Oracles are an essential part of solo roleplaying. They can be much more than just answering a Yes or No question, but provide inspiration and guidance on a variety of topics. They are oftentimes also called generators.
Some tables are very abstract and only provide a simple spark in a verb/noun combination. Others are very specific. They only offer a very vague description though and it is up to you to make it work as part of the fiction and setting. Sometimes tables are very specific and there’s very little room for interpretation (such as a character name).
Principles
Some of the tables presented in this Guide are poly-tables. This means you roll a complete set of polyhedral dice and lookup the results on sub-tables of a given subject. A short summary which die is used for which table is normally given at the beginning. One roll is all you need and thus allows for very quick generation.
A set of polyhedral dice consists of 7 dice: d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 and d% (percentile die). The d% is either a differently coloured d10 or a d10 with labels ranging from 00, 10, .., 90. We assume the latter. When d10 and d% are used together it is referenced as d100.
These tables are a tool. Use the following additional tips:
- Pick: You do not have to roll if you don’t want to. You are free to pick whatever option suits you best in the current situation. However some tables have results that may appear rarer than others. Consider this when picking an option.
- Ignore: If you do not think a result makes sense in your world or the situation you are free to ignore the result and roll again.
- Mix: Feel free to mix and match different tables.