you can't really use in your game, hance, this
  section.
  In here, you'll find three prebuilt prophecies to use in your
  adventures as either plug and play, inspiration, or as
  templates to create your own. They come along with tables
  to further personalize the prediction's phrasing—should you
  want to put one of them into your games—and each one of
  them is no longer than a page. These, of course, cover
  everything from the literal prediction to how to go about
  introducing them into your narrative, as well as anything else
  I could conceivably fit in a prebuilt one-page plug and play
  prophecy full of tables. All and all, these aren’t perfectly
  crafted prophecies that will blow your mind and fit every
  game, but they might just be helpful enough to allow you to
  bridge your newly acquired knowledge into something you
  can implement into your games. Or, at least, help you
  understand the way I use this process myself.
  LIST OF PROPHECIES
  An eerie song
  This is a prophecy that tells of the return of an ancient
  evil and serves as both a transitional piece, as well as a
  narrative hook. It closely follows the archetype of Evil
  Approaches, as it presents an antagonistic force that will
  quite literally destroy the world if not dealt with. The
  basic premise is that a mythical creature (such as a
  mermaid) comes every night to warn the people of the
  town of the impending danger, as a villain that was
  thought to be forever gone walks among the living once
  again.
  To give and to take
  A particular character struck a deal with the prophet and
  didn't uphold their end of the bargain. Because of this,
  the creature swore to bring suffering to that character.
  This prophecy follows the Here Be the Future archetype
  in an attempt to create something other than the all-too-
  common prediction about the end of the world. It
  functions mostly as a narrative hook and as a way to
  build atmosphere, and it could—with a few changes to
  its context—serve as a moral compass to your party.
  A promising tale
  This is a false prophecy created to lure would-be heroes
  into an early grave. It's built around the archetype of A
  Hero Rises, and it presents the protagonist with a relic
  that could help them vanquish the antagonist. It's meant
  to provide the players with information through subtext.
  That information being the fact that the antagonist is
  very much aware of their shenanigans, and it's taking a
  proactive approach to dealing with them. Furthermore,
  the prediction does have directionality, so it could be
  used as a way to transition into another location if
  needed.
  10
  ONE PAGE PROPHECIES
  
  AN EERIE SONG
  This is a prophecy that tells of the return of an ancient evil,
  and serves as both a transitional piece, as well as a narrative
  hook. It closely follows the archetype of Evil Approaches, as
  it presents an antagonistic force that will quite literally
  destroy the world if not dealt with. The basic premise is that a
  mythical creature (such as a mermaid) comes every night to
  warn the people of the town of the impending danger, as a
  villain that was thought to be forever gone walks among the
  living once again.
  Our structure looks something like this:
  You should head to a specific location, because if
  you don't the world will be destroyed when the
  antagonist reclaims something.
  The location is to give directionality to the narrative element,
  so that it can be used as a transition piece. The event is the
  world being destroyed, our actor would be the antagonist for
  this tale, and the condition for the prophecies fulfillment
  involves the antagonist reclaiming some sort of object, status
  or power.
  Narratively speaking, our prophecy is a warning.
  Therefore, both the antagonistic force and the danger that it
  poses should be clear to anyone that hears it. On the other
  hand, as it serves the purpose of moving the direction of our
  story and could possibly be our central plot or hook, we need
  the prediction to present the idea to the players that they can
  be the deciding factor within the narrative arc it generates.
  That's to say, even though we require the prophecy to set
  high stakes, we also need it to be something that the players
  would feel comfortable handling, or at least pursuing.
  So, after some creative writing, our prophecy could look
  something like this:
  People downtown say that at the death of night,
  when not a single thing can be heard other than
  the howling winds passing through the old
  houses near the river, a mermaid sings an eerie
  song. A warning, to whoever will listen. And it
  goes something like this:
  As the storm fast approaches, you should look
  to the north. For that which should die refuses
  to go. And the oceans shall rise, and the empires
  will fall, should the ruler of old sit again on its
  throne
  Seeing as this prophecy takes an important role in the
  development of our story, we want it to be the centerpiece of
  its own scene as we present it to our players. It's advisable to
  close any other narrative arc that could rival the one created
  by the prediction before introducing the prophecy into our
  game.
  The presence of the prophet within the story is non-
  essential but gives the prophecy a sense of importance since
  the players are hearing it directly from the source instead of
  being told by someone else. The creature can serve as a tool
  to fix mistakes or re-introduce the party to the narrative arc
  should it become necessary at any point in the game.
  CUSTOMIZING THIS PROPHECY
  Choose which elements to replace or roll in the following
  tables to determine how to further personalize this prophecy.
  d6
  Mythical Creatures as Prophets
  1
  A mermaid.
  2
  A nymph.
  3
  A dryad.
  4
  An angel.
  5
  A spirit of the land.
  6
  The trees.
  d6
  Location
  1
  A cardinal direction.
  2
  A specific city in your world or setting.
  3
  An ancient ruin, mentioned by name.
