Red Jack’s Gambling House: Red Jack
You open the door into a sparse, unpainted room. There is a simple wooden table in the center of the room. Above it a wheel hangs spinning from a post in the table, its jackpots muddled into a bloody grey. On the table lies a deck of cards on a rusted mirror. You hear a flutter from the butterflies behind you, but the noise is drowned out by boisterous singing.
“Away out here they got a name for rain and wind and fire. The rain is Tess, the fire Jo. They call the wind Maria.”
“Hello. I wasn’t expecting you just yet.”
A man steps out, wearing a prince’s gaudy red suit and white stockings, an epée at his side and a long hat with a white feather upon the long curly ringlets of hair streaked white and black. He doffs his hat and bows towards you.
“Welcome to my home,” he says.
Red Jack is Ordered Evil. He is also known as Ebeorie, the Lord of Discord. He is an emotional demon and draws power from riot and conflict. Within the constraints of the wheel and the deck he is trustworthy: the riddle gives him power, and he is bound by the riddle. Beyond the wheel and the deck, he enjoys suffering. He gains power through discord and heated arguments. He is the inspiration and the cause of many of the worst serial killers throughout the world tree.
Red Jack is virtually indestructible in his home. He has magic resistance 8, which means that any magic cast will fail on a roll of 8 or less on d20. Further, within the gambling halls magic costs an additional spell level verve to cast (if Red Jack is nearby, this cost is only paid if the spell gets past Jack’s magic resistance).
Red Jack: (Demon: 8; Evil; Survival: 42; Move: 14; Attacks: Special; Defense: +6; Special Attacks: Send to other world; Special Defenses: immune to normal weapons, regeneration; Magic Resistance: 8)
Demonic specialties: ride-along, words of power, influence, delusions, open doors, emotional high, invisibility.
Demonic power points: 23 (can store up to 24 points and have up to 32 points in play at any one time)
Intelligence 15, Charisma 14, Wisdom 11
Red Jack begins play with 23 demonic power points. He’s been soaking in a lot of discord by way of his ride-alongs. Jack currently has six points in play from the ride-alongs he maintains.
| Power | Cost | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| Zodiac ride-along | 1 point | 1 point |
| A Vegas ride-along | 1 point | 2 points |
| Jack the Ripper ride-along | 1 point | 3 points |
| The Fork murderer ride-along | 1 point | 4 points |
| A Hamokera murderer ride-along | 1 point | 5 points |
| A Roman crossroads murderer ride-along | 1 point | 6 points |
If Red Jack becomes a recurring villain, later demonic specialties might include teleport or dominate, to make his ride-alongs even more deadly and mysterious.
Open doors: This specialty allows Red Jack to send any one target per round to a world that his doors open onto. There is no saving roll against this specialty. He will not send multiple victims to the same door unless he knows there’s an ambush waiting for them.
Regeneration: As the custodian, Red Jack regenerates 8 survival per round while within the Gambling House.
Drawing Cards
Red Jack will shuffle the deck and cut it into two piles: one for fortune and one for fate. If you’ve got sleight-of-hand skill with cards, it would be even cooler to have one deck, and ensure that each player draws one fortune and one fate. If, like me, you can’t pull something like that off, just separate the deck into standard cards for fortune and the major arcana for fate, and offer them a pull from each deck.
| Suit | Modern Suit | Moral Code |
|---|---|---|
| Loaves | Hearts | Chaos |
| Sword | Clubs | Order |
| Stakes | Spades | Good |
| Dishes | Diamonds | Evil |
Tarot decks are easy to find nowadays. I used the Kalevala deck from Kalervo Aaltonen and Taina Pailos. The “forgotten gods” on the deck are the Finnish epic heroes.
Jack’s patter
As he shuffles the deck, Jack recites a bit of patter. However you handle the shuffling, when you’re done the “fortune” pile should be “normal” cards, and the “fate” pile should be the major arcane.
Step right up folks.
They call ’em playing cards, not watching cards. Watch the shuffle, it ain’t that hard.
The magician today is the devil tomorrow, fortune’s luck and fate’s your sorrow.
Draw the sun or the moon or the star, the deck’s bright fortunes take you far.
If you have nerve you may have more if fortune smiles upon your door.
Find the queen or fear the king, or face the anchorite in the ring.
Maybe you win, maybe you lose, it all depends on the cards you choose.
Cut it once or draw it high, only a fool lets the cards go by.
The mirror’s hot, don’t hesitate: draw once for fortune, once for fate.
