Ravenloft Tarokka Deck
Authors:Carla Hollar, drawings by Talon
Type: Tarot deck
Format: Deck of cards, 66 cards
Release date: October 2003
Other notes: The package announce 68 cards, but in fact there are only 66.
Summary of content:
40 minor Arcana cards (from one to ten, in Coins, Glyphs, Stars, Swords)
14 major Arcana cards (the dark master, the Horseman, etc .)
12 cards for tarokka reading tools, meaning of cards, etc.
Reviews:
Jaagup Irve
I got my deck last week and I must say that I am most satisfied. Bad things
first. On the downside the cards are a tad too yellow to my taste and their
coating might peel off through extensive use. The pictures are mostly marvellous, some very good and a few have some little nitpicks that I could relate to the artist's deadline. For example - the Fortuna Magna has a few cards whose background features some quite simple flowers - ones that Talon would never usually allow onto his pictures. I would also like to whine that the Fortuna Magna
has their names written on too ugly banners that seem a bit out of place.
That said the deck is still superb in its design, the cards are quite big, (about 4mm smaller than their pictures in the RLDMG) and the booklet in the form of cards is informative and also has a few ideas. The backsides of the cards are quite neutral looking, they only have a copyright notice by the Wizards of the Coast printed unto them but it can help you in getting reversed and unreversed readings so I find it to be a welcome thing. So no red Ravenloft logo this time. There are no colours used exept a few very welcome touches. Every card has its own flavour due to the suit and a few cards feature touch ups to brighten the flames of the torches and some spell effects. I am glad that Talon is still among the living after jumping over such a shadow of himself. He has also credited Stephen Fabian with some "After Fabian" cards which are redraws of the original Tarokka.
Note that some cards have changed since the original Tarokka deck. Some have only changed names, but Esper has been replaced with a wildcard of Hero (consider the fool in a regular Tarot deck). Also, some things depicted have changed. Guildsman now depicts a troupe of travelling musicians instead of merchants at the table. I find the changes reasonable since they often fix things that I felt broken in the original Tarokka.
A Solid five.
Joël Paquin
Nothing more to add to Irve's review: great accessory! Get one copy. Excellent companion accessory to the RL DMG. Talon Dunning's drawings are quite very good and well express the concept of each card.
4.5 on 5!
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