GM Sappy's Harrowing - Heart of the Cards (Inactive)

Game Master Sapiens

Additional rules:
Bonus stuff: Your character is an expert harrower. You all get these abilities for free:
- Deck Connection: You starts the game with a masterwork harrow deck, which works as the wizard's arcane bond item (or the equivalent Arcane Bloodline feature if you are a spontaneous caster, Arcanists use the wizard-like rule). Any number of times per day, you can spend 10 minutes to attune with your deck. Doing so replenishes any card that has been destroyed. In case the whole deck has been destroyed, this attunement requires 8 hours and 200 gp per character level and generates a new masterwork harrow deck, without any magic enhancements that may have been placed on it. In case you are not a spellcaster, the deck allows you to prepare and cast a single 1st-level spell from the wizard/sorcerer or witch spell list once per day. The save DC of that spell is based on your highest mental score.
- Expert Harrower: You gain Harrowed as a bonus feat.
- Heart of the Cards: Choose one: you can use Harrow Casting as per the Harrower prestige class a number of day equal to half your character level, with access to all of the six Tower abilities, you can cast a greater harrowing spell as a spell-like ability once per day, or you gain access to the Card Sharp, Papercraft Tools and Harrow Strike rogue talents.

The Harrow deck and illustrations:

Blue cards have been used already.

Hammers (Strength)
1 - The Paladin: A paladin clad in golden armor. He carries a sword and extends his hand towards you.
2 - The Keep: A castle moving on large, mechanized legs.
3 - The Big Sky: A man and a woman, clad in rags and chained. The man is raising his hands to the sky and the chains are breaking.
4 - The Forge: A dwarf, hammering on an anvil. Fire spirits fly around him.
5 - The Bear: A bear in a ruff and a party hat on a unicycle, standing in front of a skull and carrying a metal staff.
6 - The Uprising: Peasants carrying pitchforks and torches. On the pitchfork is a crown.
7 - The Fiend: A green monster is eating a men alive.
8 - The Beating: Undead hands sprout from the ground, grasping at a man.
9 - The Cyclone: A cyclone with a wicked face destroys a village.

Keys (Dexterity)
10 - The Dance: A dark-skinned woman dances, wielding a metal rod.
11 - The Cricket: A cricket in fine white clothing sits on the ground, playing cards. A rapier is thrust into a peach next to him.
12 - The Juggler: A giant wanders through the woods, juggling an elephant, a tower, a boat and a rock.
13 - The Locksmith: A man in a green cloak and hood holds a severed hand with keys in place of fingers.
14 - The Peacock: A cockatrice in a majestic pose.
15 - The Rabbit Prince: A rabbit clad in elegant clothes, holding a broken sword. An iron crown sits on his head.
16 - The Avalanche: An earth elemental descends on a caravan as an avalanche.
17 - The Crows: A tengu and two masked men sit across a table covered in coins.
18 - The Demon's Lantern: Will-o-the-wisps in a swamp. A hand reaches out of the water.

Shields (Constitution)
19 - The Trumpet: A white-clad trumpet archon blows their trumpet.
20 - The Survivor: A man in bad shape sits on a throne. Green figures look worriedly at him, and mixed items are at his feet.
21 - The Desert: A sphinx carries a man wrapped in robes under the night desert sky.
22 - The Brass Dwarf: An azer drinks from a mug and smokes a hookah pipe.
23 - The Teamster: A short man in a hat rides a bound orc, hitting him with a three-pronged whip.
24 - The Mountain Man: A red-haired and red-bearded giant carries what looks like an alligator over his shoulder.
25 - The Tangled Briar: A skeleton is propped up as a scarecrow over twisted, thorny vines.
26 - The Sickness: A woman, disfigured by disease, holding two dice and green onions. Flies hover around her.
27 - The Waxworks: A man, bound in chains, suspended over a cauldron filled with boiling wax.