  4
  A sacred place, mentioned by name.
  5
  A former seat of power.
  6
  A secret location few know about, giving hints as
  to how to get the information.
  d6
  The end of the world
  1
  “And the oceans shall rise, and the empires will
  fall”.
  2
  “And the sky will darken as civilization falls”.
  3
  “And the ground will shake, crack, and rumble”.
  4
  “And the fire shall spread, and it all will devour”.
  5
  "And blood will be spilled to the very last drop".
  6
  "And not one will remain to cry or to mourn".
  d6
  Antagonist returned
  1
  “The ruler of old”.
  2
  “The child of a god”.
  3
  “The last of the lords”.
  4
  "The giant reborn".
  5
  "The hero that fell".
  6
  "The kingdom's bane".
  d6
  Condition
  1
  “Sit once again on its throne”.
  2
  “Break the last of the seals”.
  3
  “Claim what once was its own”.
  4
  “Once again become whole”.
  5
  "Reconnect with its lord".
  6
  "Wield its weapon of old".
  11
  
  TO GIVE AND TO TAKE
  A particular character struck a deal with the prophet and
  didn't uphold their end of the bargain. Because of this, the
  creature swore to bring suffering to that character. This
  prophecy follows the Here Be the Future archetype in an
  attempt to create something other than the all-too-common
  prediction about the end of the world. It functions mostly as a
  narrative hook and as a way to build atmosphere, and it
  could—with a few changes to its context—serve as a moral
  compass to your party.
  Our structure looks something like this:
  The person to whom the prophecy is directed
  didn't keep their end of the deal. For this, they're
  going to suffer and be left with nothing, as the
  prophet takes it away.
  The event foretold by the prophecy is this particular
  character's suffering in relation to what the prophet is taking
  away, our actors are both the character in question and the
  prophet, and there is no condition to what is being
  prophesied.
  Even though the prediction is more of a threat than
  anything else, the prophet's intent is to warn the character of
  the repercussions for their actions. Though not in a friendly
  way, but rather as some sort of ultimatum.
  For the purposes of building an atmosphere, we need to
  construct both the actor and the prophet into characters that
  better convey this feeling. If, for example, we wish the story
  to develop into a good-versus-evil narrative, we could make
  the actor into an empathic figure that was tricked into
  accepting a nefarious deal from a black-hearted trickster. On
  the other hand, if we wanted the story to take on a more
  dystopic kind of vibe, the actor could be someone of power
  that got to where they are through this deal and now is
  abusing that power to make others pay for their end of the
  bargain.
  After piecing together all these elements, and doing some
  creative writing, our structure could look something like this:
  Have you heard? Just the other night, a hag
  appeared in front of the king and queen and
  threatened them! I was there, it just came in
  through the door and said:
  A kingly promise. A debt unpaid. For what you've
  done, you’ll die in shame. No sons, no daughters,
  to bear your name, for all your offspring I’ll take
  away.
  And then it disappeared just like that. Weird,
  right?
  As the prophet is the source of the actor's misfortune, this
  "unavoidable fate" could be effectively, well, avoided by
  dealing with the prophet in a way or another. This tends to
  happen when prophecies of this archetype take on a more
  human scale, and it's something that we could use as part of
  the prophecy's resolution arc. If our main concern with the
  prediction is to build an atmosphere, we don't really need it to
  come true or interact with our players that much, but should
  they become interested in following this narrative arc to the
  end, we could introduce dealing with the prophet or paying
  the debt as viable conditions to stopping it from coming true.
  CUSTOMIZING THIS PROPHECY
  Choose which elements to replace or roll in the following
  tables to determine how to further personalize this prophecy.
  d6
  Antagonistic prophet
  1
  A hag.
  2
  A fiend.
  3
  A sprite.
  4
  A sorcerer or warlock.
  5
  The voice of the land.
  6
  A ghost from times past.
  d6
  Nature of the deal
  1
  "A kingly promise. A debt unpaid".
  2
  "An oath was sworn, yet tossed away".
  3
  "You lie, you scheme, you break your promise".
  4
  "You made your vows, you signed in blood, yet
  every word you ignored and mocked".
  5
  "A pledge was made, yet swiftly ignored".
  6
  "An exchange, a trade, to give and to take. You got
  what you wanted but you never paid".
  d6
  Form of suffering
  1
  "For what you've done, you'll die in shame".
  2
  "For that mistake, you'll know despair".
  3
  "Because of greed, you'll bleed and suffer".
  4
  "Day and night you'll live in hell".
  5
  "For this you'll feel torturous pain".
  6
  "For your deceit, your mind will break".
  d6
  Repercussions
  1
  "No sons, no daughters, to bear your name. For all
  your offspring I’ll take away".
  2
  "No glory or honor will come to you, for now your
  name belongs to me".
  3
  "You'll never know sleep again, for every dream I'll
  turn to flames".
  4
  "The things you love, the things you hate, I'll make
  you unable to differentiate".
