Matakishi's Tea House

A long time ago I started writing and running a role playing game based on the Tarot using the Ars Magica rules. I'm still writing it but the gaps between installments gets longer and longer. In an attempt to get back into it this year I've decided to transfer my handwritten notes onto this website both to rekindle my interest and to share what I've done with others. I think most people who played the game (and there were many) enjoyed it, I certainly enjoyed writing and running it. There are some things I might do differently today but I don't plan on rewriting anything just yet. What follows will be pretty much exactly what was written way back then (1991 was when I started).

I didn't write this for others to run, there aren't that many explanations for a Games Master in the text. I'll try to put some in but it will be easier if I let you ask any questions direct, interesting discussions will be added to the main text to help others. Generally you will find an interest in, and a knowlege of, the Tarot, Qabbalah and the Western Mystery Tradition a big help. However, the players learn as they go along and you can too, there's no reason not to jump in and see how you go. There are things that will contradict what you may have read, feel free to change anything you don't like. Nothing was tampered with lightly but my reasons for doing things differently are my own. If you have any specific questions please contact me.

There is a PDF of resources available

More resources here

The Major Arcana

Rules changes

I use the 2nd edition Ars Magica rules, the blue book published by Lion Rampant. However, there are some rules changes necessary for playing this campaign.

Characters
Each player should have a Mage and a companion to run, there's no way a new character can join once the campaign is under way so they need someone to fall back on in the event of a tragic loss (there are a couple of NPCs that can become PCs but they ere very few and far between).
No points can be spent on Mastered Spells, there are no mastered spells in this game, magic always has a risk attached.

Dieing
There are people who will help a dead PC, also, death isn't the end of the adventure for the character but there may be a long wait for them until the rest of the party catch up. To keep people alive but still keep an element of risk I changed the the following: A character who loses all their body levels, (or more) dies at the end of the round, a healing spell successfully cast before then by another Mage will stop the process so long as it brings the PC above zero body levels. A PC who loses double or more the number of body levels they have dies instantly with no recourse to healing. As the game progresses the characters will gain more body levels than is normal, in fact many of them will become beings of a higher order, sadly this doesn't always save them from the dangers that abound.

Experience
XP can be spent on magical forms and techniques as if they were normal skills once the PCs step through the magical door at the beginning. They are in the realms that magic originates from and it is all around them. It is very necessary for the campaign that no limits are set on their magical advancement.

Igack

The party are accompanied by the Firedrake Igack. They should already have him as a companion. Igak can be played as a companion but he is integral to the campaign and may be better off as an NPC. Generally I let a player run him and intercede when Igak wants to do something that the players are unaware of etc. The original Igak appeared in a suppliment for Ars Magica which is where his name came from, his character and true purpose are different to that portrayed in the original adventure, he is not the innocent little firedrake that he may appear.

A Quick overview of the Campaign

The campaign is set in the world of the Tarot, the characters initially start in Mythic Europe where they meet and join Aleph, the Fool on his journey to the Four Kingdoms, the 'birthplace of all magic'.

The first stage involves the PCs travelling the Fool's Journey which is a narrative journey through the Major Arcana. Central to this is the Emperor who controls access to the Four Kingdoms, he tests the PCs once they have experienced all the Major Arcana and then grants them entrance to the Kingdoms, the Lesser Arcana. Each suit is then played through as a narrative story culminating in meeting the royal families of each land (Fire, Earth, Water and Air-- Wands, Discs, Cups and Swords).

After this the PCs travel the Hermit's journey to reclaim one of their friends who had to exchange places with the Hermit in part one. This journey takes them to the four Elemental Realms to meet the Elemental Kings, in the process of this the PCs 'inadvertantly' allow some dangerous elemental forces to escape into the world of the Tarot, threatening to seriously unbalance it. Whilst rounding these forces up the players discover the Temple of the Sephiroth and begin the next stage.

The Temple of the Sephiroth allows them access to the Tree of Life and they travel the paths of the Tree experiencing these and the Sephira they connect. Once they reach the top of the tree they are considered to have understood fully the sphere of Malkuth (the physical world) and are cast down into the world of Yesod which is the next Sephira on the road to ascension.

Yesod has a greek motif, here, the players must regain their magical abilities which have been stripped from them. They do this by undergoing mythical journeys that recreate the twelve tasks of Heracles. Once their magic is back they undergo the four quests that will allow them access to the Temple of Yesod and so entry once again onto the Tree.

After this, Hod awaits them.......

The Players are still in Yesod as we speak because I haven't finished the next bit. It's taken ten years to get this far.