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In which I have fun with trivial things.
Mar. 21st, 2011 02:49 pmWork on Chapter Eleven is going sort of okay. But when I looked at the bit of worldbuilding geekery I did yesterday, I knew I had to share it.
In Chapter Eleven, there is a card game, called Liar's Ecarte. It is, basically, a variant of poker, and therefore easier for me to describe than the other Allotment card game, Float-Hand Ruff, which is Euchre meets contract bridge with a little telekinesis on the side, some wild cards, and a hand that plays itself, sort of.
There is, however, one very important distinction to be made about any Allotment card game, and that is, of course, that they are played using Tarot cards. Not an original idea, I know, but it's something that I have fun with, so I'm going to put it in there. And also obviously, the presence of the Major Arcana in a poker game shifts the rules somewhat. All that is explained in the Chapter, and so I'm going to leave it for the Chapter to discuss, but while I was working out the rules and the hands played in the game, I came to my geeky worldbuilding realization:
I had to redesign the Major Arcana. The world of the Allotment being what it is, some religious references had to be changed, and the connotations of a few cards were very different -- The Magician and The Fool being the two obvious ones. So, below the cut, I have presented without comment the Major Arcana (or, as they're called in the Allotment, the Elder Cards) from the deck.
I did a lot of wiki research, looking at real-life historical variants on the deck -- Aleister Crowley's deck and a medieval French variant were especially helpful, but I also fully admit I just made some stuff up when that seemed the best course of action.
If any Tarot buffs have been reading The Hellion Prince and would be interested in helping me write up descriptions or commentary, or just want to discuss in the comments, that would be truly fantastic.
And if anyone cares to help me with the headache of figuring out how or even whether I should attempt to adapt chess for the setting, that would be eternally appreciated.
In Chapter Eleven, there is a card game, called Liar's Ecarte. It is, basically, a variant of poker, and therefore easier for me to describe than the other Allotment card game, Float-Hand Ruff, which is Euchre meets contract bridge with a little telekinesis on the side, some wild cards, and a hand that plays itself, sort of.
There is, however, one very important distinction to be made about any Allotment card game, and that is, of course, that they are played using Tarot cards. Not an original idea, I know, but it's something that I have fun with, so I'm going to put it in there. And also obviously, the presence of the Major Arcana in a poker game shifts the rules somewhat. All that is explained in the Chapter, and so I'm going to leave it for the Chapter to discuss, but while I was working out the rules and the hands played in the game, I came to my geeky worldbuilding realization:
I had to redesign the Major Arcana. The world of the Allotment being what it is, some religious references had to be changed, and the connotations of a few cards were very different -- The Magician and The Fool being the two obvious ones. So, below the cut, I have presented without comment the Major Arcana (or, as they're called in the Allotment, the Elder Cards) from the deck.
( Here they are. )
I did a lot of wiki research, looking at real-life historical variants on the deck -- Aleister Crowley's deck and a medieval French variant were especially helpful, but I also fully admit I just made some stuff up when that seemed the best course of action.
If any Tarot buffs have been reading The Hellion Prince and would be interested in helping me write up descriptions or commentary, or just want to discuss in the comments, that would be truly fantastic.
And if anyone cares to help me with the headache of figuring out how or even whether I should attempt to adapt chess for the setting, that would be eternally appreciated.
