Hi, I'm one of the game's designers and writers. I really appreciated this deep dive, it's so great to have people talking about the game and I'm so glad you thought it looks promising and interesting! I just want to reassure everyone that we do have an entire chapter on Dioscoria itself: the city's founding, its culture, its government, its culture and general philosophy, how all this stuff actually works, and a written "tour" of Dioscoria itself, from the docks and the city centre all the way out to the wild areas of the island far beyond the city walls. So there is plenty of Dioscorian history and lore to pick over, have no fear! re. your second point, I think you're correct that some Tarot knowledge will be very useful, especially for the Seer. But, bear in mind that a lot of those "oh boy I have to interpret this card RIGHT NOW" moments are kind of optional. Scenario divination is probably the most demanding, but the Seer can prepare the entire scenario in advance, taking a lot of the pressure off. Visions and Narrative Thresholds also require some card interpretation, but they're optional: they've made all of our test games much better experiences, but you don't actually need them. Other card interpretation moments (eg. The World Changes, or generating NPCs during downtime) are fairly demanding, but if you just skim over the Vision Guide you should be able to come up with something. Also, all the draws are meant to be inspirational, not limited to a "correct meaning", so if you find the Guide isn't doing what it needs to, you can just look at the card itself and be inspired by the imagery. Anyway, loved the video, thanks for covering it, and I hope everyone enjoys the final version when it comes out!
Your channel has drastically increased the number of cool RPGs I own and likely never would have heard of otherwise…and unfortunately will likely will never get a chance to play lol. Thanks for the reviews.
After abandoning my D&D 5E campaign (after all the OGL nonsense) I've been looking with a broader eye at other (different) RPG's. After watching this video I decided to back the project. I mean, wow, looks really cool, I love the Tarot deck (I've used "Tarot for Writers" by Corrine Kenner and "The Bright Idea Deck: Breakthrough To Brilliance" by Mark McElroy with my own fiction writing with much success), and at first glance, this looks right up my alley. Thanks for posting Dave, really informative and helped shape my decision!
I think this game will be SO COOL for solo-roleplay! You don't need to know card meanings yet, solo roleplay is a lot slower anyways, so you can just read up on it. The fact that you are drawing cards and have to interpret them, make for really fun story promts, way cooler than rolling on a table to come up with to random words that describe what happens next. Sadly, I saw this too late, but if it ever comes out, I will buy this!
Thank you so much for the review. I appreciate knowing that I'll have to learn more about tarot - but I'm pretty cool with that. I've backed the Kickstarter and downloaded the Quickstart guides. I can't wait to play!
I've been reading TAROT since I was very young. My dad taught me. Using the TAROT in a game isn't anything new to me either so this game sounds like something I might like but without character death being a real thing on the table, I don't know that I'll enjoy it much. Also the bag-of-holding idea of gear is similar to Supply in Ironsworn but again, without a limit of some kind, it feels like a very soft system. I've got lots of those. I like the magic system, though, and may include that in my table next time someone feels magical. The organic backstory generation is also something we've done since the old B/X days. I really did enjoy the review and may indeed pick up the TAROT as I'm impressed the author has done the research and the art does look amazing.
Seems to have a lot of elements from Dice Breaker's 'The House Doesn't Always Win' Card based RPG. Beautiful cards, but would need a very particular set of players to work.
This is something I think I would need to see an actual play play through before I actually understood how it worked. 🤣 Love the concept, but man I in that group that would be severely limited by a general lack of understanding.
A really great review, thank you so much for that! So when it gets to Magic: does that mean for example Casting a Fireball wohnt Work because it doesnt exist and would Get materialized?
Thanks for the review! :D I would like to try the playtest but don't have a 72 card tarot deck. Do you have any recommendations for online decks that would work?
As a tarot reader and also GM for a local gaming group I will be picking this up (backed it just now). I know that tarot (along with anything else vaguely occult) has a generally bad rap, but the cards really do quite a good job of summarising the human experience (better than the bible, might I say, having grown up an evangelical Christian). I can see how you'd be able to use them to formulate and inspire all kinds of cool and interesting adventures in a gaming context.
