Deck Review: The Dungeons and Dragons Tarot

Every month, Amazon, Etsy, crowd-funding platforms, and bookstores release numerous tarot and oracle decks. There are now thousands of decks available, ranging from new releases to out-of-print ones. Reviewing a deck helps readers decide whether to purchase it, focusing on factors like card quality, artwork, and guidebook usefulness. This month, I’ve chosen to critique The Dungeons and Dragons Tarot.

The Cards of the Dungeons and Dragons Tarot

From the Publisher:

This officially licensed tarot deck pays homage to the lore of Dungeons & Dragons by pairing characters and encounters with the Major and Minor Arcana of tarot. The characters of the Major Arcana align to the Rider-Waite Tarot while the suits of the Minor Arcana are mapped to abilities within the game of D&D. Beautifully illustrated with exclusive art, the deck also includes a booklet that introduces players to tarot, explains the meanings of the cards, and includes prompts to add dynamic twists to your D&D experience, making this the ultimate collectible for dungeon masters, players, and fans of RPGs.

What is Dungeons and Dragons?

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a popular tabletop role-playing game (RPG). The game allows players to create and immerse themselves in a fictional world of fantasy, adventure, and storytelling. Players take on the roles of characters with unique abilities, such as warriors, wizards, or rogues. They work together to solve challenges, battle monsters, and explore mystical realms. A Dungeon Master (DM) guides the game, creating the story, setting up scenarios, and controlling non-player characters and creatures. Through collaborative imagination, dice rolls, and rule-based gameplay, D&D fosters creativity, strategy, and teamwork in a dynamic, interactive experience.

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You create characters by choosing a race (e.g., human, elf, dwarf), a class (e.g., wizard, fighter, rogue), and a background. Characters have six key attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, which define their abilities. Also, players also choose proficiencies, equipment, and spells (if applicable). Characters develop through experience points, gaining levels, improving skills, and acquiring abilities that shape their role in the gameplay. In this tarot deck, Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma make up the suits of the Minor Arcana.

Card Stock and Shuffling

Printed on thick card stock, these cards feature a matte finish and rounded corners. They are challenging to riffle shuffle at first because of the stiffness of the cards. Thankfully, the matte finish prevents the cards from sticking together when first removed from the box. So, over time shuffling becomes easier. With their high-quality card stock, these cards are durable and will last for many years, even with extended use.

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Artwork and the Visual Accessibility of the Dungeons and Dragons Tarot

The artwork for this deck is very good. Artist Fred Gissubel’s style is perfect for the theme of the cards. However, the deck is not as visually accessible as it could be. None of the suit cards have identifiable objects, like cups or swords. No image consistently represents Charisma, Strength, Intelligence, or Wisdom. Therefore, you will need to learn the meanings of the minor cards entirely from the booklet.

The Sun

Meaning:

Returning to the innocence and vitality of childhood.

D&D Encounter: Roll 1d6+6. That is now your age for the next seventy-two hours.

Ace of Charisma

Meaning:

A new opportunity and a time of manifestation and abundance.

D&D Encounter: A mysterious order of assassins begins to hunt down a member of the party.

6 of Intelligence

Meaning:

Freeing yourself from burdens and old ways of thinking.

D&D Encounter: A ghost approaches a member of the party claiming to be a long-dead relative. It seeks vengeance.

Explanation of the Cards

The deck comes with a very concisely-written guidebook. It begins with a section on How to Read Tarot, followed by Upright and Reversed Meanings. In the second section they note that they do not give reversed meanings. Those interpretations are at the discretion of the reader. There are sections for Card Spreads and D&D Encounters. This D&D Encounters section explains how you can use the cards in D&D game play:

“You can draw a card before an adventure to give you a plot device to work a story around or you can draw a card during an ongoing adventure to throw in a fun twist.”

After the D&D Encounters section, there are sections: An Adventure in a Spread and Creating the Story. It is this interactive approach that makes the deck different.

Usefulness of the Dungeons and Dragons Tarot

The Dungeons and Dragons Tarot is hard to read with, even if you learn the cards. Positively, the artwork makes the deck worth collecting. If you are a D&D player, you can use the deck in your game play. Negatively, it is does not have a good design structure, and is not a deck for beginners. The lack of objects for the minor suits makes it impossible to know which cards belong to which suit. And, it would have been nice to have the D&D Encounters on the cards. If you ever lost the guidebook, this deck would be mostly unusable.

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Rating

I rate the Dungeons and Dragons Tarot 2 out of 5 stars as a standalone tarot deck. I do so because the card design for reading purposes is not good at all. One of the stars is for the excellent card stock and art, which is high quality, promising durability. Additionally, the D&D Encounters, as part of the card explanation in the booklet, is a very clever, fun idea. However, in terms of an actual tarot deck for tarot reading, the deck fails to deliver. On the other hand, I give it 3 out 5 stars if you are a D&D gamer. However, I still think it needs improvement even for its base audience, like some consistent object for the suits. And, the Encounter ideas should be on the cards.

Where to Buy the Dungeons and Dragons Tarot

If you like the Dungeons and Dragons Tarot and wish to purchase a copy, you can do so online or in a major bookstore.