My PCs just got the second Harrow reading (from Seven Days to the Grave) and the cards are quite wrong.
The past has a mix of good and bad (okay, I can work with this).
The present is hopeful (I can stretch this to work).
The future is all bright and happy (no ideas here).
Here's what I have to work with:
- Positive Past: The Owl
- Neutral Past: The Bear (Partial Match)
- Negative Past: The Eclipse (True Match)
- Positive Present: The Fiend (Misaligned)
- Neutral Present: The Big Sky (Partial Match)
- Negative Present: The Desert (Misaligned, Role Card for party's cleric)
- Positive Future: The Dance (Partial Match)
- Neutral Future: The Locksmith (Partial Match)
- Negative Future: The Queen Mother
Any ideas what I should do with the interpretation of the future column?
Also, I'm terrible at this sort of thing (I told my players I'd work on the interpretation between sessions).
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How familiar are your players with the cards? I used to do Tarot readings in college and I can tell you that most people that sit down to one don't see any relationships from one reading to the next. To most folks its all *Magic* anyway. If your players aren't up on the harrow cards you can fudge it some by being very vague. Besides the hope is that it will all turn out fine...in the end... As in after the PC's are all done with CotCT and oh say a hundred years or so pass. ;)
Even if your Players are avid Harrow students the vague bit should work. Also saying that things look good is one thing, but saying "Struggling mightily will result in good things for you and the city" is another. A lot of Tarot/Harrow is in the delivery, not in the cards. A good Tarot/Harrow reader will be much more personality than student of the cards.
Sorry I can't help with the actual card reading that you presented. I don't have the harrowing stuff handy.
My PCs just got the second Harrow reading (from Seven Days to the Grave) and the cards are quite wrong.
The past has a mix of good and bad (okay, I can work with this).
The present is hopeful (I can stretch this to work).
The future is all bright and happy (no ideas here).
Here's what I have to work with:
- Positive Past: The Owl
- Neutral Past: The Bear (Partial Match)
- Negative Past: The Eclipse (True Match)
- Positive Present: The Fiend (Misaligned)
- Neutral Present: The Big Sky (Partial Match)
- Negative Present: The Desert (Misaligned, Role Card for party's cleric)
- Positive Future: The Dance (Partial Match)
- Neutral Future: The Locksmith (Partial Match)
- Negative Future: The Queen Mother
Any ideas what I should do with the interpretation of the future column?
Also, I'm terrible at this sort of thing (I told my players I'd work on the interpretation between sessions).
Here's my take on your cards, written as Zellara speaking them:
The Positive Past - The Owl - Korvosa was battered, but grows strong again, binding together to face ahead. Yet all know, that pulling just one thread can cause all that was gained to unravel and disappear again.
The Neutral Past - The Bear - The strength of the mob was not something that could be tamed or trained, it simply was. And while many think it now tamed, it lurks, ready to strike again.
The Negative Past - The Eclipse - Self-doubt, loss, one who covers over the hope and leaves all in shadow. The loss of our King truly was an eclipse on Korvosa’s very soul ... have we yet come into the new light?
The Positive Present - The Fiend - Calamity is here, but it cannot be seen. The city is once again in danger, but by who’s hand? Only the strength of heroes can save the innocents that are otherwise doomed. Salvation will come, if we are strong enough.
The Neutral Present - The Big Sky - Change is coming, but for good or ill, I cannot tell. One kind of slavery exchanged for another? Clouds obscure the sky ...
The Negative Present - The Desert - (to the Cleric) Do not rely on other’s strength, it will fail you! Plague and illness are near, but the healer cannot heal, the seer cannot see. Survival balances on the edge, and you will determine which way the axe shall fall!
The Positive Future - The Dance - Many work together, following the dance, striving for perfection and accomplishment. But there is discord, as one seeks his own pattern, his own rhythm, denying the rights of the many for the sake of the one. Peril comes when some follow the false dance, believing it to be true.
The Neutral Future - The Locksmith - Ah ... somewhere, somehow, you will find the key that you need to overcome thine enemy. Not in this current battle, but ultimately. But know that not all that hold keys will see the truth and follow the right, instead they will cling to the law as their cold comfort.
The Negative Future - The Queen Mother - She that should hold knowledge for all, instead holds it for herself. The powerless and the underclasses bear the brunt of her wrath instead of her love. Society will bend to a new worship, warping what once was into something unknowable.
Hope that helps!
I let my player's do their own readings and make their own interpretation of the cards, with some input from Zellara. My players love to do the readings, and they usually finds ways to make the readings match their current situations.
Here's my take on your cards, written as Zellara speaking them:
The Positive Past - The Owl - Korvosa was battered, but grows strong again, binding together to face ahead. Yet all know, that pulling just one thread can cause all that was gained to unravel and disappear again.
