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>Decide to split magic among the four tarot suits
>Start reading about the real world symbology of the suits and the elements
>Realize most of that shit is totally unusable
>Decide to make up the meaning myself, roughly basing it on the original symbology
How is this?
SWORDS - Order over Chaos, the Ego over the Id, All-conquering Logos subduing Matter, the suit of Swords represents Civilization and thus mankind's Triumph over its base Nature.
Just as Air rises above the Earth so does Man rise above the Animal, and as Man rises over the Animal the Sage rises over Man.
CUPS - Life over Death, Wisdom over Reason, The Triple Goddess bearing the Universe, the suit of Cups reflects Divinity, the ineffable Spirit flowing through all that lives.
Man, much like Water, flows down the path open to it. A drop, though it thinks it moves of its own volition, Falls from the Heavens with a Destiny written in Matter.
COINS - Impulse over Thought, Nature over Nurture, The Demiurge crushing the Usurper, the suit of Coins is the suit of Want, the Natural order by which all things are driven.
The Earth pulls all things toward it. As Man lifts his foot Up so must he set it Down. In the end all things feed the soil.
WANDS - Hate over Love, Thanatos over Eros, The Doom Hound devouring the Heavens, the suit of Wands is the End that must come for all Beginnings.
Fire, lit by Hatred, cannot help but consume all until there is nothing left to devour. For some among Man victory is defeat.
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>>50133988
I like it. Don't have much more to say right now. Go for it
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>>50133988
You were so close, but didn't hit the mark. You should base your magic around Major Arcanas instead. The Star, the Magician, the Chariot, the Hermit, the World and the like.
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>>50134097
Why not both?
>The Minor Arcana
The weaker style of magic, what it lacks in strength it makes up for in versatility. Each governs an element as well as some other aspect. Practitioners are able to create sudden changes, movement, break down or conjure up their domain, but no lesser magic is permanent.
Wands: Fire, images
Pentacles: Earth, living things
Cups: Water, emotions
Swords: Air, memory
>The Major Arcana
The work of the divine powers, each card in the Major Arcana represents the fates of the card, and can serve as a connection to the power granting it. The sole exception is The Fool, which seems to be bound to no deity, and none can say where its power comes from. A card can be invoked generally, but it is most powerful when invoked for its Summa, a world-shaking spell that is bound to the nature of the card and the deity behind it.
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>>50134037
Glad to hear that. I'm worried that Coins and Wands overlap too much. I wrote Wands last and didn't really know what to do with it since Fire is traditionally the symbol of will and action. The best I've come up with is that the greed of coins is motivated by desiring to obtain something, as an animal does, while fire's avarice is purposeless (i.e. hate-driven) in a way only Man can be.
>>50134097
Using the major arcana is a neat idea but coming up with 22 distinct themes sounds very difficult. I think 4 is more practical.
Is there anything in particular I should work on?
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Pre-sleep bump. This thread will probably get archived by the time I wake up but I will read your posts.
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>>50134291
Coins and Wands have a pretty good separation, I wouldn't worry about that.
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>>50134097
That sounds great. Perhaps the Magician represents evocation style magic, like summoning flames, while The Hermit could represent scrying type stuff like seeing the future or seeing faraway places. The World could be...idk, time magic?
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Anybody have good gamable ideas for major arcana?
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This is literally nothing without some sort of mechanical backing OP. You have just posted some tarot/setting shit.
I don't really understand how this is any more usable than a default interpretation of the tarot suites. How does this actually work in your game? What does magic do and how does it do it through this?
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