Phrasing Responses to "Second Sight" Level 1 Cleric Spell

[herecomethejudge]

One of my players has a cleric PC who knows Second Sight, and she's really fond of using it, but I'm a little unsure sometimes as judge as to how to phrase the answers. At lower spell check values, it's supposed to give them a sense (of varying likelihoods of accuracy) as to whether a particular decision (such as entering a room) is going to be a "bane or a boon" to the character or party. Question is, a lot of times, I find it's not so simple as "good or bad" like that, like the room may have a deadly ambush in it but also has a bunch of treasure. What kinds of strategies have people used when role-playing this spell's effects in different scenarios?

[Bilgewriggler]

Because the judge makes this roll, there’s never any way for the cleric to know that the response is accurate. So my advice is to just role-play the deity. I mean, roll the die and pretend to consult the book, but answer based on how you think the deity perceives the cleric’s current status, and what kind of deity it is. A chaotic deity should inherently be less reliable than a lawful one, for instance.

Keep most replies to “boon,” “bane,” or “you receive no response.” Pick boon if you think the deity would want the cleric to take the action being considered, bane if the reverse, and “no response” for a spell failure or if the situation is genuinely ambiguous.

You can also use this to go easy on the party or make things hard for them, per your inclination of the moment.

DCC is very unforgiving as far as the will of the dice goes, so take advantage of the opportunity to avoid having the session be a slave to random chance.

And just to spice things up, maybe once in a while reply with something like, “You sense a heavy sigh of omnipotent irritation, and your mind is flooded with images of your deity’s iconography, and a voice rings out saying, ‘Do I have to tell you everything? All right, then. Yes, open the door and go down the stairs, staying to the left at all times. Look in the lizard idol’s mouth for the key that will disarm the trap on the mithril bridge, then cross the hall of flames by stepping ONLY on the green tiles.’” Continue the description for as long as you want, then finish with, “Finally, the voice adds, ‘Or have I told you all this just to test your faith?’” You might even sneak an, “Are you writing this down?” into the middle bit.

Maybe it then turns out that the door they asked about is fake and does nothing but activate a trap. Or maybe every instruction is accurate... but after all the loot is gained, the deity says, “Now donate all of this treasure to my temples, or your requests of me will fall on deaf ears until you make amends.”

[GnomeBoy]

I would try to draw upon the status of the party... if they are hurting and need rest, casting it might point them toward an area that's (relatively) safe or where there is a cache of healing magic (if such exists in your world).

At the 24+ mark, it talks about "significant" decisions... Not all decisions are "significant decisions" so it's only the most goal-specific or character-specific stuff that you have to provide any hint about.

The other option is to handle things more narratively.... You don't have to say anything until something *significant* comes up within the time frame. When they're about to open a door that has immediate danger behind it, you say "this was the moment you foresaw! There's bad news on the other side of that door!" You can have rolled the accuracy change beforehand, and if it comes up as "inaccurate", then just mess with them at a point of your choosing -- "it'd be a GREAT IDEA to open that door....!"