The Varisian people have long believed the fifty-four cards of the harrow deck hold mystical power over destiny and fate. In our campaign the harrow serves as an enduring theme and plays an important role as the game unfolds.
We will do 6 harrowing, one for each chapter of the campaign. Fortune-telling using a Harrow Deck is performed in 5 steps:
The Harrower selects nine cards from which the character draw one each. Usually these nine cards are all from the same suit from the harrowing deck (Keys, Shields, Books, Hammers, Stars, Crowns). Depending on alignment or attribute matches, the drawn cards can mean luck or misfortune in the future. All nine cards are being shuffled back into the deck. The card drawn might even bestow a boon on the character during that chapter!
The Harrower draws nine cards and places them in a 3x3 square. This arrangement relates to each of the nine alignments and implies an aspect of the past, present, or future.
The left column of three cards represents the secrects of the past. It also represents law, for the past is unchangeable and set in stone.
The central column of three cards represents the secrets of the present. This column also represents neutrality: the present is the sum total of the events of the past yet opens up to the infinite possibilities of the future, and such is a crossroads between order and entropy.
The right column of three cards represents future events that might, or might not, come to pass. This column also represents chaos, for the future is not set and anything is possible
At the end of a harrowing every character receives harrow points:
Harrow Points can be spend as a free action. As long as a character has harrow points there is no limit how many points can be spend in a round.
On what harrow points can be spent depends on the suit of the harrow deck which is used for The Chossing: