In this guide, I will show you how to use Tarot cards for solo RPG games. Why? If the AI GM emulator is so useful for solo play, why use other oracles? Not everyone wants to use AI for their games. Some players prefer tables and dice rolls for their adventures. This is a perfectly good approach to solo play and can be especially fun with a friend. Using this approach, the players utilize an entire array of oracles to help them improvise game scenes on the fly. To support this style of play, we wish to introduce you to one of the best solo RPG oracle decks: the Tarot deck.
How the Tarot works in solo RPG
The core method for solo roleplaying is the Q&A method. The player envisions a scene and uses oracles to fill the scene with content. This is done by asking questions about the scene and interpreting the answers provided by the oracle. The most basic oracle answers yes/no questions. This is sufficient for a wide variety of roleplaying scenes in the hands of a creative player. However, yes/no questions are too restrictive for story-heavy scenes. To allow for better storytelling, the player needs more options. This is where the Tarot comes in.
The Tarot was designed to answer virtually any question a client might ask a fortune teller. A client would pose a question, and the fortune teller would draw a series of Tarot cards. The fortune teller would then come up with an answer to the client’s question based on the cards. The same method can be used to answer questions about fictional characters and events.
The Tarot can provide answers to a player’s questions about the campaign world. The best part is that players can interpret Tarot cards any way they choose. Together with yes/no questions, players can create scenes rich in content. Here is a segment from a scene created through Tarot cards and the yes/no oracle.
Example:
Our player’s party was hired by a group of mages to escort valuable cargo to a nearby port. After spending the night at an inn, they prepare to leave at first light.
Question: What do I see as we leave the inn?
Tarot card drawn: Death
Interpretation: We see a group of people gathered around a dead body. Someone was murdered.
Question: Who is the victim?
Tarot card: The Magician
Interpretation: It’s one of the mages who hired us to escort the cargo.
Question: What happens when we ask around about the victim?
Tarot card drawn: The Hanged Man
Interpretation: We reach a dead end, and no one wants to help us. The mages don’t seem to be very popular here.
Question: Did anybody see what happened?
Yes/no oracle: yes
Question: Who saw what happened?
Tarot card drawn: The Hermit
Interpretation: An old lighthouse keeper did.
Question: What did he see?
Tarot card drawn: The Devil
Interpretation: The lighthouse keeper saw a cultist murder the mage.
Where to find Tarot cards for solo RPG
You don’t need to purchase Tarot cards to use them during solo RPG play. There are free print-and-play options available. As long as the Tarot cards match the theme of your game, they are suitable. Among the best free Tarot cards for solo RPGs is the Night City Tarot by R. Talsorian Games. The cards are beautifully designed, and although they have a cyberpunk theme, the artwork can complement most games.
How to use Tarot cards during play
For solo play:
- Ask a question, shuffle the deck, and draw a card.
- Use the keywords and meanings of the cards below as prompts to create the scene.
- If needed, consult the yes/no oracle for additional information.
For co-op play:
- Whenever information about a scene is needed, shuffle the deck.
- A player draws a card and uses the keywords and meanings of the card to improvise the scene.
- When a new question arises, the next player draws a card and follows the same procedure as before.
- As the game progresses, each player takes turns drawing a card and improvising a scene.
Join Oracle RPG’s newsletter for free guides and adventures, plus more articles like this one!
Tarot card meanings in solo RPG
What follows are Tarot card meanings as they apply to solo play. This Tarot cards for solo RPG PDF is a free download you can use during play.
0 — The Fool
Keywords: A new journey, discovery or event.
Meaning: A character experiences a new discovery, important event, or must go on a journey. A scene can depict bards, rogues and jesters.
1 — The Magician
Keywords: Talent, artistry, mastery.
Meaning: Something that shows talent, artistry or mastery of a skill. A scene can include wizards, sorcerers, and druids.
2 — The High Priestess
Keywords: Intuition, wisdom, council.
