Aperture RPG

This Oracle is a tool that answers questions you can’t answer yourself when playing solo, or as a group—about the world, about NPCs, about what happens next. It uses the same d100 you already roll, the same Difficulty scale the GM Guide already defines, and the same success/complication logic that the Core Rules already establish.

Asking the Oracle

Frame your question as a yes/no. Then ask yourself two things before rolling:

1. How likely is it? This Likelihood becomes your Target.
2. How much is at stake? This Tension becomes your Difficulty.

Then roll d100 as normal.

• Critical: Yes, and… (something unexpectedly good follows)
• Success: Yes (nothing goes sideways)
• Complicated Success: Yes, but… (there’s an unfortunate complication)
• Failure: No, but… (something softens the blow)
• Complicated Failure: No (things get worse)
• Fumble: No, and… (something unexpectedly bad happens)

Applying Advantage and Disadvantage

The same rules apply: invert the roll and take the better or worse result.

Grant Advantage to Oracle rolls when:

• Recent fiction clearly favors this outcome
• The character has specifically set it up
• A prior success created momentum toward it

Apply Disadvantage when:

• Recent fiction works against it
• The character is out of position
• A prior complication has introduced new pressure

This keeps Oracle answers grounded in the established fiction rather than pure randomness.

When There’s No Answer

Sometimes a yes/no doesn’t capture what you need—you need the Oracle to generate something. In that case, roll for an Attribute context:

• 1–33 (Body): The answer is physical, environmental, immediate; something you can see, touch, or that affects the body.
• 34–66 (Mind): The answer is informational, hidden, or cognitive; a revelation, a complication of knowledge, something that changes what you know.
• 67–100 (Soul): The answer is social, emotional, or relational; it involves someone’s feelings, loyalties, or presence.

Then interpret: given the fiction already established, what does a Body/Mind/Soul answer look like right now? The roll gives you a lens; you supply the image.

Scene Pressure

At the start of a new scene, set a Pressure level from 0–90. This is the scene’s ambient Tension, its baseline Difficulty for Oracle rolls made within it. You can raise it mid-scene if events escalate, or lower it if the source of pressure gets resolved.

This mirrors how the GM Guide treats Difficulty as environmental, not personal. A tense infiltration has high Pressure whether or not you’re good at sneaking.

The Momentum Track

Rather than a chaos die or separate meter, the Oracle uses the fiction’s own energy. Keep an informal note: Momentum is Positive, Neutral, or Negative.

• Start each arc at Neutral.
• A Yes, and… or a Critical shifts Momentum toward Positive.
• A No, and… or a Fumble shifts Momentum toward Negative.
• Positive Momentum grants one free Advantage on the next Oracle roll.
• Negative Momentum applies one automatic Disadvantage on the next Oracle roll.
• After it’s applied, Momentum returns to Neutral.

This means a string of bad outcomes makes the next question harder—the world is closing in—while a string of wins creates a brief window of opportunity.

NPC Reactions

When an NPC’s response to something is genuinely uncertain, roll against their relevant Attribute as the Target, with the scene’s Pressure as the Difficulty.

• Success over Difficulty: They respond favorably and without reservation.
• Success at/under Difficulty: They respond favorably, but with a condition, hesitation, or cost.
• Failure over Difficulty: They decline, but leave room for negotiation or a different approach.
• Failure under Difficulty: They decline, and something in the relationship shifts for the worse.

Complications

When a complication is called for and you can’t picture one, roll once and read the tens digit:

The ones digit is intensity: low (1–4), moderate (5–7), or severe (8–9, 0).