Rain Rules

How to play Rain.

The basic mechanic of giving marks and then challenging cards stands:
Obstacles represented by the major arcana, just like player characters. Their cards have strengths that modify the draw when that card is challenged.

Players give marks to the obstacle (not the card). After they feel they have given enough marks (a feeling they would get from the GM's description), they can challenge a card. They flip a card from the deck (made up of the minor arcana) and modify the draw's value by the card's strength. If the total is equal to or less than the number of marks given, they succeed and overcome that card. If the total is higher, they fail.

If the card drawn is upright, there is no backlash to the player. If the card is inverted, there IS backlash to the player, even if she succeeded.

Here's an example:

Tom is leading the expedition through a swamp that has expanded over the road. It is messy and very dangerous.

The Swamp is represented in two ways: First, The World is on the table and it is inverted. Second, the GM has put The Devil down to represent the dark creatures that live in the swamp, The Chariot, inverted, to represent the difficulty of travel through the swamp, and Death, to represent the drastic change in the environment.

Tom gives the swamp marks by using his cards (natural ability and experience) and his skills. He can only use one card at a time, but he can invoke that card to give any kind of mark. In order to give 1 mark with skills, he need only use one skill. To give 2 marks with skills, he needs to use three skills. To give 3 marks with skills he needs to use five skills. Of course, all of it has to be appropriate and narrated.

Tom stands at the edge of the murky water, poking into it with a stick to see how muddy the ground is underneath. Peering ahead, while the rain drizzles down, he sees what looks like small islands; bits of the road too high to be submerged. He hops out to a mossy rock, then on to one of the islands.
Tom gives the swamp 2 marks of Progress. 1 for using Lost in the Rain (he's been through this sort of thing before) and 1 for using Athletics.

The swamp is very quiet except for the sound of the rain spattering into the water. There are wide spaces between the trees and small humps of land all around, some bare, others mossy. The landscape makes it difficult to determine which way the road actually went. The swamp gives Tom 3 marks of Confused because of the strange surroundings. Because Tom is at home in the Wilds and The World is inverted, this is reduced to 2 marks.

Tom stands very still and takes his time. He can clearly see by the ruts and marks that the island he's on is part of the road. He follows the line to what looks like it should logically be the next bit of road. Maybe the bits of road under the water are not completely muddied yet. If he can trace the line, the expedition can just roll through. Tom gives the swamp 1 mark of Knowledge by invoking The World; he knows how to handle the Wild's tricks. 

And so the story goes. This is a tough challenge for Tom. If he had Traveling and Rain Lore, his ability to use landmarks and his knowledge of the flows of power in the Rain and water would be a big help to him and allow him to give more marks. As it is, he has to work with what he's got. If he was truly alone, the swamp might prove too much and get him completely lost. As it is, the others from the caravan can act and give the swamp marks. Hopefully it will be enough to challenge one of the cards and overcome it (either The Chariot, inverted, to find a way through, or Death, to find the old road is still there, not totally lost to the swamp), before Tom and the rest of the expedition is lost.