At “once for fate”, he lays the cards down, the fortune deck on one mirror, the fate deck on the other. They can draw from the top, or cut once and draw from the new top. They may do this in any order (but remember that characters without a moral code can’t pull from the fortune deck). The player characters may try to discover the location of one or more cards, for example by watching the mirror to see the bottom card. The deck’s draw is random. If a character successfully “sees” some card’s location, roll randomly for what card they see. This is the characters’ only chance to draw the cards. While they may visit Jack again, he will only offer them the cards once.
Fortune cards
Any character with a moral code may draw from the fortune deck. If a character without a moral code draws a card, that card will be blank. The fortune deck consists of the numbered cards and the face cards of the normal deck.
Numbered cards (2-10) provide bonuses or penalties when in a critical situation. The card will provide a penalty if the character has the opposite moral code, or a bonus otherwise. Bonuses may be played at any time by the player. The player may keep the card that they draw, and play it in a critical situation. Penalties have a 50% chance, until invoked, of being invoked the next time the player chooses to use mojo on a roll involving at least one opponent. They will be unable to spend mojo, causing their action to fail. The next action by their opponent is at a bonus of the number on their card. The bonus or penalty applies for that entire scene, once the card is played. It will apply to all rolls by the player (for bonuses) or against the character (for penalties).
The face cards grant a lasting bonus or penalty of two. This modifier will last until the character increases their level. The character will know, each time the modifier makes a difference, that their loss or win came from their draw.
| Princess | Wisdom | The modifier applies to any roll to understand a situation or know the right path, both physical and moral. |
| Prince | Wealth | The modifier applies to any rolls regarding money. |
| Queen | Love | The modifier applies to any rolls regarding friendship, love, influence, or charisma. |
| King | Health | The modifier applies to any rolls regarding healing or health. |
Aces provide an automatic success on the character’s next saving roll against death. If the ace is a penalty, the next saving roll against death is an automatic failure.
Fortune cards: Fate cards
Any character may draw one card from the fate deck. The fate deck consists of the major arcana from a tarot deck. There are twenty-two cards in the fate deck. Four of them are speaking cards: the world, the hanged man, the chariot, and the falling tower. The other cards make something happen to the character who draws it. There are six each of boon cards, bane cards, and conflict cards. The character may not keep their fate card, but they may elect to save its effect for later if it is a boon. Cards can only directly affect one character, though in some cases, such as a wish, it doesn’t have to be the character who drew the card.
Characters will not always know the effect of the card when they draw it, but once the effect takes place, they will realize that it was the card that did it. Each card has a suggested phrase for Red Jack. He will always say something like “You draw well”, “a good card”, “very good”,”lucky”, or “Good, good”, regardless of whether the card is good or bad.
Fortune cards: Boon cards
Empress: “The gifts the Queen bestows from her basket.” A special magic item devoted to the character’s archetype will appear in this or the next adventure. The character will know that something special is in store for them, and when near the item they will understand how to get to it.
Force/Strength: “In the heart of your enemy, that is where the truth lies.” The character gains 1 to their archetypal ability.
Justice: “Neither scales nor children can be fooled by artifice. Trust to the sword when the scales fall.” The character can, once, choose to understand the truth about someone or some situation. They will penetrate disguises, see hidden or invisible creatures, and know the veracity of any statement. The effects are instantaneous, but the knowledge is generally permanent: that invisibility spell or illusion no longer affects the character.
Magician: “In the flames of the craftsman are born all manner of wonder.” The player may choose one spell or field (at +1, with one skill) for their character, as if they had already known it.
Pope/Hierophant: “The pope comes out of the east. Never take the stage after children or animals.The character can, once, choose to undo or rewind an action or set of related actions (such as a scene) that the character took part in.
Sun: “And a little child shall lead them… down the proverbial primrose path.” The character can, once, convince any creature or group to follow them or to let them pass.
Fortune cards: Bane cards
Devil: “Beware the man who goes masked and naked… watch the cards, there—” “You feel a sharp stinging in your fingers as you lift the card. A thin cut smears blood down the edge of the card. The blood beads up, rolls down, and disappears.” The character now has a blood puddle stalking them. The puddle is the same level as they are, and will follow the character and attack their friends when their friends are alone. Further, the puddle is tied to the character: any survival points lost by the puddle are also lost by the character (such points lost count as archetypal) and any injury points gained by the puddle are gained by the character. The puddle will act as intelligently as blood puddles normally do.
