how does augury work?

[khachaturian]

while it seems like a really useful spell, the casting time (1 min) seems like it may limit its tactical application, while its short window of insight (30 min) might limit its strategic application. also wondering how much of its utility ends up being DM-dependent.

at any rate, i would love to hear about how other people have used this spell successfully in the past.

[Crake]

Its a second level spell, so you can't really expect much from it. I personally have never used it, and never listen to any answers that other players get from it, because there's a very decent possibility that the answer you got was false anyway. I'd rather wait for the much better 5th level spell Commune. Sure it costs 100xp, but it gives you much better answers with no chance at a lie (unless your DM is a jerk and "has another diety intervene")

[Segev]

Its typical use is in dungeon delving or when discussing in private an offer. You're at a door you're unsure of the providence of, or you're trying to decide which of two paths to take, or you're trying to figure out if the shadowy figure's offer really is too good to be true.

"Do we take this door?" and, if you get "woe," you ask it about the other one (if it's a choice between two). If you get "woe" and it's a single door, you just know not to bother with it. It's less good for the Shadowy Figure since you're looking for ultimate results, but at the very least you can get a quick impression of whether accepting the deal is IMMEDIATELY harmful. (Helps if, for instance, he's just trying to get you into a trap in short order.)

[Psyren]

This is one of the better divinations because it's so easy to adjudicate: "Good idea" "Bad idea" "Good and Bad" "Not really either." There's no elaboration, which can add to the sense of mystery around your campaign while still being helpful to the players. And it comes online early enough that many groups will get to try it out.

Lighting incense is also a very priestly thing to do, and most cleric players enjoy doing priestly things - that's what they signed up for after all.


I'd rather wait for the much better 5th level spell Commune.

Waiting 6 levels isn't always feasible however.

[Crake]

Waiting 6 levels isn't always feasible however.

No information is better than false information, imo anyway.

[John Longarrow]

From my experience, augury works best if you have two people cast it for the same questions AND for both to be very specific on their questions.

"Should we open the door" can have two different characters get conflicting answers because what is on the other side could be good for one and bad for another.

"Will Mike drawing three cards from the deck of many things be bad?" generally gets the same result for both.

[Barstro]

I convinced my DM that it would let me know who would win a fight so that I could bet accordingly. Also used it to reassure party that a proposed action was the correct thing to do (or at least what the DM wanted us to do in order to keep the story going).

I would hope that any decent DM would make it impossible to do a whole lot more with Augury than that.

[Yuki Akuma]

"Will Mike drawing three cards from the deck of many things be bad?" generally gets the same result for both.

I don't think Augury could divine the results of a minor artifact. It's a level two spell. So it'd likely go by probabilities?

In which case it probably comes back 'Woe' each time, because the DoMT has more bad outcomes than good.

[ArcturusV]

Well, it depends on the group. But honestly the most use I get out of Augury is a "Gut check". I don't know about you? But groups I am in, players tend to have planning sessions that get REALLY far out of hand. All sorts of wild ideas get thrown out, baseless assumptions, and everyone nods, thinks they're really clever, and tries to go with something that.....

Well to quote a description about a friend's shadowrun game: "... someone went to get a coke out of a vending machine. This plan consisted of 15 stages, involved skydiving out of a 55 story high window, a rocket launcher, and dump truck."

Or from one of my own games, where the players had a "Get into the city free" permit. Legitimate business there. And had to get into a city. Guard at the gate just asks them "What's your business here?" like he does everyone... and instantly they're plotting to try to figure out how to get around this 'trap'.

Augury is a low level gut check where, before you do some elaborate plan, you go "Hey, good idea?" and if your DM is honestly just shaking his head at the whole thing you can get a little clue that you're going overboard... and that maybe burning down an entire city you need access to just because you couldn't answer a simple "Here on business with the gnomish merchant guild." to a simple question isn't a good idea.

Also, ignore the bit about about Lies and False Answers from another poster. Augury HAS no false answers. The worst you get is "Nothing" if you fail.

