Teaching D&D to Ten Year Olds

Out of the blue a work colleague (and former D&D player) told me that they had bought the 5e Basic Set for their 10 year old daughter and asked me for advice on how to run their first game.  The problem is twofold being as much about teaching dad to be the DM and daughter how to play.

Breaking it Down

All RPGs have the same basic elements:

• Character Generation -  Where players get to "roll up" their characterss and use their imagination and creative writing skills to put some background flesh on their barebones stats.
  
• Mechanics - The rules of the game which are there not to constrain creativity or storytelling but to add a little consistency to the experience.  In this way a fireball or a sword strike do a consistent amount of damage every time.
  
• Storytelling - The art of story writing, dungeon mastery and how to be a player.  This is not really contained in any rulebook and is a skill which you develop over time and exposure to roleplaying.

Character Generation

I remember my own experiences as a young roleplayer some 35 years ago when I unwrapped my christmas gift of a 2nd Edition Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide.  Hundreds of hours were spend pouring through the pages and generating character after character who would never see a moment of play.  However, I know now that this was probably the wrong way of going about things.

Looking at the Lost Mine of Phandelver there are no pre-generated characters designed specifically for the adventure but there are some starter characters in the box set which is a good place to start. 
There are also a couple of great web resources if this is too limited a selection.

• 1,000 Basic Pregens - has a huge array of different characters presented as short form stat blocks.  These take a bit of deciphering for the beginner but there is a key on page one to help you.
  
  
• Digital Dungeonmaster Pregens - 1060 different pregens by class and level but strangely not by race so you have to go hunting round to find the right combination of race and class.

Once your players have played a few sessions they will understand how the game works and will be able to use something like the ORCPUB D&D 5e Character Builder to generate their own.

Mechanics

Every D&D game involves a mix of combat (melee / missile) magic and skill or attribute checks.

Melee and Missile combat boils down to finding the AC (Armour class of the target) and the player trying to beat it on a d20.  There are lots of modifiers (numbers which are added to the dice roll or subtracted from the AC) which as you grow as a DM and player you will learn to remember.  Once a successful hit is determined then the appropriate weapon damage is rolled and applied to the target.

Spells in D&D when any type of magic is cast, it always works unless the spell says that a target gets a Save.  This usually negates or reduces the spells damage and can be cumbersome and tedious to implement, so for first games I would always leave this sort of thing out.  Mages are low powered at low level and the important thing is that the ten year old magic user gets to do a bit of damage now and then so make sure that they have magic missile in their arsenal of spells.

Skill and Attribute Checks are used whenever a PC tries to do something which is not combat or magic related.  Searching for things, disabling or setting traps, scaling a cliff, these are all skill and attribute checks.  The D&D skills and attributes give bonuses to doing specific tasks, but they all require a roll (once again using the d20) to beat a target number.  For example climbing needs a dexterity check, so any DEX modifiers need to be added to the dice roll, but if a character has climb skill they will get additional modifiers.  The target number which needs to be beaten represents the difficulty of the task and starts at 15, a particularly easy task would be 10 and a difficult task 20.  

Storytelling

Visualisation is one of the toughest challenges when trying to get a group of people sitting round the table to all imagine the same thing.  A key tool is the Battle Map which represents a top down view of a location and has been a standard for decades.  This can be as simple as a sheet of paper on which you draw what the characters can see and interact with.

Key Text / Player Descriptions are contained in most pre-written modules and highlight a piece of text to be read out to the players when they enter a new location describing what they first see.  Supplementary text will describe to the DM only what the room may contain (for example monsters, hidden doors, treasure etc).

Feed the Players Excitement by putting them on the spot, adding tension when they are being cautious, make it theatrical, do voices, encourage them to do voices, make grandiose gestures and gory descriptions of monster death.  I always like to make my players to stand on the precipice throughout my games, they should never feel cosy and comfortable.

Let Players Explore - The joy of roleplaying is about being able to explore.  In some cases it might be a dungeon, in others it might be your options, but whenever you play, you are always exploring your character.  There is no right or wrong thing to do, if a player chooses a path which will bring about conflict or adversity, warn them, but let them do it anyway.  When the situation turns bad they will have to deal with the consequences.

Don't Be Scared to Fudge it, the rules are there to be ignore and modified as you see fit.  If a rule might prevent something heroic or cinematic happening just ignore it.  If a monster's die roll might inadvertently kill a PC then change it.  Need a new rule to get you out of a situation then make it up but always try to consistently apply the new rule when the situation reappears.