Emperor: “He will take your daughters, your fields, and the tenth of your seed, and you shall cry out because the king you chose over god has betrayed you. A noble card, and regal, for the scepter and the orb are at hand.” The character is ruined. The character’s reputation has been destroyed, and the legal system wants them imprisoned. No one, outside of the player characters, will trust the character if they have heard of the character. This bane may be overcome, but it will be a difficult adventure. The character will only discover clues leading to this adventure after they reach their next level. Even after restoring their honor legally, there will remain some element of distrust among people who have heard of the dishonor but not of the restoration.
Fool: “Pack up your troubles and smile, for the world opens up before you.” The character loses 1 from their archetypal ability.
Lovers: “What god has joined, let no man rent asunder.” A person close to the character will betray them or has betrayed them, most likely to an important enemy.
Moon: “When the hound bays, the master follows.” The character has been or will be unwittingly subverted by an enemy. At one point in the future, the enemy will command the character to do something, and the character must obey that command; the command might also be triggered by an event or phrase. There is no resistance to the command, but once carried out the character is free from further influence. The command shouldn’t take more than a few minutes of playing time to complete.
Popess/High Priestess: “Hard work and perseverance bring revelation, and the fields of the gods are ever brimming with boons for the faithful.” A cursed magic item will appear in this or the next adventure. The character will know that something special is in store for them, and when near the item they will understand how to get to it. Once acquired, the character will initially believe that it is beneficial, and it will be difficult to convince them otherwise.
Conflict cards
Conflict cards put the character at risk, but if they pass their trials, they will gain a boon.
Death: “The reaper marks passage, not an end, and his scythe is sweeter for the cut.” History has changed: the character’s last battle left them seriously injured: they have four injury points that will not heal, with all the penalties that entails. For each life saved or each life taken, the character heals one injury point. If they survive this test and heal all of their injuries, they gain one point of endurance.
Hermit: “Inner sight sees farther than the eye.” The character is blinded. However, if they can survive to their next level, they gain an additional level on top of it. From that point on their character is always one level higher than their experience total indicates. The blindness is incurable until the next level, at which point it remains but is curable through divine means.
Judgment: “If all of your dead were to rise up, what would your greeting be?” The player and guide must list one action of their character that was wrong or that wronged someone. They must right that wrong before they reach their next level, or they will lose all experience gained over their current level.
Temperance: “Sunlight or sunset? Hard to tell, but this card presages change and shakeup.” The character is made aware of the eternal struggle between good and evil, order and chaos. They gain a glimpse of the world tree and the insects in its bark, of the city at the crossroads and the winding roads that lead to it. Characters that do not have a moral code may choose a moral code. The character must in some way prove their moral code. If they do, they will gain, three times during each level, a bonus of five to a roll in furtherance of their moral code. But while proving their code, they have a penalty of one to all rolls not made in furtherance of their moral code.
Star: “One foot in water, the other on land. Destiny lies in the margins.” The character will not regain survival (but will regain verve) until all survival is gone and they take at least one injury. When they take that injury, their survival is restored to their maximum.
Wheel of Fortune: Red Jack calls out your bet for the wheel: “Ten shillings minimum, play your bets before the wheel stops spinning.” And the wheel slows as Jack hands you ten strangely-colored coins. That’s your stake, and you cannot leave until you’ve bet it all. (The character must bet each of the chips, until each chip has been bet; they can bet all at once or dole them out over several spins. They can also bet their winnings, but they don’t have to. If the character ends up with chips, they gain a bonus of their chip count on all archetypal rolls for the next three game sessions. Every original chip lost means a penalty of one on all rolls for the duration of this adventure. Those two can combine. Use a real wheel, not ability rolls, for this. Use red chips for the original allotment, and white chips for the character’s winnings.)
Speaking cards
One of Jack’s duties is to provide a voice for the world tree and the road. Should one of these cards force him to speak, that will end the characters’ time with him.
Jack gathers the cards clumsily, hurriedly. He turns away and leaves the room, closing the door behind him.
If they ask him to stay, or somehow ask him to tell them more:
He speaks quickly and without looking at you.
“The cards no longer make your life. That is up to you now. Please leave.”
The wheel will slowly stop spinning. When Jack closes the door, it locks. He will not return in this guise for them, though he can return if they go through one of the doors and come back—but he’ll return in the guise appropriate for that door. They will not get another chance at the cards, however.
They will remember the voice and the words in their dreams. Their dreams will contain variations on what the speaking card described.