But even that is a low percentage chance, and I've known a lot of DMs who don't even really roll for it but use it to give you hints they want you to have anyway.

[Piggy Knowles]

One of my favorite underrated prestige classes, the Medani Prophet, gets you many castings of Augury and Divination as SLAs, eliminating the casting time and material component issues. That makes it a lot easier to use tactically.

That said, I always get a ton of use out of those types of divinations spells when I am playing a caster with access to them. From choosing which path to take in a dungeon to deciding if it's a good idea to expose the Duke's double dealing, there is almost always a decent use for it. (Unless your DM is being willfully obtuse and thinks divinations always give misleading answers, that is...)

[Biotroll]

I only have experience with augury as DM and it is good thing imo. I gave my players set of bones that can be used 3 times a week for augury and it helped them quite a bit to check their plans just like ArcturusV said. It's good tool. My players usualy ignore most of divination spells when they get them so small magic item with augury is usualy one of the first magic things they get their hands on.

[Psyren]

I don't think Augury could divine the results of a minor artifact. It's a level two spell. So it'd likely go by probabilities?

In which case it probably comes back 'Woe' each time, because the DoMT has more bad outcomes than good.

I might allow it, but if I did, most cards would return Woe+Weal since few of them are objectively good or objectively bad. The Wish cards for instance obviously depend on what you wish for, and so would be both. Idiot and Fool are both since you get a new card, which could be good. Jester is both since two more draws could be bad. Fates could be bad if it puts the drawer in a different state than his friends (isolating him), so both. Talons could be good since it takes the deck away too.

Only Donjon, Euryale, Ruin and Void would be simply "Woe." Key, Gem, Sun and Star would be Weal.

[ArcturusV]

On the item side you might want to look for the wondrous item "Lesser 8 Diagram Coins" which were in OA. I seem to recall they were fairly cheap for a 1/day Augury, and useable by anyone. It'd probably be a better deal than Biotroll's bones 90% of the time. Though his bones could be used multiple times per day.

[supervillan]

Augury is an awesome spell :smallsmile:

I've played a diviner/cleric/mystic theurge and would often "ask Audrey" with that character. It's not a flawless spell, but it is only second level. It is best used to help with short term decisions, as other posters have mentioned. Which passageway to go down? Which door to open? Should I throw this lever?

Well worth the spell slot, but often overlooked.

[holywhippet]

One of my former DMs used augury against his players in one game. It was under 3.0 rules so the identify spell would only reveal the lowest level enchanment on an item. So the BBEG arranged for them to receive a ring that had unlimited castings of augury. An item so useful they'd never consider discarding it. However, it had a second higher level effect in the form of an inescapable location enchanment. This meant the BBEG could scry on them at any time without fail and see what they were doing. As a result, whenever they arrived at the end of a dungeon to find the item they needed to deal with the BBEG, said BBEG would already be there or have been there to steal the item.

[Hiro Protagonest]

The only way Augury can lie is giving the "Nothing" answer. So it's not like it can intentionally give you bad advice.

[John Longarrow]

I don't think Augury could divine the results of a minor artifact. It's a level two spell. So it'd likely go by probabilities?

In which case it probably comes back 'Woe' each time, because the DoMT has more bad outcomes than good.

I'd have to say that would be a DM's call. As a DM, I'd have no problem letting players do this. Course I'd roll out the cards they would choose if they start doing this, then look through the chain to see if they come out ahead or behind (subject to DM's perspective).

As such, if their first card takes away their posessions, that would be bad.
If their second gives them enough wishes to replace all their gear and then some, that would be good. If their third card makes them loose 10,000 xp, that would be bad. If their fourth gives them 50,000xp, that would be good.

As such, asking about drawing X cards can give either "Good", "Bad", or "Good and Bad" depending on exactly what the cards do. This does get more interesting when you remember you can get a dread wraith from the deck, and how the character prepairs before the fight could dramatically change the odds...