Everything

Predicting the future, gaining insights into what is to come, or telling fortunes — the art of divination has stood as the hallmark of the magically or psychically gifted person. From the Delphic Oracle to modern day tarot readers, diviners hold a position of both awe and fear. People both want and dread to know what lies ahead for them.

Fortune-tellers crawl out of the woodwork, setting up shop in downtown storefronts, in middle-class neighborhoods, or via a flashy website. Most of them are fakers who occasionally hit the mark square on. The hedge magic Way of Divination, however, allows Kinfolk to part the veil between the spirit world and the material world so that they might read the threads of fate and see what outcomes are most likely. This ability makes diviner Kinfolk valuable to the Garou of their tribe as well as to their families.

A diviner may cast only one ritual per scene and must spend one Willpower point per casting. Viewing the future also grants the possibility to alter it if the diviner can see clearly where to tweak the threads of fate. Storytellers, of course, have the final say as to how useful or how detailed this ability can be.

Roll: Perception + Occult Cost: 1 Willpower

• Fortune-telling: The most basic form of Divination, this level allows the user to gain a general sense of a person’s future, for good or bad. Results usually involve symbolic or cryptic answers with many possible interpretations. Possible rituals include Ouija board readings, simple tarot readings relying on yes and no answers, coin flipping, and similar positive/negative methods. The difficulty for most rolls is 6.

•• Dowsing: This level enables the diviner to find lost objects or people. The dowser should be familiar with the object or have a personal effect of the individual he seeks. Long-range dowsing usually involves holding the focus over a map; short range dowsing requires the caster to hold the focus in the air and follow the pull toward the presumed location. The number of successes determines the accuracy of the search. Ritual foci typically include pendulums or dowsing rods. Rituals might enable the dowser to discover treasure such as gold deposits, buried jewels, or other items, finding water (the most well-known form of dowsing), or locate missing people, such as kidnapped children or wandering adults. The difficulty for this type of divination varies according to the complexity of the situation.

••• Augury: The user can determine the outcome of a particular future event, such as the success or failure of a business venture, which army will win a particular battle, or what team will win the championship. Rituals include consulting the I Ching, chi readings, throwing the bones (or rune-stones), complex tarot readings, or even reading the entrails of an animal, as in certain religions. The difficulty for an augury dice roll is 7.

•••• Premonitions: At this level, dowsing becomes entwined with intuition. The Diviner receives visual flashes, dream-like visions, or strong feelings that indicate a possible event, such as sensing a particular plane is going to crash, or that someone unexpected will arrive. There are no rituals for this, but the player must still succeed in her roll. The Storyteller determines the difficulty as well as the form of the premonition.

••••• Vision Quest: The most advanced form of divination involves seeking for and receiving a detailed vision of the future, either concerning the diviner or someone he focuses his concentration on. The experience may not present itself in a linear fashion; details of the vision may not appear in order, enabling the caster to misinterpret parts of the vision. The number of successes determines the length and the amount of detail. Possible rituals take the form of ascetic or ecstatic practices for altering the consciousness, such as fasting, sweat lodges, shamanic vision treks, or even such extreme practices as the Native American Sun Dance. Foci may include psychoactive substances, sage or incense burning, as well as other objects. The diviner enters another realm of consciousness, or, in the case of Kinfolk, may even gain visions of the Umbra.