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1 | House of Cards | Example of Play Dramatis Personae The Principality of the Golden Court Lori plays Rhiannon, Bearer of The Last Judgment (The Angel) Scott plays Wake, Bearer of Strength (Mighty Feat) Eric plays Esteban, Bearer of The Devil (Obsession) Ghada plays Muhammad, Bearer of The Tower (Façade) Neal plays The World, assorted characters Having previously driven a Castellan from the dreams of an influential politician into the deeper mirror-ways, the Bearers have pursued the intruder into a foreboding relic (a free-roaming dreamscape). Unbeknownst to them, this dream-realm is the amalgam of memories of ancient Indian temples, inhabited by a form of chimera called naga (serpents with human features), which have been turned by the castellan as an obstacle against the Principality. The Bearers alight on the steps of an imposing temple-like structure... Ghada: Should we see if anybody or anything lives here? Lori: That’s iffy. On the one hand, it’s the polite thing to do, and following the rules of hospitality and decorum are spot-on for fairy-tale behavior. On the other hand, it might just alert something hostile. But I have an idea. [using Evocation, Rhiannon summons forth an ephemeral version of the trumpet from her Archetype’s card] [as Rhiannon] ‘If we have to announce ourselves, we should do it properly.’ Eric: [as Esteban] ‘Sounds good to me. I’ll be behind Wake.’ Scott: [as Wake] ‘When aren’t you? [Rhiannon signals the Principality’s arrival with fanfare from the trumpet.] Neal: The echoes of the trumpet’s peal fade into silence. You discern no answer from within. Lori: [sighs] Well, it was worth a shot. [Rhiannon dismisses the trumpet; the card that was powering the Evocation returns to Lori’s hand.] Ghada: Well, let’s press ahead. The only way is through, right? Neal: In you go, unless anyone has any objections? Right. The hall inside is vast, with rows of enormous pillars stretching off in either end. There’s no source of light at all, which makes the shape of the gate directly ahead across the sanctuary impossible to miss. It seems pretty straightforward, so you walk across the expanse. Then, from the shadows above, dark writhing shapes descend. They’re looping around you as if to restrain or even choke you. We’ll use the success levels of your perception tests as initiative. [Deciding that the chance of spotting the stealthy naga lurking in the shadows is a matter of taking in information, The World asks the players to play a Cups if they have one. The naga have a natural ability to creep silently along any shadowy surface, which the referee rates at a difficulty to notice of 6 (“requires attention and skill”). Lori has a hand rife with Cups, and decides to play the 8. Scott only has a 5 and 6, and he plays the 6. Eric only has the 2 of Cups, and plays it, while Ghada has no Cups in hand at all, meaning she has to either play something off-suit and hope to perhaps justify it, or else cede that Muhammad is completely caught off-guard. Ghada decides to reserve the cards in her hand for acting against the unknown foes. The cards played by the others are replaced, since they were on-suit.] Lori and Scott, you managed to most clearly spot the shapes moving before they were upon you, so Rhiannon and Wake get to act first. Then, your antagonists get a chance to act, and then Esteban and finally Muhammad. Scott: Wake’s going to bolt for the gate at the other end. I’m hoping I’m strong enough that I can just move without impediment from... whatever these things are. Neal: They look like snakes, though some of them have arms, and you think you see a face or two in the gloom. Scott: Wonderful. Pentacles for physical feats, I suppose?

