Caelun_Niveus
Junior Member
Card games, any setting has them. What games are played is up to ST imagination of course, but I thought that one could make things more interesting with original decks and suits. Who cares about the "Ace of Spades", I just drew the "First of the Sun"!
Inspired from all the different suits here.
Several ideas are unfinished, suggestions would be helpful.
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First Age: Solar Suits
When the Lawgivers were the lords of creation, if they did not invent cards themselves it is only natural that they favored the Celestial Exalted. These decks had 4 suits; Sun, Moon, Stars, and Dragons (If you can think of anything better, considering the following...). Of note (for us) though is their suits used an "inverted" numerical system. Thus the card "Sixth of the Dragons" would be of less value than "Third of the Dragons".
The decks consisted of 10 numerical cards (Tenth through First), and five face cards. No "joker" (that I can think would work without bending the 4th wall). The Tenth of a suit (what would by our system be the "ace") would never be "high". While retaining increasing value amongst them, the five face cards together would also be invoke-ative of an Exalted Circle....
And for the life of me I cannot decide on names for the Face cards... Page/Knight/Queen/King seem the default but invoke a Mortal-rule feel... while any other names I think of would imply one caste as "superior" to another. I'm sure blood would flow over that.
After the Usurpation, this suit system fell out of wide use in Creation, mostly being used, for games that cannot be replicated by the newer suits, by residents of Yu-Shan. Some older gods in the Threshold still used and spread the old suits though, and it is noticeably common to find people playing the "(Anathema?)" Suits in Great Forks.
The Fair Folk: Wyld Arcana
When Fae wandered into Creation, it was only time until they met with cards. One small tale is of a Fae with superior intelligence, strategy, and martial ability forced into submission by an Eclipse challenging him to a game with cards, a concept foreign to him (most likely he simply did not understand the vague rules of the game they played). After this, some Fae have adopted card games themselves, using their own deck system to play a similar game of deception on others as was played on them so long ago.
Yeah, I'm being lazy
Rather than come up with a brand new and original system, it is simply easier and perfect to use the Tarot deck... using both the Major and Minor Arcana in their games. To anyone who fails their awareness roll, note how the Minor Arcana suits are already in use by the Fae... The Sword, the Cup, the Ring, and the Staff.
Anywhere the Fae gather is often where you might find these suits. Great Forks again a common place, but villages who face the threat of the Wyld often use them in what was originally preparation for if the Rakshasa challenged them to something so minor.
Post Usurpation: Dragon/Immaculate Suits
The suits of the First Age lauded the Celestial exalted, now Anathema. Naturally once overthrown a more appropriate deck was formed. Contrasting to the Solar Suits, the Dragon Suits use increasing numbers. After all, Six Dragon-Blooded are more than Three, and a lonely Dragon is essentially a dead dragon. As such, "aces" still are never high.
Their deck uses 10 numbered cards yet again, and yet again 5 face cards. However they also use 5 suits, one for each element. Card/suit are called by either element or color of jade... "Five of Black" and "Five of Water" are the same card. The highest face card is the "Dragon", representing the Elemental Dragon directly ("Dragon of Fire" or "Dragon of Red"). The remaining four cards represent Dragon-Blooded themselves; Shogun/Lord, Daimyo/General, Taishi/Ambassador, and Kōan-sha/Artificer. (Any better ideas?). To promote unity of sorts, no suit is of actual higher value than another suit. Dragons are Dragons.
Naturally, this is prehaps the widest used deck in creation, even seeing some use on the Blessed Isle (though usually by mortals). Since the Empress came to power and the foundation of the Immaculate Order, places that use different suits of cards (cough, Great Forks) often refer to these as "Immaculate Suits"
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Well... Thoughts, suggestions, and opinions?
Inspired from all the different suits here.
Several ideas are unfinished, suggestions would be helpful.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Age: Solar Suits
When the Lawgivers were the lords of creation, if they did not invent cards themselves it is only natural that they favored the Celestial Exalted. These decks had 4 suits; Sun, Moon, Stars, and Dragons (If you can think of anything better, considering the following...). Of note (for us) though is their suits used an "inverted" numerical system. Thus the card "Sixth of the Dragons" would be of less value than "Third of the Dragons".
The decks consisted of 10 numerical cards (Tenth through First), and five face cards. No "joker" (that I can think would work without bending the 4th wall). The Tenth of a suit (what would by our system be the "ace") would never be "high". While retaining increasing value amongst them, the five face cards together would also be invoke-ative of an Exalted Circle....
And for the life of me I cannot decide on names for the Face cards... Page/Knight/Queen/King seem the default but invoke a Mortal-rule feel... while any other names I think of would imply one caste as "superior" to another. I'm sure blood would flow over that.
After the Usurpation, this suit system fell out of wide use in Creation, mostly being used, for games that cannot be replicated by the newer suits, by residents of Yu-Shan. Some older gods in the Threshold still used and spread the old suits though, and it is noticeably common to find people playing the "(Anathema?)" Suits in Great Forks.
The Fair Folk: Wyld Arcana
When Fae wandered into Creation, it was only time until they met with cards. One small tale is of a Fae with superior intelligence, strategy, and martial ability forced into submission by an Eclipse challenging him to a game with cards, a concept foreign to him (most likely he simply did not understand the vague rules of the game they played). After this, some Fae have adopted card games themselves, using their own deck system to play a similar game of deception on others as was played on them so long ago.
Yeah, I'm being lazy
Rather than come up with a brand new and original system, it is simply easier and perfect to use the Tarot deck... using both the Major and Minor Arcana in their games. To anyone who fails their awareness roll, note how the Minor Arcana suits are already in use by the Fae... The Sword, the Cup, the Ring, and the Staff.
Anywhere the Fae gather is often where you might find these suits. Great Forks again a common place, but villages who face the threat of the Wyld often use them in what was originally preparation for if the Rakshasa challenged them to something so minor.
Post Usurpation: Dragon/Immaculate Suits
The suits of the First Age lauded the Celestial exalted, now Anathema. Naturally once overthrown a more appropriate deck was formed. Contrasting to the Solar Suits, the Dragon Suits use increasing numbers. After all, Six Dragon-Blooded are more than Three, and a lonely Dragon is essentially a dead dragon. As such, "aces" still are never high.
Their deck uses 10 numbered cards yet again, and yet again 5 face cards. However they also use 5 suits, one for each element. Card/suit are called by either element or color of jade... "Five of Black" and "Five of Water" are the same card. The highest face card is the "Dragon", representing the Elemental Dragon directly ("Dragon of Fire" or "Dragon of Red"). The remaining four cards represent Dragon-Blooded themselves; Shogun/Lord, Daimyo/General, Taishi/Ambassador, and Kōan-sha/Artificer. (Any better ideas?). To promote unity of sorts, no suit is of actual higher value than another suit. Dragons are Dragons.
Naturally, this is prehaps the widest used deck in creation, even seeing some use on the Blessed Isle (though usually by mortals). Since the Empress came to power and the foundation of the Immaculate Order, places that use different suits of cards (cough, Great Forks) often refer to these as "Immaculate Suits"
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Well... Thoughts, suggestions, and opinions?
