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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 9032389" data-attributes="member: 42582">I don't see what the problem is.Suppose a player declares "I look up into the sky and study it closely. What weather seems to be coming?" That seems like it triggers Discern Realities, as the character is closely studying a situation. So the player rolls a check, and if they succeed they get to ask the GM the mandated question or questions. The GM is then obliged to respond: this will be a GM move, that follows the normal rules for GM moves. The obvious ones here are - if the player asks "What is about to happen?" - to reveal an unwelcome truth ("You can see that snow is already falling in the mountain pass"), to show signs of an approaching threat ("Storm clouds seem to be forming") or to offer an opportunity ("The skies are clear - it's propitious weather for a journey!"). Of course, nothing mandates that the GM's answers deal with the weather at all - the character might study the sky hoping to learn the weather, but see something else instead ("You study the sky - what at first seems like wisps of clouds resolves into a flock of birds - only they're not birds at all, they're the hawkfolk pursuing you!").What counts as good GMing here will of course be contextual. And the GM can ask the player what weather they are hoping for, or why <insert PC's name here> wants to know the weather, and have regard to those concerns in framing an answer.Suppose a player declares "I've read many almanacs and treatises on the skies and their weather. I look up into the sky - what weather does it suggest to me?" That seems like it triggers Spout Lore, as the character is consulting their accumulated knowledge about the sky and the weather. So the player rolls a check, and if they succeed the GM says something interesting about the topic, and - if the check is 10+ - useful too.You suggest that "about" in the Spout Lore rules implies "in the very near future". I don't see that. Here's what Spout Lore says - "You spout lore any time you want to search your memory for knowledge or facts about something. . . . The knowledge you get is like consulting a bestiary, travel guide, or library." So the interesting thing is the sort of knowledge one might get from a library or travel guide - that certain sorts of skies (or certain sorts of bird calls, or whatever it might be - the player is the one who proclaims the subject matter of their PC's learning) betoken certain sorts of weather.It seems to me that there are many interesting things that the GM might say about the sky, and what weather it suggests: a storm is coming, it looks like there will be no rain, snow is falling in the mountain pass, etc. What might be useful will depend upon what the player is hoping to have their PC do ("useful" is obviously situation-relative).Weather Weaver seems quite different to either of these: "When you are under open skies when the sun rises the GM will ask you what the weather will be that day. Tell them whatever you like, it comes to pass." That gives the player the ability to do something normally only within the remit of the GM, namely, to specify what the weather is. Whether or not it's a useful ability will depend on what sorts of action the player wants to declare, and how being able to establish the weather as a part of the shared fiction will affect those.The Control Weather spell is similar to Weather Weaver, with slightly different constraints both on triggering it, and on how the fiction is specified by the player: "Pray for rain—or sun, wind, or snow. Within a day or so, your god will answer. The weather will change according to your will and last a handful of days." But using it requires a roll to Cast a Spell.I am not seeing the problem that you are seeing.</blockquote>

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