Encounter Building

Oracle Deck
O NE D ECK TO R ULE T HEM A LL

Presented by Play Every Role .

©2020 Eric Bright .
Table of Contents
Purpose………………………………………………………………………………….……2
Anatomy of Cards…………………………………………………………………………....…3
Value and Suit…………………………………………………………………………4
Meaning and Reversed Meaning…………………..……………………………………..6
Location Specific Information…………………………………………………………...6
Dice Rolls……………………………………………………………………………..9
Oracle Answers……………………………………………………………………….10
Descriptions………………………………………………………………………….14
Uses of the Cards……………………………………………………………………………..20
Ask questions as if to a GM…………………………………………………………….20
Yes/No……………………………………………………………………….20
Asking Non-Binary Questions………………………………………………….21
Quick Impressions……………………………………………………………21
Create an NPC………………………………………………………………………..22
NPC Conversations…………………………………………………………………....23
Random Events……………………………………………………………………….23

1
Purpose
The Encounter Building Oracle Deck is meant to replace (or at least help) the Game Master in any
fantasy-based role-playing game by providing arbitration and creative prompts in any adventure you
can imagine. The system-less design of this deck allows it to be used with your RPG of choice and lets
the cards be idea generators rather than specific rules of play. In a group setting, the cards won’t
replace all the planning completely, but the GM (or players who want to play without a GM) may only
need come up with the general story of the session, have level-appropriate stat blocks in mind, and
bring the player characters. These cards can do the rest with a little help from your imagination. This
means the GM can play as a PC, the group can play without a GM after agreeing upon the general
storyline, or you could solo-play your favorite RPG.
This deck is a refinement of my previous Encounter Building Decks (Decisions, Locations, Combat,
Traps) down to a single deck. While I love my previous decks, I realize that for many people, less is
more. I attempted to trim down those decks to the most vital information that could drive continuous
play with specific enough prompts to spark your imagination but vague enough to allow you to re-use
the deck over and over again.

A Word on Tarot Cards

I had read about many people using traditional Tarot cards as an oracle deck for RPGs or to help get
through writer's block, and I wanted to see if I could piggy-back on that concept. To that end, this 100-
card deck references the original 78 cards found in a traditional Tarot card deck (22 major arcana, 14
cups, 14 pentacles, 14 swords, 14 wands) but also adds in 22 more cards that I'm calling the supreme
arcana cards to get to the 100 cards.
Please note that this deck is in no way meant to replace a traditional Tarot deck, make a statement
about Tarot, or even be a Tarot deck at all. I'm simply using the traditional meanings of those cards to
provide more descriptive text to help spark your imagination. I am neither a Tarot practitioner nor
historian, so please forgive any slight variations I may have taken in creating this deck. My only goal is
that these cards would inspire really fun stories at your gaming table.

On Shuffling
To make sure that reversed meaning can occur, you should shuffle by first cutting the deck in half.
Rotate one half of the cards 180 degrees, then shuffle. Since the card backs are symmetrical, you
should not be able to tell if the next card drawn will be reversed or not.

2
The Anatomy of a Card
The best way to learn how to use this oracle deck is to know what information is available. I'll break it
down into its parts and then describe how you can use each part.

A A: Value & Suit

B: Meaning B

D: Location Specific D
Information

F: Oracle Answers
F

E: Dice Rolls E G G: Descriptions

C C: Reverse Meaning

3
A: Value and Suit
Like a regular poker deck, each card in this oracle deck has a value and a suit as follows:

Symbol Suit Possible Values

0 – 21 (Each card
Major Arcana
has a unique name)
2 – 10, Page, Knight,
Cups
Queen, King, Ace
2 – 10, Page, Knight,
Wands
Queen, King, Ace
2 – 10, Page, Knight,
Pentacles
Queen, King, Ace
2 – 10, Page, Knight,
Swords
Queen, King, Ace
1 – 22 (Each card
Supreme Arcana
has a unique name)
ALL ICONS USED WITH PERMISSION FROM GAME-ICONS.NET
BY DELAPOUITE, LORC, AND SKOLL UNDER CC BY 3.0 LICENSE.