Example of Play |House of Cards | 2 Neal: Can be, unless you can justify using a different suit. Scott: [exhales dejectedly] I don’t have a Pentacles, or even a Swords. What can I do with a Cups? Wait, I think I have an idea. Cups has to do with empathy and water and the path of least resistance, right? How about I use this 5 of Cups to move like I’m doing tai chi, using the snakes’ movement against them to flow sinuously through them so they can’t hold me? Neal: Well, it’s not in line with your Archetype, but I like the description. What do you guys think? Ghada: I like it! Lori: Yeah, I think it’s clever. As for Rhiannon, I’ll use Evocation again in conjunction with my mundane action. I want to evoke the Angel’s wings from the card to buoy me forward in a tremendous leap. [plays an 8 of Pentacles for an extraordinary, but not superhuman, leap] Neal: Hmmm. Interesting. Normally, Evocation can only bring forth objects and not actual physical changes to the Bearer, but it’s cool, and your card’s value isn’t strictly being altered by your use of the Power, just being justified by it, so I’ll go with it. Rhiannon makes it notably closer to the gate, and Wake is slowly making some headway. Also, I’ll say that a side benefit of your Evocation means that Rhiannon frightens the nagas somewhat: they’ve got a hereditary feud with the eagle-god Garuda, and your glowing wings freak them out. Lori: Awesome! Neal: Your antagonists’ turn. Scott, the nagas are watery creatures themselves, so they’re more adept at this than Wake is. They can predict how you’re going to move and interpose themselves to great effect, so they’re still able to slow you down, even if they can’t hold you fast. [plays a 9 of Cups for the nagas’ collective attempt to restrain the held Bearers] As for the other two, the enemy ensnares you more tightly. Ghada: Gah. I hate snakes. Neal: Is that as Muhammad, or just personally? Ghada: I’d say both! Eric: I’m assuming that since it’s already been declared that they have me, dodging is out of the question, so I’ll see if I can shrug loose instead. Fortunately, freedom is what I’m all about. Would this be Swords for fighting, or Pentacles for physical exertion? Neal: Depends on whether you want to hurt them, I’d say. Even if you play off-suit, you’re acting in character, so you’ll get the card back, but at the end of the scene, so choose wisely. Eric: Well, as angry as Esteban is at being restrained, he doesn’t want to actually hurt them, which is another way of saying I have a Pentacles but not a Swords. [Esteban has the Wands Motivation “I oppose restriction of choices” at 3. Eric plays the 7 of Pentacles and adds +3 for acting in line with his Motivation for a total of 10, which is just enough to slip free. Eric then draws to replace his card, since it’s on-suit, and pulls the last card from the deck.] Oh, fun. We must have burned through the deck in that last encounter. Neal: Well, you get free from the hold, at least. Time for a Shuffle. That means Esteban gets a plot twist. Got any ideas, or shall I pick? Eric: Surprise me. [The others in unison: ‘No!’] Neal: I’ve already got an idea in mind, but first, does anyone else want to get directly swept up in the Shuffle? You get a new hand. [The players discuss, but decide to keep their hands.] A cluster of the nagas are congregating at the far end of the sanctuary, close to the gate you’ve been trying to reach. One of them takes up a position on the floor surrounded by five others, who form a ring, each biting the tip of the tail of the one in front of it and then beginning to slither around in an unbroken circle. Little motes of light begin to drift up from the circle, like dust caught in a sunbeam except that there’s no sunbeam. Ghada: So they’re not just weird giant snakes, they’re weird giant magic snakes. Could be a Power, could be sor-

3 | House of Cards | Example of Play cery for all we know. Eric: I’ve already used my mundane action, but can I still use a Lesser Power? I want to Dream-Sense. Neal: That’s fine, yeah. [Eric discards a card to invoke the Lesser Power.] The nagas themselves are wreathed in a shimmering layer of eir, like an oil slick in the sunlight. The eir being gathered around them, meanwhile, is drifting up on the glowing specks and settling on the walls and the doors. The whole temple is beginning to take on a faint sheen to your enhanced sight, and it’s creeping toward either end of the temple. It reminds of you watching a shaft of light crawl across a wall over the course of the day, but sped up. As you’re watching, the central naga flicks its head back and forth toward the exits, which bang shut suddenly, and the film of light appears to settle over the gates. Lori: We’re trapped! Eric: [makes a hissing sound] This is because it was my Shuffle, wasn’t it? Neal: Yep. [as the nagas] ‘Bearers, hear us. You will not pass this place. Our hearts and minds are as stone to your pleas, and while the walls of this temple yet stand, the gates beyond remain forever closed to you.’ [as The World] Muhammad’s turn. Scott: By the way, Ghada, I have an idea, but what were you thinking of having Muhammad do? Ghada: Let’s see if we can coerce the nagas into dropping their spell. Rhiannon scared the nagas with her wings, so maybe I can tap into that and conjure something even more frightening with Façade. Neal: Well, you don’t get to pick exactly what illusion Façade creates, but you still can give it a try. [Ghada plays the 10 of Swords to fuel her Greater Power; the suit doesn’t matter for the Power’s effect, only the value. Unbeknownst to the Principality, the Castellan they are pursuing used magic to make the nagas resistant to persuasion or intimidation (+6 to their attempts) — that was the effect that Esteban’s Dream-Sense noticed on the nagas themselves, though that detail hasn’t clicked into place yet.] Ghada: They let go of me because I’m terrifying, right? Neal: That would make sense, yeah. Ghada: Okay, then, I want to stride toward the gate like I own the place, watching the nagas part in front of me in fear of the Façade I present. With the +10 bonus from the power, I could probably play anything and succeed, so I’ll use this 2 of Wands. It’s not on-suit, but I can afford to lose it. [Neal plays a 5 of Swords for the naga’s reaction. Ghada’s total is 2+10 for the Greater Power, while the nagas have a bonus of +6 on their 5, for a total of 11. The nagas are unfazed.] Neal: Not a bad plan, but the nagas don’t seem nearly as cowed as you were hoping. They keep their heads low as if they fear some sort of punishment or retaliation, but they’re coiling and hunkering in front of the gate, not making way for you. Lori: Huh? Wait, Eric, wasn’t there some kind of glow on the nagas themselves as well as from the spell they were casting? So the magic protects the nagas, and the nagas protect the temple. Neal: Everyone’s had a turn, so we go back to the top. Lori and Scott? Eric: [as Esteban] ‘I don’t like being confined in here. It’s making my skin crawl.’ Lori: We can’t just brute-force our way through this. We have to outthink it, dream-style. Scott: [ponders for a moment] Maybe we can actually do both. Eric: While you’re figuring that out, are the nagas doing anything? Neal: Thanks to both Rhiannon and Muhammad, the nagas are a bit afraid to get too close to any of you, although they’re dead set on keeping you from getting out.

Example of Play |House of Cards | 4 Scott: I think I have something. [as Wake, to Esteban] ‘The spell affects the walls and gates of the temple, right?’ Eric: [to The World] How does it look? Neal: As far as you can tell, that seems to be the case. Scott: But not the floor? Neal: [pauses to think] No, that’s a fair cop: it didn’t say it did, so it doesn’t. Scott: Greater Power time. If the gate won’t open while the temple stands, then let’s... um... stand the temple. Lori: I don’t think that’s a word. Scott: You’re always judging. [to The World] I’m using my Mighty Feat to pick up the temple. And I have this King of Swords right here to pull it off, which the Power doubles to a 24. I’m pretty sure if a temple can be lifted, that will accomplish it. Neal: That- wow. That’s good enough. You are still inside the temple, though, so how do you intend to get a hold on the building? Scott: I punch down through the floor into the foundation, and lift it from below. Neal: Suitably epic. From the hole you pound into the substructure, you dig your fingers into the stones at the base of the foundation and heave the whole structure up over your head. The temple is creaking and groaning, but between the fact that this is a dreamscape and you used the biggest magic ever, you dead-lift it in one piece. Scott: [as Wake, to the nagas inside] Now, are you going to let us pass, or do I throw you and your home into the deepest part of the dream-lands where nobody will ever see you again? Neal: That falls under intimidation, but the total of your Mighty Feat overwhelms the enchantment that’s protecting them. The nagas give in to your threat and break the spell. Eric: Sweet freedom! [The characters break for the far gate and exit the temple.] Neal: So, are you planning to bring the temple with you, Wake? Scott: Nah, that would be excessive. I’ll set it back down in its place when everybody’s out safely. Ghada: Well, that was exciting, but we’ve lost time. Can we pick up the Castellan’s trail? Neal: Even better. In the mist on the horizon, you can see the faint outline of a tall spire rising up into the gloom, curling around itself as it tapers upward like a narwhal’s horn. Shorter peaks and steeples are dimly visible in a cluster around its base. Lori: That looks like a Comte’s domain to me. Let’s find the mirror-way that’ll get us there. Eric: Esteban’s still got Dream-Sense active, so he’ll lead the way. [Exeunt all.]