Explore a Magical 16th Century Europe Through Tarot Cards with The Hidden Isle

Today, we’re talking to the team at Causa Creations about The Hidden Isle, a tarot-based TTRPG system that is getting its first fully fledged campaign setting. The Hidden Isle tells the story of a secret island in the 16th century where a secret city of magicians linger. Players will not only operate on the isle but travel Europe and the Middle East in this story. Haven’s Heir offers twelve adventures in the setting as well as supplemental tools for expanding your player options, expanding the setting, and more.

TTRPG Insider spoke with Causa Creations’ Georg Hobmeier about the game’s origin, the uniqueness of tarot in its gameplay and a lot of other things.

1. What's the history of Hidden Isle? Where did it come from, inspiration-wise?

In 2020 we started to work on a Tarot-based board game called Sefirot. In order to have a coherent art style, we devised a lore for the game (and the cards). I have a longstanding fascination with the island of Socotra, known in antiquity as Dioskouridou. We devised the lore and setting, focusing on a magical version of this island, which we called Dioscoria. Set in the year 1562, it has been a safe haven for heretics and misfits for many centuries. From there, agents of the island go out into the world to challenge the great empires and hegemonies of that time. Obviously, that was rather over the top for Tarot cards and board games, but it helped a lot with developing the visual language and anchoring the entire project. After the board game was met with immense interest on Kickstarter, raising over $500K during and after the campaign, the next step was rather obvious: a Tarot-based TTRPG.

2. Why Tarot cards as a mechanic? What do you imagine that captures mechanically or as an experience?

We were already rather deep in the topic of (Tarot) card mechanics because of the board game. Also, Tarot cards were used as regular playing cards in our region of the world (Central and Western Europe), which made it not uncommon to use them for the mundane purpose of playing games.

There are two main mechanical aspects to the cards. Pip cards are used for skill checks. This always puts one or several players up against the GM, a classic card game showdown. Since we deal with a finite stack of these cards, there is always the option to use card counting to go beyond the mere luck of the draw. The other is the use of court cards and the major arcana, grouped as so-called "vision cards", to generate the story itself. Vision cards exist on numerous levels. In the game, the agents themselves are dealt these cards by the seers of Dioscoria before their journey starts. An already fully prepared story will therefore have a set of arranged vision cards to fit the setting. There is, however, always the option to let the cards decide the story and embark on an entirely unknown adventure, determined only by them. This also allows for solo or GM-less play.

3. What sort of fantasy experience do Hidden Isle and Haven's Heir attempt to capture from a narrative perspective? 

The Hidden Isle and its campaign book, Haven's Heir, are set in a magical version of the 16th century and focus on adventures in Europe and the Middle East, with occasional visits to neighboring regions. It's therefore very much a Renaissance game. However, since this is a magical world, the cosmology encompasses many more planes of existence, such as the Deep Wood, an endless green forest realm full of magical creatures, or the Hollow, a dark underground realm where gnomes, dwarves, and other creatures lurk in the shadows.

One can go for a rather historical experience, focusing on the various political dramas of that time, or move beyond the veil of the normal world to consort with gods, demons, or angels. I personally like to combine both.

A traditional Hidden Isle adventure always pits the players, as agents of Dioscoria, against some foes or obstacles. Sometimes there is a clear moral division, for example fighting injustice brought about by evil colonizers, but not necessarily. The Haven's Heir campaign, especially, but also some of the one-shots, offer plenty of dilemmas for the agents to dwell on.

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Exploring A New Fantasy World Through Tarot

4. Are there any particular limitations when it comes to tarot decks that must be considered when using it?

The way the vision cards are used is obviously a particular framing of a story. There is also a dramaturgy to how cards form stories. One can always move beyond that and create something new and unexpected. Mixing different oracle cards into the stack or using highly unusual Tarot decks, such as the Alleyman's Tarot, would work well here.

As for the card challenges, the cards themselves are fun to handle, but the process is a tad slower than throwing dice. Also, one needs to get used to dealing with the odds of the card deck, which is fundamentally different from a dice-based system.

5. How does Haven's Heir expand on the established setting of Hidden Isle?

Spoiler alert, proceed with caution. Haven's Heir changes the way magic is present in the world. It starts with a major magical incursion that makes most realms suddenly aware of magic. This incident is caused by an entity that is also getting involved in Dioscorian politics. Not only do the agents have to deal with the sudden presence (and use) of magic, but they are also confronted with potential changes in Dioscoria itself. No more spoilers, but the fate of the world(s) is in the hands of the agents ...

6. Are there any notable mechanical additions to Haven's Heir that established players of Hidden Isle might find valuable outside of the campaign?

There are four new character classes (two of them from previous zine releases), which add completely different playing styles to the game. Want to con your way through the 16th century? Play the Swindler. Want to burn the world(s) to ashes with alchemical fire? Play an Alchemist. For those interested in beast allies, there is now a familiar system with cute critters. Combat received an update and examples that should clarify the (not too complex) process. Additional factions have been added to the numerous locations of the core book. And of course rules errata, though those will also be made available to previous backers.

7. Why should I play Hidden Isle or Haven's Heir? What's the hook?

It's a refreshing alternative to the classic dice system. It has an enticing setting, full of historical action and almost limitless magical realms to visit. My personal hook is the story generation via the vision cards: I can step into the unknown and play an entire adventure without any preparation.

Thank you to Georg for chatting! You can back Haven’s Heir on Backerkit until late October.

What are your thoughts? Send any scoops, tips or press releases to [email protected].