Major and Supreme Arcana Names

Each major arcana card has the name that is normally associated with it through traditional Tarot cards
while each supreme arcana card gives a generic god or goddess commonly found in a fantasy world.
You might use these names to get a general impression of a person or situation.
For example, perhaps you meet an NPC and want to know a little about their character. Drawing from
the oracle deck until you get a major or supreme arcana card yields the major arcana card of value 21
which is named, "The World." You could use this to describe the NPC as a world traveler who is
familiar with many customs and cultures. This could make the NPC fun and perhaps useful to have
around. Alternately, you might interpret the card to mean the NPC is a person so central to the main
plot of your story that the fate of the world rests on them. They are the Berem Everman (from the
Dragonlance novels) of your story. Go with your gut. Your first impression when seeing the card is
often best to keep the story moving.

4
Suit as Elements
You might use the suits to represent different elements which could tell you some information about
an NPCs bearing, a magical effect, or a trap such as the following:

Symbol Element NPC Bearing Magic Effect/Trap

Shadow Deceptive, cagey Area of darkness, hidden
Fire Angry, accusatory Fire damage, area effect
Wind Fickle, unreliable Gust of wind, falling
Earth Dependable, strong Difficult terrain, ceiling collapse
Water Quick-witted, connected Freezing, flooding
Light Perceptive, wise Blinding, glowing

Matching Suits/Values for Random Events

Any time you need to draw multiple cards such as getting descriptive words to describe an NPC or to
get answers to a question, you can see if a Random Event happens by checking to see if either the suits
or the values match. Before drawing, you'll need to decide whether your player characters (PCs) are
mainly in-control of the situation or if things are spinning out of control.
If the PCs are mainly in control, then getting two cards of the same value in a row will trigger a random
event. (More on how to decide what the random event is later.) This is roughly a 4% chance at least
near the beginning of the deck draw.
If the situation the PCs are in is mainly getting out of their control, then getting two cards of the same
suit in a row will trigger a random event. This is roughly a 16% chance at least near the beginning of
the deck draw.

5
B & C: Meaning and Reversed
Each card lists a close approximation to the traditional meaning of the card in the Tarot system. For
the supreme arcana, which are brand new, I looked at gods and goddesses from many different
cultures and gave the meanings of those cards loosely based on them.
If a card is drawn right side up, the regular meaning. If a card is drawn upside down, the reverse
meaning applies. You can make a general rule of thumb that for whatever question you're asking, a
right side up is generally positive and upside down is generally negative for the PCs.
Traditional Tarot Reading
If you want to use a traditional Tarot card reading to describe a situation or NPC, you may have some
trouble because of the lack of symbolism (art) on my cards and the additional suit. If you really want
to use the meaning and the reversed meaning, you could try to shoe-horn these cards in as long as
you're comfortable with that. However, the deck really isn't designed to do this.

D: Location Specific Info

Each suit in the oracle deck will give you different information in the Location Specific Info section
according to the following chart:

Suit Information
Quest Seeds
Beings to Encounter
Events Occuring
Locations of Interest
Objects of Interest
Rewards/Curses

6
Furthermore, the information contained in this section breaks down by what sort of environment the
PCs are in as follows:

Symbol Environment
Underground/Cave
Wasteland/Desert
Forest/Jungle
Small Town
Large City/Castle

This means if you want a quest the PCs can go on while in a forest, draw cards until you get a major

arcana card ( ) and then look at the forest entry ( ).

