I mean no offense by this post, and I don't want to disrespect anyone's beliefs.
Regardless of one's opinions of whether or not there's anything to real-world tarot readings, surely we can all agree that some people have used them as tools to take advantage of gullible marks. I'd love to find a book explaining how to do this, since I think that effective Harrow deck readings could add a lot of colour to the game.
Any title suggestions? I've never even watched a tarot reading, let along sat through one, so I'd like to have some skill in it before I have to BS my players.
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I mean no offense by this post, and I don't want to disrespect anyone's beliefs.
Regardless of one's opinions of whether or not there's anything to real-world tarot readings, surely we can all agree that some people have used them as tools to take advantage of gullible marks. I'd love to find a book explaining how to do this, since I think that effective Harrow deck readings could add a lot of colour to the game.
Any title suggestions? I've never even watched a tarot reading, let along sat through one, so I'd like to have some skill in it before I have to BS my players.
What you really want is any book dealing with 'cold readings.' Look for anything dealing with stage magic, or watch any decent fortune teller. It's as much a matter of pacing your voice and watching your mark as it is any particular words.
It'll be a bit harder to do a real cold reading in game, since you have players, not marks, and won't read their reactions properly. Still, if you concentrate on the tone and pacing of your voice, it'll probably come out all right.
Drew Garrett
Aha! Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for that phrase.
agarrett, thanks for that advice - here's what it led me to on Wikipedia, for those who are interested.
One standard technique is to throw out something fairly vague and look for reactions, then tighten in on the stuff that the mark reacts most strongly to. You can often get the mark to reveal exactly the information you need to make the reading "shockingly accurate".
For example (using Tarot here as I don't have a harrowdeck):
I turn over the Page of Wands, which could mean a young, fair man or woman, a student, an apprentice. I'd make a snap judgement--does this mark sound more likely to have a sibling, a child, an ally or a rival?--and toss out some ideas. "I see a fair-haired young man, about your age, who is important in your life. He's a rival, isn't he?"
If the mark says "My gosh, that's Bryan" you've hit pay dirt, and you build from there. If he looks puzzled, you change things slightly. "No, it's clearer now, this is referring to an event in the past. I believe it's either a brother, or perhaps your father as a young man." If the mark says, "I haven't got any brothers" then you pursue the father angle.
By the time you've considered rivals, brothers, brothers' rivals, father's rivals, father's brothers...you are likely to have hit something good. And it's amazing how human beings will remember the detailed reading at the end, and not the groping that led up to it.
Practice helps too. I'm not quick enough on my feet to do readings for money; it's important never to stop to look things up. Kind of like GMing, in fact.
Mary
In extreme cases, in-game, you may wish to load the deck, to combine the visual appeal of the prop with the accuracy possible only with a rigged demo. :) I suggest, however, that you always let the players know beforehand (yes, from a player perspective the telling is rigged, but from their characters' perspective it isn't). Of course, this approach may not work with a lot of players...
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In extreme cases, in-game, you may wish to load the deck, to combine the visual appeal of the prop with the accuracy possible only with a rigged demo. :) I suggest, however, that you always let the players know beforehand (yes, from a player perspective the telling is rigged, but from their characters' perspective it isn't). Of course, this approach may not work with a lot of players...
Yeah, I remember an old Ravenloft module which included a Tarokka reading for which there was a fixed card pattern required. The module itself suggested how to fix it so that the right cards came out. It was actually very simple to do. You take out the cards that you need, arrange them in the order requred and put them in a pile face up behind the DM screen. Give the other cards to a player to shuffle, take them back, put them down (face up) onto the prepared cards behind the DM screen and pick the whole lot up in one clean motion. Then you just deal out the cards off the top of the deck and you know exactly what the reading is going to be!
Now, in real life I have a dexterity score in single figures, but even I managed to pull this trick off without my players suspecting anything. They got a bit spooked during the adventure at how accurate the reading was turning out, although I did confess to the fix at the end.
That was fine for my group but I could understand it being a bit too disturbing for some. I guess it's a DM judgement on what's appropriate for the players in his group.
I think that when I run CotCT I may go for random readings as I'll hopefully be a bit more familiar with the cards by then plus the Harrow points and adventure bonuses seem to require it. We'll be starting RotRL soon and I think I'll "fix" a reading for each book in case the party visit Madame Mvashti. Seems like a good way for me to get familiar with the Harrow cards whilst still making the reading useful for the players.
Put me down with those who still have no idea how to to Tarot/Harrow readings(after reading Pathfinder #7).
Chief Technical Officer
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Put me down with those who still have no idea how to to Tarot/Harrow readings(after reading Pathfinder #7).
Do you have a Harrow deck yet? The rules there are a bit more detailed, and differ slightly from the rules in Pathfinder 7. Here's the basics:
First, have the PCs ask a question to answer.
Decide the suit that's most appropriate for their question (in the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, use the suit corresponding to the specific adventure in the table on page 12—for Pathfinder 7, that means the suit of keys), and pull the nine cards of that suit from the deck. Have each player draw one of these nine cards, and interpret each card for each PC based on the meanings provided on pages 60–61. (This is where the artistry that people have been discussing in this thread comes in.)
Write down which card each player drew for use later in the adventure (see "The Chosen" on p. 12), then shuffle them back into the deck.
Next, lay out a 3x3 grid of facedown cards, and turn over the first column. Select the most meaningful card(s) based on their placement in the spread—see the sidebar and diagram on page 59 for details. Interpret those cards with the sense that they should enlighten the PCs past.
Next, do the middle column, telling them about the present; finally, do the last column, telling them about the future.
That's the basics, anyway. Other folks can chime in with tips on how to set the scene, and how to make your interpretations seem more meaningful...
Mvashti did readings for my PCs in RotRL several times. I didn't have any harrowdeck rules, so I had the PCs ask about a situation (their preferred form of question) and then I'd "turn over" three cards for Allies and three cards for Adversaries. I made the cards up on the spot. (My Mvashti was using a deck with *minor image* abilities, so it was quite possible for *her* to make up cards on the spot, and I suspect that's what she was doing....)
Spoilers for RotRL #4:
The PCs asked about Mokmurian. I turned over Allies of a strong woman (Conna), a vengeful ghost (Conna's husband), and a sort of Jacob's ladder (the ancestor magic of the giant elders in general). Adversaries were a death knight figure (the Headless Lord), a miser clutching his gold (Karzoug), and a cauldron of plenty (the runeslave cauldron).
Mvashti then asked the PCs what this meant, via leading questions. They were puzzled by the cauldron, which Mvashti explained was usually a favorable card. She didn't really tell them what it meant. But when they found about about the Runeslave cauldron there was a delightful "Oh! That's what it meant!" and they knew it was important.
If you are not experienced with this sort of thing, I suggest fewer cards. Maybe just three: one Ally, one Enemy, one Outcome. If you have too many cards you'll get fatigued looking up the interpretations and trying to remember them all, and lose the thread.
Mary