Thread for Character Creation

OK, here is a spread i made for all the wonderful artistic Types who like writing stories. I use this primarily for making DnD characters, but it works, i think, for any style of character development (aside from White Wolf, as thats a bit more complicated)

Here's the Spread, 11 cards, reversals used
6...[5]...9
7...213..10
8...{4}..11

([]=laid horizontal, 'bottom' facing the right; {}=laid horizontal, bottom facing the left)
1.)Soul. the basic Core, Concept, and Overall Person the Character is; Possibly Archetypes
2.)Body. Describes the Overall Physical qualities, Illuminated by 6,7,&8
3.)Mind. Describes Mental and Social abilities, Illuminated by 9,10,&11
4.)From Whence They Came: the thing that put them on the path in the first place, past motivation
5.)To Whence They Go: the thing they want or are chasing after, dreams and aspirations
6.)Strength: physical power and force, overall fitness.
7.)Endurance: Health, reisistance to harm, hardiness
8.)Dexterity: Speed, nimbleness, agility, reflexes
9.)Intelligence: Intellect, Wit and powers of Knowledge, learning and observation
10.)Wisdom: reflects Willpower, discernment, and interpreting perceptions
11.) Charisma: Social grace, beauty, manipulation and presence

Things to know about this spread:
EVERY card should be read in relation to Card 1.
Cards 6-8 need to be read in their relation to card 2.
Cards 9-11 need to be read in their relation to card 3.
Cards 6-11 represent the basic Stats of DnD, but can be easily read otherwise

Looking at the spread, any stark similarities or differences between 6&9, 7&10, and 8&11 should also be noted

so....
...
any opinions?

This is very interesting! I will definitely use it! ^_^

This is cool, I am going to try it out. Can you explain your process for picking cards a bit? Do you use majors for certain positions and minors for others, or just a fully shuffled deck? Also, what do you ask of the cards?

Tiddles said:

This is cool, I am going to try it out. Can you explain your process for picking cards a bit? Do you use majors for certain positions and minors for others, or just a fully shuffled deck? Also, what do you ask of the cards?

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Sorry it took me so long to respond. I use a fully shuffled deck. Majors show when an area is of high importance, and a reversal shows either an unimportant area, or an area that is not functioning to the best, depending on the card. For examples, if you have an reversed Ace of Knives in the Mind Card, then the mind is not that intellectual or reasonable. Even if the King of Swords is in the Intelligence spot, that has to be read under the influence of the reversed Ace. However In the words of a true gamer, choose your own house rules, they tend to work better anyway

If you'd LIKE there are two alternatives for the soul card that make sure for a strong basis. I would only recommend this when you already have an idea of the archetype you want your character to fill: priest, healer, tank, seductress, etc... If you are making from complete tarot scratch, these options actually limit you.

1.)Separate the Courts and the Personified Majors (yes to Empress, Magician, Hermit etc, no to Judgement, Sun, World, etc) and draw the Soul Card, then fully shuffle and continue. I dont like this particularly as it requires an extra shuffle for one card pull.

2.) choose a significator from the courts/personified majors for the Soul Card, echoing your characters archetype (my seductress was a Queen of Scepter/wands, for example). this is kinda limiting, really, but if you dont want to figure out how your pip or tower card applies to your level one character, its not a bad idea.

AS to what i ask the cards, i dont really ask. I focus on the image of my character, What i think she or he looks like, and try to focus that into the deck. If i ask anything, i will simply say "tell me about soandso."

Hello Zechariah13, I have a question regarding your spread. When I separate the majors and select a card, do I put the majors back with the rest of the cards?

Red_Ocean said:

Hello Zechariah13, I have a question regarding your spread. When I separate the majors and select a card, do I put the majors back with the rest of the cards?

Click to expand...

I would. For the record, I'm not really terribly fond of separating them in the first place. But, if you decided that you couldnt stand to have your character's soul represented by something other than a major or court, than by all means do so.

But to not have the majors in the rest of the spread detracts from it i think, because majors, especially inverted majors, can truly come together to create deep and interesting character readings. Especially if you get majors for the motivation cards.

So, in short. Yes.

Wonderful idea! I made a few edits but this is a great spread! Thanks for sharing it, could be very useful for character creation in dnd and my novel!