Supreme Arcana: Rewards/Curses
The exception to this split by location is the rewards and curses on the supreme arcana cards. The
rewards and curses are not split into separate location but instead use the following symbols:

Symbol Meaning
Treasure to Find
Narrative Reward
Curse

On the supreme arcana cards, you get two ideas for treasure. The first one is meant to be a named
artifact of great renown like the Shield of Five Trees. As this is only meant to be an imagination starter
and system agnostic, I don't attempt to give the artifact stats or ability. That's for you to design while
fitting into your game world and game system. The second treasure is meant to be an unusual or
curious magic item like a movable and persistent hole. In my mind, this was like the old Bugs Bunny
cartoons where you slap the Acme hole on the wall, walk through, and then peel the hole off again.
However, it could actually be a set of holes that the PCs could use like portals in the game Portal.

7
Narrative rewards are designed to be a way that you can reward PCs in a way that allows more role-play
and is not about getting more powerful or more money. For example, being forgiven of a past crime,
having a personal encounter with a deity, being given an enviable token of affection, or getting three
questions truthfully answered by the GM. Hopefully these get the gears turning in ways that allow
rewards to be more creative and narratively satisfying.
The curses are named like the Curse of the Burning Eye or the Curse of Perpetual Rains which are left
for the GM to interpret in a way that fits into your game. For example, the Curse of Perpetual Rain
could mean it is literally always raining around that PC causing floods and havoc wherever they go.
Alternately, it could actually tie to the saying, "When it rains, it pours" and refer to a never-ending
string of bad luck for the PC.
NPC Conversation Topic

At the bottom of the Location Specific Information section is the symbol which gives you a
narratively significant conversation topic that an NPC can talk to the PCs about. For example, an NPC
may know about a connection between the enemy and a benefactor to the party. Think of the first
connection that comes to mind. Is it logical? Would it fit? Then use it. If you need more details on
how the enemy and the benefactor would be connected, draw another oracle card and use the
meaning or reversed meaning from parts B & C to tell you more. Alternately, you can create a Verb-
Noun Combo as described in part G.

8
E: Dice Rolls
In the section of the card, you will find random rolls on each of the major RPG dice: D4, D6, D8, D10,
D12, D20, and D100. Each die has its own icon as follows:

Icon Die
D4

D6

D8

D10

D12

D20

D100

To make sure that the probability distribution is correction, there will be entries of -- for some of the
dice if they are not a factor of 100. For example, on the D6, I repeated the values one through six 16
times, but that's only 96. The other four are the double dash symbol. When you see that symbol,
consider it a reroll and simply draw the next card for the die value.

9
F: Oracle Answers
There are three basic types of questions you can ask using the oracle section of the card: Yes/No,
Relative Difficulty, and Direction.
Yes/No Questions
The heart of any GM-emulating oracle is the basic Yes/No question device. Want to know if the door is
trapped? Wonder if the king really trusts you? Concerned whether or not the cultists captured the
barmaid? Simply ask your question, think of the likelihood of the answer being yes, and flip a card.
Look at the answer next to the symbol representing the likelihood you were thinking about.
The five categories of likelihood are as follows:

Symbol Likelihood
For sure – Use this if you think the answer to
your question surely must be yes.
Likely – Use this if you think the answer to your
question is probably yes.
Even – Use this if you're not sure or you think the
answer to your question has even odds of being yes.
Unlikely – Use this if you think the answer to
your question is unlikely to be yes.
No Way – Use this if you think the answer to your
question surely cannot be yes.

Each time you need to progress your storyline, ask a yes/no question and pick the appropriate category
of likelihood to see what’s going on. While this doesn’t function as explicitly as a GM in cases like having
a conversation with an NPC, it does allow you to get the quick gist of the what the NPC is thinking and
then truly role-play that idea out with the players.

10
There are six possible answers to the yes/no question within each category of likelihood. They are:

1. No!– This answer not only means No, but the answer actually goes further in the direction of
No. For example, you may ask a question such as, “Does the king agree to our plan to save the
queen?” The answer of No might mean he rejects your proposal, but the answer of No! might
mean not only is your proposal rejected, but the king is incensed that you would suggest it and kicks
you out of the castle. He thinks you would recklessly endanger the queen and no longer trusts you.
That’s a lot of detail you can pull out of a small answer! Just use whatever idea first comes to mind.

