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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Robtheman" data-source="post: 5446706" data-attributes="member: 89625">My philosophy towards playing a new RPG campaign starts with story, and ends with mechanics. Thus the cards are not going to be included in every game I run. Nor will a Critical Hits/Fumble deck. They will end up in some and they will be a welcome inclusion that enhances the game experience for players and GM alike.My approach to starting a game:1. What archetype are we playing? Pick a system (and maybe a setting) to match.2. What themes do we want to explore? Develop a campaign overview or outline.3. How serious is the game? Beer and Pretzels Delves gets certain mechanics and character development rules. Serious story and heavy role playing gets others.4. Pick the mechanics that help make that world tangible and enhance the immersion of the characters while providing exciting and various ways to resolve conflict.I imagine many GMs share some of this approach. I'd never say to myself "lets use these cards" or "let's incorporate that new mechanic" as a foundation for a great RPG campaign. They will be on my list though.Two good applications come to mind.Thematically the Fortune Cards fit in to a mystical setting where cultures hold the spirits in high regard - or fear them. Superstition abounds, allowing players to RP the fortunes and connect them to the setting. Fortunes would be drawn for each day. One card for each PC and 3 for the GM (a'la bennies). A crit allows you to draw another card. The fortunes are smiling on you. The deck would provide marginal benefits, with occasional bombs (awesome cards).Conversely, a hack and slash campaign can benefit as well. Nothing sucks more than sitting there with at-wills and wracking brain for a new way to describe your Overwhelming Strike or Tide of Iron. Now the Fortune Cards offer a new thing for the tactical table to consider. Will Max use his +2 to hit this round? If he does can he use it to knock the Formorian prone so I can have combat advantage too? The deck would also have more swing to it. The fortunes might go off randomly during an encounter. A terrible fortune might bring you close to death in the wrong situation. Locations might have an associated fortune and NPCs. If the PCs fulfill the NPCs fortune they can receive a reward. Fortune tellers can become an important theme in the game - offering an RP opportunity. Rituals to manipulate your fortune or gain insight into others. Fortune Artifacts perhaps - Deck of Many Fortunes?The cards aren't going to apply universally. Consider the game and then consider the tools WotC and other creative enthusiasts have created for us. Some are going to fit, others will not.I plan on incorporating these cards and creating many of my own using some of the tools created by the Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh community. You can use Magic Set Editor 2, for example, to create your own cards. I'll be creating Flip Cards (stays on the board and flips to become more powerful when a condition is met), Dual-Fortune cards (one for the GM, one for the Players), Bad Fortunes (no risk, no reward). Some games will require them in combat. Some games will offer them as a choice, with greater swing in the effects granted by the included cards.I like it. I won't always use it. Hopefully enough will see it in a similar light.</blockquote>

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