Oracles of Eight: The octagons of fate are a set of three quite large eight-sided fortune-telling dice, coloured black, blue, and violet, and sold by Koplow Games, "the Nice Dice Company." They were first produced in 1998, credited by James H. Koplow as being a translation of the French text, Evening of Readings. So far, I have not yet found anything to indicate that the supposed French text existed at all; I encourage anyone with a lead to privately message me, and I shall happily edit their findings into this writeup!

The oracles of eight are sold in a plastic reusable storage tube, enclosed with a single-sheet instruction guide, rolled up in the form of a scroll. Every possible combination and permutation of the roll outcomes of the three dice, when rolled all together, is paired with a specific fortune or single-line, glib bit of advice. Many of the fortunes imply very specific and rare contexts, which would not tend to align to most questions a querent would ask. Fortune #144, for example, says "You will make a fortune at sea." The guide even states, verbatim:

Legend has it that Marie Antoinette threw 732 - "You will be sorry for what you do!" Read and heed.

There does exist a (likely apocryphal) 1782 anecdote of Antoinette encountering a fortune-teller who read something ominous about her in a spread of cards, but who refused to disclose the specifics of the reading to Antoinette herself, and beat a hasty retreat away from her court. Perhaps this anecdote has been used to create an artificial air of mystery for the Oracles of Eight, not unlike the Ouija and similar popular divination party games.

The colours of the dice have no significance, unlike the Decision Dice, and the reader is simply encouraged to read them in whatever order they fall, from left to right. The readings themselves, when not bizarrely removed from one's own life context, are highly repetitive, with many of them being identical phrases occurring many times over, usually simple statements of benefit or detriment, or encouraging the player to delay their actions or to act decisively. Nearly half of the readings express either betrayal by people close to the player, or loyalty and support from unexpected sources. Financial windfalls and business losses are likewise frequent readings.

Overall, the Oracles of Eight are pleasantly facile and shallow, about as nuanced as a Magic 8 Ball, and likewise about as quick for a playful consultation. I can't recommend it over other dice divination systems, for anyone who feels a bit of seriousness about such matters, but for a categorically unserious lark among friends, it's perfectly serviceable. In my opinion, the best actual use for the Oracles of Eight is to select the results of minor "offscreen" plot events for a tabletop roleplaying game, like Dungeons and Dragons. A non-player character, upon rolling #144, might wander into town, fabulously wealthy but looking like something the cat dragged in, after wrecking his ship on a desert isle inhabited only by stray goats.

Iron Noder 2024, 22/30

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.