2. No – This is your straight up No. You can handle this.

3. No? – This is No with a glimmer of hope for Yes. Take the above example. In this case, a No?
answer might mean your proposal is rejected, but there are some components of the plan he likes.
The king instead suggests some modifications to the plan. He won’t approve a full-frontal assault to
get the queen back, but he is willing to send in a team of experts to get the job done with minimal
causalities.

4. Yes? – This is Yes with a little bit of No thrown in for good measure. With this answer your plan
for a full-frontal assault is approved, but the king insists you take along a member of his personal guard
to represent his interests in the matter and ensure the queen’s safety. He expects a meeting between
the evil archduke and his personal guardsman before the assault may commence.

5. Yes – Straight up Yes. Plan approved. Go do it.

6. Yes! – This is Yes with a little extra umph in the Yes direction. Your plan is not only approved,
but the king is so excited that he will furnish you with some extra goodies to help the plan go off
without a hitch. The king even plans to lead the charge himself against the archduke’s fortress.

Here’s another example. Suppose you are exploring an abandoned castle that you know has an evil
vampire living inside. You get to the castle and move into the entryway. First, you want to know if the
room is lit. Quickly thinking about it, you decide it is Unlikely that the room is lit. It’s only the
entryway after all; plus, it’s an abandoned castle. You draw a card and look at the Unlikely symbol
in the oracle section to see that, Yes, indeed the room is lit. Unusual. Now play that out. Why would
the room be lit? Maybe a sickly green light permeates the area. Where is the light coming from and who
lit it?

11
You next ask the question, “Are there vampires in this room?” thinking that is the most logical source of
a sickly green light. You think the odds are For sure because the green light is definitely not a good
sign. You draw another card. (For the sake of this exercise, let’s use the previously shown card again.)
Looking at the For sure section you see the answer No! to your question. This means no, there
are no vampires in the room. The “!” portion of the answer means that there is something in the answer
to your question even further in the direction of “no.” Thinking of the first thing that comes to mind, it
seems that not only are vampires not here, but someone else is in this room who is most assuredly not
a vampire. He’s actually a vampire hunter and the green light is an artifact that he uses to locate undead.
You’ve just found a new NPC using the Encounter Building Oracle Deck!
Special Note: It is easy to cheat the system by asking cheater questions such as, “Do I cheat and find a
cheater’s vorpal sword lying on the road because I’m a cheater?” Even with a No Way likelihood,
you’ll eventually get a Yes. The best advice I have ever been given came from my dad who sat me down
one day and after a hesitant look at the ceiling, sighed and said, “Eric, don’t be stupid.” I share that
advice with you now.
The probability distribution within the cards are as follows:

For Sure Likely Even Unlikely No Way

Yes! 30% 20% 10% 5% 1%
Yes 40% 30% 20% 10% 3%
Yes? 20% 20% 20% 15% 6%
No? 6% 15% 20% 20% 20%
No 3% 10% 20% 30% 40%
No! 1% 5% 10% 20% 30%

12
Relative Difficulty
The symbol is for when you need the relative difficulty or level of expertise of something as
compared to the PCs. The options are evenly distributed (20% chance each) between: +2, +1, 0, –1,
and –2 representing at least the following options:

NPC Power Enemy Difficulty Importance

Value
Level Power Level of Skill of a Clue
Much less Can do it in This is meaningless
–2 Trivial fight
powerful your sleep to the plot
Slightly less This is only
–1 Easy fight Fairly simple to do
powerful tangential related
Remember your
On par with This clue may confirm an
+0 Moderate fight training and you'll
the PCs already held suspicion
be fine
Slightly more Maybe you can do it This clue is important
+1 Difficult fight
powerful if you take your time to the quest
This would take time, Not only is this clue
Much more
+2 Very hard fight good luck, and important but also leads
powerful
flawless execution in a new direction

Direction
The symbol is for when you need a random direction between the options: N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W,
and NW. There is a 13% chance for each cardinal direction and a 12% of a diagonal direction.

