Friday, June 25, 2021

Pathfinder: "Deluxe Harrow Deck" [RPG]

I've used the Deluxe Harrow Deck several times in my Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign.  It's an impressive set--far more than a simple deck of playing cards.  The 54 cards are larger, tarot-sized cards, with full-colour artwork on one side and an interesting design (tied to the six ability scores of D&D) on the back.  In addition to the main cards, the set contains a extra card for the GM to help them remember how to do a spread, and a few "Harrowing Chronicle" cards to enable them to keep track of particular PC draws and how it should influence the campaign.  There's also a 30-page-long instruction booklet that's well-written and contains some Golarion flavour.  It goes through how to use the Harrow deck for different purposes, such as general fortune-telling for flavour or more concrete predictions to be integrated by the GM into the campaign.  It includes a new spell that creates mechanical consequences for the cards drawn and helpfully summarises other Paizo books and adventures that make use of the Harrow.  Each card is given a description of its meaning, and there's a sample narrative Harrowing on the back so the reader can get a sense of how it all comes together in practice.

Having performed a few Harrowings, I can say it's not easy to do well.  Some solo practice is a good idea, as the cards have very different meanings depending on placement, and trying to interpret the cards in relation to the characters and the adventure can sometimes be a challenge.  Fortune-telling is an art and a skill, but it's pretty cool how the concept has been imported into Pathfinder through Varisians and their culture.  I think my only criticism of the deck is that I'm not a big fan of the artwork--it's more cartoony than I'd like.  But apart from that, this is a really good deck, useful in a lot of different ways.

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