The Oldskull Deck of Strangest Things (2017)

From publisher blurb:

For all levels, all classes, all who dare.

Shake your old school campaign to its foundations with the ultimate magic item …

THE OLDSKULL DECK OF STRANGEST THINGS is a deluxe supplement detailing the hundreds of effects created by a Tarot-inspired minor artifact. Profusely illustrated throughout with beautiful card motifs, and with printable color card sheets in the back. 100+ pages.

The purposes of this supplement, fully detailing the deck for use in your campaign, are as follows:

[1] To make a new tarot deck magic item for old school FRPGs, which surpasses the complexity and quality of all others, while retaining the original Gygaxian spirit of the earliest masterpiece.

[2] To clarify generally vague abilities and effects, and to provide solid rules for each effect, so that we might (hopefully) preserve the Game Master’s sanity when it’s argument time.

[3] To balance the item for all players and all experience levels, so that the item can be found in any treasure trove from level 1 on up and not be an “insta-kill” waiting to happen. (But it’s still exceedingly dangerous.)

[4] To provide deeper mythology to each of the cards, tying The Deck more strongly to the medieval and Renaissance-era Tarot of the real world.

[5] And, to create a graphically beautiful set that can be printed and used in play.

The artifact as described includes 22 illustrated Major Arcana motifs, 18,000 words of supporting text (effects, powers, limitations, use, etc.), 44 primary spell effect branches (meaning that each card does different things based on whether it’s inverted or right side up), and hundreds of sub-branches based on the card drawer’s class, level, alignment, past actions, equipment, behavior, and so forth. If there is further interest, in the future I will also be creating a set of 22 custom-made color cards to go along with this supplement. You can easily use the print-out cards included here, and if you prefer to roll there is a D100 resolution table as well.