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I'm about halfway done with Rise of the Runelords and preparing to run Crimson Throne. In preparation for that (and because one of my players expressed an interest in Harrow), I've dug out my Harrow Deck. And I promptly remembered why I buried the blasted thing in the first place.
The art style and general "punk" aesthetic of the Harrow Deck greatly offend my sensibilities.
I'm mulling simply swapping in the Tarot (at which I am an old hand, if a hand approximately as mystical as fluorescent lighting and a stack of clean Petri dishes). But, there are 78 cards in Tarot, as opposed to the 54 of Harrow. I see five options:
[1] Just use the dang official Harrow cards. It's not like I'm a fan of the aesthetic choices of the Cubists, either, but they exist and have influence in the world. Running a world with a high degree of verisimilitude means that I don't get to make everything conform to my personal tastes.
[2] Just use the Tarot, ideally one with a more medieval/Renaissance feel than those available in the glass case at your corner occult bookstore; something in the Visconti-Sforza line of things. Ignore the optional rules for Harrowing.
[3] Draw, have drawn, or find an alternative Harrow deck and deal with the really irritating prevalence of twee (e.g. Rabbit Prince) and the overwhelming theme of betrayal and deceit (not really something I'd want to put so prominently in a deck I use to convince rubes to give me coin on the strength of my apparent connection to otherworldly forces). But… at least the noses won't remind me of Dagwood Bumstead.
[4] Write, have written, or find rules for using the Tarot that mimic those for Harrowing. The ideal choice, if I weren't so averse to work.
[5] Use playing cards with pretty illustrations and my powers of on-the-spot prevarication to apply meaning to the numbers and symbols.
Still reading? Marvelous. Perhaps you're someone who knows where I can find an alternative Harrow deck, in-game Tarot rules like those for Harrowing, or some really lovely standard playing cards to use in place of the smirking travesty I currently possess. Please share this information if you have it.