This is not a complete mechanic, but I thought I’d jot it down (for one thing I’m curious if it’s been done before–I’ve seen a fair number of games, but by no means all or even most).
The Deck
A standard 52 card deck of playing cards. For now I’m assuming the Jokers are taken out, though maybe I’ll decide to keep them if I think of a use for them.
Divide the deck into two piles.
- All the face cards (K, Q, & J) plus the Ace – 16 cards (4 cards x 4 suits)
- All numbered cards (from 2-10) – 36 cards (9 cards x 4 suits)
Numbered Deck – The numbered cards (2-9) are used for conflict resolution. Flipping a card is basically the same as rolling a d10 (well, 1d9+1 technically 
).
In addition, each suit acts as a minor oracle introducing color into the scene. These are more color or flavor and don’t have any mechanical impact. I’ve started toying with what each suit would introduce, but it’s still really rough (I’ll put it up in later posts). I’m leaning towards having two or three categories:
- The Court: This is what the suits mean in the flashback scenes. There would be an emphasis on intrigue, and all of the options would be fairly negative (betrayal, threats, theft [of ideas, credit, etc.], and so on).
- Connection: This is what the suits mean in the present, during the attempts to connect. They would either be tied to the four stats (symbolically–Silence equates to fear, withdrawal, secrets, etc.), to the thematic ingredients (Desire, Seabirds, Death, the Star, etc.), or to both. Probably to the stats and corresponding reactions, unless I don’t have “The Journey” as a separate category
- The Journey: This is what the suit means in relation to the journey through the Seas of the Dead, the curse, judgment, etc. It would probably be used in conjunction with the face deck (see below).
Here are my initial rough ideas on the four suits:
- Spades: Power (it’s strandardly the strongest suit, it’s black, which pairs with violence for clubs, and because the Hearts and Clubs seemed obvious)
- Hearts: Connection (because, you know, it’s a heart)
- Clubs: Violence; the Court (because the clubs symbol looks like the fleur-de-lis, which is tied to the queen and faith, and so the court, and clubs as weapons connects with violence)
- Diamonds: Silence (mostly because it’s red, like Connection and the Connection-Silence and Power-Violence connections make sense to me), which means it will also be fortifying, webs of lies, etc.
Face Deck – The face card deck acts as an oracle; a card is drawn and it colors the following scenes. Each card represents something. Also, the suits have meaning here as they do in the numbered deck (see above). This is at the Journey level. It might be drawn once per cycle of player turns, but I think it more likely it will be drawn at the start of each player’s turn:
- Face Deck oracle draw (introduces the threats and events in the journey–narrated by GM, plus represents characters that the players need to weave in to the flashback narratives)
- Flashback draw (number deck) by target player for the flashback scene
- Present draw (number deck) by acting character to resolve whether connection made or failed
Also, the specific face card has meaning, obviously. In the flashback scenes, they are people or other elements that have to be woven in. In the present, they may also be characters–though the Captain, the zombie Crew, the Seagulls, the other PCs not involved, etc. The below associations are rough and likely to change. The characters listed first are in the flashback and the characters listed second in italics are in the present:
- Ace: The object of Desire (the subject of the brief Desire image–pulling this requires that Desire to be examined on a bit in the flashback); The Star–it represents your Desire and the overwhelming animal need for what it represents that was strong enough to keep you trapped and damned on the ship instead of passing on–it is a reminder of your need and desire, driving you on.
- King: Another player character in an allied role (almost certainly temporary and for that character’s own interest–after all, the rules of the game will almost certainly turn them against you in an upcoming scene if they haven’t already back-stabbed you)–that character will be woven into the story (they won’t have a narrative impact, unless I do something with the face cards impacting resolution–see note below); The Seabirds–they represent the impulse towards humanity, connection, and self-judgment; their touch is painful but it helps lift the fog of amnesia and confusion the characters arose with.
