Deck of Many things

[SRoach]

I just had a thought.
Mind you, I'm far less familiar with GURPS than, say Old WOD M:TA, or Shadowrun 1st-3ed, so this may be off the mark.

How about giving the deck a pool of points, via the modular abilities trait, and use afflict with that? That way, you're not statting a massive point value for all the cards collectively. Especially if the deck, as a unit, can only be used once per target.

[Fred Brackin]

Thinking about that Tarot Deck I mentioned earlier and the way many of its' cards worked why don't you use your deck as an actual fortunetelling device rather than a source of chaotic gifts and curses?

The secret to interpreting the Tarot is actually quite simple. Just look at the pictures.

For example, the Major Arcana Strength shows a lion with its' jaws being held open by a child. The lion is not fighting the child and the child shows no fear of the lion. You get assort of theme of overt, physical strength being peacefully mastered by inner or spiritual strength.

So this card means the drawer will encounter a powerful warrior or similar character. Upright, the powerful warrior may be convinced to aid the drawer through Diplomacy or even just polite treatment (Savoir faire Skill). If reversed the powerful warrior will oppose the drawer unless a show of Courage is made (possibly a Will Roll or similar).

Some cards will lead to events and others will mean encounters with types of persons.

Second example: Cups is the suite of prosperity and abundance so the Queen of Cups might mean an encounter with the wife of a wealthy merchant. Again drawing it either upright means a positive event that still requires a successful skill check or similar action and reversed would be a negative event whose consequences can still be avoided through a different check.

Any book or even article on the tarot will be filled with the meanings of the cards but you can get a lot just by looking at the pictures.

I hope you can see the possibilities. There are no automatic giveaways or unavoidable mega-zaps and if you don't tell the PCs what the card means their characters will want to find out on their own and try and take advantage or avoid the consequences of their draw(s) as best they can.

[oneofmanynameless]

Originally Posted by SRoach

I just had a thought.
Mind you, I'm far less familiar with GURPS than, say Old WOD M:TA, or Shadowrun 1st-3ed, so this may be off the mark.

How about giving the deck a pool of points, via the modular abilities trait, and use afflict with that? That way, you're not statting a massive point value for all the cards collectively. Especially if the deck, as a unit, can only be used once per target.

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Thinking about that Tarot Deck I mentioned earlier and the way many of its' cards worked why don't you use your deck as an actual fortunetelling device rather than a source of chaotic gifts and curses?

The secret to interpreting the Tarot is actually quite simple. Just look at the pictures.

For example, the Major Arcana Strength shows a lion with its' jaws being held open by a child. The lion is not fighting the child and the child shows no fear of the lion. You get assort of theme of overt, physical strength being peacefully mastered by inner or spiritual strength.

So this card means the drawer will encounter a powerful warrior or similar character. Upright, the powerful warrior may be convinced to aid the drawer through Diplomacy or even just polite treatment (Savoir faire Skill). If reversed the powerful warrior will oppose the drawer unless a show of Courage is made (possibly a Will Roll or similar).

Some cards will lead to events and others will mean encounters with types of persons.

Second example: Cups is the suite of prosperity and abundance so the Queen of Cups might mean an encounter with the wife of a wealthy merchant. Again drawing it either upright means a positive event that still requires a successful skill check or similar action and reversed would be a negative event whose consequences can still be avoided through a different check.

Any book or even article on the tarot will be filled with the meanings of the cards but you can get a lot just by looking at the pictures.

I hope you can see the possibilities. There are no automatic giveaways or unavoidable mega-zaps and if you don't tell the PCs what the card means their characters will want to find out on their own and try and take advantage or avoid the consequences of their draw(s) as best they can.

That can be easily modeled with a fickle malediction affliction that grants a minor aspected destiny (probably with extended duration.) Although Precognition and the true tarot technique could also work. The first implies that it is a fortune-making device and the second that it is a fortune-telling device.

Using modular points, as SRoach said, trait limited to only an advantage like that would let it's user vary what destiny and aspect were, but I'd probably make the modular points fickle or uncontrollable as well, just to acknowledge that you can't really control what destiny/aspect you get, just that's gunna be wild.

For a totally different type of ability: I was thinking the "Power" could include an attack: You can draw a card at random and throw it using Throwing Art or Thrown weapon (cards). The attack deals a type of damage based on the suite of the drawn card and an amount based on how high the value is using Adds to Dice (so a ten of swords might do 2d+2 cutting [or burning since swords are the suite of fire? or incendiary cutting?]) With aces and face cards carrying additional effects via symptoms/side-effects, and with major arcana being afflictions.

Thoughts?