The Major and Minor Arcana

The GM uses the major arcana cards except the Fool. The major arcana are numbered and have evocative names like Magician [I] and Wheel of Fortune [X]. Therefore, the GM’s deck has 21 cards, numbered I–XXI.

Players use the minor arcana cards plus the Fool, which is borrowed from the major arcana deck. There are fifty-six minor arcana cards—reminiscent of a more traditional deck of poker cards—with four suits of fourteen cards. The four suits are Swords, Pentacles, Cups, and Wands. The minor arcana are numbered I–X, and each suit has four face cards.

Each card in the minor arcana has a value. A card’s value equals the number shown on the card. The Fool has the value of 0. Aces have a value of 1. The face cards have the following numeric values:

• Page - 11
• Knight - 12
• Queen - 13
• King - 14

At the beginning of each session, separate the minor and major arcana into the two separate decks and shuffle each. Place the major arcana deck near the GM. Place the minor arcana deck (with the Fool shuffled into it) in a central location where all the players can reach it.

There are two discard piles—one for minor arcana and one for major arcana. As cards are played, place them into the appropriate discard pile. (Occasionally, certain rules will call for you to look at the top card of a discard pile, so it can be important to note this.)

Whenever the Fool is drawn, both decks are reshuffled at the end of the round.