A word from the designer

For this update I asked Alberto Tronchi, the designer of Valraven: The Chronicles of Blood and Iron, to explain his work on the Tarot Deck, and here's what he had to say:

Working on the Valraven Tarot Deck was a fascinating design challenge, as I decided early on to make them an integral part of the setting, rather than just a game tool. I began by exploring their history within the setting, and, as with everything arcane in the world of Valraven, there are two versions of the story: the one passed down through legends and folklore to ordinary people, and the truth known only to those privy to the secrets of magic.
From a design perspective, I reworked how the cards are used because playtesting revealed overlaps in certain types of draws, particularly between those made by the Players and those made by the Master of Chronicles. Now, the Tarots are always divided into three decks: Major Arcana, Minor Arcana, and Faction Arcana, and their use is always tied to the context. The Major Arcana provide fundamental information tied to the archetypal meanings of the cards, the Minor Arcana expand with additional details, while the Faction Arcana situate the outcomes within the setting.
The Major Arcana are used by the Chronicler both before and during Sessions to determine the outcome of certain events, such as battles, NPC or Faction objectives. The creation of Supporting NPCs can also be enhanced by drawing cards from the Minor Arcana, which provide questions for the Players and define the NPC’s Traits, Flaws, and Unique Characteristics. Before the Session, the Chronicler can always rely on the Tarots to flesh out NPCs, locations, battles, and missions.
As mentioned, the Tarots are also a tangible element of Valraven’s setting, and the rules for Players include three new Dark Past Gifts directly tied to the Tarots. Through these Gifts, a Character can use the Tarot in-game to produce a variety of effects, manipulate fate, or allow themselves to be guided by the cards in fulfilling their destiny. The result is a duality where the Tarots weave the threads of fate behind the scenes when used by the Chronicler and openly manifests their power in play when used by the Players.

We’re still working on the final design of the Tarots, so that will be the focus of a future reveal.

Unboxing for Lost Stories

Those of you who added Broken Tales: Lost Stories to their pledge will be happy to see how it turned out in this unboxing video.

Our next game

Our new game, Bitter Chalice, will launch on Kickstarter in early 2025.

Bitter Chalice is an adventure role-playing game set in a desolate fantasy world. The story takes place in the Blighted Lands surrounding the once lush and now cursed city of Vathan, where the inhabitants are condemned to a life of thirst, hunger, and madness.

Bitter Chalice is structured to be a different experience to traditional TTRPGs: think of it as one huge, highly curated game campaign that comes with its own rules. The game aims to evoke the feel of a TTRPG Soulslike: an intoxicating and challenging journey into a dark, immersive world inspired by Hollow Knight, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, and Dark Souls—but without the relentless fight/die/repeat loop.

We've created a 42-page overview that you can download for free HERE.

If you like what you see, you can:

Bookmark the Kickstarter page (this actually helps us)
Get two Harry Conway (Magic the Gathering, D&D) art prints for FREE on top of any physical pledge you make during the campaign, just by signing up HERE (use the same email you use for your Kickstarter account)

Reminders

You can always access your Pledge Manager survey from HERE. Orders are locked but get in touch if you need changes.
The Late Pledge for Valraven is HERE.
You can find us on our Discord server, visit our website and store, like our Facebook page (The World Anvil Publishing), follow our Bluesky account, get the key news from Telegram, check out our Instagram channel, or see Actual Plays and more from our YouTube channel.

– Tommaso

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