I'm curious -- how many of you employ cards in some form, or prefer to stick to dice? Bonus points for card-related suggestions in the comments.
When I first got back into RPGs, I was turned off to using playing cards for stuff, because I wanted to chuck some dice for nostalgia's sake. Lately, though, after trying out Dungeon Solitaire, I've been on a card kick and seem to be accumulating playing card and tarot decks faster than is reasonable.
There don't seem to be too many RPGs based solely around cards (Castle Falkenstein being a prominent exception, and I've found another called, simply, No Dice). But I know there's plenty of card-based generators and tools out there such as John Yorio's dungeon generator and I'd even include the Gamemaster Apprentice cards as either a tool or an RPG, depending how you use them.
Recent posts about cartomancy have fueled my interest and I'm wondering what all is out there, especially in regards to solo play: Using cards as an oracle, a means of generating RPG elements (NPCs, encounters, plot), and even as a mechanic to replace dice in one or more ways.
So, I'm curious -- how many of you employ cards in some form, or prefer to stick to dice? Bonus points for card-related suggestions in the comments.
Not that I'm against cards, just most of them don't provide the range of responses that I need. Those that do (GMA) don't cover all the genres I want to play. Also, I'm generally stuck playing on a computer, and online dice rollers are easier to find than online card flippers.
ReplyDeleteIt's weird. I've tried both GMA and Rory's Cubes and I don't know which one I like more, GMA is better at giving me concrete stuff, like names and items. Whereas Rory's is better at vague archetypes and story prompts. GMA has those, but they require you to memorize the meanings of runes and such. So, idk honestly.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing about cards, I hate them as a replacement for dice when it comes to skill checks and the like, but I love them when they are used as oracles. Rewind uses poker cards for setting scenes. I also use cards for your 'secret agenda' in The Trouble with Rose because that card can stay face down with you as a reminder and it is not as unstable as a random die. In Four Houses in Amber, I make heavy use of tarot cards because they are thematically appropriate for the setting. I use them as random seeds for a scene and as a form of in-game divination.
ReplyDeleteI used a tarot based deck called the Bright Idea Deck (http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/bright-idea/) for one of my earliest actual plays. I thought it was really fun.
ReplyDeletehttps://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?577598-Mythic-Game-Master-Emulator-(and-other-tools)-Intervention
There is a fantasy game called Fortune's Fool which uses the Tarot as well. I've never given it a spin:
https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/16/16545.phtml
forum.rpg.net - [Mythic Game Master Emulator (and other tools)] Intervention
Oh! My web toy, Zero Tarot is inspired by Glittercat's A Fools Journey which is a tarot based game. A session of Zero Tarot is more like a story arc generator. The 'game' is more at the meta level where you assemble the story beats/seeds and then write out how they are connected.
ReplyDeleteI prefer dice on the grounds that they're just easier to manage. Almost anything you can do with cards, you can do with dice and a look-up table. I think the big exception would be if you want certain random results to only occur one time, after which the card is removed from the deck.
ReplyDeleteI think cards can provide extra inspiration through their art.
ReplyDeleteI think for me, the less tables the better. I try and keep my playspace uncluttered. I also have been trying to stay offline when I game, since I get distracted VERY easily. So cards fill that niche of having tables on them that dice can't do.
ReplyDeleteStill don't know what I prefer though. But when it comes to tables and lists, cards got my vote.
I would rather throw dice, but I have used Magic the Gathering cards as oracle/inspiration. Pretty much as story cubes.
ReplyDeleteI have often used the GMA deck (the free / PWYW demo version only). I love it: I guess that to me a textual hint is easier to interpret than image only. I also use playing cards (tarot cards, actually) to randomly activate figures in my skirmish games: I believe it's the best system for the solo gamer. Time ago, I read about the Tarot-driven RPG "Fortune's Fool": it seemed interesting, but I never looked into it.
