Carot

[kingandy]

I have rediscovered an old project of mine and taken it up again: a set of cards for use in LRP fortune telling. If one uses tarot cards one risks drawing down the fury of the universe the ire of goth pickles everywhere, so I concluded that an alternate set should be devised.

This will not be a full and complete set (there may be other Turtles cards, for instance, but it is doubtful they will number from one to ten); I was intending to slavishly reproduce Pratchett's described Carot deck, but I soon realised that with eight suits of eight cards and four minor arcana, I would hardly have any cards remaining for interesting major arcana (I had bought 100 notecards). So I abandoned that and decided to draw whatever seemed funny at any given moment.

I am still trying to think of a way to represent The Importance Of Washing The Hands, and The Your Wife Is Sleeping With Robert Rodriguez (suggested by bacony as I recall).

Thus far there are six. I present them to you along with possible interpretations, though naturally these will not be fixed as it's a roleplaying tool.

	The Four Of Turtles Support; balance; stability; instability; balancing chelonians.		The Five Of Hats Suave sophistication; charisma; unwarranted pride; five hats.
	Death Usually not literal death, refers to a change or new beginning. May do several duplicates, so that I can look askant and mutter "There's only supposed to be one in the deck..."		The Orang-Utan Strength; cunning; stupidity; monkey ape.
	The Happy Squirrel The worst possible draw. Horrible pointy doom from a completely unexpected and unpredictable source. DOOM.		The Wizard Intellect; curiosity; investigation into things about which man should not wot; old man in a pointy hat.

Comments

[pax-draconis.livejournal.com]

Mm. Might have a proper commission for you in this theme in a month or two. Will mull a bit then go to e-mail. Please advise the best address.

[kingandy]

I may be reluctant to draw another entire deck of cards, my laziness is supreme.

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

my laziness is supreme

Mention money then

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

The Happy Squirrel!

[kingandy]

See how merrily it dances, blissfully ignorant of the HORRIBLY POINTY DOOM that is soon to come! OH, WOE

[r-dragonsbain.livejournal.com]

The Happy Squirell,
see how it dances,
blistfully collecting the last of the nuts,
it knows of the Horrible Doom approching,
for it is the Happy Squirrel that Summonded the Might of Mr C
and there Is Noithing the Party can do about it....

ps

[kingandy]

I am considering a MOTHRA card but I think thay may be stretching the willing suspension of disbelief a little too far.

Re: ps

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

"Butterfly of doom" or some such. "King Moth" might work. "Slake Moth" would drive some people, running and skittering, from the fortune-teller's booth.

I remember with nostalgia the beautiful Mage-sque major arcana tarot as created by an old mate of mine, and the regret that I have no idea where it is any more. Sigh.

Don't forget to add a yellow sign, or at the very least some sort of jaundiced marionette, to the mix. And "Ask Again Later" might be appropriate.

Re: ps

[kingandy]

I wonder if YELLOW could be a suit.

I have already added the suit of TRIANGLES, the Ace being a hand with the Steve Jackson Games logo in the palm.

Re: ps

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

The Three of Yellow is a traffic-light with all three lights yellow, the seven of Yellow depicts seven little dwarfs with ugly expressions and meat hooks. The ace of yellow is a bowl of custard with a sinister fin in it. All the way up to the king of. Do it!

Re: ps

[kingandy]

Good apart from the Traffic Light which may be unsuitable for fantasy games.

Re: ps

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

Good point. Damn. They should all be worrying, promoting anxiety, rather than directly scary. I'll shush. This is your project.

Re: ps

[kingandy]

Dammit, I started to draw the Seven of Yellow and realised that their pointy hats mad it look like the Seven of Triangles. I will have to change the hats somehow...

Re: ps

[wulfboy.livejournal.com]

Make the seven of triangles the same picture but with something different in their hands and a more conspiratorial facial expression. You need to get shriners (?) or buffalo lodge people in triangles somewhere1 as well - there lies the conspiracy.

Re: ps

[jfs.livejournal.com]

The only time I've really wanted to kill someone for taking something of mine was when someone broke into my car and stole a hand painted set of Tarrochi cards that Jim Mawby (a good friend) had done for me when he was laid up in bed with a broken leg.

The cards were useless to anyone else unless they played a particular group in the LT at the time.

Literally irreplacable.

(pax_draconis - only the major arcana, but enough to tell the story of Luciano with.)

Re: ps

[renniek.livejournal.com]

I thought "Slake Moth" as soon as I read the suggestion for MOTHRA card

[kermix.livejournal.com]

The Four of Turtles also reminds me of the beginning of Prometheus Rising, where a lady is interviewed and says that the world rests on the back of a giant turtle. When asked what is beneath that turtle, she says there is another turtle. When asked what is beneath that turtle, she catches the logical trap she is being led into, and says that it's "turtles, turtles, turtles, all the way".

I think there is an Alice in Wonderland deck which employs a suit of Hats, but I'm not sure what it is meant to replace.

[kingandy]

That is exactly what I was thinking of when I drew it! Turtles, all the way down.