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I get the fact that mechanically, an Oracle is not really an Oracle, but a vessel for a vaguely defined divine power which grants certain spells and spell-like abilities. Basically, the divine equivalent of a Sorcerer.
However, in terms of roleplaying an Oracle, I would expect the oracle to... I dunno, make oracular pronouncements? Predict the future events or foretell the dooms of certain people or creatures, or maybe just read people's souls, or something. If I was playing an oracle, I would certainly want something like that to be a part of my character, and if I was running a game with an Oracle player, I'd want to work in the prophecy angle somehow.
Unfortunately, there are no rules for this, which again I kind of understand. How can you come up with a mechanic for predicting the future, especially when the DM is winging it?
Only some of the Oracle Special Abilities are about the future.
Treat the Oracle as more of a vessel of supernatural influence. An Oracle of Flames could find divine artistic beauty in candle flames. Or the dance of the campfire could show the Oracle secrets into her otherworldly realm. Maybe you can find some inspiration in Wicca.
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Other sources of inspiration--
Laura Roslin picks up a couple levels of Oracle in the first two seasons of Battlestar Galactica. So does not-Undead Starbuck in season 4. If you go with the ending Gaius Baltar might be something of an Oracle.
Medieval Catholic Saints and Mystics. Two well known examples are Joan of Arc (Oracle of Battle) and Francis of Assisi (Oracle of Nature).
The Wiccan stuff that Gruuu is speaking of is related to various forms of RW Shamanistic faiths, including Voudon and Santaria and Native American and Siberian practices.
Look up the founding of the Iroqouis Confederacy. That semi historical legend is centered around an Oracle.
Hope that helps.
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For players, they can say what the future is all they want. The problem is, the future changes. A lot.
For DM, dreams work.
I thought about these options, but somehow neither seems very satisfying.
On the one hand, the player can't be allowed to spout predictions willy-nilly. If the DM proceeds from the premise that the oracle is genuinely predictive, then that forces the DM to try to alter events to the whim of the player. If the DM does not recognize that the oracle is genuinely predictive, then that feels like taking something away from the character, or invalidating the character concept.
As for the DM option, feeding prophecies to the PC, that seems just as bad. It sounds like a license to railroad the plot. I've tried similar things in the past, and it makes for a weird dynamic that feels like an imposition on the players.
I have the vague idea that you can have some kind of random tables to generate images or concepts for prophecies. Either that or you could use an existing randomizer, like a tarot deck, I ching, or rune stones (doesn't paizo publish a "Harrow Deck"? :P ). You draw five cards (or generate five random impressions from a table) and have the player string them together as best they can interpret them. Then the DM does his own interpretation of the cards and works it into the game somehow.
You could put limits on when and where such prophecies could occur (once every full moon, or only at certain sacred sites) or else demand some kind of expenditure by the player (expensive incense, sacrificing s apell slot or some other kind of resource) in order to keep the player from spouting off all the time.
You could also have a mechanic to randomly generate whether the prophecy applies in the near future or the far future (perhaps it pertains to something that won't happen for hundreds of years!)
I think something like that would be more of an interesting challenge to player and DM alike, but I wonder if that's going too far down a road that should be left alone.
Change the name Oracle to Speaker or Mouthpiece. The class is called an Oracle... but not in the kind that reads the future.
So an Oracle of the Heavens is could also be thought of as a Speaker of the Heavens or Mouthpiece of the Heavens.
So Oracle of Fire is synonymous with Fire Speaker or Mouthpiece of Divine Fire.
If you think of the calls that way it may help you a bit more with the RP aspects of it.
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Actually, prophetic characters can be easy to handle if you remember the basic truth about all real life future telling flim flammery: be extra cryptic and vague.
For example:
"When the fires burn bright you must swiftly strike."
Means absolutely nothing. All you have to do is introduce a fire element (not elemental) into every big fight. Eventually, one of the players will say, "The prophecy has come true!" and try to strike true. Give the player who realizes it a +2 or +4 bonus for that hit and call it a day.
Check out the definition of the word "oracle":
1. (esp. in ancient Greece) an utterance, often ambiguous or obscure, given by a priest or priestess at a shrine as the response of a god to an inquiry.
2. the agency or medium giving such responses.
3. a shrine or place at which such responses were given: the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
4. a person who delivers authoritative, wise, or highly regarded and influential pronouncements.
5. a divine communication or revelation.
6. any person or thing serving as an agency of divine communication.
7. any utterance made or received as authoritative, extremely wise, or infallible.
8. oracles, the Scriptures.
9. the holy of holies of the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem. I Kings 6:16, 19–23.
Now, notice the Oracle's primary stat. It's Cha, not Wis. Being an Oracle as Pathfinder defines it is less about divining future and more about passing divine judgment whenever one's necessary.
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Currently I am running an Oracle - who plays much like a Shield Tank for any EVE players out there...
He is a powerful prophet.
He *knows* the end is neigh.
He regularly foretells the fate of others - they're all Doomed.
Essentially, he doesn't have any real 'oracular' powers mechanic wise but as far as he's concerned he *knows* the END IS NEIGH and actively informs one and all LOUDLY of their fate.
So, best be getting on with the good, eh?
Oracles werent just people that others went to to get information on the future. some couldnt tell the future at all, but the ones that could are the ones you hear about.
Oracles are chosen by the gods, and therefore, people respected and feared them. but they also utilized them for advice. advice on all subjects. people would bring their problems to the Oracle to have them offer help. think of them more as an ancient holy advisor.
now when i say advice, i mean advice about EVERYTHING. from questions on what crops to plant for the harvest to generals asking for divine military guidance.
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As I said in the original post, I understand that the PF Oracle is not necessarily an Oracle in the classic sense, however, the rules for the class are presented in terms of "Divine Mysteries" and "revelations". As either a player or a DM, I'd want to somehow integrate those ideas into how the class plays in a game. I understand why the actual class rules can't go into it - it's the kind of thing which is highly specialized for a particular campaign.
I know it's not something that NEEDS to be addressed, but I'm interested in figuring out some possible strategies should I CHOOSE to address it. And of course, I'm curious how others would address it - if they chose to.