Keep it Simple, Stupid is a good mantra and the The KISS Principle should always be in the forefront of your mind when DMing for a young group.  They will want to be at the heart of the action quickly and they won't be too concerned with deep complex storylines.  Define the Good and the Bad monsters early on as clearly black and white and they be able to quickly react to any challenges they face.

Start Small by choosing a simple combat encounter for your first session.  Ambush your heroes in the woods with a small band of kobolds or goblins.  If the PCs kill half of them, the monsters will run away.  This immediately presents the players a plethora of choices, do they run after them? Do they run to town alert the authorities?  Do they loot the bodies? Do they track the fleeing monsters back to their hideout?  All have possibilities for the next installment.

Guage your Success as a DM

If all goes well your players should look like this:

Stranger Things - D&D Success!!

Exit Stage Left - TLOD S07 E02

The 500 strong mob bayed for blood, and Jan the Sell Sword complied by slashing the magically restrained Murdoch cleanly across the face.  The spell wore off and clasping at his ragged throat in an attempt to stem the flow of blood, Murdoch slumped face down in the dirt gurgling "Mercy Sir, Mercy!"

An Aarakocra

On the stage, Bernhardt the Chosen of The Temple, screamed at his two acolytes "For the Gods sake help him you idiots".  Sir Tarigoz closed in on the nearest cleric, Grunb, and at sword point told him to stop.  Grunb responded swiftly, casting a sound blast spell right in Tarigoz's face.  The Knight of the 5th Legion was not phased by this but the sheer intensity of the spell made him step backwards, lose his footing on the edge of the stage and tumble off.  The other acolyte Penryk hurried across to the stairs at the right hand side of the stage to get to Murdoch. 

Having released the winged Deamon from the cross, Nyx, Styx, Laurel and the creature hid behind the stage contemplating their next move.  Escape.

Watching the trial by combat from the edge of the circle, Wulf Brundson, seethed with fury at this clerical interference in a lawful trial by combat.  The Euborean Barbarian could not let this religious interloper change the outcome of the battle with a healing spell and so proceeded to block Penryk's progress down the stairs.  The mob shoved him into the circle and screamed "another challenger".   As Grunb leered over the edge of the stage laughing at the fallen Knight, Sir Tarigoz jumped to his feet and plunged his bastard sword into the clerics belly.  Grunb tumbled off the stage impaling himself up to the hilt on Tarigoz's outstretched sword.  It took all of the Knight's strength not to crumble under the weight of the cleric and he briefly held him aloft before unceremoniously dumping him to the dirt.  The crowd recoiled in shock and horror at the sight of one of the God's chosen being righteously put down by the Kingsman.  This day would go down in village history and the God's would surely wreak a vengeance upon the Kingsman for such a bold act.

The spell holding Ssinkar wore off and he immediately moved towards the fallen Murdoch.  The Salamankari was a cleric not a fighter and he had no intention of letting the poor man die at his hand.  Grasping at this throat with his scaly hands, he stopped the flow of blood with a healing spell.  Murdoch immediately cried out in pain as the opportunist Jan the Sell Sword stabbed him in the arm.  Murdoch scrabbled through the dirt towards the foot of the stage.


Hoping that they could find bandages and supplies in one of the empty village buildings, the Phylus sisters Nyx and Styx and Laurel, carried the winged daemon to the nearest one.  Once inside the Absent Badger tavern, they found that it was was empty save for one odd looking old man face down in his own puddle of mead.

Trying not to disturb the fellow, the sisters hauled the daemon onto one of the tables at the back of the bar and tended to his wounds.  The old man immediately awoke from his slumber and asked "Has he finished torturing that poor Aarakocra yet?"  The near sighted old man introduced himself as Asdos and with a wave of his hands and a mumbling of words cast a spell.  Laurel went to the bar to fetch a bottle of strong spirits to staunch the Aarakocra's many small cuts and bruises.  When looking at the rest of the party she noticed that they had disappeared, she could still hear them but could not hear them.  Moving over to the table she passed through some form of illusory barrier which hid that end of the room from view.