ReplyDeleteThe No Dice RPG is about 250 pages of anectodes, advice, and the like, while the actual rules only take up a few pages. So, I mostly glossed through the book, but one of the author's main reasons for cards over dice was there's "more" than just a random number in the cards.
ReplyDeleteYou have colors and suits which can add inflection to the face value, court cards which have no number and can represent something else, and Jokers which can be a different something else. Furthermore, there's the traditonal (Tarot-derived) associations with the suits (elements, cardinal directions, etc).
He also mentions using multiple (differently styled) decks for different things, such as one for actions and one for scenes. Or combining decks for other uses.
So, I can see these advantages over dice. Then again, I've seen "poker dice" and "tarot dice" and the ubiquitous story cubes (which in many ways are similar to using tarot for image-inspiration). So, perhaps there's blurres lines in those regards.
I like my cards and my dice. I found a random slide slow app for Android so it's easy to make virtual decks out of the pdf cards that I buy. I tend to keep Oracle stuff in cards while player side stuff uses dice. It helps keep my brain in the correct gear during play.
ReplyDeleteDices with Zathrum, playing cards with NSAABH, usually dices but sometimes playing cards with Bivius, dices with Tiny Solitary Soldiers.
ReplyDeleteI like both dice and cards. But, as of late, I’ve been using cards a little bit more than dice. I think it’s because ever since I got the GM’s Apprentice decks, I’ve been mesmerized by all the different things they offer: dice rolls, runes, names, situations, items, places, etc.
ReplyDeleteNonetheless, I wanted to share with you an interesting resource I found almost by accident: Oracle cards, more specifically, the Past Life Oracle cards by Doreen Virtue.
I first bought them because the name was interesting, and I happen to have a collection of tarot and Oracle decks. However, the moment I opened the box, instead of finding a mystical connection with the cards, I found a literary spark. The different cards offer a series of varied images and symbols that could easily be used as writing prompts. If you decide to use them, not in a book, but in a solo rpg session, they’ll work too!
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/past-life-oracle/
Neither, I use a dice roller app and a laptop. So I don't go physical at all! Cards would make life relatively difficult I think.
ReplyDeleteI've considered using dice positioning as a way of adding more life out of them as an Oracle. Inspired mostly by Untold Adventures.
ReplyDeleteA few have mentioned runes on the GMA cards. I noticed there's a viking? RPG called Fate of the Norns that uses runes instead of dice or cards. Has anyone tried this game?
ReplyDeleteEd Ortiz there are some "die drop" tables that use positioning like this, both in the sense of where the die falls on the chart and, for example the corner of a d4, pointing to something (or 3 somethings). Can't say I've seen a die drop oracle, though... yet...? :-)
ReplyDeleteSpencer Salyer Ed Ortiz You both reminded me of this group, which was recommended by someone in this community (although, I don’t remember whom)Die-Drop Table Heaven
ReplyDeleteI like when the mechanics of the game are already created to use cards. There are 4 solo RPGs that I love that use cards as resolution (or part of the resolution): English Eerie, Journey, Swords of the Skull-Takers, All We Love We Leave Behind.
ReplyDeleteSprite etirpS Random slideshow virtual deck is a great idea, thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have the GMA decks (all of them!) from the recent Kickstarter, but I honestly just haven't sat down long enough to learn how to use them, so I don't. Ridiculous, I know; they're literally 18" from my keyboard as I type this, staring at me with disdain! I just choose dice because, dang, it's so easy to figure out how to use them. Well, except for Star Wars dice. :D
ReplyDeleteOne of these days, I'm going to use one of those paper foldy-type fortune teller thingies from when I was in elementary school, to create an oracle...
youtube.com - Origami - Fortune Teller
Interesting question. Was just pricing cheap bulk lots of Magic: the Gathering cards for pictorial inspiration. Having a pile of hundreds of cards you can draw from could be handy and not doable with dice. Could separate them into different piles for different purposes: characters (draw one and that's what your next NPC looks like), locations, creatures, treasure & magic items, sorceries for plot twists, etc. If you have a bunch of old cards lying around, could be a good use for them.
