I Tire of Advantages and Disadvantages

[WiredNavi]

I've played in several games using a homebrew system which my friend refers to as 'Combat Tarot Rummy'.  It does some of the things you seem to be looking for, so I'll describe it in brief:

During a conflict, each character has a hand of 5 cards, drawn from a normal Tarot deck.  Each round, the characters can play any number of cards from their hand in a way similar to the card game 'Rummy' - playing either three or more of a kind or a suited straight of three cards or more.  Each conflict has a 'limit', which is the number of cards at which any given character has 'won' the conflict.  If your character ever has the limit or more cards played in front of them, they (and by extension their side) has won the conflict.
Like rummy, you can play cards onto other peoples' piles (giving them the cards) or play off of their piles but into your own stack (i.e. you have three 8's out, so I can play my 8 onto my piles.
Characters have traits ranging from 1 to 3; when a trait applies in a conflict, you can draw that many cards each round.  Really horrendous characters also have Power; each point of Power reduces the number of cards you must have to in any set by 1 (thus at Power 1 you can play 2 of a kind, and Power 2 you can play any card you draw.)
Characters also have Arcana, rating from 1 to 3 or so.  Whenever an Arcana is played, it has a specific effect on the play (for instance, Death removes one card from play entirely, while The Lovers lets you swap cards freely with another player on that turn).  However, if a Major Arcana is played, it can be contested by anyone with a ranking in that Arcana.  In that case, the card is not played and immediately goes into the hand of the character who has the highest ranking in that Arcana.

As far as narration goes, you should describe your actions when playing cards in terms equivalent to the cards you're playing and the way you're playing them.  Playing a straight of swords could indicate you physically beating back your opponents, while playing the 5 of cups into your pile off of your opponent's three 5s indicates that you've gained some insight into your opponent by seeing how they're fighting.

I'm not suggesting you use this system wholesale, but in particular the 'play off of other characters' successes and narrate how you're doing it' aspect of this system was a lot of fun.

[WiredNavi]

Whoops, double post.

[Dregg]

I know that other's ideas can be a crutch and this is not to disuade you from coming up with your own creative solutions, however Anoch (the makers of Mystick) were thinking of some great ideas using the Mystick cards (tarot cards with abilities and classical art work) as the resolution mechanic.

I do not have any current contact info for Eric however I put out a query and if I hear anything back I will direct him to the thread.  Maybe he could throw us some ideas.  I think he is a fantastic game designer.

That would be awesome. I am in the crunchy phase of this and suggestions is what I could use. I have a system for it, but it was based on the Fuzion engine and I think this concept deserves a unique mechanic to fit the style of play.
Thank you

[Dregg]

I just thought I would suggest this I am not sure if you are planning on using cards in your game but if you do then you might want to allow for conversion rules so that someone can use a standard deck of playing cards, which were originally used for tarot reading anyways.

 - Doehring

True or a dice conversion. It should not be hard to do.
I know alot of people who would not buy a Tarot deck out of Taboo reasons, which might make demoing this game a bitch at conventions

[Dregg]

Thanks Jinx!
::Scribbles notes::