Tarigoz mounted the stage and as he passed the now empty cross he confronted Bernhardt telling him that he had lost a fair fight and he should stop this travesty.  Bernhardt, unaware of the deamon's escape, addressed the crowd and flamboyantly pointing at the empty cross screamed "The kingsman is in league with the demon"


The crowd, enthralled by the red faced cleric noticed the empty cross and retorted in unison

"The Deamon has fucked off!"

Bernhardt's face dropped as the realisation that he had lost dawned on him.  He screamed at the crowd "Halt the combat! Halt the combat! Return to your homes and defend your babies! The Deamon is loose!.
As the mob disbursed in all directions, Bernhard gathered his injured men and taunted the Knight of Wulfschlossen defiantly cursing

"This isn't the last you've heard of this Kingsman.  I will be writing a report of your treasonous conduct to your superiors."

They clambered into a cart and drove off in the direction of the Temple.
Some of the villagers decided to quench their thirst in the tavern before they went home to their farms.  Inside The Absent Badger, the mage Asdos declared that it was "Time to go" and opened the window behind him and ushered everyone out.  They headed across the fields to the hovel in the woods he called home.
Jan, Ssinkar, Wulf and Sir Tarigoz found themselves alone in the village square, they decided to band together to search for the Deamon and get to the bottom of what it was and why it was here.  Wulf's tracking skills soon revealed that a party of three had dragged the creature in the direction of the village tavern.  On entering the bar the locals immediately stopped their raucous conversations and glared at the strangers.  Ssinkar plonked 10 gold on the bar and declared "A drink for all".  The barkeep bit into one of the coins and exclaimed "The red devil's money is good".  This immediately broke the awkward impasse with shouts of "he has  scales on the outside but a kind heart on the inside".  As the illusory wall spell wore off, Jan noticed the suddenly gaping window with blood and feathers coating the window ledge. 

The posse of PCs swiftly downed their drinks and began following the tracks from the window, which had now become 5, across the fields towards the woods which Tarigoz knew was the home of the mage Asdos.  He contemplated that Fate was a strange mistress and was hard at work weaving together a strange band of folk to do her mysterious bidding.

In the mage's hovel, the assembled group crowded around his small stove, the Aarakocra told them that he was a messenger sent to find help.  His people were being systematically wiped out by an angry vicious Cloud Giant.  He was moving his cloud castle around the mountains destroying the AaraKocran nests and slaughtering their chicks.  The shaman of his tribe had consulted the Sky Gods who had flatly  refused to aid them, but for one renegade who said that he would send his daughter, Laurel.  The Sky Gods promptly moved their crystal castle higher into the sky than any Aarakocra could fly.

Sensing that the group were not entirely convinced that preventing the genocide of his people was a worthy and heroic enough deed he declared "I have money!!"

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Why Who Plays Who? Doesn't Matter

So Peter Capaldi has thrown in the towel, been fired, resigned (delete as applicable) and will regenerate at the end of series.  The search for the 11th doctor will inevitably consume the nation (if you listen to the pundits), but not this little corner of geekdom. 

To be honest, I don't care.

I have every faith that whichever actor gets the job, be they young, old, black, white, male or female, dog or cat, they will do a bang up job.  IMHO it is not the actor which makes a great Doctor, rather it tends to be the other way around.  The role maketh the actor.

What concerns me more is that the BBC gives whoever takes on the mantle the proper tools for the job.

Falling Ratings?

Some of the gutterpress have accused the BBC of ditching Capaldi, claiming he is unpopular and that ratings have suffered.  I disagree. 

Nu Who By The Numbers

Looking at the ratings of each Doctor across their time in office, their relative popularity doesn't hint at anything terribly wrong with Capaldi's stewardship of the TARDIS.

In fact he has racked up a creditable episode count over his 855 days and still has season 10 yet to air.

 
However, the big fat elephant in the room is the increase in "Days Without Who".

Put simply there has been too much time between seasons/episodes.

In a Newsweek interview back in March 2016, Capaldi himself criticised the BBC's "erratic scheduling".  Helmsman Stephen Moffat also moves on at the end of the year which signals a sea change at the BBC.  Perhaps they are scaling back on expensive shows such as Who and replacing them with cheap as chips reality TV which they can regurgitate out at pennies on the dollar.  Who knows?

What I know is that I'm fed up with mid season breaks and long hiatuses.

No More Love interests... Please

Whilst I enjoyed the Rose, Amy and Clara characters I found their on/off relationships with the Doctor nauseating.

