How do you prefer to handle divination and things of the like

Divination is magic information-gathering, subject to misinformation, hostile action against the information gatherer (via counter-spells, wards, etc), information protection (such as anti-magic zones, blocking spells, etc), and counter-intelligence.

An information-gathering spell to divine the future, or find out things not discernible with the tools at hand should be cast with caution. The target might have set up countermeasures, or be casting their own divination magic to track down people trying to tail them. Wizards may also cast far-reaching curses or other hostile spells that trigger when people attempt to learn about a certain subject, perhaps trying to keep that information for themselves.

Depends on the game's paradigm. It literally works where the supernatural exists, and is just placebo where it doesn't. I let the game rules decide when that is and how the mechanics work.

But yea if something would be too much of an advantage/revealing then I just fudge around that problem. No need to tell the player you're taking back some of their advantage.

>>54273565
Powers that tell the future should not be in PCs' hands at all. Like teleporting, flying, or reviving the dead, it's not conducive to good roleplaying games because it further distances players from constraints which are essential to the human experience.

>>54277610

You know, I never considered the possibility of counters against scrying such as providing false information. I'm not surprised that's not a thing at all.

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>>54273565
I use it. The setting's imperial bureocraucy has about 30.000 seers/prophets/divinators establishing what you'll owe in taxes six months from now (adventurers love to get debts), where your illegal silver mine is or how many villages are in your feud.

Divinations block each other, and those which do it can't be divined by others of their kind.

Plus, there is a subgroup of the imperial spies tasked with collecting, manipulating and overseeing prophecies which might affect the whole empire. This includes understanding the cosmic mechanism through which even bogus prophecies might acquire momentum to the point of being self-fulfilling and also prevents Great Evils from ever being really destroyed.

Gods might also provide divinations through copious sacrifices, but even then, just for some chosen servants.

There should be great sacrifice associated with getting such knowledge.

I forget what movie it was but there was a scene where a bunch of people were hung and you asked questions to the hung person through which a being spoke through them for however long it took for the person being hung to die.