Lohwand: Using the Everway Fortune Deck

Fantasia

If you are familiar with the Everway RPG then you will know it used tarot cards, or something very similar to a tarot deck, to enable game play. I can't say exactly which because I am not that knowledgeable on tarot, though I do know people were using tarot decks in D&D long before Everway came along. There is more to Everway than that, of course, but this post is not about the RPG but about using its Fortune Deck to aid in wargame campaign design. Specifically the current iteration of my Lohwand Campaign that I am building, albeit slowly.

The Everway Fortune Deck consists of 36 gorgeously illustrated cards, each with a name and a descriptive phrase, and like a tarot each has a reversed meaning as well. I've always liked the deck because it such a pretty little thing, and the magpie in me is just drawn to it. I've used it before to generate previous Lohwand campaigns. Now I find that the actual deck is on walkabout, that is, not lost as such, but somewhere - in a box, or pile of stuff, or down behind the radiator - somewhere where I cannot lay my hands on it. Somewhere Else.

So, what to do? I'm stymied. I went online and the only references I could find were scribid sources, and I avoid that place. Then I remembered that I still knew where the box was, and maybe there was a list or something in there. Sure enough, in the Everway box - high graphic arts value all round was Everway - I found the handy little "Guide to the Fortune Deck".

From the guide I was able to get the names of the cards, their meanings and the reversed meanings. Not having the deck I decided to use a D66 table to generate the results. Actually a modified D666 table in the end result, to account for the reversed values.

For those that are unfamiliar with the term D66, it refers to the use of two 6-sided dice to generate numbers from 1-36. The dice are rolled consecutively, the first die being a control and the second the place-holder. (Not sure about those terms, but them's the ones I'm going with!) So one gets 1, 1-6; 2, 1-6; 3, 1-6; etc. giving 36 permutations. My so-called modified D666 table adds a third die which I just read as even/odd, with 'odd' indicating the Reversed meaning of a particular card. 

My final table looks like this:

Everway Cards

Even:
1/1 Autumn: Plenty;
1/2 The Cockatrice: Corruption;
1/3 The Creator: Nurture;
1/4 Death: Change;
1/5 The Defender: Safety;
1/6 The Dragon: Cunning;

2/1 Drowning in Armour: Protective Measures Turn Dangerous;
2/2 The Eagle: The Mind Prevails;
2/3 Fearing Shadows: Unnecessary Fear;
2/4 Fertility: Growth;
2/5 The Fish: The Soul Prevails;
2/6 The Fool: Freedom;

3/1 The Griffin: Valour;
3/2 The Hermit: Wisdom;
3/3 Inspiration: Creativity;
3/4 The King: Authority;
3/5 Knowledge: Truth;
3/6 Law: Order;

4/1 The Lion: The Body Prevails;
4/2 Nature: Life Energy;
4/3 Overlooking the Diamond: Failing to See Opportunity;
4/4 The Peasant: Simple Strength;
4/5 The Phoenix: Rebirth;
4/6 The Priestess: Understanding Mysteries;

5/1 The Satyr: Indulgence;
5/2 The Smith: Productivity;
5/3 The Soldier: Duty;
5/4 Sowing Stones: Fruitless Labour;
5/5 Spring: New Growth;
5/6 Striking the Dragon's Tail: Underestimating the Challenge

6/1 Summer: Energy;
6/2 Trickery: Deceit;
6/3 The Unicorn: Purity;
6/4 The Usurper: War with Honour;
6/5 War: Great Effort;
6/6 Winter: Maturity;

Odd:
1/1 Autumn (Reversed): Want;
1/2 The Cockatrice (Reversed): Recovery;
1/3 The Creator (Reversed): Abandonment;
1/4 Death (Reversed): Stasis;
1/5 The Defender (Reversed): Peril;
1/6 The Dragon (Reversed): Blind Fury;

2/1 Drowning in Armour (Reversed): True Prudence;
2/2 The Eagle (Reversed): Thoughtlessness;
2/3 Fearing Shadows (Reversed): Recognizing Safety;
2/4 Fertility (Reversed): Decline;
2/5 The Fish (Reversed): Shallowness;
2/6 The Fool (Reversed): Lack of Connection;

3/1 The Griffon (Reversed): Cowardice;
3/2 The Hermit (Reversed): Isolation;
3/3 Inspiration (Reversed): Lack of Imagination;
3/4 The King (Reversed): Tyranny;
3/5 Knowledge (Reversed): Falsehood;
3/6 Law (Reversed): Treachery;

4/1 The Lion (Reversed): Weakness;
4/2 Nature (Reversed): Energy Sapped;
4/3 Overlooking the Diamond (Reversed): Recognizing Opportunity;
4/4 The Peasant (Reversed): Lack of Vision;
4/5 The Phoenix (Reversed): Destruction;
4/6 The Priestess (Reversed): Impracticality;

5/1 The Satyr (Reversed): Moderation;
5/2 The Smith (Reversed): Evil Effort;
5/3 The Soldier (Reversed): Blind Obedience;
5/4 Sowing Stones (Reversed): Ceasing Fruitless Labour;
5/5 Spring (Reversed): Stagnation;
5/6 Striking the Dragon's Tail (Reversed): Recognizing the Larger Problem;

6/1 Summer (Reversed): Exhaustion;
6/2 Trickery (Reversed): Subterfuge Revealed;
6/3 The Unicorn (Reversed): Temptation;
6/4 The Usurper (Reversed): War without End;
6/5 War (Reversed): Effort Misspent;
6/6 Winter (Reversed): Inexperience;

So, that's that. What does one do with it?

More on that next post...