But even better are cards that do other things. Sure, those might be able to be put on a chart and determined with randomizers, but cards quicken that at the least, and enhance it when used in card-type ways.
TORG Eternity uses three different decks of cards in three different ways.
The first and easiest to discuss is the Drama deck, which handles encounter flow. When in combat or other encounter mode, the GM draws and reveals a card from the Drama deck at the start of each round. This card determines whether the Heroes or Villains have initiative this round as well as any effects on either side. An encounter scene can be either Standard or Dramatic – in a Standard scene these things are weighted to favor the Heroes and in a Dramatic scene the Villains. Each card also has a section for Dramatic Skill Resolution, which is a mechanic used to handle multi-stage problems as well as chases. There's also one or more Approved Actions, which determine which actions will let a player draw more Destiny cards (see below). Finally, each card of course has an appropriate title like "We got them on the run!" or "I have you now!"
The second is the Cosm deck – or technically, cosm decks. TORG is a multigenre game where each genre has its own cosm deck that reinforces that genre. When played, they generally have some moderate positive effect or a negative effect which also gives players Possibilities (a metacurrency which can be used to improve rolls or reduce damage). For example, in the Living Land (stone age tech, dense jungles and other difficult environments, high levels of spirituality, covered in dense mist) you might have
The Law of Life which lets you find a place to rest and recover, or
The Deep Mist which makes the party get lost and take much longer to reach their destination but gives them 1-3 possibilities each depending on how much trouble that causes. In each act, each player gets one Cosm card, which can be played at any time. Should you switch Cosms during play, any unplayed Cosm cards are swapped for cards from the new Cosm.
The third and final is the Destiny Deck. Destiny cards are generally unequivocal bonuses. Some give a general bonus to doing things, some give a bonus to doing certain types of things, some give you rerolls, etc. There are also some that are more "special" like
Idea which gets you a hint from the GM, or
Nemesis which turns an NPC into a nemesis who has it out for you in particular. There are also a bunch that deal with the deck itself like
Rally which lets the PCs discard as many cards as they want and refill, or
Seize Initiative which either lets you keep the current initiative card for one more round or lets you flip over a new one if you're not happy with the one that's been drawn. Out of combat/encounter mode these can be played freely from your hand, but in combat you must put them in your "pool" in front of you first, and you can only put one card into your pool per round. The effect of this is that a fight often seems to have the odds arrayed against the Heroes, but with some bravery and derring-do (read: clever card-play once there are enough cards to do fun things with) the Heroes can turn the tide and win the day.