- Queen: The Queen herself (whether directly, indirectly, through her agents, etc.), also her favor; The Queen, again, as well as the original goals and schemes of the voyage–this draws you back into ambitions, jealousies, etc. of your time in court, it helps you remember the other characters and your past, though that tends to galvanize you towards anger, hate, revenge, etc.
- Jack: Another player character in an opposed role, scheming against you and likely helping the target character (though also likely opposing you both)–that character will be woven into the story (they won’t have a narrative impact, unless I do something with the face cards impacting resolution–see note below); The Crew (if your Violence is higher, the Captain notices you and draws you in, while if your Silence is higher, the crew begins interacting with you and pulling you into their mindless actions–I’ll post more about my ideas for the crew and captain in a later post)–they represent your potential damnation and the pull away from any sort of redemption–if they get their way, you’ll be part of the crew (maybe even replacing the captain) forever…
Note that the acting character is the focus of the scene, so any reference to “the player”, “you”, etc. refers to the acting character. The target character will also be developed, but their function in that scene is in relation to the acting character.
I mayalso have some other significance that interacts with the number deck resolution system. I’m not leaning that way, but I’m leaving the option open (maybe letting the audience of the other players assign it or something like that?). If I did, it would probably be a way for other players to give bonuses to one player, likely based on who they feel is telling the best story or something like that.
Suits and Stats
The last thought I thought I’d throw out in this post is that the suits correspond with the four stats. I might do something with that, where if it matches your suit, it does something (a bonus, changes the stakes, etc.).
And that’s my initial thoughts on cards as resolution mechanic, major oracle, and minor color oracle. I have to say that I really like the idea of splitting out the face cards into an oracle deck and having just the the number cards in the resolution deck, with the suits spreading across both decks.
-John B.
John,
Depending on where you go with the oracle stuff, you might be able to pull off the entire game with just the Jack (knave) – Ace. Or 9 or 10 through Ace. There are a number of euro, older card games with reduced decks. It would give you tighter control over the content of the draw. And you could let suit dictate where necessary and/or face card representation where applicable.
best, eric
Thanks, Eric!
Interesting idea. Reminds me of a Pinochle deck (my family are big Pinochle players).
Let’s say we start with a standard poker deck because more people have them than Pinochle decks. Then we strip down to only face cards plus ace (J-A). That’s 16 cards. For one vs. one, I think 16 cards is enough.
Suits have a ranking, just like the face cards do: ♠ beats ♥ beats ♣ beats ♦ while Ace beats King beats Queen beats Jack. That means that every card in the deck is ranked and ties are impossible.
For the major oracle draw, the face card is primary and suit influences (exactly like I said above).
For the conflict resolution, suits are most important (emphasizing the interaction of ♠-Power, ♥-Connection, ♣-Violence, and ♦-Silence). If there’s a tie and both cards are the same suit, then the higher number wins (they do it better). That guides a lot of how you narrate approaching the conflict (if you pull ♦-Silence and they pull ♣-Violence, you’re rebuffed harshly and pull back wounded and angry, while ♣ vs. ♣ would devolve into a verbal brawl, etc.). I like that that really emphasizes one of the key themes of the game.
(Also, ordering the card values as A♠>K♠>Q♠>J♠>A♥>K♥>Q♥>J♥>A♣>K♣>Q♣>J♣>A♦>K♦>Q♦>J♦ is statistically identical to basing it on the value and using suit to determine ties (it’s still 1-16 ranked cards. And since there’s four values and four suits, it’s the same “shape” pattern).
Basing on suit might feel a little awkward at first to some people, but there are enough games where suit is primary and it’s a simple enough concept that I don’t think it will be a real issue.
It also helps the cards pull their weight rather than just seeming like I’m trying to be clever and different by usign cards instead of dice.
Hmm, one last thought: I can probably do something with the Journey/major Oracle card’s value, too–since one, both, or neither of the two involved players will beat it. I don’t know if I will or not, but it’s a possibility.
-John B.