Fortune Favors the Flavor

Introduction

Opening and eating fortune cookies provide a chance for ominous, vague, or hysterical moments in a campaign setting. Whether it's adding the phrase "in bed" after reading a fortune or laughing at the sometimes unclear message in them. This idea came to me after remembering how in Dolmenwood, each player has a birthday that provides a bonus for that day only. My party hasn't passed enough in-game time for it to be my birthday, and I thought it'd be nice to have something similar that could be used at any table. I'd like to walk you through my iterative process on what I'm calling - and bear with me here - the Fortune Table.

I've thought about how this could function in a few different ways, and each one pulls from different threads. The first, a table with bonuses provided, is the most obvious.

1 - Roll on a table, get a bonus

The idea for this one is that in whatever system, or world, you're playing in, the result of the roll provides some inherent bonus for a short time (e.g. the day). Example use cases include getting a reading done by a psychic, opening a gift, reading a certain book, eating certain foods, etc.

This implementation looked something like this:

There's not much excitement here, in my opinion. Yes, there's an opportunity for a bonus that may or may not impact the player. Then again, the player might not even use it. Who cares about getting a +1 to hit rolls if we're in a shopping session?

It also lacks player engagement. What did the player do to warrant such a bonus other than stumble upon it? Perhaps that's enough for some parties. I wanted more. Then, I thought about my playtest session in Jason Bradley Thompson's Dreamland game and how prompting players in a similar word bank way could be powerful even in small moments.

2 - Roll for a prompt that is tied to certain words/ideas

In this version, the fortune doesn't provide a character bonus but rather a narrative one. The GM prompts the players by rolling on the Fortune table and making note of how they tell the story. If players don't want to engage, then that's their loss.

The idea behind this is to create those small moments of world and character building that happen in a story when the party is breaking camp or recovering from a huge loss. All of these prompts should be couched in the character's POV, not the player's. The GM is looking for players to either match the word/idea listed in the Looking For... column. Let's look at an example of a GM prompting the player in the morning as the party is breaking camp.

The GM rolls a 2 which is "Explain how you survived a near death experience." The player recounts how they "Were swiped at by a great owlbear in a cave. My party stayed to fight, casting entangle to keep the beast at bay. A young wizard gave me their life-saving potion which stabilized me until we were able to rest and travel back. This is how I got this large scar on my face." This story would qualify as capturing fight or flight, scar, and potion. The GM can then decide if there is any additional benefit the player receives based on what they've shares, such a small amount of XP, coin, or discovering something in the world that loosely ties to the story. The Fortune Table does not need to be limited to only breaking down camp.

Some additional instances where the Fortune table can be utilized are:

• Downtime activities
• In preparation for a large battle
• Resting in a dungeon
• Idle chat while on the road

Basically, any quiet moment or an opportunity for roleplaying that could use the slightest push forward is a great usage of the Fortune Table. While I really enjoy this new iteration, it still felt like it was lacking in its ability to capture what a player might say/be expanded on. I thought instead of what if only the prompts are provided, but the GM needs to fill out the Looking For... column themselves, since they know their party best (hopefully).

3 - Provide the table of prompts but have the GMs fill in the blanks of what they're hoping to see + Living Table

This last format is a small tweak to the previous one, using the same prompts as above except the words/ideas that the GM is looking for are filled in by them. Allowing GMs to curate the Fortune table makes it a more flexible tool and supports the players opportunity to showcase existing backstory and development that's already occurred.

Once a prompt has been completed, there are a couple options on how to proceed. Asking the same player the same prompt reveals the nature of the Fortune table and is probably not wanted. I would mark it out and put notes about the player's response there instead. For example, if I rolled a 6 and asked Player A to share their dream last night, I would make notes about that story and when I rolled a 6 again, it would be about that player's dream. Rather than asking Player A about the dream, I would prompt Player B or the whole party. Making the tables dynamic allows for these small moments to be built on over time into something larger, if wanted. The GM could also replace the prompt with a new one which could be related to something that has happened to that player.

Having a Living Table came from I Cast Light's post about Random Encounter Tables which discussed the idea of dynamic encounter tables for dungeons as players progressed through them. My interpretation of them is to use the table narratively in a way that's quick and easy for GMs to add into those quiet moments. These don't have to be carried over throughout campaigns. They could be great for one-shots where there's limited time, but players still want to have an identity of some kind. Lastly, it would be an excellent addition to relationship questions that are part of character creation such as Beyond the Wall or Wanderhome.

Final Thoughts

It's easy to see how this applies in a fantasy setting, but I'm looking forward to trying to implement it into my Fallout campaign. I've actually opted to create a small d6 table for each player in my campaign, based on the backstory and notes they've given me of their characters. Since we're only two sessions into the campaign, I think starting this system now could have very cool implications down the road. My Fallout party consists of 4 players, each with a different background. Let's look at the Miss Nanny robot and her motives/goals. Her name is Rosie, and she's a Miss Nanny bot who believes her children are still alive. She wanders the Commonwealth, hoping to find them. Here's the Fortune Table for Rosie I've created.

I'm undecided if on rerolls I should push for more details on the story provided from the original prompt or go for a new prompt to further expand the characters. I'll keep y'all updated. Let me know your thoughts over on BlueSky!

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