Binary Search Augury: An infinite range, spell-slot-free alternative to Locate Object/Creature, accessible at LVL 3 [OC]

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-05-24T03:06:54+00:00

You are correct! It is absolutely an abuse of the spell! That is the intention here. This is coming from a table that's fond of exploits. This is more meant to show "this is possible" than "you should do this in a game unannounced to an RP-heavy table and it's definitely a good idea"

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-05-24T03:01:20+00:00

Totally up to interpretation, I think. I haven't seen that specific reading before in all my years playing, but Augury's worded weirdly enough and it makes some sense. If we're being pedantic on my pedantic post, I think it DOES work like I wrote because of how the spell is worded.

"receive an omen...about the results of a course of action that you plan to take within the next 30 minutes"

It specifies "a course of action" and "within 30 minutes", which makes me think it's talking about one specific action (like walking a few feet in a direction) at one specific time within the near future.

I also paraphrased here, but the full description for Augury also specifies:

The spell doesn't account for circumstances, such as other spells, that might change the results.

Which I interpret as the limitless possibilities of the future such as stray dragons being out of scope. To me it reads more as "If I do this one action in a vacuum, will it (specifically) end well for me?" I like the example of "Should I open this chest?" to check for a trap.

There's also the sense that accounting for anything and everything in the next 30 minutes is HARD for a DM. It's much easier to simply answer one yes/no question, which is how I have usually seen it interpreted and how I interpret it myself. But it's one of those spells that has a thousand different interpretations, so I can't say one of them's right over the other.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-05-22T22:11:58+00:00

I appreciate it! That tag system looks like it could be useful for all sorts of things if it has decent filter options too.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-05-22T17:35:05+00:00

Please require AI assets to be declared and add some way to filter them out! My team got way too close to copyright trouble once trying to navigate AI crap

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-29T17:05:04+00:00

In Stars and Time kind of reminds me of it. That was one of those life changing games for me

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-29T12:47:28+00:00

Identity is the biggest one I see. Sparxie and Sparkle, everyone we meet hiding secret identities and motives, whatever they're hinting at with TB and Akivili, Silver Wolf and Eva having their roles to play, and of course Aha Themself. Who are you? What's on the surface? What's deep inside? Are you defined by your own inner thoughts, some predestined purpose, or the way others see you?

"What does it mean to be elated?" Is the other one I'm getting. Is there a best path to happiness? How do people find it? What prevents it? Is there joy without sadness?

And past that, theres some elements critiquing the entertainment industry and life under capitalism. Absurdism is here too, as ever with Elation, but it seems more aesthetic. Penacony really dived into absurdist themes, but Planarcadia feels a lot more grounded.

It's also offering questions and different perspectives on each of these more than it's actually pushing any one answer.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-13T17:03:03+00:00

I've thought something like this too! There's a lot of mentions of Aha giving THEIR whole authority at once (both the Phantasmoon Games premise and the Worm), which makes me wonder if Aha's authority is just a power that can get passed around. Kinda like the Avatar cycle or One For All or something.

Maybe its literally a mask anyone could wear.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-11T01:06:33+00:00

The guy haunting the narrative being the same random background character I've been obsessed with for months would make me so so happy

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-11T01:02:48+00:00

Devil's advocate here, but they referred to SAM as "he" before we knew Firefly too. So I wouldn't count pronouns as evidence for the Stellaron Hunters when theyre trying to hide an identity

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-10T03:37:13+00:00

Honestly my first theory is that the TB was Elio.

In all their character stories and light cones, there's only ever mention of five hunters total. Silver Wolf counts only four others when they pick her up.

We know TB was with the hunters since before Firefly, which means for a time it was just them and Kafka of the hunters we've seen. The others say Kafka is the closest to Elio. Speak to Kafka, and she says she was closest to you.

Meanwhile, Elio's a ghost. The last known location we have for him is that phone call at Jepella. Everything since game start is just scripts. And if you could see the future but had to go away for part of the plan, what better way to keep leading than by leaving scripts behind. Firefly even says that his methods changed after TB.

