Category:Tarokka Deck (Item)

A Tarokka Deck is the traditional deck of fortune-telling cards used by the Vistani.

Published Versions

The deck included in the 2nd edition Forbidden Lore (and republished in the Red Box) consists of 54 cards, and is divided into a "lesser deck" and a "high deck". The lesser deck consists of 10 cards in each of 4 suits: stars, glyphs, coins and swords. Each suit corresponds to a 2nd edition class: wizard, priest, rogue, and warrior, respectively. Each suit is also tied to an element, and each rank to an alignment. The high deck consists of the following suit-less cards: The Darklord, The Artifact, The Horseman, The Marionette, The Innocent, The Temptress, The Mists, The Donjon, The Hangman, The Ghost, The Broken One, The Raven, The Beast, and The Esper.

In the 3rd edition Ravenloft Tarokka Deck, The Darklord is replaced with The Dark Master, The Ghost is replaced with The Spirit, The Donjon is replaced with The Prison, and the Esper is replaced with the Hero.

The cards of the lesser deck are named as shown in the following table.


Rank	Swords	Stars	Coins	Glyphs	Alignment
Master	The Warrior	The Wizard	The Rogue	The Priest	None
1	The Avenger	The Transmuter	The Swashbuckler	The Monk	Chaotic Good
2	The Paladin	The Diviner	The Philanthropist	The Missionary	Lawful Good
3	The Soldier	The Enchanter	The Trader	The Healer	Neutral Good
4	The Mercenary	The Abjurer	The Merchant	The Shepherd	Lawful Neutral
5	The Myrmidon	The Elementalist	The Guildsman	The Druid	True Neutral
6	The Berserker	The Invoker	The Beggar	The Anarchist	Chaotic Neutral
7	The Hooded Man	The Illusionist	The Thief	The Charlatan	Neutral Evil
8	The Dictator	The Necromancer	The Tax Collector	The Bishop	Lawful Evil
9	The Torturer	The Conjurer	The Miser	The Traitor	Chaotic Evil

In the Ravenloft Tarokka Deck, The Invoker is called the Evoker, and the Traitor is called the Heretic. Also the Master of each suit doesn't have a name beyond "The Master/Mistress of ____." Also, each Master card is considered to be rank 10 in that suit, whereas in the Forbidden Lore version, the Masters have no numerical rank. And the master cards, as well as several other cards, are associated with specific Darklords or other NPCs.

The two decks also disagree on which suit corresponds to which element.


Suit	Forbidden Lore element	Ravenloft Tarokka Deck element
Coins	Air	Earth
Swords	Earth	Air
Glyphs	Water	Water
Stars	Fire	Fire

The 5th edition D&D: Curse of Strahd - Tarokka Deck makes further changes, including removing all gendered references, and reverting some names to the 2e versions, as follows:


2e	3e	5e
The Hooded Man	The Hooded Man	Hooded One
The Temptress	The Temptress	Tempter
The Esper	The Hero	Seer
The Hangman	The Hangman	Executioner
The Ghost	The Spirit	Ghost
The Warrior	The Master of Swords	Warrior
The Priest	The Master of Glyphs	Priest
The Traitor	The Heretic	Traitor
The Guildsman	The Guildsman	Guild Member
The Darklord	The Dark Master	Darklord
The Donjon	The Prison	Donjon
The Invoker	The Evoker	Evoker
The Rogue	The Mistress of Coins	Rogue
The Wizard	The Master of Stars	Wizard

(Also, all "The"s have been removed from the names of all cards)

Use

The deck is used by first choosing a "Focus card" to represent the subject of the reading. Then other cards are laid out around the focus card in one of several patterns. The most common is the "basic cross" with one card on each side, above and below. The "Expanded Cross" adds an additional card in each direction. The "Tower" is a basic cross with a row of 3 cards above the cross and another row of 3 below it. "The Pyramid" is a triangle made of four rows of cards: 4 cards at the base, and 1 at the top. The focus card sits in the center of the row of three.

In each case, the positions of the cards within the pattern each have a meaning with respect to the focus card, and each card has multiple symbolic connotations. The fortune teller (or DM) must analyse the symbolism of each card and develop a reading based on them. Forbidden Lore and the Ravenloft Tarokka Deck disagree on the meaning of the positions in the basic cross, but it's possible that each Vistana has their own style.

Further elaborations of the brief instructions that come with the Ravenloft Tarokka Deck can be found in the Ravenloft Dungeon Master's Guide

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Ravenloft Campaign Setting
		Circle of Darkness - p10 House of Strahd - pp10,12
		Death Ascendant - pp3-4 Circle of Darkness - pp9-11 Ravenloft Campaign Setting:Domains and Denizens - pp107-128 Roots of Evil - pp19-23 Download Now! Forbidden Lore: The Walking Dream - pp4-18 House of Strahd - pp7,10-12 The Book of Sacrifices - "Prikiza" Download Now!