Tarot Five Room Dungeon Spread

 I stared at the four cards. A "moving forward" spread. The first card represents the issue at hand The second represents the impediments in your way. After that, the third is what is motivating you to do something, and the fourth indicates what will help you achieve success. Fate couldn’t have dealt me cards that perfectly describes my situation, and yet here they were. Maybe my life is complicated enough that I could have applied these cards to several portions of my life. Yet, it’s hard not to believe in magic when it's sitting right in front of you.

Five Page Dungeons are a storytelling shorthand applied to tabletop games. The spark jumped and I tried it.

 

From the INVERSION TAROT set illustrated by Jody Boginski Barbessi


The Entrance/Guardian: Queen of Wands Inverted

Demands attention? Easy, a medusa! 

The Puzzle: Empress

Nature sensory puzzle… rip off the Fifth Element! Fire burns, wind blows etc.

Trick or Setback: Seven of Wands

Stand your ground, have boundaries… As the caverns twist and turn, the walls echo your doubt. Spirits of people that have died in the caves are haunting you, distracting you from your mission! Make a charisma saving throw to calm yourself and keep the intrusive thoughts at bay. The ghosts are just lonely and want company, it's not really their fault. 

Big Battle/Climax: Two of Pentacles Inverted

Doing multiple things, a need to focus… a beholder casts the mirror image spell, or the room has a gate letting in water, so you need to keep cranking the wheel to stop the room from filling with water, but you also need to solve this tile puzzle! 

Reward, Revelation or Twist: Page of Wands

Exploration and Discovery. You uncover a massive vault, and more importantly, a magical map to other caches like this one all across the continent!


Conclusion

I had a blast with my Tarot Dungeon, and if you are having thinking of ideas for your story beats, I would recommend trying a tarot deck. Interpreting the cards in a these contexts sparks my imagination and gets me thinking in cool directions. Try it!



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