Roll the Dice: Fantasy RPG Tarot on Kickstarter

Hello all,

Lost my original thread so I am posting here.

Take a look at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zombiepan/roll-the-dice-fantasy-rpg-themed-tarot-deck# if you haven't yet. This project looks like a great combination of Role Playing Games (RPG) and the world of Orcs, Humans, Elves and Dwarves with the world of Tarot.

She has posted the Aces, Twos, and several major arcana cards. The artwork is beautiful and watercolors are stirring.

Are you going to be backing it? It is a small project (she is only looking for $6500 of funding). With your support, she'll get there.

New pics up!

Just posted some new pictures in the thread, including one at the beginning that has all of the cards created up to this point at a glance (per a suggestions made by David!)to make it easier for people to see and make a decision based on that.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zombiepan/roll-the-dice-fantasy-rpg-themed-tarot-deck

I'm on here so please ask any questions you have and I'll answer as best as I can. I'm working really hard on these and would love for you to take a look if possible.

I backed it. Looks interesting.

I have a few reservations about the deck, but I backed it too.

Final days

Less than 3 days are left! the Kickstarter has started counting down in hours and we still haven't funded, so if you were thinking about checking it out but haven't please check it out now.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zombiepan/roll-the-dice-fantasy-rpg-themed-tarot-deck

If you'd like to see larger images of the cards before becoming a backer, I have all of the currently finished ones up on my deviantart. I'm linking to the most popular one so far.

http://zombiepan.deviantart.com/art/The-Sun-card-439946551

Suggestions from a Tarot gamer and deck designer

I really like the concept of a Tarot for RPG's. This is not the first RPG Tarot, but it appears to be the first RPG deck aiming for broader gaming purposes and not attached to only one type of game as previous RPG decks have been.

As much as I find the concept, theme, and artwork attractive, I do see two issues about the design, however, which might prevent this deck from being as versatile as it could be.

1) Back design and reversed card meanings.
This deck might not be optimal for reversed card meanings because the back design is asymmetrical and thus gives away the orientation of a card prior to its drawing.

One of the advantages of a "scenic pips" type of Tarot, is that every card in the deck has a definite upright and reversed orientation which enables card readers to assign different meanings depending upon the facing of the cards.

2) Corner indices.
I'm going to quote from a Tarot Rummy site on why these are important for gaming. "Traditional tarot decks such as the Crowley/Harris and Rider/Waite decks or other popular tarot packs can be used, but they often pose a problem in identifying cards held in the hand" http://hermetic.com/dionysos/rummy.htm

The modern game of French Tarot uses a 78 card deck with corner indices like modern playing cards and Danish Tarok players now prefer such gamer friendly decks. These decks however do not usually make use of the traditional Tarot symbolism.
http://www.pagat.com/tarot/frtarot.html
http://www.pagat.com/tarot/dantarok.html

Here are some examples of gamer friendly decks which employ corner indices while keeping the traditional Tarot imagery

http://boardgamegeek.com/image/567769/tarot
http://boardgamegeek.com/image/567765/tarot
http://boardgamegeek.com/image/538962/sherwood-showdown
http://boardgamegeek.com/image/149325/tarot

By including corner indices on the borders, you not only give borders a functional purpose but you also make your deck more suitable for a variety of card games: French Tarot, Austrian Tarock, Swiss Troccas, Tarot Rummy, Assumption, Rook, Five Crowns, Wizards, Gnostica, Zarcana et al.