Tarokka Effects for Repeat Readings on Individual Adventures or Long-Term Campaigns

26 Oct, 2026

My current table got our start with a Halloween session among friends that had never played a TTRPG before. Me, having run D&D 5e for about six or seven years at this point, wanted to try running Pathfinder 2e, so I did the obvious thing and made a conversion for the Death House intro adventure to Curse of Strahd (CoS). That was enough of a hit that my friends wanted to keep going, so I ended up making a conversion of the entire CoS campaign to Pathfinder 2e for them. These days, we play AD&D 1e and wrapped up the I6 Ravenloft adventure after spending a year building up PCs from scratch to the appropriate level for tackling it.

One of the mechanical concepts in that campaign was the tarokka deck. Under normal circumstances, this is used to determine the location of important people and treasures in I6 and CoS in slightly different ways. I wanted more than that; I wanted a reason to get a reading every week. So I did the work to create such a list and then invited players to have their PCs participate in a pseudo-tarot reading each week. Most did this every week. Someone recently asked me for those effects, so I figured that's a good enough excuse to post on the blog for future reference since, even though we've finished I6, I still plan on using these going forward.

In all cases below with the minor arcana, the "good" result happens if the card is upright, while the "bad" result happens if the card is reversed.

• Glyphs - Modifies chance to be surprised. Values below assume standard 2-in-6 chance

  • Master. 3-in-100 or 4-in-6
  • 1. 3-in-10 or 11-in-30
  • 2. 8-in-30 or 4-in-10
  • 3. 7-in-30 or 13-in-30
  • 4. 2-in-10 or 14-in-30
  • 5. 1-in-6 or 3-in-6
  • 6. 4-in-30 or 16-in-30
  • 7. 1-in-10 or 17-in-30
  • 8. 2-in-30 or 6-in-10
  • 9. 1-in-30 or 19-in-30

• Coins - Modifies XP from coin

  • Master. +/- 10%
  • 1. +/- 1%
  • 2. +/- 2%
  • 3. +/- 3%
  • 4. +/- 4%
  • 5. +/- 5%
  • 6. +/- 6%
  • 7. +/- 7%
  • 8. +/- 8%
  • 9. +/- 9%

• Swords - Affects chance to hit, AC, and saves.

  • Master. +/- 1 to hit, saves, and AC
  • 1. +/- 1 to hit
  • 2. +/- 1 to saves
  • 3. +/- 1 to AC
  • 4. +/- 2 to hit
  • 5. +/- 2 to saves
  • 6. +/- 2 to AC
  • 7. +/- 1 to hit and saves
  • 8. +/- 1 to hit and AC
  • 9. +/- 1 to saves and AC

• Stars - Affects reaction rolls.

  • Master. +/- 20%
  • 1. +/- 2%
  • 2. +/- 4%
  • 3. +/- 6%
  • 4. +/- 8%
  • 5. +/- 10%
  • 6. +/- 12%
  • 7. +/- 14%
  • 8. +/- 16%
  • 9. +/- 18%

In all cases below with the major arcana, the first result happens if the card is upright, while the second result happens if the card is reversed.

• Artifact
  • The party receives a hint towards the location of either the (d4) sunsword's blade (1), sunsword's hilt (2), holy symbol of ravenkind (3), or the tome of strahd (4)
  • Random magical item in the PC's possession is rendered inert
• Beast
  • Bump reaction roll results relating to animals up one step
  • Bump reaction roll results relating to animals down one step
• Broken One
  • Take 1 additional damage per die on the roll, up to 1d12
  • Absorb 1 damage per die on the roll, up to 2d6 damage
• Darklord
  • Count as 1 level lower for all purposes except HP and the removal of abilities
  • Count as 1 level higher for all purposes except HP and the granting of new abilities
• Donjon
  • Saves against mental effects are rolled twice, ignoring the higher result.
  • Saves against mental effects are rolled twice, ignoring the lower result.
• Ghost
  • A ghost haunts the party. Any nighttime encounter has a 20% chance of instead being a ghost. It only targets participants of the reading. If killed, roll for lair treasure.
  • A revenant is nearby. Any wilderness encounter has an 80% chance of instead being a revenant. It asks the party for aid in exacting vengeance.
• Executioner
  • Suffer a 1d10+10% penalty to Reaction rolls. On a 9 or 10, a champion of Good (Paladin, Ranger, extraplanar, etc.) is hunting the party for crimes they did NOT commit. At the end of the week, evidence uncovered redirects the hunters.
  • Add 1d10+10% to Reaction rolls with non-Evil folk. On a 6-10, the party is hunted by a champion of Evil (Assassin, ghoul, bandits, extraplanar, etc.). At the end of the week, they prioritize other prey.
• Horseman
  • A random group of horsemen approach the party and offer their services for free, up to 1 week.
  • Mounted travel is one category slower, or halved (rounded up) if already at the slowest rate.
• Innocent
  • A random PC in the group has become a more enticing target for monsters. Encounter rates increase by 50% standard, and that PC takes up two slots for random target determination.
  • A random PC in the party receives the bodily contact protection from the protection from Evil spell
• Marionette
  • Henchmen loyalty is one step higher.
  • All hirelings refuse to work with the party unless paid double
• Mists
  • A Good-aligned traveling high priest (C9) approaches the party with a quest
  • An Evil-aligned high priest (C9) approaches the party with a quest
• Raven
  • A true treasure map finds its way to the party. After a week, it has a cumulative 1% chance per day to fade.
  • A false treasure map finds its way to the party.
• Seer
  • The party immediately receives the benefit of commune, as cast by a 9th level cleric
  • The party immediately receives the benefit of commune, as cast by a 9th level cleric, only the answers are incorrect, and the vampire lord of the Idyllshire is privy to the info.
• Tempter
  • The party takes a 1d4 penalty to saves against charm, suggestion, confusion, and feeblemind (but not domination or control) effects. On a 4, a sufficiently duplicitous entity (hag, succubus, devil, conman, etc.) attempts to trick the party.
  • The party is resistant to temptation and gains a +1d4 bonus to saves vs. charm, suggestion, confusion, and feeblemind (but not domination or control) effects, in addition to a 1d20% bonus to reaction rolls with otherwise-hostile groups.

#resource #tags: adnd #ttrpg