June Update: The Ragged Ringmaster and Gone Solo: Troika Finale!

Tarot of the Trunk

The GameCrafter divination sale for Tarot of the Trunk has come and gone. I sold a good number of decks and expansions, and I’m pleased! My total profit is miniscule in comparison to the amount of time I’ve spent on this project, but I’m glad that decks and cards are going out to people. This was also the first time I tried advertising, on both Facebook and Reddit. There is a lot to learn on that front, but I was glad to get my feet wet and get an idea of how that process goes.

The Ragged Ringmaster

I also did my first live readings at a local market last weekend! It was circus themed, so I came up with a ringmaster character. The plan was to do one card readings from my patchwork deck to engage with people and talk about Tarot of the Trunk, and also to sell full readings, Multiverse of Magic cards, and loose tarot and oracle cards from my patchwork collection. While I didn’t make enough to cover what I spent on my table fee, I did sell a couple readings, and I got to talk to a lot of people about Tarot of the Trunk. I also sold quite a few Multiverse of Magic cards, and it was fun to see people responding to the card even if they weren’t particularly interested in patchwork tarot.

I’m not sure what the way forward is on this, for both Tarot of the Trunk and for reading tarot for others. While I did enjoy doing readings for people, the weekend was very draining overall. For now, I’m going to redirect energy away from tarot-related projects for a while and focus more on Science Fantasy Awesome (see below). Then when I’m feeling fresher I’ll decide where I want to go next.

Science Fantasy Awesome

My unbroken streak of weekly solo RPG videos continues! This last Wednesday, I released the final episode for Gone Solo: Troika! which wraps up that series for now. I’ll talk about what’s coming next for the channel in next week’s video, and I don’t want to spoil it here, but rest assured that weekly videos will continue!

I also recently had a request to share the tables I used for solo play for Troika so I made a blog post here.

I’ve also had a request for a video for general tips for solo play, but I’m still gathering my thoughts about that topic.

I’m really please with how the Troika campaign turned out and I’m really excited about what’s coming next!

Troika Tables for Solo Play

I was asked via comment on one of my Gone Solo: Troika videos to share the tables I use to assist with solo play for Troika. While they are designed with solo play in mind, they could certainly be a resource for GMs who want to come up with things on the fly at the table.

Here’s the link to the Google Drive folder.

Some explanatory notes:

Some of these tables assume the use of an additional oracle to come up with ideas. I used story cubes, but you could easily use Mythic Tables, tarot cards, or anything else that you know works for you to help inspire new ideas.

01 Troika Cheatsheet

This is just a one-page rules reference.

02 Troika Book Monsters

This has several random tables. One is for rolling up a random monster from the book with associated page numbers (from the hardback numinous edition). There are 66, so that made it easy.

The next is for rolling up stats for a new monster or NPC. This is not balanced at all, so get ready for some wacky fun!

The custom damage generator works like this. Make a blank damage table with slots 1 through 7+, just like the others in the book. You roll a d6 to determine the amount of damage for the 1 slot, which will give you either 1, 2 or 4. Then for the next slots roll a d6, which tells you how much to increase the damage for the next slot. You might increase by 0, 2, or double the previous number. Repeat for each slot through 6. Then the 7+ slot will either increase damage by 1, 2, or 4. Then roll one more d6 to determine if the damage has a special property, like ranged or ignoring 1 point of armor.

Then there is a random weapon table with all damage numbers.

03 Troika NPCs

This has two d366 tables for coming up with NPCs. The first table is a list of miens curated from the book, and the second is a list of nouns curated from the book. There is a blank space on the character table. You can fill in to seed your table with ideas for your setting, or you can use your oracle to come up with new ideas if you roll one of those numbers.

04 More Troika Tables

The environment type table is meant to describe an area. This could be an entire sphere or a particular area of a sphere. You can also use your oracle in conjunction with this table to flavor it.

The point of interest table is a list of locations that assumes some degree of civilization. You can also use your oracle in conjunction with this table to flavor the points of interest.

In my campaign, the characters never left the sphere of Troika, but my original intent was for the campaign to be sphere-hopping. The How Far table tells you how far your destination is. The Travel Between Spheres table tells you how you might get there. The Landing Place tables tells you what the initial landing area is like when you arrive on a new sphere. If you are traveling by Golden Sail Barge, there is a random encounter table. Roll d66 and if you roll doubles, consult the table.

The Event table is the one I used the most in my campaign. After setting up each scene, I would roll on this table to figure out what complication happened. If you don’t want that much randomness, you could come up with a method to decide when you roll on the table and when you don’t.

05 Troika Random Spells

I was disappointed that the table in the book did not actually include all the spells, so here is a table that has all the spells in the book.

06 d66 Tables

These are blank tables to track Threads and NPCs, just like in Mythic. You don’t roll d66 each time. Simply roll d6 if you have six or fewer, d26 for twelve or fewer, d36 for eighteen or fewer, etc. If you roll a blank, use an oracle to come up with something new or choose the thread or character of your choice.

I hope you find these helpful!

May Update: Podcast, AlleyFOLK Wave 4, and more!