The Neutral Past - The Bear - The strength of the mob was not something that could be tamed or trained, it simply was. And while many think it now tamed, it lurks, ready to strike again.
The Negative Past - The Eclipse - Self-doubt, loss, one who covers over the hope and leaves all in shadow. The loss of our King truly was an eclipse on Korvosa’s very soul ... have we yet come into the new light?
The Positive Present - The Fiend - Calamity is here, but it cannot be seen. The city is once again in danger, but by who’s hand? Only the strength of heroes can save the innocents that are otherwise doomed. Salvation will come, if we are strong enough.
The Neutral Present - The Big Sky - Change is coming, but for good or ill, I cannot tell. One kind of slavery exchanged for another? Clouds obscure the sky ...
The Negative Present - The Desert - (to the Cleric) Do not rely on other’s strength, it will fail you! Plague and illness are near, but the healer cannot heal, the seer cannot see. Survival balances on the edge, and you will determine which way the axe shall fall!
The Positive Future - The Dance - Many work together, following the dance, striving for perfection and accomplishment. But there is discord, as one seeks his own pattern, his own rhythm, denying the rights of the many for the sake of the one. Peril comes when some follow the false dance, believing it to be true.
The Neutral Future - The Locksmith - Ah ... somewhere, somehow, you will find the key that you need to overcome thine enemy. Not in this current battle, but ultimately. But know that not all that hold keys will see the truth and follow the right, instead they will cling to the law as their cold comfort.
The Negative Future - The Queen Mother - She that should hold knowledge for all, instead holds it for herself. The powerless and the underclasses bear the brunt of her wrath instead of her love. Society will bend to a new worship, warping what once was into something unknowable.
Hope that helps!
Thats a really excellent reading that makes what appears to be discordant cards into something that the DM can work with.
I'll also second the idea that one can play around with things like fortune tellings with players to some significant extent partly because they rarely really remember them after a few sessions. I mean they might have some kind of a hazy idea about what they said but nothing too specific. 'Course if you give them an email or something tangible that they can refer back to then your going to have to work harder with twisting things to make some kind of sense 'cause then they have all the details and can refer back to them.
I make the reading turn out to what I want them to be... so they are preset-up no guess work needed since it is what I want it to be.
Care to post the layouts that you've done?
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I make the reading turn out to what I want them to be... so they are preset-up no guess work needed since it is what I want it to be.Care to post the layouts that you've done?
I'm not him :) but I've done two so far that I've recorded.
The second was "under the gun" prepping for another session, so it's nowhere near as complete as the first one. Even so, coming at the start of 7Days it's pretty clear what's going to happen. Well, to me anyway. ;)
The player carrying the deck has requested reading from Zellara that are not at the beginning of a book, so I've complied. I don't think I have that one written down anywhere though, as I provided did it during the game session.
I have a MapTool configuration using tables that randomly selects the cards and draws the layout. For the GM, you get tooltips for each card and information about whether the card is aligned or not, and what the meaning is behind the card. There's still a lot of interpretation work to do, but it makes it a little better organized. If you're interested, drop a PM or email to Azhrei on the RPTools.net forum or reply here and I'll send you a URL where you can get the info.
I'm not him :) but I've done two so far that I've recorded.
That's what I'm looking for. Unfortunately we're at History of Ashes already.
Thanks for all your help guys, especially Gamer Girrl. I may go with the suggestion of "loading the deck" for the next Harrow reading - if I can't come up with something decent on the fly anyway, I might as well.
Remember, you don't have to interpret all of the cards, just the strongly aligned ones.
Here's what I'm giving my players, based primarily on GamerGrrl's helpful post.
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"The Owl represents Korvosa. It was battered, but grows strong again, binding together to face forward. But all know that pulling a single thread can cause all that we gained to unravel and disappear again. The Bear is the mob that terrorized Korvosa. The strength of the mob was not something that could be tamed or trained, it simply was. And while many think it is now tamed, it lurks, ready to strike again. The Eclipse represents the loss of our king. Korvosa is left with doubt about the future. The Fiend represents another calamity. Once again, a danger threatens the entire city. But the card is misaligned, indicating that this calamity can be overcome. The Big Sky represents a great change that is underway in all of us, but the possibilities are open."
Fubdo picks up The Desert and shows it to Twolly. "This card represents you. You are the key to preventing destruction. Do not rely on the strength of others, for it will surely fail you! The healer cannot heal, the seer cannot see."
"Many work together in The Dance, keeping the rhythm. But there is discord, as one seeks his own rhythm. Peril comes to those who follow the false dance. The key - The Locksmith - is distant, but necessary."
Fubdo pauses for a moment as Zellara ends the reading. His vision clears as if a fog was lifted and he notices the one card remaining in the spread that Zellara left to him to interpret himself - The Queen Mother, in the position of Negative Future.
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Fubdo is the halfling rogue who is holding Zellara's deck. Twolly is the party's cleric (who drew The Desert).