The Cards
NOTATION
Every card is written as a short shard of notation - a rank, a suit, and, when color is all that matters, just r or b. Learn the shorthand once and the rest of the site reads at a glance.
| Element | Written as |
|---|---|
| Ranks | A · 2-9 · 0 · J · Q · K |
| Suits | ♥ H ♦ D ♣ C ♠ S |
| Color only | r (red) · b (black) |
| Jokers | Xr (colored / red) · Xb (black & white) |
Tens are written as 0 - a single character that removes the only two-digit label and lets zero stand as a value. Aces are low (value = 1) throughout.
Examples A♥ 0♣ Q♠ 7♦ Xr Xb
Throughout this site the suit symbols
♥ ♦
♣ ♠
are used for the look of the thing. When you are jotting notes or typing at speed and
the symbols aren't handy, the single letters are the easy equivalent -
A♥ and
AH mean exactly the same card.
THE CARDS
Color: Direction
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Red | Yes |
| Black | No |
Design note on color: Red=Yes, Black=No follows the existing coloring of a standard deck and traditional interpretation. This is worth naming plainly anyway, since "black" carrying negative connotation and "red/light" carrying positive connotation is a cultural trope. We didn't recolor a standard deck, because we don't mean for you to have to buy something new. We have tried to keep the suit domains and descriptions neutral and free of value judgment.
Suit: Narrative Texture & Thematic Domain
| Suit | Texture | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| ♥ Hearts | Yes, and - an additional beneficial result or lead | Social - romance, reputation, contacts, art, gifts, influence |
| ♦ Diamonds | Yes, but - an unwanted side effect accompanies success | Commercial - trade, cost, worth, value, municipal action |
| ♣ Clubs | No, and - failure triggers an unwanted side effect | Conflict - fighting, soldiers, guards, raiders, coercion |
| ♠ Spades | No, but - failure yields progress toward the goal | Labor - tradesfolk, tools, mechanisms, guilds, farming, mines, caravans |
Design note: We chose visually intuitive suit associations (a club is a weapon, a spade is a digging tool) over traditional cartomancy mappings. Players already comfortable with traditional or Tarot associations should feel free to use those instead - the system works either way.
Additional layering (elemental, seasonal, directional) is valid and can be assigned on the fly or referenced from a table. Any binary or quaternary division maps cleanly here.
Rank: The Roles
| Rank | Role | Domain |
|---|---|---|
| A | Warrior | violence, brutality, physical confrontation |
| 2 | Sniper | Ranged precision, tactical positioning, action at distance |
| 3 | Performer | Emotional manipulation, social influence, entertainment |
| 4 | Sneak | Concealment, stealth, acting undetected |
| 5 | Naturalist | Wilderness, survival, tracking, environmental knowledge |
| 6 | Beast Handler | Animals, training, compromise, partnership |
| 7 | Athlete | Physical excellence, endurance, athletic feats |
| 8 | Healer | Medical matters, assistance, any care |
| 9 | Loremaster | Knowledge, reasoning, seeking or finding wisdom |
| 0 | Tinker | Craft, process, problem-solving, goods and services |
| J | Adept | Intuition, talent, spontaneity |
| Q | Conjuror | Spiritual matters, negotiation, making deals, matters unseen |
| K | Spellweaver | Formulaic wonders, rules that break rules, supremacy of wit |
Pip cards (A-0) represent mundane matters. Face cards (J, Q, K) represent wondrous or (at least seemingly) arcane moments.
Rank is not always relevant. When it matters, it either identifies the professional character of the result, or introduces a statement of degree. When it doesn't, simply read color and suit and move on.
The Jokers: Chaos & Permission
| Card | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Xr | Chaos with potential - weird, wonderful, disruptive; possibly a gift. |
| Xb | Chaos with teeth - extraordinary and probably dangerous; your gut says to be wary. |
Either Joker suspends the normal interpretive range. Go bigger. Go stranger. Go unexpected. The non-Joker cards in the same draw offer thematic guidance for the direction of the weirdness.
Drawing both Jokers in a single pull (with one other card for guidance) is rare enough (less than half a percent) to feel significant. When it happens, pay attention. The story just shifted under your feet.
The Jokers are optional. Pull them from the deck entirely, remove just one, or add extras from a second deck for more chaos. It's your game - play it the way you like.