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The Harrow Deck, which is used for a couple different things, is a "Tarot-like" divination card set developed by the paizo people and is used in a couple feats, a prc, and as part of the golarion game setting. There is an actual physical card set available for purchase, and mine arrived today, so I tried to think of a way to use it.

Like the alternate ruleset for hero points combining with the Fate overlay, my idea was to use the harrow reading to develop a character further, focusing on creating more drama and making a challenging but interesting character to run and play. Too many characters have the goal of improving their class abilities and nothing else. And many of my characters have suffered from being relatively one sided. I like to make interesting people to play, but I've had difficulty coming up with backstories others can get involved in and setting goals that fall in line with gm plots.

The harrowing, or the use of the harrow deck for divination, seems to be an interesting and productive way of developing a character further.

Zack is running the Rise of the Runelords campaign in the fall, and as I'm super excited about this, I thought I'd use the harrow deck, given that the game starts in Varisia, where the Harrowing originates, to find out more about my as yet unwritten character.

I have a lot of conflicting ideas about what I want to play for that game, so I was hoping that a harrowing could help me decide.

First, about the deck itself and how a reading is made and interpreted, and then I'll walk through the reading I did and some of my interpretations. I'd be very very interested in further interpretation of this reading by others.

The deck is 54 cards and consists of 6 suits, the actual suits are the actual attributes of DnD, Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Each suit consists of 9 cards, one corresponding to each of the 9 alignments. The artwork is, while a little comicbookish, iconic enough and demonstrates the ideas fairly well. While some of the artwork is almost funny or includes elements that seem out of place, I think it works well, and learning to interpret the 10 cards involved in my reading really helped me get an idea of the mythology and day to day superstition of, at the very least, varisian fortune tellers.

A harrow reading happens in two main phases; the choosing, and the spread.

During the Choosing, the seeker poses a question to the diviner, and a suit representing that question is chosen. The cards of that suit are removed from the deck and shuffled, and one is chosen randomly by the seeker. This card is then read, and is the Role the seeker has in the reading. This card is then returned to the deck along with the rest of it's suit, and the deck is shuffled. If several people are involved in the reading, they each take a role card.

The spread is the main part of the reading, though the role card helps relate the way the character in question relates to the information revealed, and the question asked.

The diviner deals out a 3 by 3 grid of 9 cards. The left column represents the past, the middle the present, and the right the future. The top row is interpreted positively if possible, the middle row is unclear morally, and the bottom row is negative. The cards are dealt face down, and revealed one column at a time. I did my reading top to bottom, revealing the positive, unclear, and negative cards in that order, and left to right, revealing past, present, and then future. The grid also represents the alignment grid, with top left being lawful good, bottom right being chaotic evil and so on. Each card has an alignment representation. If one element of a card's alignment matches it's position in the spread, it is considered "partially aligned" and is weighed more heavily in the reading. If both match, it is a "true alignment" and must be interpreted strongly. If a good/evil axis is reversed, such as a neutral good card in any evil slot, then the card is "misaligned" and part of the meaning is reversed. For example, if a card means you're going to kill a guy, that card misaligned means you might be able to avoid it, or it will be a good thing, like self defense or you'll kill a bad guy or whatever. Not all of the cards have to be interpreted, but at least one from each column, and all true matches, partial matches, and misaligned cards probably should be.

So, for character creation purposes, a reading such as this can add meaning to an existing backstory and goals, or in my case, provide the thematic and moral framework for developing a backstory, character class and race, and goals. It also adds elements of destiny.

If the GM likes the idea, these readings can be incorporated into his future plots. There are guidelines in the harrowing rulebook for how a gm can use a reading to relate to in game events he has planned.

next post will have the reading we did to develop my character.

So, this reading is to help establish a character for a game actually set in golarion. I am interested in about a dozen different classes and builds right now, and so direction would be helpful. I resolved to use the elements discovered in this divination to inform and direct character creation, even if that means a character other than one I've currently been thinking about. I'm going to let the character take shape from the backgrounds and elements of the harrowing.

