Divination in 9W

[Spooky Fanboy]

How does divination or or "detect (fill in the blank)" magic work in 9W?

Also, is it possible to combine Urges to alter the current reality?

[Matt Snyder]

How does divination or or "detect (fill in the blank)" magic work in 9W?

Hmm, I think the most straighforward way to do this is to state the thing you're detecthing or divining as a goal. For example, you could say, "I want to discern whether this guy in the street is actually a Titan. If he is, and the GM knows it, then you simply enter a conflict against the titan to detect him. He pits his abilities against your.

Another example: Say you wanted to learn something about a strange artifact you've found. Your goal is, say, to detect whether its imbued with power (and maybe how much). So, let's say the thing is a magical doo-dad created via a lock. It might, therefore, have a power rating, which you could use as the number of cards to draw against in determining the nature of the object. Failing that, you could use the lock rating as the difficulty/number of cards to draw against. If you win, you know its qualities.

Those are just a couple ideas off the top of my head. IF you wanted to know the future of something, maybe the GM could simply choose a Power/difficulty based on how foggy or challenging the scrying is. Success might mean that you get to help shape the future as a player, filling in the unknown blanks of the future. Then, you can set out to see them fulfilled (or not) and maybe even earn a few Muses based on those events!

Also, is it possible to combine Urges to alter the current reality?

As for this second question ... yes, you can do this, though perhaps not in the way you're asking. In fact, you do this all the time in the game, just not 'simultaneously'.

When you use an Urge in conflict (and, yes, you can only use 1 urge in a particular Conflict Phase), you are often changing "current reality." In addition, you may switch the Urge you're using in the next conflict phase (but still the same overall conflict). So, for example, you could first use Metamorphosis to "steal" someone's attributes for yourself, then use their own power against them in the next round via Chaos to finish them off. Further, you could "lock" 'em all in place via Stasis.

[Spooky Fanboy]

Do you know that my love for this game only grows each time my concerns are promptly and cogently analyzed and answered?

I kinda thought that divination would require the player to insert his/her own ideas into the mix, but it was nice to have that confirmed. Very Author Stance, and I agree that with some groups it might not work. Still, in this game, I think it's the only way to go.