ReplyDeleteI don't see it as an either/or thing.
ReplyDeleteAnother useful tool that you can add to your solor rpg sessions are fate dice (or fudge dice).
ReplyDeleteFor a very basic oracle, you only need to use 2 dice. The meanings would be as follows:
+ + = Yes, and... (Or exceptional/critical YES!)
[] + = Yes
- + = Yes, but...
[] + [] = No, but...
[] - = No
- - = No, and... (Or exceptional/critical NO!)
[] = a blank
Here's an interesting solo session in which fate/fudge dice are used along with Rory's Story Cubes!
boardgamegeek.com - Havenland Saga - A Solitaire RPG using Rory's Story Cubes |
Thredith Undomiel there are some interesting ideas here. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI know I am chiming in late, but I haven't gotten around to sit down at the computer earlier.
I have dabbed a little bit into GMA, and it is quite nice. Still, I end up with Mythic for general solo play.
However, there is something with potential that I always wanted to explore, but never found the time, namely Xenoscape.
It comes with 7 piece cards, which could be used for NPC role inspiriations, and 17+4 aspect/scape cards, which are full of inspiration:
Each of the 17 scape cards is linked to a celestial body (our solar system, plus a few extras/fictional ones), a type of character, and a type of place. For instance, the comet is linked to the eternal traveller, and to a way/path, with alternative suggestions bridge, (train) station, means of travel. Those are all printed on the card (together with a nice picture). The rule book adds some more items to it: Its color is the color of water, its key words are travel, moving, transferal, wind, information. Linked to the game rules, there are also two additional pieces of information that can be inspirational: the unknown memory linked to the aspect (for comet, it would be floating - coming from nowhere, going nowhere, you are moving around lost), and the reason for awakening (for comet, that would be travel; during a travel, you recognize a scenery you actually have never seen before).
The expansion Kaleidoscape adds a vision chart, that lists 6 unknown memories, a bit more detailed, per aspect.
The expansion also has the words chart, which combines the full set of 21 scape cards with the suits of a standard card deck plus jokers for random content generation. For comet, it would be as follows:
club/fire: flowing, not stopping, water coloured, travelling, roaming about, running
spade/air: thousand, travel, information, meeting, wish
heart/water: traveller, migratory bird, fleeter, journalist, gambler
diamond/earth: bird, bike, railway, car, package, letter, newspaper, web site, rumour, mah jongg, pachinko
joker/magic/devil: losing the ability to return home, going on a voyage, being driven away, scoring with the first attempt.
With the RPG, you can use the scape and piece cards for random PC generation, while they are used during the game as the game board/map, each card representing one scape/location, which can be a single room, a building or even a city, depending on the scale of the adventure.
This aspect of mapping is used in some of the adventures for semi- or completely random maps.
Since you care about cards so much, I gave all the details on the scape cards. The game rules themselves heavily rely on a standard deck of cards as well:
Challenges are done by having the player roll 2d6 + attribute/skill value vs. the sum of X cards (so, the actual value to beat is random). If the joker is drawn (counting for 20), the player gets that card after the challenge regardless of outcome, and if they beat the challenge, they get all picture cards in it. Cards go into 4 discard piles, one for each suit/element, and when a player uses one of their special powers, it is enhanced by the number of cards on the table which share the same element, so if there are a lot of club cards in the discard pile, fire powers are significantly enhanced.
The cards can also be used as a timer: if the deck runs out twice, things are so messed up that the adventure ends as a catastrophe is one possible approach.
While the above may be transferred to other systems/rules, the following is more specific, but may also be inspirational:
In order to power their special powers, players have a hand of up to 6 cards. Besides powering their special powers, they can play a picture card to get a vision of a person or item at their current location, gaining some information about them.
Maybe you can harvest those rules for some inspirations.
Yours,
Deathworks
rpggeek.com - 輪廻戦記 Xenoscape