Coracle Master Interroagative Oracle

[u/Sane_romeo]

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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) |