Can we not go back to the condescending alien superiority of old Who?.  It's not a feminist backlash, I don't care if the companion is male or female.  Let's face it everyone is a complete idiot compared to the Doctor's supragenius mind.  One of my favourite male companions was Harry Sullivan who on many levels was a complete berk, but he knew his place, acting as both a plot device or a plot explainer whenever the story needed it.

My favourite female Doctor / Companion relationship was that of the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and Leela (Louise Jameson).  The Doctor's frequent frustration and anger at her savage common sense, naivete and independent nature were a joy to behold.  She held her own on many occasions and even reversed the damsel in distress trope a few times saving the Doctor from his own curiosity.

How Do You Fix Who?

I don't want to sound like an old fogey, but the golden years of Who had a plot template and it's one which I have used in my own storytelling.  It goes like this:

1.  Episode begins with a short segment to show the episodes location and shows two factions violently trying to co-exist with each other.  The two antagonistic factions have been in impasse for many years / decades / centuries / millenia.

2.  The TARDIS crashlands in a new location and is somehow trapped or disabled (removing its use as a powerful Deus Ex Machina from the plot solution).  The Doctor and companion narrowly escape with their lives and must now use their wits and ingenuity to survive.

3.  The Doctor and Companion are soon seperated, one each to each faction.  The story of each faction emerges (as told from their perspective) through their interactions with the Doctor and the companion respectively.

4.  An Attack is launched by one faction against the other.  There is much running around and confusion during which the Doctor and companion are reunited and seperated again.  They swap sides and, armed with the facts about the other faction, a true picture emerges of which faction is Good and which is Evil.

5.  The Doctor and companion are finally reunited and the Doctor saves the day by either resolving their differences, helping one side defeat the other or fails to save the Evil faction from their own demise.  

Simples.

Let's hope that the BBC take the opportunity to go back to basics and give us some good old fashioned scarey thought provoking tense sci-fi like they used to be able to make.

Oh and if Toby Jones or Rory Kinnear get the job I will be a happy man. 

 

A Public Examination of the Deamon - TLOD S07 E01

As promised, I have begun DMing a new adventure in my campaign world The Lands of Dual and will be making regular session reports from now on.

Introducing the Heroes 

• Ai-Nyx - (Tara) - Female Phylus (demi-human cat) Thief from Xix
• Ai-Styx - (Zoe) - Female Phylus Rogue from Xix
• Jan the Sell Sword - (Craig Tanner) - Human Fighter from Newhon
• Laurel - (Carol Cunningham) - A female Half-Elf (Aeroimm) Ranger from the Great Desert of Sankahar. 
• Sir Tarigoz Purplenderise - (Mark Cunningham) - A Human Knight of the 5th legion of the Wulfschlossen Army
• Ssinkar - (Steve Tasso) - A male Salamankari Cleric from the deserts of Sankahar.

Lurneslye in Wulfschlossen

Our heroes find themselves in the farming village of Lurneslye in the foothills of the mountains which form the spine of the great nation of Wulfschlossen.

A public meeting has been called to examine a creature which was caught skulking around the outskirts of the village by Bernhardt the Chosen of the Temple of Lurneslye.  The villagers, a mob of some 500 or so folk have assembled around the large wooden stage in the centre of the village.  They bear makeshift arms, in order to defend themselves from the abomination and to ensure that it receives the appropriate justice should it be convicted or try to escape. 

The creature, a winged bird like humaoid, is being torturtured, plucked and interrogated on the stage by Bernhardt and his two acolytes whilst the imposing figure of Murdoch, their Bodyguard, stands beside them preventing anyone from mounting the stage.

Laurel, deciding that she has had enough of this cruel treatment of what is clearly not a daemon, attempts to mount the stage.  After casting a Detect Evil spell, Ssinkhar determines that no-one on the stage is Evil and proceeds to addresses Bernhardt directly claiming that as a fellow cleric he has the power to do the same.  Bernhardt dismisses the Salamankari as a foreign devil in league with the deamon. 

Sir Tarigoz, tasked with upholding law in this frontier village, storms the stage demanding that Bernhardt hear Laurel's evidence as it is written in the law.  A war of words ensues between Bernhardt and Sir Tarigoz which ends when the villagers call for a trial by combat.  Ssinkhar accepts the trial on behalf of the creature and Bernhardt orders Murdoch to fight on behalf of the temple.

