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How often are cards pulled from the Tarokka Deck? Is it frequently throughout the campaign or more of a one encounter deal?
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I think just once, as a role-playing prop, at the start of the campaign to randomly determine the locations of the McGuffins. You could just as easily select what you want or put it to a die roll.
Basically once, but it could happen in more than one way.First off, you should do a drawing yourself (or just pick your preferences) before the campaign starts. This way, even if the players never do an in-game drawing, you still know where the treasures are, who the ally is, etc. Because the drawing isn't guaranteed to happen in-game at all. If it does happen, your "private" drawing gets replaced/updated.
The most likely place the drawing will happen is with Madame Eva at the Tser Pool Vistani camp.
If it doesn't happen there, the adventure provides a "back-up" option of having Ezmerelda do it after the party meets her (she can be introduced in any of several different locations, at the DM's preference).
If your question is whether you need to get a Tarokka deck to play Curse of Strahd, the answer is no. But if you want one or have one, there are other adventures that use it. Also, there are some fun DM's Guild supplements with suggestions for additional uses.
Its really important for setting the theme and tone of the adventure, but it generally only happens once.However, one could probably arrange 3 separate readings, and split the information they give between the readings.
You definitely don't need the actual physical Gale Force tarokka deck. There are lots of ways to do it, including just using regular playing cards.
Or you could just use playing cards like the original I6 did........ the old man looks at what he just wrote and wanders outside to yell at the squirrels.
I've run Curse of Strahd twice, didn't need the deck either time, and am of the opinion that it's not at all necessary. Like Burnside, I drew the cards before the campaign started and when the PCs met with Madam Eva we role played the session out. This way I didn't have to fumble around during the game looking up what each card they drew meant.
Tarokka Cards have been a D&D prop since Ravenloft was a separate campaign setting in the 1990's. I vaguely recall one issue of Dragon in the 90's having a cardboard insert of Tarokka Cards to punch out. They also did a Deck of Many Things as a card insert at one point.Do you need them for any adventure? No. They could be replaced with a die roll, or using a regular playing card deck. . .or if you have a regular Tarot deck you could use that one instead of the D&D themed Tarokka one.
They're not strictly necessary, no. In fact, I would highly advise against a live roll at the table, as you can have items turn up at very unsatisfactory places. It's best to rig the deck, don't tell the players, and have things happen where the DM choose, so you're catering the story the way you want. Also, the number of options the deck provides is overwhelmingly too many, as if someone is going to run this adventure 5 times for 5 different groups and always wants something new. I highly doubt that will happen.We are playing in Roll20 and I simulated a table, put the cards I had created in the GM layer and had players say "I will pick a card" and I made some stuff up about Madame Eva shuffling the deck and laying down a card. They never knew it was all meticulously planned. I even turned Pidlwick 2 into a little evil ally to find in Vallaki and what was in the deck, rather than leaving him in the castle until way, way late in the campaign.
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