Our trusted telling tool
I’ve previously discussed the importance of Yes/No oracles in solo or other GMless games. You use them to check your assumptions about the setting and the circumstances your character is in, clarifying details and delegating decisions you are not sure about to a dice roll.
In a nutshell, this Oracle answers questions you would usually ask your game master in a traditional game—this is the important bit that I want to explore.
Habitually, the questions you ask the Oracle are about the details of the scene you are in, the outcome of your actions, the traits and reactions of the people you are talking to, your assumptions about a fact, and so on. They can relate to activities (“Are there any children playing in the streets nearby?”), the environment (“Is the sky clear?”), previous knowledge (“Have I heard this language before?”) and other inquiries regarding the world around you.
All those questions have something in common: they are in-fiction questions. If you are following my line of thought, I believe there’s great untapped potential for what this simple mechanic can achieve.
The solo player's dilemma
If you play solo games, you’ve been there.
You want to perform a certain action and there is no clear rule indicating if you can do it, or how you would go about doing it. You want to use one of your resources or abilities, but there’s nothing you can find clarifying if it is applicable to the situation at hand. Either you are playing a minimalist game that couldn’t possibly cover all imaginable scenarios, or you are delving into a crunchier game, but are at a loss deciphering the minutiae of a particular rule.
Solo games often rely on the players' interpretations of the mechanics, especially when hard rules for every scenario aren't available. Raise your hand if you ever felt overwhelmed by doing all that alone or, worse, felt like you're 'cheating' if your ruling significantly benefits your character.
This is normally part of a traditional Game Master's duties, filling in the gaps where concrete rules may leave room for ambiguity. Personally, this is specially true when I’m soloing games with ‘softer’ rules, like free-form magic systems. Can I use ‘talk to animals’ with a giant spider? Can I cast lightning inside the dungeon?
Sure, I can make the most reasonable judgement call at the moment and move on, but… isn’t there another way?
(You know where this is going, right?)
The Mechanical Adjudicator
I propose an expansion of the Oracle's role – using it as a dynamic house rule generator and rules adjudicator. Yes, that’s right!
Think about it: another significant role of the game master is to clarify rules and make rulings about how specific mechanics work. So why not extend the Oracle's domain to encompass this aspect?
This is exactly what I am doing in Nexalis, my latest project, I've introduced this expanded use of the Yes or No Oracle. I'm encouraging players to use it to clarify rules, test the limits of their character's abilities, determine how these abilities apply in specific situations, and even establish their own house rules.
And I’ve added a bucketload of examples, ranging from specific uses of abilities to general interpretations of rules:
Can we flee from a combat? Do we need to roll for it?
Is it possible to make a combined attack with another player to deal more damage or gain a tactical advantage?
Is there a penalty for using a ranged weapon at close range?
Does this rock provide me cover and a bonus to my defense roll?
Can I try to disarm the opponent with my attack instead of dealing damage?
Can 'One with Nature' make me invisible in an urban environment if there are plants nearby?
Does 'Blademaster's Insight' allow me to detect invisible creatures as well?
Does 'Swift Sabotage' work on magical devices or only mundane mechanisms?
I, as the designer, don’t want to answer all of these questions (and the myriad of others I didn’t anticipate). Moreover, I like when players come up with their own versions. Why not use the Oracle to help you with that?
By shifting these decisions to the Oracle, we bring in an impartial entity that makes these decisions, alleviating those concerns about fairness and exactness, and truly emulating a game master's role.
We re-imagine the Yes or No Oracle not just as a narrative tool, but as a comprehensive game master emulator, shaping both the story and the mechanics in a seamless and intriguing way.
This ‘Adjudicating Oracle’, in this sense, streamlines gameplay, ensures fairness, and enhances the solo RPG experience by instilling a sense of unpredictability and excitement to the rules as well.
You know that awesome feeling of getting a ‘Yes’ when asking a very unlikely question to the oracle, with slim odds? Imagine getting that when asking if you can cast a reanimate spell on that bandit’s leather armor.
If you liked this idea, please check out Nexalis on the link below! The campaign starts next week, so subscribe to be notified!
This is such a good idea
That is a lovely thought. It'd also be fun to do that with a GM-less group and see the game system grow alongside the story!