The villagers immediately step back to create a circle of combat and the two acolytes cast detect magic spells to ensure that Ssinkar does not cheat by using a magic weapon.  Murdoch and Sinkar engage in a battle to the death.

Meanwhile under the stage the two Phylus, Ai-Nyx and Ai-Styx, are hiding in fear.  They have been living in the village for a few months and have witnessed Bernhardt addressing the crowd every holyday.  He has never been this zealous and the crowd have never been so animated, they decide to wait out the events until they can make a break for it.

On the edge of the combat circle, Jan the sellsword is eating an apple and watching the events in anticipation of learning a few things about Murdoch's fighting style.

After a good dealing of pacing around Murdoch closes the gap by lunging at Ssinkar but misses with his broadsword.  The wily Salamankar takes advantage of the closesness of the encounter and surreptisiously casts a command spell on Murdoch but fails.

Ai-Styx slinks out from below the stage to get a better look at the creature followed by her sister.  They both feel great pity for it and decide to release it by picking the manacles whilst the mob are pre-occupied by the fight.  Laurel spots the pair and stands between the clerics and the creature to block anyone's view of their actions.

Murdoch stabs Ssinkhar.  The crowd cheer and the Salamankari responds by casting a hold person on his opponent.  Murdoch is frozen in place, but the obvious use of magic angers the two acolytes and they both cast hold person on Ssinkar.  Bernhardt demands that Sir Tarigoz arrest the now paralysed Ssinkar as he has clearly broken the rule of law and must face the same punishment as the creature, death by fire.  The enraged mob demand immediate satisfaction in blood and someone shoves Jan into the circle. 

As it is written in the law if another enters the circle he must take up the challenge.  Jan, an opportunistic sort of fellow, knows that he cannot possibly beat Murdoch in a fair fight.  He takes immediate advantage of the fact he is currently paralysed by Ssinkar's spell and slashes the unfortunate man's throat.

The two Phylus successfully release the creature and, aided by Laurel, lower it down out of sight behind the stage.

Next Episode -->

The Tarot and its use in RPGs

As soon as I read the title of the Jan 2016 RPG Blog Carnival I knew I had to write something about my use of Tarot cards in my Fantasy RPGs over the years.

The Deck of Many Things (aka RPG History 101)

As many of you will know playing cards have been used as physical representations of the cards in the classic deck of many things since its inception.  The first published reference of the use of tarot dates back to 1983 where Michael J. Lowrey codified its use in AD&D in his article published in Dragon #77.  It's also in the D&D SRD so as far as I'm concerned it's cannon!!

Presenting your players with a tattered tarot deck lends an air of theatricality and mystique to your game which will not go unnoticed by your players.

Tarot as a Character Generation Tool

Surprisingly there was a time before the 5e Background Generator and some players always seem to have difficulty coming up with interesting motivations for their PCs.  I have often used a much simplified version of the Celtic Cross Spread to help them to generate their own ideas for their characters background and motivations.

A typical shortened "Celtic Cross" spread using only the 22 Major Arcana "Picture" cards

The first card laid is the "Significator" and describes the PCs current state.  In Tarot terms this is often described as the question that the appellant is asking of the cards.  For example a Fool in this position may indicate that the PC is a happy go lucky type of person blissfully ignorant of their place in the world or it could mean that they are quite literally the village idiot. 

The second card (The crossing) covers the first and identifies that which currently opposes the PC.  In other words the thing which must be overcome if the PC is to realise their goal.  This can often suggest some sort of personality or circumstance change which the PC must achieve.  For example a Tower in this position may mean that only by experiencing a disaster or tumultuous event will the PC be able to achieve their goal.  A devil on the other hand may signify the acquisition of power and wealth or the casting off of material possessions in order to fulfil ones potential.    

The third card represents the factors which are the foundation for the PCs current state these are considered to be the the things upon which the PC can rely upon such as their family or their own skills and strengths.  A "good" card such as The Emperor may mean that the PC has strength of focus or that they have an imposing father figure which they can rely upon.  A "bad" card such as the hanged man may signify that the PC holds an outdated opinion or principle or that they have had the strength to make a significant change in their life such as letting go of a previous life or relationship.   

The fourth card represents the PCs immediate past, events which may have happened very recently which have influenced the PCs current position.  A Tower in this position may signify a disaster from which the PC has fled with their life.  A Moon may signify that the PC has recently had an emotionally charged romantic relationship, also which they are fleeing or perhaps they are being chased by a lover (or more likely the lover's father).   

