Tarot Reading is a sort of 'Spellcasting,' in which the Reader sets forth a series of fated events resulting from the reading of the card. The card, once it is read, recreates reality in accordance with the card's meaning.
Below are ten tables for specifying the use of the tarot in telling a player's fortune. The descriptions are based upon the earliest chronological interpretation of the cards which the author was able to determine.
It must be noted that there is tremendous discrepancy in the meanings ascribed to tarot cards by modern practitioners; many cards are given the same or very similar meanings, and all the meanings which are given by tarot card readers are designed in order to be vague, non-descriptive and open to a wide interpretation.
Not so with the descriptions below. The 'meanings' of the cards have been written with D&D in mind, and each has been given a unique, relatively exact meaning ... though for the most part this meaning should not be revealed to the player.
It must also be noted that the standard practice of reading tarot cards - that is, to draw a series of cards to create a complicated bafflegab for use by tarot readers - will not work here. Each of the cards below is intended to create a story arc, which could potentially stretch through several runnings. While the cards could influence one another, drawing several cards on a regular basis could create an impossible plentitude of story arcs that the DM could find difficult to manage. Since the cards do have specific meanings, there is less need to use multiple cards to create a unique reading.
The author's recommendation is that each player is allowed to draw 1 card per three sessions of a sandbox campaign. This will allow some of the card's influence over events to get going, before it is influenced by another card drawn at a later time.
How the story arc is immersed into the DM's campaign is a matter of some considerable creativity and imagination. A DM short on either will be tested to keep the meaning of the card fresh. While the cards are specific, the majority of the cards could easily apply to a wide variety of imaginative story arcs. Moreover, the story arcs may be very small, or very large, depending on the level of the player and the DM's interpretation.
Many of the cards have positive aspects depending upon the character taking a positive action - if the character does not, then nothing should result from the card. Some of the cards have negative aspects which only take place if the character does something negative. Again, if the character takes the advice suggested, there should be no results from the card. Sometimes, the fates can be avoided. The DM should take care not to force the player to suffer consequences, or receive generousity, if they don't commit errors or apply themselves positively.
DMs should feel somewhat free, once familiar with the cards, to loosely interpret them more widely, if it seems to work towards the spirit of the campaign.
The total number of possible story arcs is 156. There are 78 cards in all: 22 arcana, and 14 each of cups, pentacles, swords and clubs. Each card has an 'upright' and a 'reversed' description. The card, when drawn, should be placed face down on the table, then turned over. If the card appears right side up to the READER - which may be an NPC or one of the characters with a specialization in Tarot Card Reading (a possible skill you may wish to incorporate), then the 'upright' interpretation should be read. If the card appears upside-down, then the 'reversed' interpretation should be read.
Obviously, a DM may use the tarot card deck as a means of randomly determining a possible story arc. For those disinterested in the tarot, these tables can still prove useful.
Finally, the author wishes to make clear that he does not believe in the use of tarot to predict reality, and stands fast against the use of the cards for that purpose. He provides these interpretations below as a game mechanic only.