Tarot, Or : Holy Drek, Why? Options Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic Download this topic Subscribe to this forum Display Modes Switch to: Outline Standard Switch to: Linear+

[binarywraith]

So a blurb came across my DTRPG account yesterday, I'll quote it here for posterity :

THE TAROT HAS AWAKENED…
…And nothing will ever be the same again.
The Tarot, a mystical divination deck of cards, has appeared in the Sixth World as a powerful artifact. It works its will on anyone who finds one of its magical cards, from runners surviving on the street to corp executives battling in the boardroom. And not just people’s lives will be changed, for the Awakened Tarot deck is more than just a formidable magic item, it has an agenda all its own, and will seek to use those it comes in contact with to set its plans in motion…
Drawing Destiny is the latest original Shadowrun anthology, featuring twenty-three original stories about this brand-new artifact introduced into the game universe. Featuring stories from Michael A. Stackpole, Jennifer Brozek, Chris A. Jackson, Lucy A. Snyder, Aaron Rosenberg, R.L. King, Russell Zimmerman, Monica Valentinelli, Josh Vogt, and Jason M. Hardy, and 14 more authors, these stories reveal how the Awakened Tarot will impact the Sixth World for better, and sometimes, for much worse...

Now I usually refrain here, but this needs expressing. What the fuck is this shit?

Did someone get confused and think they were speccing out a new D&D collection about the Deck of Many things?

[Sengir]

No idea what the target audience is supposed to be...I've heard some suggestions that the cards might serve as inspirational "keywords" for building adventures, but that does not strike me as a huge market. Maybe CGL just got a made a good deal for 78 Echo Chernik artworks?

[binarywraith]

Yeah, that's pretty much all I can assume, they had the guy on contract to do some huge number of art pieces for planned work and that planned work canceled so they made the tarot deck.

The above, though, is a braided novel that appears to be treating that tarot deck as an in-world magical artifact implied to be sentient which boggles my goddamn mind.

[bannockburn]

So?
There've been other examples of subpar or outright bad storytelling in the realm of SR novels and metaplot before.

If they think it worthwhile that's okay in its own right. And who knows, maybe it's even readable.
I know that I usually like to read what a few of the authors write.

edit: grammar is hard, you guys.

[Sengir]

Yeah, that's pretty much all I can assume, they had the guy on contract to do some huge number of art pieces for planned work and that planned work canceled so they made the tarot deck.

Or maybe it's a sublicense deal, Chernik thinks it would be a cool project so she made a deal with CGL to release it under their banner, with the tie-in novel that SRR and other third-party products also got.

The above, though, is a braided novel that appears to be treating that tarot deck as an in-world magical artifact implied to be sentient which boggles my goddamn mind.

Spirits taking possession of an item are not totally new, by itself that sounds far better than most of the magical items which some plotlines desperately try to make a thing.

[hermit]

Reading it as is, and it's like World of Shadows. Some of the stories continue ones from World of Shadows (Dia de los Muertes), some are entertaining (the Stackpole story, at least for me), some are so-so, and some are plainly bizarre (Dragonbound, or, to quote: What in the nine hells just happened?). The ties to the Tarot mostly are pretty vague; it seems to be "pick a card and spin a story around the artwork". Dia de los Muertes, for instance, features a killer looking like the one on 404 (cringe). The others seem vaguely like that, though Dragonbound (again: what the fuck?) has no relation to an S-K boardroom meeting either.

As for the Tarot itself? Seems like a collectors item. The artwork is okay, some are good, some aren't, all of it is Chernik's fetish-heavy digital stuff with the occasional wacky proportions. I have no use for Tarot cards myself, but if the deck works for you, I guess it is as good as any other Tarot deck.

[Beta]

I hope that this is one of those things that they try, and then let disappear in the mists of time -- rather than dragging it into the metaplot for ages to come.

That said, actually have just recently started an artifacts thread in my campaign and may have this show up at some point in some form, just to set the groundwork for incorporating it more if it does keep showing up.

[binarywraith]

Reading it as is, and it's like World of Shadows. Some of the stories continue ones from World of Shadows (Dia de los Muertes), some are entertaining (the Stackpole story, at least for me), some are so-so, and some are plainly bizarre (Dragonbound, or, to quote: What in the nine hells just happened?). The ties to the Tarot mostly are pretty vague; it seems to be "pick a card and spin a story around the artwork". Dia de los Muertes, for instance, features a killer looking like the one on 404 (cringe). The others seem vaguely like that, though Dragonbound (again: what the fuck?) has no relation to an S-K boardroom meeting either.

As for the Tarot itself? Seems like a collectors item. The artwork is okay, some are good, some aren't, all of it is Chernik's fetish-heavy digital stuff with the occasional wacky proportions. I have no use for Tarot cards myself, but if the deck works for you, I guess it is as good as any other Tarot deck.

Yeah, I've got a copy on the way to me anyway, because I fully admit I'm a sucker for Wolf and Raven stories so I'll pay to read a new one.

[lokii]

I hope that this is one of those things that they try, and then let disappear in the mists of time -- rather than dragging it into the metaplot for ages to come.

Well, listening to Echo Czernik in Arcology Podcast Episode 91 it seems they actually planned heavy metaplot entanglement. Of course we have to see whether these plans actually get implemented. The tarot deck is an inworld object. The cards are distributed over 78 devices (that's the frame) and Echo said there are hidden clues in the cards related to their "universe-changing" influence. Now I know that the factions of Court of Shadows are connected to the tarot cards so maybe the deck is mostly relevant for this more or less alternate setting.

[Wakshaani]

Gold Star for whomever can find the first reference to the deck.
(Free hint! It predates 5th ed.)

[hermit]

I hope you are not referring to Geraint's heirloom deck in streets of Blood? Because those were actual cards, not enchanted holoprojectors.

[lokii]

It also shouldn't be the deck Miles Swinburne inherited from Dunkelzahn.

[lokii]

Do you mean the "tarot of the shadows"? -- Nope wait, that would be fifth edition.

Okay, my best guess: Street Legends had a short story involving tarot cards. I don't think they are on technical devices but there it is.

[hermit]

The first time the Tarot played a role in a Shadowrun setting was in 1989's Into the Shadows anthology, Turtle in the Tower, by Ken St. Andre. But those were (awakened, but paper, and 1970s vintage) cards back then.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

The first time the Tarot played a role in a Shadowrun setting was in 1989's Into the Shadows anthology, Turtle in the Tower, by Ken St. Andre. But those were (awakened, but paper, and 1970s vintage) cards back then.

Maybe they managed to go Wireless and get an upgrade. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Sengir]

Maybe they managed to go Wireless and get an upgrade. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Yep, it shuffles faster with Wifi on (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[lokii]

It automatically reorganises your schedule to fit the predictions of a tarot reading.

[Sengir]

It automatically reorganises your schedule to fit the predictions of a tarot reading.

That makes sense...therefore unfitting for a Wifi bonus (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Sendaz]

Wifi bonus: Dealing from the bottom of the Deck is now a Free Action. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Wounded Ronin]

Tarot is too accessible. They should have bought a bunch of scapular bones from a slaughterhouse, had the artwork painted on those, and the sold the bones via mail order and made everyone learn prehistoric scapular divination traditions.

[Tymeaus Jalynsfe...]

Tarot is too accessible. They should have bought a bunch of scapular bones from a slaughterhouse, had the artwork painted on those, and the sold the bones via mail order and made everyone learn prehistoric scapular divination traditions.

Accessible does not mean Proficient... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)