Speaking cards: The World
If they draw the world, the road speaks through Red Jack.
Red Jack stiffens. His eyes roll back and he stares at you with empty orbs. Then he speaks, in a voice hard and rough, the voice of a man who has seen many troubles and many days.
“On the road to wisdom are many doors. The numbers of the roads are 49 and 61. They stand between life and death, wisdom and folly, the unknown and the known. I am the road. I am life. First the crossroads. Then paradise. Follow the signs. Should you find the road, do not lose it; once you lose the way, it is difficult to walk the same path again.”
The Hanged Man
If they draw the hanged man, the world tree speaks through Red Jack.
Red Jack stiffens. His eyes roll back and he stares at you with empty orbs. Then he speaks, and his voice is strong and clean, like a starry night or a green and lush wood.
“The roots of the world grow weak. Insects nip at the branches and gnaw at the trunk. The branches of the tree are the paths of the world: the road and the tree are one.”
The Chariot
If they draw the chariot, the eternal city speaks through Red Jack.
Red Jack stiffens. His eyes roll back and he stares at you with empty orbs. Then he speaks, and his voice is a harmony of many voices, off-tune but beautiful, the soul of humanity.
“At the end of the road, the spires of the city still shine but their light grows weak. The vandals are at the gates, and the sword of time is raised above its alleys and towers. The sword of Arthur and of Ellesan and of Roland, and the ancient grail stand as the axle of the crossroads. Wear your sword well on the road, for the road is filled with danger. The roads to the city teem with enemies, yet you will still find those who welcome pilgrims on the crossroads. Watch carefully for the 7 and the 13, the hidden numbers which mark the path to the city.”
The Falling Tower
If they draw the falling tower, the Insect Queen speaks through Red Jack.
Red Jack stiffens. His eyes roll back and he stares at you with empty orbs. Then he speaks, and his voice is pain, a high-pitched whine cold and inhuman, wavering with hate.
“There is no road for you, only death. If you look for the road, you will die before you find it. If you find the road you will die in the traveling. The doors of the road are not for your species, who cannot withstand emptiness nor cold nor the fullness of the hive.”
Wheel of Life:
If they ask to wager on the wheel, Jack will pull the betting surface out of his voluminous clothing and lay it on the table.
He pulls a scroll of cloth from his coat, unrolls it, and lays it upon the table. The cloth is covered in red and black squares, with numbers in each square. “What shall you wager on the wheel?” he asks. “Dreams? Hopes? Loves or Life? Trade your aspirations for a chip and lay down your bets. Bet on red or black, even or odd, high or low, or lay your chip on your lucky number. The sky’s the limit when the wheel turns for you.
Characters can wager up to three important parts of their life, dreams, or aspirations. Each will give them a different color chip. When they win with a chip, they get that color of chips back for it. Their winnings, if they have any, can be exchanged for answers to questions, fortunes told, and fortunes made.
Characters can wager on red or black, on numbers, on high or low, and on even or odd. Low bets are the numbers one through 18; high bets are the numbers 19 through 36. If you’re familiar with roulette you can let them bet any legal roulette combination. Red, black, high, low, even, and odd pay one to one: for every chip bet, they get their bet plus another chip. Numbers pay 35 to 1: for every chip bet, they get their bet plus 35 more chips. Bets on low third, middle third, and high third pay two to one: for every chip they bet, they get two more chips.
If you can get a real roulette wheel, I recommend it. Small portable ones are easily found on-line by looking for “roulette paperweight”.
Wheel of Life:: Questions
Red Jack will gamble for answers, should they ask him anything important. He’ll wager the answer, and they must wager something of importance for them. They can wager anything, even pieces of their past or future.
“My dear boy, this is not a fortune-teller’s hut. The cards do not see the future, the cards are the future.”
“Why is our friend appearing and disappearing?”
“The vine that holds your world is beginning to sing; it will soon snap.”
“Why?”
“The man in the dugout canoe.”
“How can we stop it?”
“The branches of the world are strained because your friend is dead and not dead at the same time. If you can ensure that he is always dead, sometime when the world isn’t looking, you will remove the strain on the branches.”
“What happens when the vines snap?”
“The world breaks.”
“Where does it go?”
“You didn’t look very closely at the darkness at the edge of the crossroads. That was smart.”
“When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks back.”
“Joe Lakono works for the abyss.”
“I am on nobody’s side. I have certain duties to fulfill, and I fulfill them.”