Books (Intelligence)
28 - The Hidden Truth: A wizened wizard points to an open book with his right hand. A flame engulfs his left upstretched index finger.
29 - The Wanderer: A centaur carrying all manners of equipment.
30 - The Joke: A fat giant laughing at a bard's joke.
31 - The Inquisitor: A red-and-black-clad pale man holding a book and pointing forward. A chain is wrapped around his neck.
32 - The Foreign Trader: A purple-skinned man in exotic clothing. He is holding jewels and precious wares, a monkey is perched upon his shoulder.
33 - The Vision: An old man in work clothing is struck by a blast coming from a blue finger from upwards.
34 - The Rakshasa: An alligator-looking rakshasa in a fine suit, holding a cup of tea.
35 - The Idiot: A man with his hands tied, pierced by arrows and wearing an oversized mask is mocked by two purple goblins.
36 - The Snakebite: A man in dark leather armor holds a wicked dagger dripping poison.

Stars (Wisdom)
37 - The Winged Serpent: A couatl in a majestic pose.
38 - The Midwife: A dwarf woman holding a devilish-looking child uspide-down. Behind her, a man seems to be crying.
39 - The Publican: A cyclops pouring beer from a mug to another. A man lies unconscious at his feet.
40 - The Queen Mother: A crowned formian queen, lying among cushions.
41 - The Owl: An owl holding thread and needle in their beak.
42 - The Carnival: A child running from a creepy jester and an ominous-looking man on stilts.
43 - The Eclipse: A dark disc in front of the sun makes it cast red light. A scared man runs from undead rising from the ground.
44 - The Mute Hag: An ugly, purple-skinned hag. Her eyesockets are empty but she has an eye in her mouth.
45 - The Lost: An undead clad in the remains of a paladin armor.

Crowns (Charisma)
46 - The Empty Throne: A figure in noble clothing mourning over a grave.
47 - The Theatre: A puppet dragon facing a puppet paladin. in a puppet theatre.
48 - The Unicorn: A unicorn on the grass, a pear impaled on their horn.
49 - The Marriage: An efreeti and a marid next to each other. The marid is holding a man in a difing suit.
50 - The Twin: Two man clad in opposing colors look at each other. One holds a dagger behind his back.
51 - The Courtesan: A fiendish-looking woman wearing precious jewels hiding behind a white mask.
52 - The Tyrant: A blue dragon holding a blood-dripping blue orb.
53 - The Betrayal: a blue-haired tattooed woman kissing a chopped-off head. Blood from the head drips over grapes the woman is holding.
54 - The Liar: A female lamia holding withered flowers.

How to perform a Harrowing:

The simplest possible reading consists in drawing a single card, then interpret it as a response to the question asked. This can be done by rolling a d54, then checking the corresponding card.

A quick but more accurate reading can be done by drawing three cards. The first represents the current situation, the second represents obstacles to the person's goal, the third shows the outcome. Roll three times a d54, rerolling any doubles.

The complete (standard) reading starts with choosing a suit related to the question asked, and a card from it. This is a message that the subject of the reading should take at heart. Then, nine cards out of the 54 are spread in a 3x3 grid like the alignment chart. The "lawful" column shows the past, the "neutral" one shows the present, the "chaotic" one the future: the cards in the "good" row should be interpreted positively, those in the "neutral" row ambiguously, those in the "evil" row negatively. Roll nine times a d54, rerolling all doubles, interpret the cards in order LG - NG - CG - LN - N - CN - LE - NE - CE. There would be more rules but I think this is enough.

Of course, all reading should be interpreted with a grain of salt. The Harrow deck shows possible courses of an evershifting future, nothing is set in stone.

Macros:

[spoiler=Initiative]
[dice=Basil]1d20+10[/dice]
[dice=Niklos]1d20+8[/dice]
[dice=Gisele]1d20+4[/dice]
[dice=Edda]1d20+3[/dice][/spoiler ]
[spoiler=Perception]
[dice=Basil]1d20+16[/dice]
[dice=Edda]1d20+10[/dice]
[dice=Gisele]1d20+8[/dice]
[dice=Niklos]1d20+10[/dice][/spoiler ]

Additional material will be added as the campaign proceeds.