First of all, if you haven’t seen the big Tarot of the Trunk announcements, go read about those. New expansion, new products, and a VERY exciting development for the project. It’s basically its an update all its own.

What else is new?

Podcast Appearance

If you haven’t listened already, I had a chance to talk to my good friend JD Lopez on his podcast Left Hand Right Brain. You can listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

The whole conversation is worth listening to, but if you’re interested in specific topics check out these timestamps:

Discussion on the Alleyman’s tarot and patchwork tarot in general runs approx. 9:10-16:30

Then I do a three card reading for the audience from my patchwork deck approx. 42:00-49:00 (you can see the cards in the image below)

I talk about my solo RPG video series Science Fantasy Awesome approx. 28:10 – 42:00

AlleyFOLK Wave 4 is Live!

The AlleyFOLK Wave 4 Booster is the first launch since I took over organizing the AlleyFOLK projects not too long ago. I was really excited to get this fan project back up any running so to get a new booster out is really fun and exciting. I’ve also been organizing a lot of things in the background like updating shop images. Next, I hope we can finish the Suit of Clocks booster and get the Hanfuda deck finally finished, and after that, we’ll have to see what the community is interested in doing.

The community has also had a long conversation about how to handle A.I. art submissions, and we have decided to not allow A.I. art at this time. I’m pleased with how the conversation has handled and how we made a decision.

Science Fantasy Awesome

I continue to release weekly episodes of of improvised adventure weirdness on Science Fantasy Awesome. As always, I have more recorded than is currently released, so it’s a bit weird to talk about what’s going on, but for now I’ll say I’m excited about where the channel is headed and some ideas I have that are coming down the pipe. We’re at 80 subscribers and inching our way toward 100!

Acting

I should have taken behind-the-scenes pictures but I did get to do another background role for Furniture Row. I’ve done several of these now and it’s always great to chat with the other actors. I’ve also been submitting lots of auditions, so hopefully something else hits soon!

BIG Tarot of the Trunk announcements! (Number 5 is REALLY exciting)

There are a whole bunch of exciting announcements for Tarot of the Trunk, so I thought I’d share a big post with all of them.

1) New Guidebook

The Guide to the Trunk is complete, and I’m so pleased with out it turned out. It’s available as a free download on the Tarot of the Trunk page, both a digital version and a printable version to make a little booklet. I also made both versions as downloadable files on all The Game Crafter pages, including the expansions. And speaking of expansions:

2) New Expansion: The Hidden Pocket

As I was putting the guidebook together, I realized there were some gaps in the “Suit of Odd” that needed filling, so: new cards! Plus, making cards is just so much fun. The Hidden Pocket is the third and final (maybe?) expansion for Tarot of the Trunk, and adds ten new cards to the collection.

3) New Products: No Box version and Random Trunk Pull

I realize the idea of the Trunk is the thing that ties the whole project together, and is a really cool and fun concept, but for print-on-demand it adds a big expense that raises the cost of the final product. Plus, most magpie tarot enthusiasts probably already have storage solutions they like. So, I decided I wanted to make a no box, cards only version of the main deck at a lower price point to see if people would be interested.

Order the No Box version here!

Also, The Game Crafter has a really cool random booster pack feature that I’ve been wanting to try out, so I made another new product called Random Trunk Pull. This draws ten random cards (a mix of Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, and Strange) from across the main deck and all the expansions. It’s for people who just want a small sample of the deck or like mystery packs.

Order Random Trunk Pull here!

4) The Game Crafter Tarot and Divination Sale

Tarot of the Trunk, the No Box Version, and Random Trunk Pull will all be a part of The Game Crafter’s site-wide Tarot and Divination sale May 23-29, 2023. Here are the sale prices:

This will be a great chance to pick up some cards if the Trunk has been on your list!

5) The Four of Cloaks will be in the Alleyway Tarot!

Tarot of the Trunk is inspired by The Alleyman’s Tarot by Seven Dane Asmund, the largest tarot Kickstarter of all time. Now Seven is back with a new mismatched tarot deck project called The Alleyway Oracles, and the Four of Cloaks from Tarot of the Trunk’s Suited Death expansion will be featured in the Alleyway Tarot deck, one of three new patchwork decks! The Kickstarter launches on May 16th, and you definitely don’t want to miss it!

I’m so excited to give back to this community that I love so much and to be a part of such a massive collaborative project. It’s like a dream come true.

Pwew! That’s all the Tarot of the Trunk news for now!

April 2023 Update: Fan Art, AlleyFOLK projects, #NeverHelpful

Science Fantasy Awesome

My solo RPG actual play channel, Science Fantasy Awesome, continues to grow. As of the writing of this update, we are at 60 subscribers! It’s still a long way from where I want the channel to be and where I imagine it can go, but all the positive comments that keep coming in from across social media warm my heart and encourage me. I’m having so much fun exploring the story of the Troika campaign and the videos are a blast to make, so I’m glad that others are enjoying them as well.

Plus, we have our first fan art! Check it out!

