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Joachim Deneuve...
Joachim Deneuve du Surlign's picture
Arcana
house rules, core rules

So, the description of Sorté and Major Arcana somewhere mentions that most Strega make up their own set of Arcana.  I am wondering if we can pull out some other ideas from the ones in the book.  

I notice that the book isn't using the traditional Major Arcana, and also only lists 20.  Of those 20, 5 are basically a direct copy over from 1st Ed: The Magician, The Lovers, The Wheel (of Fortune), The Hanged Man, The Emperor.  4 are the same Arcana with different meanings: The Fool, The Devil, The Tower and The Sun.  Coins (for the Ferryman) is basically Death. There are a couple which map through concept and one effect:  The Witch -> The High Priestess, The Prophet -> The Hermit, The Hero -> Strength.

That leaves 9 traditional Major Arcana that are kind of unused:

  • The Empress - The 1e version has the same Virtue as The Thrones does now, but I think they're distinctive enough.
  • The Hierophant - The 1e Hubris has Been moved to The Devil, but a Creative arcana seems like a good idea
  • The Chariot - The 1e Virtue and Hubris have been taken by two new Arcana:  The War and The Road, which are kind of the two aspects of a chariot.  Maybe not feasible.
  • Justice - The 1e Virtue has been taken by Reunion, but I think it's worthwhile looking for a new oen.
  • Temperence - The Glyph has taken Temperate, making it hard to give a Virtue to this as an arcana
  • The Star - The Thrones has taken their Hubris, but it seems quite distinct.
  • The Moon - Perceptive isn't currently in use, but there are a couple of similar virtues.
  • Judgement - The Beggar uses Insightful, but Righteous is possible.
  • Terra - is completely unused by the new set and could just be brought across in toto.

I'd also point out that the picture on page 231 shows three Major Arcan:  The Sailor, The Fate Witch and The Prince.  None of these are mentioned in either 1st or 2nd edition.

 

I'll work on some ideas for rules and post again later.

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Joachim Deneuve...
Joachim Deneuve du Surlign's picture

So, a couple of suggestions:

The Empress

Virtue:  Beautiful

Activate your Virtue to prevent a Villain or Brute Squad from causing you Wounds this Scene.  The effect wears off if you cause wounds.

Hubris:  Hedonistic

You receive a Hero Point when you decide to indulge yourself or succumb to temptation.

 

The Moon

Virtue: Perceptive

Activate your Virtue to create an Opportunity.  You may activate this Opportunity.

Hubris:  Inattentive

You receive a Hero Point when you let a time limited Consequence or Opportunity expire when you could have prevented it.

 

Judgement

Virtue:  Judicious

Activate your virtue when faced with a situation with two distinct options.  Ask the GM which choice would be most likely to lead to a specific outcome.  The GM must answer honestly and openly.

Hubris:  Judgemental

You receive a Hero Point when you publically accuse an NPC of something without any evidence to back it up.

 

Terra

Virtue:  Knowledgable

Activate your virtue to discover an obscure piece of information about the setting. 

Hubris:  Greedy

You receive a Hero Point when you accept a bribe from a Villain.

NeoTanuki
NeoTanuki's picture
I quite like these! However, Greedy is very specific. Perhaps make it a bit more general such as, "You receive an HP when you accept money from someone you do not trust?" Or perhaps, "from someone who is suspicious or questionable."
BluSponge blusp...
BluSponge blusponge@verizon.net's picture

I prefer... "someone of dubious quality."  But it's all the same.

True Iskander
True Iskander's picture

In general, I think the 2e Arcana are an improvement.  There are several words used in 1e that are extremely similar such as Rash/Reckless or Arrogant/Overconfident.  The new crop has better overall variation.

That being said, you could always dip back into 1e's well for more ideas. :)

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