The question asked is "Who am I?" selected as an Intelligence suit question, as it is seeking knowledge.

The role card revealed is: The Snakebite (CE Int)
Role Card:

The Snakebite (chaotic evil, Intelligence) is a vile, poisoned
weapon. Poison takes many forms—not all of them physical. The
poison on the assassin’s blade represents the death of ideas and
freedom, as well as the ability to turn friends against each other or
poison the minds of the virtuous. Misaligned, this card can mean
a mental leap, a new friendship, or a discovery.

The spread was as follows:
The Rakshasa - The Crows - The Wanderer
The Eclipse - The Joke - The Fiend
The Foreign Trader - The Mountain Man - The Sickness

These cards mean as follows:

The Rakshasa (lawful evil, Intelligence) is the card of dominance
and mind control. The creature sitting serenely upon the back of
the slave indicates an exterior force imposing itself upon another
being’s mind. On occasion, the slavery is literal, but more often
it is mental enslavement to a force or idea. Misaligned, that
enslavement can be cast off in the face of new information.

The Eclipse (lawful evil, Wisdom) represents self-doubt and
loss of purpose. This card afflicts those with faith in the divine,
as their talents can wane under this stress. It can also indicate a
loss of way along a path. If misaligned, it can augur an unheralded
ability coming to the fore or a concealed location revealed.

The Foreign Trader (neutral, Intelligence) is the card of spies
and peddlers alike. Any who trade in information are subject to
this card’s influence. A bargain made under this card’s auspice
always concludes true, but the ramifications of the pact might be
shocking for those who do not understand its implications.

The Crows (neutral evil, Dexterity) are a dangerous bunch who
indicate violent taking of that which is loved. When The Crows
appear, murder, theft, or other shocking loss occurs. If misaligned,
such acts can be averted or the thievery is a just one.

The Joke (chaotic good, Intelligence) shows a terror that must
be overcome—but not by physical means. This monster can only
be defeated by trickery or artifice. This card can represent the
value of humor in finding the way past a difficult person or task.
When misaligned, it often signals that the joke will be on you.

The Mountain Man (chaotic neutral, Constitution) signifies
an encounter with a physical power outside of one’s control. The
giant could personify an authority, an army, an earthquake, or
even a desperately needed rainstorm in a parched land. Acceding
to the force might be wise, but surviving it is paramount.

The Wanderer (neutral good, Intelligence) is a collector. This
centaur appreciates that which others regard as junk or trash. The
Wanderer appears to those clever enough to find the true worth
in something others ignore or treat as worthless. Misaligned, The
Wanderer signifies a loss of values, or the inability to see what is
truly valuable in a person or situation.

The Fiend (lawful evil, Strength) depicts a devil swallowing
innocents. It can indicate the deaths of many in a great calamity
or, if misaligned, the salvation from the same calamity. The Fiend
can also indicate that some sort of dark and intelligent creature is
in the area, endangering the populace.

The Sickness (neutral evil, Constitution) represents plague,
pestilence, famine, and disease. It can also indicate corruption of
the soul or of a multitude of souls. If misaligned, The Sickness
represents either great health or a chance to stop such a disaster.

I made the following interpretations of these cards:

Role Card: The Snakebite
The seeker is represented by the poisoned knife, representing the death of ideas and freedom, and the ability to turn friends against each other. This can be enchantment, charms, and compulsions, illusions, back stabbing, actual poison use, or it could have little bearing on class choices.

The Past

The rakshasa is misaligned in this case, and so represents that at some point in the character’s past; he received new information which allowed him to cast off the bonds of slavery to an idea or force, or perhaps literal enslavement.

The eclipse may represent self doubt and loss of purpose, or if divine elements were in play, a crisis of faith.