@@ippos_khloros6163 That's a good question, but I think a bit beyond the scope of a UA-cam comment thread to answer. I think it might be worth having a look into Carl Jung, and also into maybe James Frazer's work (although it is old now, it is also seminal in comparative religion). It's the simplicity of the tarot and its symbols that make it so universal. The bible in contrast (despite being written across vast and disparate periods of time) is very much a product of two singular cultures - that of the Israelites under Babylon and later under Rome. Also, I'm not saying 'christian bad, other good', I'm just saying 'christian bad', which is my lived experience, and I have been part of various different branches of Christianity in my time. Whether or not that offends you doesn't bother me.
Style of the cards are definitely beautiful but I'd rather like to see them pack more imagery in them that can, at a glance, tell people what they stand for a lot easier. I think they are too clean and barebones and don't seem to directly tie to the game's mechanics.
Honestly this seems like every other wannabe Blades in the Dark/PbtA style snoozefest to me. They used to use the term fantasy heartbreaker for rpgs trying to be "D&D but a little different" we need a new term for these types. Storygame heartbreaker?
This kind of rubs me the wrong way. The Tarot deck presented is pretty, but all the suit cards look basically identical, making it pretty terrible for actually doing tarot readings. Which is probably the point - the similar looking minor arcana cards have quickly readable and comparable numerical values. I say "quickly", but the resolution mechanic seems really involved and time-consuming in practice. So why exactly are tarot cards being used here? All you need are numbers. It's purely an aesthetic thing, which might be great for marketing, but probably sucks at the table. In the end you get a tarot deck that sucks for tarot, and a game system using tarot where it really just needs playing cards or dice.
It's yet another in these long line of "should have just written your low-tier fantasy novel series instead" RPGs that people who read Blades in the Dark and a couple other things thought they were suddenly game designers. Things he hypes up like the "open" magic system and mission creation are always signs of "couldn't be bothered to write any rules so uhh.. wing it" design style.
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Hi, I'm one of the game's designers and writers. I really appreciated this deep dive, it's so great to have people talking about the game and I'm so glad you thought it looks promising and interesting!
I just want to reassure everyone that we do have an entire chapter on Dioscoria itself: the city's founding, its culture, its government, its culture and general philosophy, how all this stuff actually works, and a written "tour" of Dioscoria itself, from the docks and the city centre all the way out to the wild areas of the island far beyond the city walls. So there is plenty of Dioscorian history and lore to pick over, have no fear!
re. your second point, I think you're correct that some Tarot knowledge will be very useful, especially for the Seer. But, bear in mind that a lot of those "oh boy I have to interpret this card RIGHT NOW" moments are kind of optional. Scenario divination is probably the most demanding, but the Seer can prepare the entire scenario in advance, taking a lot of the pressure off. Visions and Narrative Thresholds also require some card interpretation, but they're optional: they've made all of our test games much better experiences, but you don't actually need them. Other card interpretation moments (eg. The World Changes, or generating NPCs during downtime) are fairly demanding, but if you just skim over the Vision Guide you should be able to come up with something. Also, all the draws are meant to be inspirational, not limited to a "correct meaning", so if you find the Guide isn't doing what it needs to, you can just look at the card itself and be inspired by the imagery.
Anyway, loved the video, thanks for covering it, and I hope everyone enjoys the final version when it comes out!
Your channel has drastically increased the number of cool RPGs I own and likely never would have heard of otherwise…and unfortunately will likely will never get a chance to play lol.
Thanks for the reviews.
Just pledged, looks fascinating and appreciate your top notch reviews!
Much appreciated! I hope you enjoy the game.
Through the Breach meets Blades in the Dark? My two most favorite games. I'm in!
I was playing around a concept like this!
Edit: wow, their design philosophy for RPGs is exactly how I like it.
So backed. My mind is blown away by the possibilities. Thankee sai for the review.
Thanks for pointing out the game. Backed it right away. As always, you did an excellent job analyzing and presenting the game.
Much appreciated!
After abandoning my D&D 5E campaign (after all the OGL nonsense) I've been looking with a broader eye at other (different) RPG's. After watching this video I decided to back the project. I mean, wow, looks really cool, I love the Tarot deck (I've used "Tarot for Writers" by Corrine Kenner and "The Bright Idea Deck: Breakthrough To Brilliance" by Mark McElroy with my own fiction writing with much success), and at first glance, this looks right up my alley. Thanks for posting Dave, really informative and helped shape my decision!
Awesome!
