Tarot and Character Creation?

[Zechariah13]

I couldnt find a thread about this already, so i'll put this here.

Not only am i something of an aspiring witch, i am a consummate RPG gamer. actually the VERY first things i used my cards for were to create a DnD character. Does anyone else use their cards for non-divinatory purposes? Like creative inspiration for prose, poetry, gaming, or anything else? I'd love to hear stories about these things :)

[Laura Borealis]

I have used tarot that way, yes. For fiction writing rather than game characters. For instance, I was working on my NaNo story last November and got stuck, so I drew a card from my Fey deck. I wasn't inspired so much by the meaning of the card drawn, but the figure on the card became (with some changes) a fairly major character in the story Instead of a fey, she is an orc. A priestess, with shaven head (it's symbolic, like a monk's tonsure) and one of her duties is to give alms to the poor. That much came off the card. But then she went on to inspire a whole side-plot of the story. Which I need to finish... :P

But yes, I've used tarot as creative inspiration and for character creation. I keep thinking my Dream Cards (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/dream/) would be good for that, too, but haven't used them yet.

[Zechariah13]

I use my Vampyres deck for that, mainly because its my only deck, lol.

But still, you do a single card pull? I use a tarot spread that im pretty sure i pulled out of Dragon Magazine, which im pretty sure they pulled from somewhere else ;)

[Laura Borealis]

Single card, or three at most... too much info is stifling to my poor brain! :laugh:

I guess if the cards I drew didn't inspire me, I might try a full spread. But so far it works for me to just use one or three.

Have you ever read Greer Gilman's Moonwise? In it, two of her characters use a deck for storytelling. It's not tarot, but a deck created by one of the characters. They lay out the cards, which provide the framework for a story. One card might mean it's winter in the tale, another might suggest a theme of innocence betrayed, and so on. They use a full spread. It makes me wonder if the author (Gilman) has used this method herself.

[Zechariah13]

hmm, i dont know why i never thought of using a single draw for character creation. No, i somehow seem to jump to the most complicated solution possible first

Here is what i use. I kinda snagged and altered it a bit from an Issue of Dragon Magazine, who im pretty sure snagged it from someone else:

Edit: apparently i need to re-read the rules for posting, cause i seem to be breaking about 1 per day. The spread is at the link below
http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=162411

Anyone have any opinions on this? I'd love some feedback on the layout

[ekb]

hmm, i dont know why i never thought of using a single draw for character creation. No, i somehow seem to jump to the most complicated solution possible first {emphasis mine}

Here is what i use. I kinda snagged and altered it a bit from an Issue of Dragon Magazine, who im pretty sure snagged it from someone else:If you have a copy of I6 Ravenloft, there's a nice cheatsheet in there as well... and it's much less recursive than this.

When dealing with characters, I look at the whole party - mostly as I'm building a convention/tournament style scenarios. I pull a chosen court for each character's surface qualities and a pip for their personal goals. I shuffle the rest of the deck back together and then deal out the community cards for hold'em - burn one, 3 cards as situation-location-action, burn another, 1 card for core conflict for the scenario, burn another, 1 card for escalation. Use EDs and other symbolic links to determine party politics and key attributes for the scenario. I use the burn cards as twists I can toss in as needed.

But if you really want to use cards for games, 2 words: Castle Falkenstein...

[HonestPuck]

I use tarot cards all the time for character gen, usually I pull only 2 or three cards per character, sometimes I'll throw out a card that doesn't seem to fit and draw another. It's great if you're DMing and want some colorful NPCs. I've also tried drawing cards to see what happens next in the story, but I never was able to make that work as well.

Some things that might interest you:

There is a deck, I think called the "Mage" deck, that is designed specifically for the world of darkness Mage: Awakening game. But can be used for real life readings too :)

There is also an RPG I heard of (unfortunately I can't think of the name) where tarot cards are used for your entire character creation. As I recall, the deck gets dived into majors, and by suits, with the courts pulled out. Every character picks a major- which defines the personality, and each suit is equal to a character stat (wands was combat stuff, swords = intelligence, cups= social, and pents was your hitpoints, i think) I never played it, but it sounded pretty fun.

[Glass Owl]

Here is a Character Creation Spread (http://www.tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=10730) you may like. Some time ago I created a spread designed to help one flesh out a suspense story. I'm guessing you would enjoy the book, Tarot For Writers. It is full of ways to use Tarot to help create characters as well as develop other aspects of story telling such as plot. And with such a range of decks (Tarot and Oracles) it may be a good idea to experiment with a variety of decks to brainstorm. For instance, if you are working on a story involving vampires using vampire related decks would be an expected, solid choice but what if you mixed things up and used non-vampire decks? Maybe it would yield some intriguing results.

I also like to use Tarot to study fictional characters that already exist.