The foreign trader represents a bargain that had unexpected implications, and the trade of goods or information. If it represents a bargain, it was unbreakable. Given the negative position of this card and how it might relate to the other cards on this side of the spread, this may have been a bargain that led to the physical or mental enslavement of the character in question.

The Present
The crows are misaligned, and indicate that in the present, justified thievery and murder may be taking place, or at least “the taking of that which is loved.”

The Joke represents a terror which must be overcome with trickery or artifice, and the value of humor in finding a way past a difficult person or task. Given the placement, this probably indicates a general attitude or coping method, rather than a specific encounter. Right now, he must use guile, trickery, and humor to overcome adversity.

The Mountain Man represents an encounter with a physical power outside of one’s control. This is in the negative interpretation of the present. It can personify an army, authority, or natural disaster. Giving in to it may be wise, but surviving it is vital. This may represent an allegiance or fealty owed. Given the various factors in play so far, it may represent allegiance to the Red Mantis Assassins, or some other faction or perhaps it represents an oath or cavalier order, but perhaps one to a monarch or other external figure.

The future
The wanderer seems to represent here the direction that he is moving in, towards appreciating that which others regard as junk or trash, towards seeing the value in something others treat as worthless. Given the question and the position of the card in the reading, it can be interpreted to mean that the key to a positive future for the character maybe be obscure, of no worth to others, or be otherwise difficult to understand or appreciate.

The fiend indicates the deaths of many in a great calamity, given the position of the card as unclear and relating to the future, it suggests that the direction the character moves in directs him to implement or be a part of implementing such a calamity. He may himself be it, or he may be related to it in some way.

The sickness represents in this case motion towards corruption of the soul or a great many of souls, and can also signify involvement in famine, pestilence, plague, and disease. Given the negative light of the card and its partial match alignment, it probably indicates that the pathway the character is taking leads to corruption of his own soul, and possibly those of others.

What I like the most about this is the direction it gives my further character creation efforts. Assassin-like character class choices seem ideal for the character, as would any character with poison use, involvement in souls, and there are issues of faith brought into play here.

Next I'll post about integrating harrow readings with Fate and hero points.

So, part of what I think Pathfinder needs is more flavor and more character development. The harrow reading I performed above gives me very interpretable elements and portents that can work into the character background, class choices, race, personality, and even fate. If the GM is a part of this process, he can use the elements and symbolism of a character creation reading to develop foils for player characters, and to give signs and portents, and to attach emotional meanings to events in game. An encounter with a Rakshasa can go a great many ways, but my character might have very strong reactions to seeing one or having to deal with one, based on their symbolism and his history with those same elements.

If the reading is interpreted as one that the character himself has seen, such as by seeing a varisian fortune teller during his adolescence or childhood and getting this reading, then those symbols and elements become tools the player and gm have to interact with each other, and with the game world.

We have discussed on a couple of occasions integrating pathfinder with the fate overlay in some way. Here is a proposal for a way to do that and to modify our default character creation method.

Character creation steps:
1. Harrow reading and interpretation. Share your results with the GM, in particular the layout of the cards and the role card. From the GM, receive instructions for points to be spent, class level to start at, and so on.

2. Fate elements:
High concept is your Role card. Choose one focal positive, negative, and unclear card from your spread. These are your aspects. Start play with 3 Hero points, per the Hero Point system in APG. Use hero points as fate chips interacting with your high concept and aspects when tagged.

Of note: Treat your Role card with relation to your high concept as though it were laid down on a space of the spread equivalent to your alignment. For example, if I am writing a Lawful Good character and I have the Snakebite role card, which is chaotic evil, this is then interpreted that my character works against the extinction of knowledge, freedom from enslavement, and so on, as it is an opposite aligned card.

3. Stats and levels. Equipment purchase and so on.

4. Revision and GM final approval.

Restricting hero points to being used like fate chips increases their storytelling ability and is supported by the hero point rules, and reduces their overall game impact. Items, spells, and feats that interact with hero points, subject to GM approval, would continue to do so normally, and might expand the pool of points and the ways that players can use them. Being tagged and compelled to do something can regenerate hero points in story balanced ways in addition to the ways they can be gained in the apg.

