The Hidden Isle (Tarot RPG)

This is a game about swashbuckling adventures across Europe and the Middle East, stealing forbidden texts from oppressive regimes, protecting an island of outcasts using ancient magic, and toppling empires with just the right speech at just the right time.

The World of Dioscoria: a hidden isle of sages, adventurers, and ancient wisdom. Within the walls of this secret city are gathered the misunderstood, the persecuted, and those unjustly punished for the way they live. Here they can flourish and return to the world to wage their secret war against injustice and ignorance when they are ready.

1562: It is a dangerous and disrupted time. Europe has embraced the innovations of gunpowder and is using it to tear itself apart along religious lines. The Ottoman Empire is poised to break either Vienna to its west or the Safavid Empire to its east. European colonisers are spreading along the coastlines of the world like hungry parasites. The Inquisition accuses, tortures and executes its victims across the Catholic world.

It is also a world of alchemy and sorcery. English magicians pry the mysteries of the stars. Ottoman scholars unravel the hidden design of the creator. Dioscorian mystics have mastered techniques to peer beyond the veil of time and steer the world towards sanity.

Into this maelstrom step the agents of Dioscoria. Dioscoria’s actors, magicians, assassins and paladins stand ready to defend the helpless and preserve wisdom. As these agents tackle scheme after scheme and topple tyrants, cults and demonic forces, will they live up to their ideal selves or embrace the darker parts of their own humanity?

Features:

Narrative heavy, rules light. While the game does have rules, their purpose is to enrich and drive your narratives. The game is designed as a collaborative storytelling experience.
Play and character growth are intertwined. Each character has a burden—an emotional weight they carry—and an ideal to live up to. Become your truest self, or succumb to your worst impulses.
A vibrant 16th-century world. Dioscoria is described in loving detail, as are the major cities of the time, such as London, Istanbul, and Venice. No historical knowledge is needed.
A wide array of characters. Play as an Illusionist, Scoundrel, Occultist, Prowler, Champion or Hunter.
GM can plan or improvise. Scenarios can be planned ahead of time by the Seer or improvised at the start of a session for GMs short on time.
Tarot cards instead of dice. They’re used for everything from scenario inspiration to character backstories to divination to skill checks. No Tarot experience is required. Any deck can be used, but we recommend the Sefirot deck.