[GryffinSong]

Oh yes! I haven't played in an RPG in quite awhile (moved away from my gaming friends and never found a compatible group since) but tarot definately sometimes helped inspire or flesh out a character. I even have a deck that was created for a game that I received in trade. It's Mage: The Awakening. :)

[euripides]

Some decks would be really good for that - I love the characters from history in the Touchstone; I imagine Ciro's decks would be good to. Also the Gaian.

I have a friend who reads for her characters, and uses cards to help with the story too. I don't know what spread or method; but she does keep a separate deck, as she doesn't want the fiction world to spill into the real world too much.

I could see it useful for questions like "how will she react to this news" or "is the protagonist aware of his enemy's intentions", things like that.

Within a single card, there's so much to work with in terms of character. Just looking at hte Eight of Cups that is sitting atop my deck right now, there's this sensitive young man, walking away.... he comes from a wealthy background but for some reason he's leaving it all behind. It's night, and an owl is flying above him. There's just too much emotion there, "water under the bridge" comes to mind... he is looking for a more intellectual path. He's going to be someone else, perhaps going to Paris to become a scholar. His clothes are simple but expensive; he has pallid skin; he's been pampered; I can't tell from his face whether he will find strength or whether human weaknesses will overtake him. Another card: the two of coins. That's his father for sure. It's all about the money. He seems harsh, but the weight of expectation and the need to preserve the estate has made him so.....

[Zechariah13]

Lol, i just pulled a series of cards to help with my players urges (Curses placed on them by their demon masters) and this is what i got (not asking for feedback, just for laughs). Character concepts were made before the draw
Emperor rx - for the happy-go-lucky-seargent-killkillkill(he has to set the armies of creation against each other)
Justice rx- BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!!! (he needs to punish Creation of its sins)
Magician rx- evil emperor trying to take over the world(pretty much just this)
Queen of Pents- Guild merchant wanting to control all commerce in creation.(see above)
Empress- Crazy abused girl who has completely lost the definitional boundries between joy, rage and disgust(she wants to love everyone, and by that she means kill people, and by that she means mass genocide)
Moon- Evil Witch weaving witchcraft to veil Creation in Shadows.

Yeah, if you couldnt notice Extremely powerful cards in a group of extremely powerful Villains. I laughed like CRAZY when i flipped them all

[Morwenna]

I too have used the cards to create characters, but in a different way. I have a number of fictions going (I call it my personal inner TV) and at least one has been created by looking at the people on my 3 favorite decks and making families out of them and so forth, not in terms of meanings of the cards but just how the faces strike me. Also, I've read Tarot for characters in other of my series (which were not generated by cards), as if they were people, which has helped in plot situations.

I've rolled zodiac dice for my D&D characters, but I never tried Tarot on them. Maybe that's the next step. :)

[Zechariah13]

I too have used the cards to create characters, but in a different way. I have a number of fictions going (I call it my personal inner TV) and at least one has been created by looking at the people on my 3 favorite decks and making families out of them and so forth, not in terms of meanings of the cards but just how the faces strike me. Also, I've read Tarot for characters in other of my series (which were not generated by cards), as if they were people, which has helped in plot situations.

I've rolled zodiac dice for my D&D characters, but I never tried Tarot on them. Maybe that's the next step. :)

oohh, that sounds cool. and they make Zodiac Dice? I MUST GET SOME!!!!!

[Morwenna]

There exists a D12 with zodiac symbols on the facets instead of numbers. I've had one for years (it's rather tiny) but I haven't seen any in some time. Good luck!

I used it to roll for Sun Sign, Moon Sign, and Rising Sign for all my characters. It helps round out their personalities and has a bearing on some of their actions and attitudes.

I can definitely see where such a use can be made of Tarot. Perhaps I should "read" for each of them, not as predictions but as character definition. (Wouldn't it be nice if my paladin got a lot of knights and early majors. Wouldn't it be something if she got a lot of ugly swords and the Devil!!)

[espearite]

Yes, but I don't get to write very often. I have used an entire minor arcana suit to tell a flash fiction story. Each card parallels separate, important parts of the story, so some time has passed between each card. Also, I've used single cards to write microfiction stories. It really depends on the deck how well I tell the story. I have found The Mythic Tarot to be a really good source of inspiration. :)

[Ivy Rhiannon]

lol I was coming here to start this thread! Glad to see I'm not the only one who's thought of it! :) Very interesting!

[GryffinSong]

...I have a number of fictions going (I call it my personal inner TV)...

I love this description for it!!! You're the first person I've EVER met who also does this, and I do it all the time. I couldn't even find authors who write this way. I'm so glad I'm not alone!!! ;)

[Arania]

Some of our decks get used more or less regularly in games, as in dreams characters have or what they find in new locations, but we didn't create characters that way yet.

[HighPriestess]

I regularly do readings for characters on a play-by-post RPG. So far, my readings have been pretty accurate (I like to do the readings "blind" so I don't look up a character's profile first).

I also use a spread that I created just for that board to help with character creation.