  5
  "Every wound you've ever had will open nightly on
  my behalf".
  6
  "Those who love you will think you died, and won't
  be able to see you cry".
  12
  
  A PROMISING TALE
  This is a false prophecy created to lure would-be heroes into
  an early grave. It's built around the archetype of A Hero
  Rises, and it presents the protagonist—which, in this case,
  should be anyone that hears about it—with a relic that could
  help them vanquish the antagonist. It's meant to provide the
  players with information through subtext. That information
  being the fact that the antagonist is very much aware of their
  shenanigans, and it's taking a proactive approach to dealing
  with them. Furthermore, the prediction does have
  directionality, so it could be used as a way to transition into
  another location if needed.
  Our structure looks something like this:
  You should reclaim an ancient relic located in a
  dangerous place. For when you do, you'll be able
  to bring an end to these times of peril, defeating
  the antagonist.
  The actor is whoever hears the prophecy, our condition is
  recovering the relic from a location, which, in turn, is used as
  a way to set our antagonist's trap, our event is bringing an
  end to these dark times, and the antagonist would be the
  baddie on duty.
  As we are trying to set up some sort of trap for the heroes,
  the tone of the prophecy should be hopeful, promising a too-
  good-to-be-true kind of resolution to their problems while
  staying plausible. As this lie is tailored to our heroes, we
  could even use information they don't expect the antagonist
  to have or to give away willingly, as a way to gain their trust
  per se.
  With a bit of work, our prophecy could look something like
  this:
  Rise, child of the land! And claim the mark of
  your ancestors from your ancient home. For in
  your hands and your hands alone, it will bring
  forth an era of peace and banish evil from this
  land.
  Introducing this prophecy into the story should be pretty
  straight forward, although we need the right context to do so.
  The antagonist needs to know who the heroes are and be
  aware that they're trying to stop their plans. Additionally, the
  prophecy requires someone to interpret it and usher the
  players towards that location, either now knowing it's a trap,
  or working in tandem with the antagonist. This person should
  be someone that the players look up to, respect, or see as
  some sort of benefactor.
  As for the prophet, while they're not mentioned in the
  prophecy, they're, in fact, relevant to our narrative. So
  purposefully omitting them from it and making it so no one
  quite knows where the prediction came from, could serve as
  a way for our players to figure out our scheme. Furthermore,
  as we don't need to reveal that it's all a sham until after the
  end of its resolution arc, we could make it into a real thing if
  we decide at any point that it's what our story needs.
  CUSTOMIZING THIS PROPHECY
  Choose which elements to replace or roll in the following
  tables to determine how to further personalize this prophecy.
  d6
  Actor
  1
  "Child of the land".
  2
  "Hero of [name of a city or kingdom]".
  3
  "Seeker of Truth".
  4
  "Wielder of wrath".
  5
  "Master of shadows".
  6
  "Child of [name of a deity or patron]".
  d6
  Relic of power
  1
  "The mark of your ancestors".
  2
  "The weapons of old".
  3
  "The ancient magic".
  4
  "The three keys of power".
  5
  "A piece of providence".
  6
  "Your true name".
  d6
  Location
  1
  "Your ancient home".
  2
  "The cradle from which evil spawned".
  3
  "The tomb of ancient heroes".
  4
  "The labyrinth".
  5
  "The beyond the veil".
  6
  "The forge beneath the earth".
  d6
  Changing times
  1
  "Bring forth an era of peace".
  2
  "End this time of great peril".
  3
  "Change the fate of the world".
  4
  "Burn the world and rise it anew".
  5
  "Give us hope and bring prosperity".
  6
  "Bring balance to the world".
  d6
  An end to the antagonist
  1
  "Banish evil from this land".
  2
  "Vanquish your foe".
  3
  "Strike down the forces of darkness".
  4
  "End the source of this evil".
  5
  "Put an end to evil once and for all".
  6
  "Quash those who would oppose you".
  13
  
  You made it to
  You made it to
  You made it to
  You made it to
  You made it to
  the end, as it
  the end, as it
  the end, as it
  the end, as it
  the end, as it
  was foretold.
  was foretold.
  was foretold.
  was foretold.
  was foretold.
  Oh, hi! You made it to the end, congratulations!
  This is actually the second document I've
  released so far, and I'm immensely proud of both
  of them. So allow me to recommend The
  incredible world of Doors & Locks in case you
  haven't read it yet.
  In any case, if you liked the document, please let
  me and others know what you think of it! If you
  didn't, well, please do the same! I'd love to get
  better!
  Anyways, thanks a lot for giving me a chance,
  and I hope you keep reading my stuff!
  Oh, and if you like the characters in this
  document, there are free stickers for WhatsApp
  and Telegram available on my Discord server!
  Every piece of art in this supplement was
  commissioned from kyo_smash, you can
  find more about her work here:
  linktr.ee/Kyo_Smash
  You can join by clicking here!
  https://discord.com/invite/2MvMxK2
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/DMsGuild/Prophecies as Narrative Tools.pdf