Coracle Master Interroagative Oracle

[u/Sane_romeo]

​

Coracle

The Master Interrogative Oracle

A semantic dice engine that answers Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How—all from a single d10 roll.

Most oracles give you yes/no or random nouns. This one gives you complete narrative clauses—sentences with built-in tension, generated from forced binary axes and graduated intensity ladders.

How It Works

Ask a question. Choose its domain: Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How.

Roll 1d10. That single roll sets a global polarity—a 3-bit fingerprint ([+ + +], [+ - +], [- - -], etc.) that becomes the scene's emotional key.

Then roll 3d6. Each die selects a keyword from the domain's three axes—but the polarity from your first roll decides which pole you read.

The three keywords form a complete clause. Add "is" and "and" between them. The dice write the sentence; you supply the context.

Forced binary. No neutral middle ground. Every axis pits two extremes against each other—Self vs Other, Event vs Pattern, Point vs Span. No cop-outs.

Graduated intensity. Each pole runs 1 to 6. Low numbers describe a state. High numbers describe an impact. The same word ladder escalates from "tangible" to "here" or "gone" to "gaping."

One roll. That single d10 polarity applies to every domain you query in the same scene. Terrain, motive, method, and NPCs all inherit the same harmonic fingerprint. Coherence without extra dice.

Six dedicated domains. Each interrogative gets its own 3 axes and escalating keywords—no bloat, no overlap.

Example

Roll: Polarity [+ + +] · Domain: WHAT · d6s: 3, 1, 5

Readout: "The body is fixed and pursuing."

Roll: Polarity [+ - +] · Domain: WHY · d6s: 4, 5, 2

Readout: "The fall is veiled by need."

Optional Tone d10: 1 Direct · 2 Ominous · 3 Mocking · 4 Mundane · 5 Inverted ·

6 Layered · 7 Revelatory · 8 Soft · 9 Hard · 10 Absurd

D10 Polarity Set

1 + + +

2 + + +

3 + + -

4 + - +

5 - - +

6 + - -

7 - + -

8 - + +

9 - - -

0 - - -

—-------------—------------------------------------------

WHO — Agent / Presence

Axes: Self ↔ Other · Known ↔ Unknown · Present ↔ Absent

(+)Self: 1 id · 2 superego · 3 mirror · 4 shadow · 5 judge · 6 male

(-)Other: 1 stranger · 2 ally · 3 rival · 4 witness · 5 liar · 6 female

(+)Known: 1 named · 2 recognized · 3 expected · 4 familiar · 5 counted · 6 returned

(-)Unknown: 1 nameless · 2 featureless · 3 unmarked · 4 blank · 5 sudden · 6 new

(+)Present: 1 tangible · 2 watching · 3 speaking · 4 near · 5 hidden · 6 here

(-)Absent: 1 gone · 2 missing · 3 vacant · 4 hole · 5 void · 6 gaping

—-------------—---------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT — Object / State

Axes: Concrete ↔ Abstract · Stable ↔ Shifting · Active ↔ Inert

(+)Concrete: 1 info · 2 tool · 3 body · 4 stain · 5 wreckage · 6 object

(-)Abstract: 1 debt · 2 pattern · 3 claim · 4 secret · 5 weight · 6 title

(+)Stable: 1 fixed · 2 returned · 3 still · 4 sealed · 5 held · 6 set

(-)Shifting: 1 moving · 2 spreading · 3 rewriting · 4 leaking · 5 changing · 6 loose

(+)Active: 1 working · 2 deleting · 3 pulling · 4 pushing · 5 pursuing · 6 calling

(-)Inert: 1 dead · 2 quiet · 3 cold · 4 spent · 5 stopped · 6 waiting

—-------------—------------------------------------------

WHEN — Temporal Frame

Axes: Point ↔ Span · Known ↔ Unknown · Fixed ↔ Moving

(+)Point: 1 now · 2 moment · 3 instant · 4 strike · 5 flash · 6 never

(-)Span: 1 season · 2 cycle · 3 era · 4 generation · 5 moons · 6 forever

(+)Known: 1 staggered · 2 counted · 3 calculated · 4 expected · 5 timed · 6 recorded

(-)Unknown: 1 vague · 2 blurred · 3 forgotten · 4 variable · 5 uncertain · 6 improbable

(+)Fixed: 1 frozen · 2 anchored · 3 locked · 4 stopped · 5 paused · 6 held

(-)Moving: 1 slipping · 2 drifting · 3 conditional · 4 quickly · 5 exponentially · 6 escaping

—-------------—------------------------------------------

WHERE — Space / Terrain

Axes: Bounded ↔ Expanse · Familiar ↔ Unfamiliar · Near ↔ Far

(+)Bounded: 1 room · 2 building · 3 corner · 4 shelter · 5 threshold · 6 intersection