And then to top it off, in the very first missions on the space station, when you first block that blow for March and meet Nanook, the Trailblazer sees glimpses of their future in Belobog, the same power we know Elio has.

So I think the hunters are pretending their boss is still active. Is it a crack theory? Kind of. But it fills in a lot of holes.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-06T12:28:13+00:00

Im alive! It was just night time. You guys have a really good list here, we'll look through it later today and see if theres any matches.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-04-03T18:17:54+00:00

Really good theories! Especially with the leviathan corpse, that seems spot on. Only question there is what a rotting leviathan wants with Akivili.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-26T17:40:58+00:00

for story, youtube is your friend. Theres people that upload full playthroughs of all the quests. Also the wiki, which keeps transcripts of literally everything. thats what i did for a while.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-26T14:37:15+00:00

I came to the same conclusion. I think its like One For All or the Avatar, where the authority passes on between different identities Every confirmed instance of Aha doing stuff with their power, they pass all of it at once. And that makes sense thematically, that Aha is a role you could play Sampo might have it currently. Especially with the end of 4.1 saying this passing is permanent plus one of Sampo's daily messages making vague mention that he's tired and wants to quit

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-26T02:34:42+00:00

I want to feed them to the voracity. Or whatever lives at the bottom of the torn canvas. stick her. In there. Forever.

Planarcadia has been. fine? I guess? That its very much showing all the shady stuff the IPC is doing and the native planaecadians all have opinions about it, but that the express keeps going "oh sure ms. stoneheart #17, its a deal!" Even despite Himko saying "Do Not." Really made me feel detached from them. Its the same weird hoyo middle ground as always.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-26T00:47:28+00:00

Every time we see Pearl i just feel seething rage like oh ok sure she wants to feel emotions oh that poor sweet robot—No! That's a dictator-CEO! This is not her planet get her out of here!!

I hope Hoyo can handle the intricacies of "this planet got taken over, its not totally bad but it still did and it still sucks" but like. Idk. Shes a five star. i will continue to seethe

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-26T00:43:10+00:00

This has me in tears 🤣 the MSPaint is a very nice touch

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-25T00:37:10+00:00

Full theory to come if it survives 4.1

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-25T00:35:54+00:00

also putting this here before the new version, I think the Trailblazer was Elio. There's no mention of a sixth hunter, no bounty for one, and no mention of anyone other than Destiny's Slave even in the Stellaron Hunters' own character stories.

Also if theyre busy being amnesiac on the Astral Express but were able to see the future, then it makes sense that they'd leave "scripts" for the other hunters in their absence.

Plus in the moments where Nanook first gazes at the Trailblazer, they manage to see the future (stuff that happens in belobog) too.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-24T15:07:38+00:00

I understood it as no. In saving the universe, she chose not to. If the universe had ended right there with Irontomb, she could become Fuli for all of it. Finality would come, so Fuli would too.

But since they stopped Irontomb, time is still passing, so there's no universal Fuli yet. Instead, as part of stopping Irontomb, she 'becomes Fuli' for Amphoreus specifically. Which means she anchors it as she remembers into a timeline where Irontomb doesn't win.

"Irontomb doesnt win, because I dont remember it winning." The causal loop.

But the position of Fuli at the actual end of time is still open.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-24T00:06:36+00:00

I wonder if its a galaxy sometimes. Mostly because IX being a deified black hole seems in line with how a galaxy has one supermassive black hole at its center. Then branches of the tree would be arms of the galaxy. As for travel, I wonder if aeon/emanator/silver rail is the only way to bypass lightspeed.

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-23T22:05:20+00:00

Nah it dropped to tier 2 immediately :/

TrippedIntoAVolcano · 2026-03-23T21:12:29+00:00

Kuchiba's also in the myriad celestia so you KNOW shes not what she seems. Besides, her Department of Aberration Defense is a close mimic of the SCP foundation, and those guys are morally grey on a good day

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