Meaning: A character is receiving council or choosing a wise course of action. A scene can depict councilors or wise sages such as female priestesses and clerics.
3 — The Empress
Keywords: Compassion, beauty, love
Meaning: A character is receiving or motivated by love and compassion. A scene can include beautiful locations, compassionate acts as well as female nobility and leaders.
4 — The Emperor
Keywords: Power, authority, leadership.
Meaning: A character is exercising or motivated by power, authority, or leadership. A scene can also show male nobility and leaders.
5 — The Hierophant
Keywords: Spirituality, wisdom, guidance.
Meaning: A scene depicting wisdom, spirituality, or someone receiving guidance. The scene can also male priests and clerics.
6 — The Lovers
Keywords: Love, friendship, companionship.
Meaning: A character is experiencing, or is motivated by love, friendship and other types of companionship. A scene can depict lovers, families, and friends.
7 — The Chariot
Keywords: Confidence, victory, success.
Meaning: A scene depicting victory, success or confidence. The scene can also include those in martial professions such as paladins and knights.
8 — Strength
Keywords: Strength, fortitude, endurance.
Meaning: A character showing strength, endurance, and fortitude. The scene can also include fighters such as warriors and soldiers.
9 — The Hermit
Keywords: Contemplation, meditation, solitude.
Meaning: A character is alone or isolated, or engaging in contemplative solitude. The scene can also include hermits and other loners.
10 — The Wheel of Fortune
Keywords: Fortune, luck, success.
Meaning: Someone is experiencing or is motivated by luck or good fortune. A scene can show wealthy or lucky characters such as gamblers.
11 — Justice
Keywords: Justice, righteousness, virtue.
Meaning: Someone is dispensing or receiving justice. Someone may also be acting virtuously or justly. The scene could also be referring to city guards and law enforcement.
12 — The Hanged Man
Keywords: Stasis, limbo, nothingness.
Meaning: Someone is in limbo or stuck in a situation or dead end.The scene can also be depicting prisoners, captives, and criminals.
13 — Death
Keywords: Endings, transformations, cycles.
Meaning: Something is coming to an end. It could be a cycle, event or any other ending. The scene can also include literal deaths and everything related to it. This includes assassins, undead, dead people, creatures, and animals.
14 — Temperance
Keywords: Peace, calm, patience.
Meaning: A scene of peace, calm and serenity. A character could also be showing patience in the face of trouble. The scene can include sages and other wise people.
15 — The Devil
Keywords: Pain, anguish, despair.
Meaning: Scene that depicts pain, anguish or despair of any kind. The scene could also be depicting those involved with fiends and other evil planar beings.
16 — The Tower
Keywords: Destruction, disaster, calamity.
Meaning: A serious disaster is involved in the scene in one way or another. This can include destructive forces, and disasters of any kind. Scenes can include destructive entities such as ghosts and wraiths.
17 — The Star
Keywords: Hope, optimism, renewal.
Meaning: A character is hopeful or optimistic. A scene could depict a hopeful situation or outlook. More literally the scene could be depicting celestial phenomena like stars and comets. The scene can also depict celestial beings such as angels and positive planar beings.
18 — The Moon
Keywords: Confusion, deception, illusions.
Meaning: A character is confused or being led astray. A scene can depict deception or other forms of illusion. The card could also mean an animal has entered the scene.
19 — The Sun
Keywords: Success, victory, joy.
Meaning: A character is experiencing or motivated by success or victory. The scene can show joyful or beautiful imagery of any kind. Scenes can show famous or prominent individuals.
20 — Judgement
Keywords: Decisions, consequences, judgment.
Meaning: Characters are experiencing decisions and their consequences. Someone is passing judgement. Scenes can show judges and officers of the law.
21 — The World
Keywords: Fate, destiny, providence.
Meaning: Someone is fulfilling their destiny or fulfilling a prophecy. A scene of fate and providence. The scene can refer to agents of destiny like angels and other good planar beings.
