Page 32 - Dungeon Master's Guide

9. PREDICTION' OMEN' PROPHECY The rise or fall of a leader or era is the death or
Sometimes the foretelling of a world-shaking event birth of a god, or the end of an age or the world. A
becomes a world-shaking event: an omen that predicts cataclysmic disaster is a world-drowning deluge, an ice
the fall of empires, the doom of races, and the end age, or a zombie apocalypse. An assault or invasion is
of the world. Sometimes an omen points to change a world war, a world-spanning demonic incursion, the
for the good, such as the arrival of a legendary hero awakening of a world-threatening monster, or the final
or savior. But the most dramatic prophecies warn of clash between good and evil. A rebellion dethrones a
future tragedies and predict dark ages. Unlike other god or gods, or raises a new force (such as a demon
world-shaking events, the outcome doesn't happen lord) to divinity. A new organization is a world-spanning
immediately. Instead, individuals or factions strive to empire or a pantheon of new gods. A discovery is a
fulfill or avert the prophecy-or shape the exact way it doomsday device or a portal to eldritch dimensions
will be fulfilled- according to how it will affect them. where world-shattering cosmic horrors dwell.
The prophecy's helpers or hinderers create adventure
hooks in the campaign by the actions they take. A TRACKING TIME
prophecy should foretell a big event on a grand scale, A calendar lets you record the passage of time in the
since it will take time to come true (or be averted). campaign. More importantly, it lets you plan ahead for
Imagine that a world-shaking prophecy comes to light. the critical events that shake up the world. For simple
If events continue on their present course, the prophecy time tracking, use a calendar for the current year in
will come true and the world will change dramatically the real world. Pick a date to indicate the start of the
as a result. Don't shy away from making this prophecy campaign, and make note of the days that adventurers
both significant and alarming, keeping in mind the spend on their travels and various activities. The
following points: calendar tells you when the seasons change and
Create a prophecy that foretells a major change to the lunar cycle. More importantly, you can use your
the campaign world. You can build one from scratch calendar to track important festivals and holidays, as
using ideas from the current campaign or randomly well as key events that shape your campaign.
determine a world-shaking event and fl~sh out This method is a good starting point, but the calendar
the details. of your world need not follow a modern calendar. If you
Write a list of three or more omens that will occur want to customize your calendar with details unique to
before the prophecy comes to pass. You can use your world, consider these types of features.
events that have already occurred in the campaign so
THE BASICS
that the prophecy is closer to being fulfilled. The rest
A fantasy world's calendar doesn't have to mirror the
are events that might or might not happen, depending
modern one, but it can (see "The Calendar of Harptos"
on the actions of the characters.
sidebar for an example). Do the weeks of a month have
Describe the person or creature that discovered
names? What about specific days of each month, like the
the prophecy and how it was found. What did this
ides, nones, and calends of the Roman calendar?
creature gain by revealing it? What did this person
lose or sacrifice?
PHYSICAL CYCLES
• Describe the individual or faction that supports the Determine when the seasons fall, marked by the
prophecy and works to ensure its fulfillment, and the
solstices and equinoxes. Do the months correspond
one that will do all in its power to avert the prophecy. to the phases of the moon (or moons)? Do strange
What is the first step each takes? Who suffers for and magical effects occur at the same time as these
their efforts? phenomena?
One part of the prophecy is wrong. Choose one of the
omens you listed or one of the details you created for RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES
the world-shaking event that the omen predicts. The Sprinkle holy days throughout your calendar. Each
chosen omen is false, and if applicable, its opposite is significant deity in your world should have at least one
true instead. holy day during the year, and some gods' holy days
correspond to celestial phenomena such as new moons
10. MYTH AND LEGEND
or equinoxes. Holy days reflect the portfolio of a deity (a
If wars, plagues, discoveries, and the like can be called
god of agriculture is honored in the harvest season) or
regular world-shaking events, mythic events exceed
significant events in the history of the deity's worship,
and surpass them. A mythic event might occur as the
such as the birth or death of a holy person, the date of
fulfillment of an ancient or long-forgotten prophecy, or it
a god's manifestation, the accession of the current high
might be an act of divine intervention.
priest, and so on.
Once again, your current campaign probably provides
Certain holy days are civic events, observed by every
a few ideas for the shape of this event. If you need
citizen of a town where a god's temple can be found.
inspiration, roll a d8 on the World-Shaking Events table, Harvest festivals are often celebrations on a grand
instead of the normal dlO. Address the bullet-point scale. Other holy days are important only to people
notes for that disaster, but magnify the result to the particularly devoted to a single deity. Still others are
grandest scale you can imagine.
observed by priests, who perform private rites and
sacrifices inside their temples on certain days or specific
CHAPTER 1 j A WORLD OF YOUR OWN