13
G: Descriptions
If the meaning/reversed meaning of the card does not give you enough information in a more
subjective type question, you can get more descriptions in this section in three ways: Random Event
Type, Gain/Loss Type, or Verb-Noun Combo.
Random Event Type
When a random event occurs (two consecutive cards of the same value or of the same suit), this will
give you the type of event that it is. The 20 options are:

Random Meaning
Event
NPC Pos Something positive happens to an NPC.
NPC Neg Something negative happens to an NPC.
NPC Info The NPC has some pertinent information about the quest that the PCs are currently
undertaking. This could be a clue, a map, a contact, etc.
NPC Secret A surprising secret about an NPC is revealed that may change either how the PCs feel
about the NPC or how the PCs can accomplish their current quest.
New NPC The PCs meet a new NPC.
PC Pos Something positive happens to a PC.
PC Neg Something negative happens to a PC.
Help Short Something happens to help the PCs in a short-term goal such as finding the hidden
passage to the throne room, locating a handy place to stick that grappling hook, or
finding tracks in the wilderness.
Hurt Short Something happens to hinder the PCs in a short-term goal such as springing a trap in
the throne room, having the grappling hook come loose, or getting lost in the
wilderness.
End Short Something happens to abruptly end a short-term goal such as the big bad guy fleeing
the throne room with what you needed, a passageway collapsing, or the wilderness
being scorched by a dragon.

14
 Help Long Something happens to help the PCs with a long-term goal such as finding the
location of a crucial artifact, receiving word that the undecided kingdom will join
them as an ally, or discovering the Achilles heel of the big bad guy.
Hurt Long Something happens to hinder the PCs with a long-term goal such as finding out that
a crucial artifact has been stolen, receiving word that the undecided kingdom will
join the bad guy, or discovering that the big bad guy is no longer vulnerable to a
specific attack.
End Long This is storyline changing as it abruptly ends a long-term goal such as finding out a
crucial artifact has been destroyed, the undecided kingdom has just been burnt to
the ground, or that the big bad guy's plan can no longer be stopped, only contained.
New Goal The PCs find out about another crucial thing they need to accomplish in their over-
arching quest.
Far Off News The PCs receive news about a distant place that seems to be unrelated to their
current quest. This is a way for GMs to introduce plot twists.
Villain Info The PCs receive some information directly from the big bad guy which could a
gloating monologue about their plan, some misinformation to throw the PCs off the
scent, or the introduction of a distraction that the PCs will have to deal with.
Villain Secret The PCs discover a previously unknown secret about the big bad guy which could be
valuable intel or disheartening news.
Setting Something in the environment abruptly changes such as a flash flood, tornado,
Change stampede, rockslide, cave-in, earthquake, severe storm, volcano eruption, etc.
Attack The PCs are ambushed by the most logical enemy.
Vision/Omen The PCs receive a vision or omen about the future. This could come from a divine
source, an NPC, time travel gone wrong, or anything else that fits with the fiction.

When dealing with NPC Pos/Neg, NPC Info, or NPC Secret, the particular NPC this refers to should
ideally be with the party. If not, it could refer to an NPC someplace else, but the PCs should then be
able to find out about whatever happened relatively soon.

15
In general, when interpreting random events, use the first thing that comes to mind that fits with your
fiction. Alternately, put together a Verb-Noun combo or use the Gain/Loss Type for more details about
the circumstances.
Gain/Loss Type
When you need some generic ideas for a reward, the consequences of a failed action, or what is at
stake during a random event, the Gain/Loss type can be a quick guide for you. The 10 possible
outcomes are as follows:

