Magical Resolution

When the group decides on magical resolution, the Host deals out from the Shoe a kitty of 6 cards, 3 face-up and 3 face-down. This kitty represents the opposing forces. Anyone, except the Initiator or the Host, may bid on this kitty by playing a Trump and again interpreting it, at which point that player becomes the Opposition leader. Bidding on the kitty begins at the initiator’s right and goes around. If nobody bids, as is usual, the Host is the Opposition leader.

Note: We’ll return to Host-initiated resolutions, which work a bit differently, below.

The opposition forces may be controlled by a person or a group, they may be random countervailing forces (sort of like a strong headwind in sailing), or they may be a kind of general Murphy’s Law sort of traffic-pileup cross-grainedness of the universe. Regardless, the Opposition leader’s purpose is to make the desired effect happen in an undesirable (for the character) fashion. What the Opposition leader cannot do is make the effect simply not happen. The effect is already decided. All that has yet to be determined is the how, the why, and the so what—which is to say almost everything is up for grabs.

Every player except the Opposition leader and the Initiator is out for him- or herself, as a player. You want the resolution to be interesting and exciting for everyone. If you can also make things interesting (in whatever sense) for your own character, so much the better. Feel free to bend things all you like so that it’s good or bad for your character, even if she is not directly involved in what’s happening. Remember that your character is a player at the occult game in the shadows, and that means every bit of magic affects her somehow. The effect of this combination of player-interest and character-interest is to make magical causality extremely complex and tightly woven, which is exactly what you want.

{If There Is No Resolution <--> The Game of Tarot}

-- ChrisLehrich^? - 24 Dec 2004