I think this game will be SO COOL for solo-roleplay! You don't need to know card meanings yet, solo roleplay is a lot slower anyways, so you can just read up on it. The fact that you are drawing cards and have to interpret them, make for really fun story promts, way cooler than rolling on a table to come up with to random words that describe what happens next. Sadly, I saw this too late, but if it ever comes out, I will buy this!
Sounds rad. I toyed with a similar idea years ago, but quickly realized I didn't know enough about Tarot.
Same.
Thank you so much for the review. I appreciate knowing that I'll have to learn more about tarot - but I'm pretty cool with that. I've backed the Kickstarter and downloaded the Quickstart guides. I can't wait to play!
I've been reading TAROT since I was very young. My dad taught me. Using the TAROT in a game isn't anything new to me either so this game sounds like something I might like but without character death being a real thing on the table, I don't know that I'll enjoy it much. Also the bag-of-holding idea of gear is similar to Supply in Ironsworn but again, without a limit of some kind, it feels like a very soft system. I've got lots of those. I like the magic system, though, and may include that in my table next time someone feels magical. The organic backstory generation is also something we've done since the old B/X days.
I really did enjoy the review and may indeed pick up the TAROT as I'm impressed the author has done the research and the art does look amazing.
Seems to have a lot of elements from Dice Breaker's 'The House Doesn't Always Win' Card based RPG. Beautiful cards, but would need a very particular set of players to work.
This is something I think I would need to see an actual play play through before I actually understood how it worked. 🤣 Love the concept, but man I in that group that would be severely limited by a general lack of understanding.
DAVE!!! This needs to stop 😭😭😭!!! Please! My bank account can't take any more of this 😭😭😭
Never change 😈❤
A really great review, thank you so much for that!
So when it gets to Magic: does that mean for example Casting a Fireball wohnt Work because it doesnt exist and would Get materialized?
Thanks for the review! :D
I would like to try the playtest but don't have a 72 card tarot deck.
Do you have any recommendations for online decks that would work?
Can you play solo ?
yeah, they just unlocked solo mode
As a tarot reader and also GM for a local gaming group I will be picking this up (backed it just now). I know that tarot (along with anything else vaguely occult) has a generally bad rap, but the cards really do quite a good job of summarising the human experience (better than the bible, might I say, having grown up an evangelical Christian). I can see how you'd be able to use them to formulate and inspire all kinds of cool and interesting adventures in a gaming context.
@@ippos_khloros6163 That's a good question, but I think a bit beyond the scope of a UA-cam comment thread to answer. I think it might be worth having a look into Carl Jung, and also into maybe James Frazer's work (although it is old now, it is also seminal in comparative religion). It's the simplicity of the tarot and its symbols that make it so universal. The bible in contrast (despite being written across vast and disparate periods of time) is very much a product of two singular cultures - that of the Israelites under Babylon and later under Rome.
Also, I'm not saying 'christian bad, other good', I'm just saying 'christian bad', which is my lived experience, and I have been part of various different branches of Christianity in my time. Whether or not that offends you doesn't bother me.
Style of the cards are definitely beautiful but I'd rather like to see them pack more imagery in them that can, at a glance, tell people what they stand for a lot easier. I think they are too clean and barebones and don't seem to directly tie to the game's mechanics.
Honestly this seems like every other wannabe Blades in the Dark/PbtA style snoozefest to me. They used to use the term fantasy heartbreaker for rpgs trying to be "D&D but a little different" we need a new term for these types. Storygame heartbreaker?
This kind of rubs me the wrong way. The Tarot deck presented is pretty, but all the suit cards look basically identical, making it pretty terrible for actually doing tarot readings. Which is probably the point - the similar looking minor arcana cards have quickly readable and comparable numerical values. I say "quickly", but the resolution mechanic seems really involved and time-consuming in practice.
So why exactly are tarot cards being used here? All you need are numbers. It's purely an aesthetic thing, which might be great for marketing, but probably sucks at the table.
In the end you get a tarot deck that sucks for tarot, and a game system using tarot where it really just needs playing cards or dice.
It's yet another in these long line of "should have just written your low-tier fantasy novel series instead" RPGs that people who read Blades in the Dark and a couple other things thought they were suddenly game designers. Things he hypes up like the "open" magic system and mission creation are always signs of "couldn't be bothered to write any rules so uhh.. wing it" design style.