Type Example Gain Example Loss

Physical Gaining a new fighting maneuver,
increasing the strength of the offhand,
gaining the ability to jump better when
starting from flat-footed
Mental Getting a bonus when solving puzzles,
gaining insight into politics, knowing the
course of action most likely to succeed
Emotional Having a person who has always been
against you change their mind about
you, being comforted in your time of
need, gaining a bonus when trying to
interpret other people's body language
Spiritual Receiving a vision from your deity,
gaining help from a church, getting
positive affirmation of your beliefs
Financial Getting mounds of gold, finding an NPC
broker you can trust for good deals,
gaining land and a stronghold
Ability Finding a new way to use a spell, gaining
a bonus to an ability you already have,
learning a new way to fight
Authority Gaining a follower, getting a title and
nobility, being placed on the town
council
Getting a scar, losing a finger, having a
permanent limp
Temporarily losing the ability to speak a
language, taking a negative when trying
to figure out a problem,
Losing the support of a loved one, taking
a negative when trying to read people,
losing a family heirloom
Losing connection with your deity, being
excommunicated from the church,
discovering corruption in your beliefs
Having gold stolen, losing an NPC who
gave you good deals, having a
stronghold burn down
Having an ability diminished or
temporarily blocked, finding out an
ability is ineffective against a specific
enemy, being cursed such that an ability
will recharge more slowly
Losing the trust of a commander, losing
a title or nobility, being stripped of
citizenship in a kingdom

16
 Material Gaining access to a rock quarry for
building purposes, getting food for
starving refugees, finding a deposit of
mystical ore that can be used to forge
legendary weapons
Influence Getting to serve as an advisor, having a
song written about you that increases
your reputation with the locals, having
the ear of a powerful patron
Opportunity Finding a map to a fabled treasure,
gaining access to horses which will get
you to the capital in time for the
tournament, getting a chance to prove
your worth to a powerful organization
Finding the town granary burned down,
having a valuable spell component
stolen, discovering your armor has
rusted all the way through
Being ridiculed in the eyes of the
masses, having the king no longer trust
you with secrets, losing the ability to call
in a favor
Someone else beat you to the treasure,
the wedding you were supposed to crash
never happened because they wed in
secret, having a powerful organization
turn you down

If you want more specific treasure rewards, narrative rewards, or curses, remember to use the Location
Specific Information in part D. This Gain/Loss Type is just for a quick idea.
Verb-Noun Combo
Anytime you need more details to flesh out a situation, whether it’s for a yes/no question, for a random
event, or you just need some more direction, you can create a Verb-Noun combo that will give you a
good idea of how to add more details in this situation. To do this, draw one card and turn it right side
up and a second card turned upside down. Line the two cards up such that the verb on the first card is
directly followed by the noun on the second card like on the following page:

17
 For example, remember meeting the vampire hunter back in
the abandoned castle with the green light? Let’s see if there
are some more details we can find out about him. On this
card combination we see "Expose Desertion". Maybe this
means that the vampire hunter is actually there to tell you
that an NPC in your party
is a deserter or that the
vampire in this castle used
to be a servant of the
kingdom.
If that combo doesn't
make sense for you,
there's a back-up one
below it that is upside
down. In this case, it is
"Produce Loss" which
could mean that the
vampire hunter is not
there to kill the vampire
but to make it feel the loss
that he felt when the
vampire attacked his
family.

This verb-noun combo is perhaps the best way to get further information about any non-yes/no type
question outside of the straight meaning or reversed meaning of the card.

18
Two-Card Method for Random Events and Stakes
Notice that this two-card method can also be used to match up a Random Event with a Gain/Loss which
can give you an idea of what is at stake during a random event. For example, in the cards above we
have the random event of NPC Neg and the gain/loss type of Financial. That could tell us that an
NPC the party cares about is about to lose a lot of money.
Again, there is a back-up that is upside which you can use if it fits better. In this case it is a random
event of Far Off News with the gain/loss type of Mental. Since it's the upside down one, it's
probably negative news. Perhaps it means that a kingdom formerly uninvolved in the major conflict is
now joining the fray by casting a confusion spell affecting the spy network of the party's kingdom.