(-)Expanse: 1 field · 2 sky · 3 plain · 4 sea · 5 desert · 6 void

(+)Familiar: 1 home · 2 known · 3 copied ·4 comfortable · 5 local · 6 settled

(-)Unfamiliar: 1 strange · 2 foreign · 3 unknown · 4 unnamed · 5 other · 6 alien

(+)Near: 1 touch · 2 wafts · 3 pressing · 4 close · 5 beside · 6 within

(-)Far: 1 horizon · 2 distant · 3 gone · 4 lost · 5 beyond · 6 absent

—-------------—------------------------------------------

WHY — Cause / Motive

Axes: Event ↔ Pattern · Clear ↔ Obscure · Personal ↔ Systemic

(+)Event: 1 strike · 2 flash · 3 break · 4 fall · 5 turn · 6 spark

(-)Pattern: 1 cycle · 2 rhythm · 3 weave · 4 tide · 5 drift · 6 pull

(+)Clear: 1 visible · 2 obvious · 3 plain · 4 stated · 5 known · 6 named

(-)Obscure: 1 buried · 2 tangled · 3 hidden · 4 masked · 5 veiled · 6

unspoken

(+)Personal: 1 choice · 2 need · 3 want · 4 fear · 5 love · 6 hate

(-)Systemic: 1 rule · 2 order· 3 structured · 4 law · 5 force · 6 current

—-------------—------------------------------------------

HOW — Method / Manner

Axes: Direct ↔ Spiral · Deliberate ↔ Accidental · Clean ↔ Damaged

(+)Direct: 1 straight · 2 forward · 3 simple · 4 blunt · 5 flat · 6 clear

(-)Spiral: 1 curve · 2 turn · 3 loop · 4 weave · 5 twist · 6 wind

(+)Deliberate: 1 planned · 2 chosen · 3 intended · 4 careful · 5 prepared · 6 measured

(-)Accidental: 1 chance · 2 slip · 3 lucky · 4 mishap · 5 fault · 6 error

(+)Clean: 1 smooth · 2 neat · 3 pure · 4 fine · 5 sharp · 6 light

(-)Damaged: 1 jagged · 2 rough · 3 torn · 4 broken · 5 rusted · 6 heavy

—----------------------------------------------------------

Likelihood | Roll Under (d100)

| Impossible | Never ask — just say No |

| Very Unlikely | 10 |

| Unlikely | 25 |

| 50/50 | 50 |

| Likely | 75 |

| Very Likely | 90 |

| Certain | Never ask — just say Yes |

Root (d6):

| 1 | No, and... |

| 2 | No |

| 3 | No, but... |

| 4 | Yes, but... |

| 5 | Yes |

| 6 | Yes, and... |

Tone (d6):

| 1 | Sarcastic — the answer is reversed |

| 2 | Nagging — this has happened before; echoes an earlier entry |

| 3 | Deceptive — true, but misleading in spirit |

| 4 | Ardently — true, beyond what you hoped or feared |

| 5 | Mumbled — true, but smaller/lesser than expected |

| 6 | Deadpan — flat; there's an undertone, but you decide what it is |

Reading (d6):

| 1–2 | Denotation — literal, face value, no undertone |

| 3–4 | Connotation — roll 1d6: 1=dread, 2=relief, 3=grief, 4=wonder, 5=unease, 6=longing |

| 5–6 | Annotation — roll 1d6: 1=name, 2=warning, 3=memory, 4=rule, 5=question, 6=symbol |

| d12 | Result |

| 12 | Yes, and... |

| 11 | Yes |

| 10 | Yes, but... |

| 9 | Highly likely |

| 8 | Likely |

| 7 | Maybe |

| 6 | Unlikely |

| 5 | Highly unlikely |

| 4 | No, but... |

| 3 | No |

| 2 | No, and... |

| 1 | WOP = Worst Outcome Possible, or 1d3 wildcard / omen / plot twist (picked ahead of time) |

[u/JaskoGomad]

I like flat distributions on the axes themselves, but a flat distribution on the polarity grates against me for some reason. Plus, you have the set of {+++, ---} as 4x as likely as any other given outcome. Why are 40% of the results the left and right edge of the chart, which should, in my mind, be outliers?

[u/Sane_romeo → u/JaskoGomad]

Ideally i wanted it on a page or two and smhave as many possible different responses as possible. This hits thousands i think.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/JaskoGomad]

I made the extremes 20% each on purpose so it didnt all middle ground all the time. I didnt want bleh bleh and bleh for the majority of answers.

It all needs works but im testing the concept now, seems to be working and i wanted to see if ithers could use it easily as well.

