TRUMP TAROT

Expanding on a Concept by Jane Winter

Cost : 20 points

PRE-REQUISITES : Basic Trump Artistry, Mind-Affecting Sorcery (Grand or a Specialised form).

This very likely unique power relies on creating 'tarot' cards with Trump/Reality-affecting Power in them, using a combination of Trump and Magic to tap into the flows of forces and influences which affect a persons actions and behaviour. They are not Trumps, but bear a great deal of resemblance to them. Once created, combinations of cards can then be laid to affect events and people in seemingly minor ways at crucial times - for example, laying cards for strife and quarrelling in appropriate relation to two people, or the Lovers likewise. It could be used to affect attitudes, negotiations, whatever.

Like Trumps, the power can work across shadow barriers, but the maximum range at which it can affect a target is limited by the Psyche of the user. The speed at which the power affects the target, and how effective it is, is a function of the relative Psyches of the user and the target; the power can affect beings whose Psyches are higher than those of the person using the power, but in this case it is a much slower and harder process than if the user has a Psyche advantage.

The power requires something which links what the user is doing to the intended target(s). These divide into essentially three levels:

• At its most basic, and hardest to use, level it requires that the user has a psychic impression of the target(s) and simply concentrates on them.
• An easier approach is for the user to centre the layout of the cards on some item with a link to the user. The most obvious is a Trump or Trumps of the target(s); an item closely associated with the target (for example an item for which they have paid points) is another such thing.
• The most ideal link is an item especially created for the purpose, about which the tarot layout is centred. This would probably take the form of some kind of Trump Powered effigy of the target (not unlike a Voodoo doll), made to enhance the effects of the cards upon the being it represents, and containing a bit of that beings personal reality.

There is no feedback from the power to the user, so they will not know whether they are significantly affecting the target unless they have other means of obtaining that information.

It is possible that a Trump artist whose Psyche is higher than that of the user may be able to detect something if the power is used on them, or in their vicinity. However, unless they are already familiar with this power they will have a very hard job determining what it actually is. Likewise a sorcerer with mind-affecting powers may also be able to detect the use of this power, but because it is a far more real ability than Sorcery it is much harder for them to detect this power than for a Trump artist, and as with a Trump artist detecting this power, unless the sorcerer is already familiar with it, they will have a very hard job working out what is actually going on.

Note that this power has not, as yet, been play-tested, so I have no idea how balanced, or otherwise, it may actually be.

The power divides into the following sections, which must be brought in order:

SENSE TAROT POWER (5 points) - This part of the power allows the user to sense the use of the power of the Trump Tarot in their vicinity. Of course this is not much use if they are the only person with the power, but... It also, if developing the power oneself, allows the user to sense the flows of forces and influences about a being into which this power allows them to tap.

CREATE CARDS (5 points) - At this stage, the user has developed sufficient mastery to allow them to create Trump Tarot cards. Each card takes as much time to create as creating a Trump of an unwilling target with a Psyche equal to the person with the power, and must be a single influence (such as The Lovers, Death, The Tower etc.). These cards do not go cool when concentrated upon, but are as resilient as normal Trumps. A Trump artist may be able to sense some kind of Trump-like power in them.

USE CARDS (10 points) - At this point the user has become both sufficiently attuned to the forces they are learning that they can actually use the cards to influence people and events.

It is possible that Sorcery and/or Empowerment could be used to create items with similar powers to these. However, they would not work across shadow barriers, and would be far less effective against real beings, especially when they were (for example) using the Pattern.

Back to my Amber Page.

Or go to the Trump page, or the Trump Voodoo page.