The fifth card signifies the PCs immediate future, that which may come to pass irrespective of the PCs actions within the next few days.  This is something of a gift for the DM and I often use it as a mechanism to gift the player a plot hook or some sort of advance knowledge which they can use in an upcoming encounter.  Of course to be really effective it should also be intentionally vague and mean little or nothing to the player initially.  Consider this to be the "you will meet a dark stranger" moment of the reading.

The sixth card represents the best possible outcome or as I like to think, the PCs ultimate goal or desire.  This card is probably the most important in the spread as it directly influences the PCs motivations.  A Judgement card in this position may well signify that the PC is mindful of their mortality and wishes to do good deeds to prepare for their own accounting before their chosen deity.  A Hermit in this position may mean that the PC seeks isolation, retrospection in the pursuit of the search for truth. 

As you can see from the example interpretations of the cards, they offer an almost infinite number (53,721,360 to be exact) of permutations and potential ideas for even the most jaded old school player who bears the scars of a thousand personalities.

Insta-Deck of Fate

There are those times in a game when the party are on their last legs and hope is something which has long since put on it skedaddle trousers and exited stage right.  This is when you ask one of their number to draw a card from the fate deck.

Use this as an opportunity to introduce a new game saving factor relevant to the card.  For example a prone hero about to be beheaded by a nefarious bad guy draws the Heirophant and the bad guy suddenly has a pang of conscience and decides to do the right thing and pauses… leaving them wide open for a killing blow.

My advice is to use this sparingly and only in dire circumstances to avoid a meaningless and game altering character death, otherwise the players may begin to consider their characters as somewhat immortal.

The Dream Sequence

I have also used tarot cards to project PC dreams, visions or hallucinations.  How the players interpret the cards is up to them, but at least it gives an player something to reflect on as the blood slowly drains from their PCs unconscious body.  Perhaps it includes some insight into their current predicament or some final sage advice about mending their ways should they be restored to health by their comrades, you choose what it really means.

The Story Generator

In much the same way as in the character generation above, the Tarot can be used during the plot generation process.  Draw a few cards to generate a handful of significant NPCs around which the plot revolves and then do Celtic Cross spreads for each of these.  The goals and obstacles that they must overcome will often suggest some sort of contested relationship in much the same way as players generate relationships, needs, objects and locations between each other during setup in a game of FIASCO.

For those readers who feel uncomfortable with using a Tarot, I can heartily recommend the use of Inkwell Ideas Encounter Decks which contain a wide variety of story ideas.  Vintage accessories such as the "Whimsy" or Story Path Cards also have potential for storyboarding your games.

Indie RPG fans may also be familiar with the innovative storytelling map drawing game, The Quiet Year, which uses a standard playing card deck to generate weekly events which shape a world and its inhabitants.  Many of these events can be lifted directly from the game to create world shaping events for your own campaign.

Interpreting the Cards

I recommend only using the 22 major arcana cards mostly because these are the pretty ones but also because it's a lot easier to just reference the 44 different meanings (each card has 2 orientations Upright and Reversed) rather than the 156 of a full deck.

The tarot card meanings are intentionally vague and are supposed to inspire associations in the mind of the appellant (the player) and the reader (the GM) is merely using it as a device to stimulate creativity.  Many of the meanings are allegorical based on the significance of the objects found in the images.  

For example the Fool is often depicted being followed by a dog which signifies unconditional love.  The hanged man is usually depicted tied by one leg which harks back to medieval punishment for traitors.  These symbols may of course mean something else to the appellant and cause them to imagine some other significance for their PC.  There are a plethora of resources for Tarot meanings including handy reference apps for the mobile gamer.

A Final Word about Death, Devils and Towers

The appearance of the Death card is often followed swiftly by a sharp intake of breath.  In tarot terms the Death card actually signifies the end of a phase of life and a transition to something new.  Interpreting this card as PC death, particularly if it appears in the fifth position of the spread described above should be avoided.

This should also be the case with the Devil and Tower cards which also signify disturbance or change rather than a career ending catastrophe.

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Thanks of course go to Of Dice and Dragons for continuing to promote the RPG Blog Carnival.  This is my 5th entry and you can read the rest by clicking the RPG Blog Carnival tag below.