19
Using the Cards
You can use the cards in way that you see fit, but here are few ways to use the cards that fit the design
goals.

Ask Questions as if Asking a GM

GM emulation is really the heart of the Encounter Building Oracle Deck. The deck is designed to give
PCs meaningful and interesting encounters by asking questions, getting general answers and seeds that
spur your imagination to more specific answers.
Asking Yes/No Questions
As described in the oracle section (F), to ask a yes/no question, first think about the likelihood of the
answer being yes. Then draw a card and look for the corresponding answer. Here are a couple more
examples:
 Let's say a goblin captured the miller's son and took him back to the goblin lair. Does the ranger PC
find the goblin's tracks in the woods? The weather has not been rainy, and the goblin makes it home in
the woods, so it's familiar with the area meaning the likelihood could be No Way. However, the
ranger is good at tracking so let's bump that up to Unlikely. Drawing a card, we look at the symbol
and see the answer of No? meaning the ranger doesn't find the tracks, but they do find
something. The first thing that pops into my mind is that the ranger found something that the miller's
son dropped: a button. Smart kid! He left a bread crumb trail of buttons so somebody could find him.
While finding a single button in the woods every several hundred feet is very difficult, just finding two
of them could lead the PCs in the general direction of the goblin lair. Time for another search!

 Let's say a group of PCs are exploring a dungeon without anybody who is good at finding and
disarming traps. Do they trigger a trap? I might split this question into two. First, let's say it is
Likely that the PCs would trigger a trap. I'll draw a card and look at the symbol to find the
answer of Yes. That means they will definitely trigger a trap if it's there. Next, I'll ask if there is a trap
in this room. I have no idea how likely that is, so I'll use Even odds. I draw another card and look at
the symbol and see an answer of No. Whew! The PCs would have triggered a trap bumbling
their way through the dungeon, but luckily there was no trap in the first place.

20
Asking Non-Binary Questions
You might need more information than a simple yes/no answer. That's when you can use the Verb-
Noun Combo by putting two cards together. Here are a couple of examples:
 Let's say the ranger is able to find the goblin lair. We might ask, what does the lair look like? Drawing
two cards, I get the Verb-Noun Combo of Disrupt Offense. While not all combos would have fit so well,
this one is perfect. I can immediately decide that the goblins have fortified their lair with a maze of
difficult terrain and defensive measures that makes it hard to attack the lair directly. The PCs could
slog through this or try to find a hidden entrance which will be easier to infiltrate.

 Let's say the PCs exploring the dungeon make it the boss lair. What does it look like? Drawing two
cards, I get the Leave Devotion. I interpret this to mean that the big bad boss has set up a collection
altar where creatures come to pay tribute. It's dragon lazily sitting on its hoard while a string of
sycophantic kobolds bring in trinkets, baubles, and treasure to lay at the dragon's feet.

Quick Impression
Sometimes you just want a quick impression about something. For this, you might use the basic
meaning or reversed meaning on the drawn card. Here are a few examples:
 Let's say the ranger's party has infiltrated the goblin lair in a sneaky fashion and finds the goblin king
gloating over the miller's son. What is the goblin king like? I'll draw a card and get the Queen of Cups
right side up with the meaning Compassion, Calm, Comfort. It seems the goblins are not as evil as we first
thought. I interpret this to mean the miller's son is not tied up or being mistreated in any way.
Instead, the goblin king is quietly talking with the miller's son who seems intently listening. Perhaps
the goblins captured him because they knew he would be the only one to listen to their side of the
story without attacking first. In reality, the goblins need aid and hope the miller's son can help them
secure that aid.

 Let's say the PCs in the dragon lair have scared off the kobolds. How does the dragon react? I draw a
card and find it upside down giving me the reversed meaning of Lack of Control, Lack of Direction, Aggression,
Opposition. This dragon is mad and starts flailing wilding at the PCs causing damage to the chamber
itself in the process.