Though this method is more random than our current method, like Tarot cards, Harrow cards are subject to interpretation. As a form of divination, they mean what they mean in the eye of the beholder, though the GM might decide to attach certain meanings to a card in agreement with the player.

Following the above example of a reading, I could interpret the elements of the harrowing and use the proposed rule here to build the following character:

Therelo Magrovi is a Varisian Rogue affiliated with the Szarni crime families, the Varisian Wanderers, and the Pathfinder Society. Early in his adolescence, he lost a great many games of Towers to a traveling merchant from Cheliax (Foreign Trader) and, in order to settle the debt, was enslaved (The Rakshasa) and taken away to the devil worshipping foreign country of Cheliax. Here his durance vile broke his spirit and his faith. Witnessing the awe inspiring power of devils and hell first hand, and suffering at the whim of his various owners, challenged his ideas of right and wrong, and filled him with existential doubt (The Eclipse.) Only when it was learned that the merchant had cheated him at Towers did the young man begin to see things clearly. A cousin, a member of the Szarni, travelling through Cheliax happened through Egorian and stopped in to see him, and was willing to argue his case before the Paraduchess who was head of the family that owned Therelo. Sufficient evidence (and bribes) showed an unlawful transaction, and Therelo was freed into his cousin's custody (Misalignment of The Rakshasa). Therelo returned to Varisia a changed man, free from his servitude but obliged to the Szarni (The Crows). Ultimately, what he took from the cheat that took his freedom was simple. The laws, and the morality that drives them, are a joke. He sees humor in the passing of sentence and the repeal of his slavery left him laughing hysterically, still nursing scars from his many lashings. (The Joke.) Therelo continues to wander Varisia seeking work in various places, and seeking meaning in the wind and the road (The Wanderer), but due to his rather unsavory skills that were forced upon him in cruel Cheliax, the Szarni call upon him, claiming his debt and life owed, to take the lives of others (The Mountain Man.) While he demands payment for services rendered, half in debt relieved and half in cash, he is likely to start actually enjoying the cruel work they put him to, as one of their enforcers. The consequences of the damage he may wreak on the world could be many many lives (The Fiend) and perhaps even his immortal soul (The Sickness,) but for now these concerns are far from his mind. His skills and abilities might be turned to positive ends if the company he keeps influence him to do so, and encourage him to accept these traits and move on (The Wanderer.)

Therelo's high concept is Misaligned Snakebite. His fate lies in the loss of freedom and the gain of freedom from ideas, and destroying the evil concepts that led to his enslavement. The misalignment of this chaotic evil card against his Chaotic Good alignment enforce the importance of discoveries and alliances in his fate and history.

His aspects are The Rakshasa, The Joke, and The Sickness. Whenever he works towards or against domination and enslavement, whenever he overcomes challenges with trickery, guile, or humor, and whenever he works towards the degeneration of his own or other souls, he would regain (or be able to use) hero points. Similarly, when he works towards fulfilling his High Concept as the Snakebite, using poison literally, or convincing others to believe his lies and deceptions, he might be able to regain (or use) hero points.

The interpretation is much the same I would give for the reading, and I think a rogue/ninja or perhaps a ranger or bard with a dark feel could be potential characters.

I think the fate overlay idea is interesting, and I've thought about using hero points before. I think that using cards as aspects could work, though I think it is less compelling than using regular aspects. Or perhaps a blended element, in which an aspect is derived from the symbolism of the card. I agree that limiting the uses to those of hero points would make it more predictable/manageable, though the system of compels is a powerful storytelling tool that should probably remain.

As for it's use in hero creation, it seems viable as a guide at least, assuming everyone is down with that. There is a similar background generator that is a bit more direct in the 5th age campaign setting. It uses the cards in the fate deck for that.