2021 Day 19: House of Cards
What a fascinating game. It starts with one of the most practical and yet interesting versions of the dream world/Faerie that I’ve read, along with how it interacts with our own. It has very familiar concepts - ephemeral, permanent and alien dreams; mirrors; dream theft; and very powerful creatures - but they just fit together naturally. I just love it.
It takes a while to work out how the system works with that. You play “Bearers”, humans deemed appropriate by an Archetype (mirroring Tarot) to join. Bearers are the most competent people on the planet, and probably the second most powerful people in the dream world (after the extremely powerful Comtes/Comtesses). Later on you find that the Lesser Abilities that all Bearers have give a better idea of their relationship to Dream.
It uses playing cards from hand as a resolution mechanic. You have a hand of five cards (A-K) which are both life and ability. Your choice of value and suit as you play cards help shape the narrative. At a basic level, you play a card and hope to beat the difficulty; however there are also lots of ways to draw replacement cards and use up low cards. My experience of cards-in-hand mechanics is that they feel like there are no surprises, and I worry that players may spend too much time gaming their hand. But it is the best such mechanic I’ve seen (especially the ritual magic section), probably because it’s whimsical (like Alice in Wonderland) and it has no problems with players succeeding.
The game starts of using Tarot cards to define your archetype, the other worldly entity that empowers you. I drew Strength. This is all about inner strength and my mind immediately leapt to a secondary school teacher. I’m thinking a Physics or History teacher - something where you dealing with disengaged pupils is particularly awkward. (After more thinking, there are other roles such as immigration lawyer or just immigrant which require even more inner strength, but I’m happy with teacher.) Strength has its own sidebar which concludes that its Bearers occasionally have mood swings and occasional peculiar powers.
So Jo Sandringham was a mid-level history teacher at a mid-ranking state school, probably dealing with prejudice (race? Gender? sexuality?) when they gained a new awareness of the world.
Correspondences:
- Remaining calm under duress
- Overcoming Doubt
- Focussing others on success
- Fit as a Fiddle
- Slow but successful
Motivations:
- Swords: I will fight for those without confidence to fight for themselves
- Cups: I love stories
- Wands: I oppose ignorance
- Pentacles: I desire acceptance
Ability :: Close the Lion’s Jaws: You can stymie an opponent with an act of kindness.
At first glance, “Acceptance” seems a weak thing to desire. Compare it to “Respect” or “Authority”. But I think it’s very apt for the character and, as I thought further, Acceptance is often more agreeable than the stronger options.
Jo's character sheet