Looney Labs Icehouse Mailing list Archive

Re: [Icehouse] Zarcana deck?

  • From"Mark Crane" <craniac@xxxxxxxxx>
  • DateFri, 5 May 2006 22:57:08 -0600
A generic deck for homeworlds exists. I printed it out and put it in
clear sleeves with cheap playing cards as stiffeners.  Total cost
(excluding time) was about $1.50.  The deck I printed was homeworlds
specific.

After reading "Last Call" by Tim Powers, a book in which specific old
tarot decks have the power to induce psychotic episodes, I am more
sensitive to some of the mythic resonances of the tarot.  Great book
too.

Actually, maybe the deck isn't homeworlds specific.  I am clueless,
but here is the link:

http://www.nemorathwald.com/Games.htm

On 5/1/06, Ryan Hackel <deeplogic@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


I've become interested in learning Zarcana.  It's description of being "tactical, random, and laidback" appeal to me (and conversely why I've prioritized Zarcana over Gnostica).  Of course, like many people before me, I've been put at a distance by the tarot deck.  All religious or ethical decisions aside, I'm not keen on buying a Tarot deck, and coaxing my printer to produce stickers to overlay over said deck, just to try a game that may or may not fly with my wife.  It's a lot of effort for dubious gain.  (We prefer chaotic nonconfrontational games, which is why Zarcana might be a good choice for us.)

I asked myself, "What if I could find a deck of cards explicitly designed for Zarcana, with no need to interpret art, memorize card abilities, or fiddle with stickers?"  This sounded like a good idea, one that someone must have attempted before, so I scoured the internet.  After doing some digging, I discovered Matt Arnold's Gnostica learner deck "Tarotories".  Does such a deck exist for Zarcana?  Is Tarotories compatible with Zarcana?
http://www.nemorathwald.com/Games.htm

If no Zarcana deck exists, I'd be willing to try my unartistic hand at creating one, as this endeavor would fill a hole in the Icehouse community.  But I don't want to reinvent the wheel.  If you know of a Zarcana deck, please let me know before I invest time and effort into this.

I am aware that Zarcana can be played with a deck of playing cards, using only the four basic suits and fundamental powers.  This may be the wisest first course of action.  But is this a fair representation of Zarcana?  Will playing-card Zarcana give me a good experience and spur me on to try  more complex rules, or turn me off of further learning?

---Ryan

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