Frightening February Day 6: Cards

Cards of Cthulhu?

Tarot Cards are always bad news in most horror movies. Someone, usually the main character, almost inevitably gets a Tarot reading with the Death card, The Fool, or The Hanged Man or some other combination indicating death and destruction end-of-the-world type stuff. Out of a standard Rider-Waite Tarot Deck, the odds of pulling those three cards in the proper order and facing to indicate such are pretty unlikely.

I’ve had Tarot or Oracle Card readings both in person and online. I’ve never given a reading myself, but I own a couple of decks as does my wife. Someone who had far more experience once explained to me that Tarot card readings are about psychology and subjective interpretation as much as spiritual and random. A simple card pull or a three card reading can be faster and far easier to interpret than a full reading. (*The full readings I’ve seen are intense, btw.)

Some countries have a ban or a very heavy cultural taboo on Tarot cards. I have seen and heard of readings done with a standard deck of playing cards very quietly in private in such countries. The seer, fortune teller, witch, magician, or whomever is putting life and livelihood at risk by giving such a reading. I’ve also seen them referred to as “Angel Cards” in cultural situations where “Tarot” is equated to a more occult practice. Regardless of the deck, it all ends up being the same thing.

In case anyone wonders- Yes, there really is a Call of Cthulhu Tarot Deck. In fact, there are several if you look on Etsy, Amazon, etc. If there’s a fandom for it, somebody probably used the imagery to create Tarot cards.

TTRPG Usage.

Tarot presents another chance for characters to interact almost directly with the Keeper in much the same way certain Divination spells work in Dungeons and Dragons or the Ouija Board works in many modern horror games. Without having to actually pull out a Tarot deck or even own one, players can ask the Keeper for their character’s reading in game. The Keeper then interprets it however they’d like and <poof> it may or may not foreshadow the actual adventure. No matter how good the DM or Keeper is, they’re never going to know exactly what’s going to happen, but they can drop some hints.

One campaign setting I know actually has its own Tarot deck usage. Probably my favorites of all time is Ravenloft’s Tarroka Deck. The Tarroka cards are similar to the Rider Waite Tarot Deck. They came out during 2nd Ed AD&D originally and have been re-released/updated for 5E as the Curse of Strahd Tarroka Deck. The Vistani do readings with the Tarroka in-game and they make great props. Like every other fandom based deck one could also do a Tarot reading with the cards. Fun stuff.

Plot Hooks:

• The characters have come upon the shop of a recently deceased fortune teller. One of the characters (Pick randomly) interacted with her Tarot deck. It’s cursed. The character falls into a deep coma and dreams of reliving the same day over and over. Every day the character gets a different tarot reading from the deceased fortune teller. Each reading gets the character closer to solving the mystery of what happened.
  
  Meanwhile, the rest of the group must scramble to remove the curse and solve the murder. (*This one might be tough to pull off, especially for new Keepers. You may wish to have the whole group play the adventure out inside the coma, wake up together, and solve the murder together rather than pick on one party member.) Could also be done as a fantasy TTRPG scenario.
  
• A gifted Oracle card reader contacts one of the Investigators with potential news of impending doom as told by her cards. She has done the same reading with several decks- ALL gave the exact same results. This would seem to indicate someone or something is about to open a portal that leads to certain doom. (*This can work as a start to multiple adventures, but maybe don’t overuse?)
  
• One of the Investigator’s significant others decides to “treat” them to a Tarot Card reading at a local carnival. Of course, the reading is bad news of some sort- for the SO. The rest of the adventure revolves around trying to keep the SO safe from various hazards as interpreted from this one reading.
  
  To make this even more challenging- No one remembers at fortune teller at that location and likewise have never heard of the person who did the reading. It’s almost like they up and vanished from the current reality…

Thanks for stopping by. More spooky thrills coming tomorrow. I appreciate you!