 Let's say the PCs are exploring a barren wasteland and come across a crumbling temple. Which god
was this a temple to? I'll draw cards until I get to a supreme arcana card that gives me the God of Secrets
right side up. The PCs can expect a lot of traps, hidden rooms, and secret passages in this temple.
While my world didn't have an explicitly defined god of secrets, we can interpret this as a forgotten
deity whose power has waned in the world but may be on the rise again.

21
Creating an NPC
To create an NPC, you could draw cards until you get a major or supreme arcana as the big idea of the
character and then draw three more cards to fit their meaning/reversed meaning together to get more
nuanced characteristics for that NPC. Here's an example:

The main card is the right side up Justice. I'll interpret that as being
a paladin. Then I draw three cards for more info getting the upside-
down Page of Swords, right side up 10 of Pentacles, and upside
down 6 of Cups. Looking at the meanings, I'll interpret this as a
fallen paladin who broke his vows (deception) and now is striking
out on his own (leaving home) with only his father's sword
(inheritance) on his side reminding him of his loss.

22
NPC Conversations
While we discussed the card mechanic symbol for what specific plot-based information an NPC can
give the PCs, sometimes you just need a general impression for how the conversation is going or even
what the NPC wants to talk about. You can use the meaning/reversed meaning for this. Here are a
couple of examples:
 The PCs may be talking to the queen about a plan to stop the invading army and draw the 5 of Swords
right side up which lists the meaning as Unbridled Ambition, Win at All Costs, Sneakiness. This may be
interpreted to mean the queen is obsessed with stopping this army, possibly to the detriment of her
subjects. This can in turn guide you as you role-play out what the queen will say to the PCs.

 The PCs might walk into a town to investigate a local lord and visit the local pub. What sort of
conversations do they hear? Drawing a card, I get the upside-down Knight of Pentacles which has the
reversed meaning of Laziness, Obsessiveness, Work without Reward. I'll interpret this to mean the people are
complaining about all the hard work they've had to do in the mine lately. They're being worked
overtime digging deeper and deeper but not getting paid any more. Curious. The PCs now wonder
what the local lord is after down in the mines. Time to explore and find out!

Random Events
Don't forget about the mechanic that triggers random events: if the PCs are generally in control of the
situation, drawing two of the same value cards in a row will trigger a random event. If the PCs are
generally not in control of the situation, drawing two of the same suit cards in a row trigger a random
event. Here is an example:
 The PCs decide to explore the mine but first ask a citizen in the pub if they've noticed anything unusual
in the mines. Drawing a card, I get the 7 of Pentacles and check the Even odds symbol to see
Yes? as an answer to that question. I interpret that to mean that they think they've seen something
unusual but aren't sure. I'll need to draw a Verb-Noun to learn more about that. Drawing two cards, I
get the 7 of Cups and Goddess of Life giving me the Verb-Noun Combo of Defeat Rebellion. I interpret
that to mean the miner said he found the favorite pickaxe of another miner thrown to the side. That
other miner would never leave the pickaxe behind plus he'd complained to the mine boss saying he
refused to work such long hours. Now that miner hasn't been seen for the last couple of days. (He
was rebelling and was defeated.) However, since the PCs are mainly in control right now, drawing the
7 of Cups after the 7 of Pentacles triggers a random event. I draw two more card and find a Random
Event of PC Pos with the Gain/Loss Type of Authority. It seems the mine boss just walked into
the pub and wants to hire the PCs as guards to keep the miners at work.

23
Closing Thoughts
I definitely agree with the RPG Academy's assertion that in role-playing games, "If you're having fun,
you're doing it right." There is no absolutely right or wrong way to use this Encounter Building Oracle
Deck. Whatever works for you and your games, you should do.
However, I would ask that if you find some interesting ways to use the deck that I haven't mentioned,
please drop me an email at ericbright2002@yahoo.com so I can add it to this rulebook for other
players to enjoy.
Thanks for checking out the Encounter Building Oracle Deck. May your games be ever entertaining
and inspiring!

24