On the left, we have Magnaza, the dancing wizard hunter by the very talented Chaocalypse. So thrilled that he took the time to make this beautiful image. Go check out his solo RPG and drawing stuff, it’s great.

On the right, we have the frostbug, drawn by my child, who was inspired after watching Episode 6: The Frostbug. Both of these images make me so, so excited.

Tarot of the Trunk guidebook

Progress continues on the guidebook for Tarot of the Trunk. Here’s a little preview snippet:

Am I having fun writing this? I might be having a little bit of fun. Working on the guidebook has inspired me to get back into swapping tarot cards for my patchwork deck. It’s always a blast to get tarot cards in the mail! Patchwork tarot is so much fun, which leads me to my next announcement…

AlleyFOLK Projects

I recently (yesterday, actually) reached out to Caleb, who had previously been organizing the AlleyFOLK projects but had stepped away several months ago, if I might take over and get the Alleyman’s Tarot fan-made booster projects up and running again. Things moved much quicker than I anticipated and I am now in charge and overseeing completion of several stalled projects. There’s a lot to get organized, but I’m taking it slow, prioritizing, and taking things one project at a time. I love the fan-created community content and I’m so glad to be a part of bringing it all back to life!

#NeverHelpful

And here’s a little clip from a commercial for Network Affiliates I got to be a part of!

March 2023 Update

I’m reorganizing my internet presence to simplify things on my end, with the Ragamancers blog as the center of all my projects. This update is to let people know about what I’m currently working on, and potentially cross-pollinate and unify my separate audiences. 

Science Fantasy Awesome

My biggest new project is the YouTube channel Science Fantasy Awesome, where I am improvising serial science fantasy stories using role-playing games as inspiration. This has been a lot of fun for me because it brings together so many of my interests: acting, improvising, storytelling, game design, graphic design, editing. I’ve been learning a lot and adjusting my process as I go to keep improving video quality.

Tarot of the Trunk guidebook

When I released Tarot of the Trunk last summer, I decided to go ahead and publish the deck without a guidebook. I would still like there to be a guidebook, however, so I’ve been working on it slowly, but it’s too soon to say when that will be available. 

Updated Acting Reels

shot from the short film “Koselig”

It’s long overdue, but I finally updated my acting reels. I’ve worked on a lot of projects in the last few years (way more than I could show in such short videos) but I’m proud of how these turned out.

Short Play “Goblin Mode” for Curious New Voices

with some of the Curious New Voices playwrights. photo by Mario Gonzalez.

I got to write a new ten-minute play called “Goblin Mode” for This Time, a night celebrating the 20th anniversary of Curious New Voices back in January. CNV is a youth playwriting program that I participated in back when I was in high school. It was so special and very meaningful to circle back, reconnect with some of the playwrights, and see all of the amazing plays!

All the Links

Here’s a linktree with links to Ragamancers places all over the internet in case you’d like to follow along on your app of choice!

Introducing Archonitos

I wanted to create something to give away at Keyforge Celebration 2022 because I think giving weird things to strangers is fun. I figured Keyforge fans are interested in procedural generation, so I came up with the idea of characters based on the Archon shapes in Keyforge, but I wanted them to be silly and cartoonish. Hence the name Archonitos (little archons).

Each Archonito card is unique. I wrote a simple python script to make a set of random choices. The character image has five traits: shape, color, texture, eyes, and mouth. Each trait has ten options, for a total of 10^5 possible character images. Each of these options is stored in a GIMP layer and I can turn the visibility on or off for each selected trait to make the combined image.

Then the script generates a name (based on a little custom script I wrote) and assigns a random number between 0-100 for each of the three stats: Charm, Strange, and Fingers. Then each Archonito has a team name that is drawn from lists of science fiction and fantasy words for a science fantasy mashup (to be on-brand for Simon Finchley), a temperament drawn from a list of emotions and traits, and two card associations, one from a list of cards from popular trading card games and board games, and one from a list of tarot cards. So the total number of possible Archonito cards is quite large.

I wanted the cards to look like they might be from a game from an alternate-timeline 90’s, but I have not designed a game to go with the cards. At least, not yet.

I made the cards tarot-sized and gave each card a tarot correspondence so that, if I ended up with extra, the cards could potentially be used for patchwork tarot trades or for some tie-in with Tarot of the Trunk.

The first batch has fifty cards in it. I may do a second batch if there is interest, but the cards would be for sale to cover printing costs. I would also change a few things in the generation options so that each batch is unique. If I had to print a very large number, I would try to figure out how to more fully automate the GIMP-layer image generation process, which was manageable for such a small batch of images, but would quickly become unwieldy for a large print run.

Where to find Tarot Boosters

This is an evolving list of places to buy tarot boosters, as well as other small sets of tarot cards, for magpie / patchwork / collage / mixed tarot decks. If you know of any place that is not on this list, or find a broken link, please email me at royce@ragamancers.com with the subject Tarot Boosters or you can contact moonroof through the Publishing Goblin Discord.

Thanks to the members of The Alley for always being helpful and excellent!

Big thanks to Dru Pagliasotti of the Mixy Magpie Trading Alley for drawing my attention to a number of these shops.

Last updated April 2024.

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