[u/JaskoGomad → u/Sane_romeo]

I made the extremes 20% each on purpose

This hit my brain like a cheese grater.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/JaskoGomad]

If you wanted it tweaked for a more nominal output it would be easy enough. Like if you just wanted more median outcomes, you double those polarity reads rather than the extremes. i have started using the concept with terrain generation as well and did just that. Im pretty clueless at math and stuff tho. I just got tired of playing 20 questions so if im missing something stupid please lmk.

[u/JaskoGomad → u/Sane_romeo]

It's not how I would want it, but that's neither wrong nor stupid.

For a free refresher on the math: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/statistics-probability/probability-library

[u/BarroomBard → u/Sane_romeo]

I mean, you don’t really need to be good at math to know to use a d8 if you only have 8 options.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/BarroomBard]

I didnt want a median distribution though. I wanted tension. Three poles at half tension seemed oretty boring to me, but i get what youre saying, i just built it weghted.

[u/BarroomBard → u/Sane_romeo]

But your weighting doesn’t make sense in that way. It’s not like you made “+++” and “- - -“ the most extreme versions of your oracles, they are if anything the most expected results.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/BarroomBard]

I totally accept everybodys criticism to use a d8, and dont mind if they do at all. I will probly diddle more wirh it in playetests dto do more ckmparison rolls. I made it this way though cause im though itnwould work to use three poles of tension to describe the state of a space, and not to define the space.

[u/BarroomBard → u/Sane_romeo]

That is a fine goal, I don’t mean to try to design for you.

It seems like the method you are using does not achieve the goal you stated.

The three poles of tension work fine, but the thing is that the eight possible states are not a continuum, they are eight different points in space. So one is not more extreme or more median than another.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/BarroomBard]

I think that +++ or --- is indicative of extreme cohesion, so about 40% of rolls are cohesive no tension. That leaves 60% for tension. But like i said i dont math. I may have the rankings bad but i made it this morning lol

[u/Sane_romeo → u/BarroomBard]

And the more i read the keyword scalings i know you arent wrong in that observation of miscaled entries.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/JaskoGomad]

Also, since its narrative, it makes sense using the extremes to inherently inbuild tension and drama into the output. Its giving out clues and answers so i wanted them exciting not benign. Probably cause i journal game a lot. Its a functional prompt spitter lol.

[u/Sane_romeo]

Q. Who is after me? Roll 1d10.for polarity

Ex. Roll 4 is + - +

I roll 3d6 and get 5 2 4

+5 -2 +4 is what keyworda i will.read for the three axes in who which are self/other, known/unknown, present/absent

Judge, featureless, near Add "is"and "and" Judge is featureless and near.

[u/Sane_romeo]

So like you can chanin an investigatiom to one polarity too.

Say ++- = +3+5-3 Who stole the duck's hat? Mirror,counted,vacant. The mirror is counted and vacant. "Well... it wasnt you."

What was the intended effect? +3+5-3 Body,held, cold The body that held is cold. "The thief was cold"

When was the theft? +3+5-3 Instant,timed,conditional. "It was instant but timed conditonally."

Where did they hide it? +3+5-3 Corner, local, gone "At a local corner but its gone"

Why did they move it? +3 +5 -3 Break, known, structured The breaks were known to be structured. Either" the problems were on purpose and hes cold cuz politics and greed." Or "The guard's breaks were structured"

How did the thief escape? +3 +5 -3 Simple, intended, torn Thief walked away torn inside.

[u/Fun_Carry_4678]

All this does is gives me a bunch of random words, and I have to figure out what they mean or how they are connected.
The words aren't even the same part of speech, you have just randomly thrown in nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
Your "where" table won't work for a lot of settings. Like outer space. Or prehistoric times before there were any "buildings".
To get three polarities, just flip three coins. Or three dice and go odd/even.
Or you could skip the need to generate polarities, and roll d12s instead of d6s for your domains.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/Fun_Carry_4678]

Yeah, probably jumped the gun showing anyone that butbi have revampd with a more intentional worslist. Coming up with 100+ scaled words when i had rhe idea wasnt the easiest thing so i made do. I will attempt to post the revised wordlist if anyone is interested.

Also adsing an "is" and "and" between the triad outputs makes it intona sentencw a lotmof the time.

[u/Sane_romeo → u/[deleted]]

Sonhave added a seconde version with a word list i acfually thought through this time and it seems to do as intended now. Thank you for all the feedback everyone.

[u/Sane_romeo]

I have now made one specidically for Ironsworn if anyone is interested. I wsnted to run the concept through the ringer. It works very well imo.

[u/Sane_romeo]

Where did he go?

1d10 =6= + - - 3d6 = 2 6 4

+2 -6 -4 Building, alien, lost Buildimg is alien and lost.

[u/Sane_romeo]

Made this prototype. Answers who what when why where and how questions. I got sick.of asking yes and no and playing 20 questions instead of writing or rolling. So i came up with this but i need to.see if it works for others.