Using the Tarot in RPGs...

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 28 May 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Mr. Sluagh	28 May 2003
Okay, here's an idea for modifying the roleplaying experience as a whole that I've been neurally masturbating to of late. It's pretty esoteric so most people won't be inclined to use it, but I'll just put it out there anyway. I suppose it could work with any particularly archetypal, cinematic game, but use Exalted because it's the RPG that I'm very familiar with that would fit this idea the best. For similar reasons, I'll default to the Smith-Waite deck when referencing specific cards. Here goes... YOU WILL NEED: —One Tarot deck (most will work, although particularly abstract decks might not be quite so good and decks with very specific themes probably wouldn't work so well unless your game shared said themes). —Players who all have working knowledges of the Tarot (once again, not that easy to come by). HOW TO DO IT: First, divide the the deck into six piles: a pile of Major Arcana, a pile for the pips (the Minor Arcana that aren't court cards, I think) of each suit, and a pile of court cards. Then, go through character creation normally, but instead of Natures have each player choose a court card for their character. Once the game has begun, have each player draw a number of pips equal their character's permanent Willpower (I guess you could base this on Virtues instead, but I generally dislike the way virtues work in Exalted as well as in White Wolf's other games so I tend to ignore them). They may draw them from any combination of suites, but must draw the most cards from the suite of their chosen court card. Then, each player draws a number of Major Arcana equal their character's permanent Essence. During gameplay, a player may use a pip to gain an automatic success (or maybe even more. I'm not sure.) on a roll in line with that card. This may seem difficult to implement at first, until you consider that a pip could aid in an action having to do with achieving the conditions described therein or even bringing them upon a different character. Last but not least, a player may use a Major Arcanum in their hand to modify the storyline. This is done by placing the card on the table and describing an event in line with the card that the storyteller must incorporate into the storyline before the end of the story. To avoid particularly disruptive uses of Majors (STORYTELLER: "Darkling Spectre Clad in Ravens' Feathers Drenched in the Blood of Infants cackles with sadistic glee as his fetid henchmen escort you to the pit of unspeakable, scaled horrors." PLAYER: "Uhh... I play the Death card. He has a heart attack.") the storyteller has a number of "veto points" equal to the number of players which he or she may spend to counter any use of a Major Arcanum. Okay, that's my system. Off the top of my head, I suppose it could also be to Mage: the Ascension or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer. Whaddya think?

sagitarian	28 May 2003
wow, seems pretty invintive to me. Let me know how your games go if you try this out, I'd be interested, as my husband and I game a lot and the people we game with are tarot friendly as well. Not sure if they'd go for this, but, let me know how it goes, if you find any bugs, and how it all worked out. Kudos!

Khatruman	28 May 2003
I don't know if they are still available to buy, but I have two sets of Archetype Storytelling Cards, which were designed for RPGs as both substitutes for dice rolling and also for character generation. Some of the cards directly correspond to tarot cards, i.e. The Fool, the Empress, and others. I haven't played RPGs in a while, but what I find lacking in many RPG players is creation of human personalities. Many folk are more obessed with gaining powers and playing it like a video game. I like it more to be people with personalities. How about doing Body/Mind/Spirit readings on characters to get a sense of their innate humanity?

Mr. Sluagh	28 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Khatruman I don't know if they are still available to buy, but I have two sets of Archetype Storytelling Cards, which were designed for RPGs as both substitutes for dice rolling and also for character generation. Some of the cards directly correspond to tarot cards, i.e. The Fool, the Empress, and others. Sounds interesting. Quote: Originally posted by Khatruman I haven't played RPGs in a while, but what I find lacking in many RPG players is creation of human personalities. Many folk are more obessed with gaining powers and playing it like a video game. It may surprise you to hear that people like that are a huge gripe within the gaming community as well as outside of it, to the point where there are several slang terms for them such as "twink", "munchkin", "power gamer" and "mad slasher". Sounds to me like you just happened upon a bad group your first time out (although in my experience finding groups that don't have at least one such player is almost impossible). Quote: Originally posted by Khatruman I like it more to be people with personalities. How about doing Body/Mind/Spirit readings on characters to get a sense of their innate humanity? I once posted an idea for a "character creation" Tarot spread on this forum, but it didn't get many replies. Shall I post it again?

Khatruman	28 May 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Mr. Sluagh I once posted an idea for a "character creation" Tarot spread on this forum, but it didn't get many replies. Shall I post it again? I think I remember your post on that, and if I am not mistaken, I think I replied to it also. It is comforting to know that some are more interested in human interaction in a fantasy setting than just becoming slasher fighters. I think the problem was that my group was first my brother and his friends when they were in high school... and my second group was a group of students who wanted to start a club after school. I haven't seen you around in quite a while, Mr. Sluagh, and it is good to see you back.

The Using the Tarot in RPGs... thread was originally posted on 28 May 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.