The Oracle's intentions

[Empyrium42]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but it seems weird to me that the kobold; being an oracle for Tiamat, would royally screw over so many of his fellow worshipers or fellow kin (putting it lightly). He lead the Black Dragon to a horrible loss that could have been prevented all together what with him being Clairvoyant and what not.

In the grand scheme of things, we aren't sure how his oracle powers work or whether or not he saw the familicide comming. Or what his role is to be in the future. So... yeah...
/shrug

[Kaytara]

He lead the Black Dragon to a horrible loss that could have been prevented all together what with him being Clairvoyant and what not.

Clairvoyance is about seeing the future. I'm honestly not sure where you got the idea of being able to "prevent" anything. :D

[Thanatosia]

The Oracle is bound to the future as much as everyone else is, if he could change it, think he'd have been home when Belkar showed up at his doorstep?

As Dr Manhatten would put it "We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings."

[Totally Guy]

He could have warned her but the memory charm would have negated it. So why bother?

Or he could have given her a freebie like Roy had just had...

[Empyrium42]

Oh well, I should have seen this coming. Lousy unchangable timelines. Though you'd think Tiamat would extend her wraths to him too.

[Weimann]

Buuuut!

In this famous page, the Oracle asks "That, uh... that's your question?" in the thirteenth panel. That implies that depending on the answer the Oracle gave, the future would come out differently. Which I for one believe is entirely plausible.

I think it's more likely that the Orcale is simply a synic bastard who cares not one whit for anyone but himself, blood relation or not.

[Andore Mordre]

I'm not sure if this has been discussed before, but it seems weird to me that the kobold; being an oracle for Tiamat, would royally screw over so many of his fellow worshipers or fellow kin (putting it lightly). He lead the Black Dragon to a horrible loss that could have been prevented all together what with him being Clairvoyant and what not.

Yep, I made a thread on that once (to date the only thread I've started), but only days later it was almost all disproved by OotS #668

[FujinAkari]

Buuuut!

In this famous page, the Oracle asks "That, uh... that's your question?" in the thirteenth panel. That implies that depending on the answer the Oracle gave, the future would come out differently. Which I for one believe is entirely plausible.

I think it's more likely that the Orcale is simply a synic bastard who cares not one whit for anyone but himself, blood relation or not.

I disagree. Strongly. Your own example shows that the Oracle doesn't want to screw Roy over, which is why he even asked "That, uh... that's your question?"

The trouble is, Mama Dragon will only remember the Oracle's response to "Who killed my son" Unless the Oracle can convince her to ask "Will there be any negative repercussions to killing the person who killed my Son?" then there is no possible way he can warn her, and Mama is a bit too egotistical to possibly think it is worth asking that about an elf.

[factotum]

The Oracle's stock in trade is giving an accurate answer to the question asked. To either provide an incorrect answer, or an answer to a question not asked, would negate the purpose of him being there.

[Ron Miel]

The Oracle's prophecies all come from Tiamet. Tiamet can only know about mortal affairs, and was unable to foresee the actions of the IFCC.

[Sewblon]

The Oracle is bound to the future as much as everyone else is, if he could change it, think he'd have been home when Belkar showed up at his doorstep?

As Dr Manhatten would put it "We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings."

What Thanatosia said. So far as I can tell, once something is foretold in the Stickverse, it is a forgone conclusion.

[derfenrirwolv]

I think he was pretty blatant about what his attentions are... make a boatload of gold by telling clueless adventurers where to go.

[DBJack]

The Oracle is unable to warn people or explain himself because he can only give a straight answer to the exact question asked. Of course he uses this to be snarky, but even if afterwards he warned Mama BD about what would happen, she could only forget it because of the memory charm

[NerfTW]

I think we're all ignoring a major possibility.


The Oracle is just a giant ****.


And Tiamat is, CLEARLY, also worshiped by Kobolds. She probably feels the same as the Southern Gods did with Azure City. They aren't a major percentage of her worshipers.

[Spirited Charge]

The Oracle is bound to the future as much as everyone else is, if he could change it, think he'd have been home when Belkar showed up at his doorstep?

As Dr Manhatten would put it "We're all puppets, Laurie. I'm just a puppet who can see the strings."

Ah, but he does pull some strings! The reason he was at home for Belkar's attack was in order for his curse to be triggered. And he wasn't worried 'cause he had already made arrangements with his lizard folk buddies to give him a quick resorection (sp?). I mean, the name of his new village makes it obvious that he used his foresight to full effect.

[73 Bits of Lint]

Buuuut!

In this famous page, the Oracle asks "That, uh... that's your question?" in the thirteenth panel. That implies that depending on the answer the Oracle gave, the future would come out differently. Which I for one believe is entirely plausible.

Or he could have been expressing surprise because he knew that the Order and Xykon were going to end up in Azure city next. Based on this, he assumed it would be his advice that sent the Order on their way, and when Roy asked a question specifically formulated to preclude that possibility it through him off track.

I think it's more likely that the Orcale is simply a synic bastard who cares not one whit for anyone but himself, blood relation or not.

Or this is possible too. The guy is a huge jerk.

[ThePhantasm]

It does seem there is a bit of a paradox here, and it is really rooted in:

Is the future in the OOTS world alterable?

What we've seen so far, however, seems to suggest that it is not. In that case, the Oracle is merely an Agent of Fate.

Interestingly enough though, in Mesopotamian myth Tiamat created the world out of chaos. Fate and the future being certain had nothing to do with it.

[J.J.J-H-Schmidt]

Buuuut!

In this famous page, the Oracle asks "That, uh... that's your question?" in the thirteenth panel. That implies that depending on the answer the Oracle gave, the future would come out differently. Which I for one believe is entirely plausible.

I think it's more likely that the Orcale is simply a synic bastard who cares not one whit for anyone but himself, blood relation or not.

i think that this was a knock on all the players who spend so long laboring on the perfect sentax fot their perfect DM proof magical questions.

the oracle knowing this is taken aback by the obvious truck sized hole in th "PC's" logic...

that was my take, and i thought it hilarious.

[Forbiddenwar]

I disagree. Strongly. Your own example shows that the Oracle doesn't want to screw Roy over, which is why he even asked "That, uh... that's your question?"

The trouble is, Mama Dragon will only remember the Oracle's response to "Who killed my son" Unless the Oracle can convince her to ask "Will there be any negative repercussions to killing the person who killed my Son?" then there is no possible way he can warn her, and Mama is a bit too egotistical to possibly think it is worth asking that about an elf.

Egotistical may be the wrong word. Remember, she only gets one question. Put yourself in her place, you comes home and finds her baby horribly murdered. Do you care about consequences of your hypothetical future actions? Or do you care about discovering the identity of the murderer so you can have justice.