I’m going to assume that anyone reading this blog is already pretty familiar with Curse of the Crimson Throne. In case your memory needs refreshing, the campaign starts with the players all receiving an invitation written on the back of a harrow card, inviting them to a mysterious address to meet with “others like them.” The implied similarity is that everyone they are going to meet has been harmed by Gaedren Lamm, a minor Korvosan crime lord, in some fashion. As Zellara, the Varisian harrower who sent the invitation, writes – “Gaedren must pay.”

After everyone filled me in on the characters they were going to play, my first task of the campaign was to assign each of them a harrow card that they would receive with the invitation. The AP suggests simply choosing the harrow card which matches the recipient’s alignment and highest ability score. I wanted to go a step further and choose a card which was thematically appropriate to its recipient, even if the stats didn’t match. So here’s a list of the PCs and the cards I chose for them:

One of the invitations to Zellara’s little house party. I sent these out to each player a few days before the session, giving them a chance to do some initial investigation before attending the meeting.

Agammemnon Goldstone : Retired assassin rogue who now owns a restaurant in Old Korvosa. For him I chose The Snakebite , both because it features a dagger-wielding assassin, and because the card symbolizes poison with “the ability to turn friends against each other or poison the minds of the virtuous.” The whole reason Agammemnon is after Gaedren is because 12 years ago, Gaedren sent him on a contract that ended in Agammemnon fatally stabbing his own brother. Moreover, Agammemnon’s player is interested in taking Agammemnon on a redemption arc during the campaign, shifting his alignment all the way from NE to CG so he can become a Milanite Rose Warden. Misaligned, The Snakebite can represent a mental leap, a new friendship, or a discovery. A crucial part of Agammemnon’s redemption (in other words, his mental leap) is going to be the relationships he forms with the people he meets and helps during the campaign.

: Retired assassin rogue who now owns a restaurant in Old Korvosa. For him I chose , both because it features a dagger-wielding assassin, and because the card symbolizes poison with “the ability to turn friends against each other or poison the minds of the virtuous.” The whole reason Agammemnon is after Gaedren is because 12 years ago, Gaedren sent him on a contract that ended in Agammemnon fatally stabbing his own brother. Moreover, Agammemnon’s player is interested in taking Agammemnon on a redemption arc during the campaign, shifting his alignment all the way from NE to CG so he can become a Milanite Rose Warden. Misaligned, can represent a mental leap, a new friendship, or a discovery. A crucial part of Agammemnon’s redemption (in other words, his mental leap) is going to be the relationships he forms with the people he meets and helps during the campaign. Brana Yonesca : Newly minted cleric of Asmodeus trying to recover her ward, a Shoanti orphan named Chaska, who was kidnapped by Gaedren Lamm. For her I chose The Foreign Trader due to its references to “a bargain made” that “always concludes true,” but with “ramifications” that can be “shocking for those that do not understand its implications.” Brana’s relationship to her deity, Asmodeus, is more akin to a D&D 5e warlock’s relationship with their patron than anything else. Brana isn’t evil, but her desperation to find and recover Chaska before it’s too late led her to make a literal deal with Pathfinder’s devil for a slice of his divine power. (We drew up a contract and everything.)

: Newly minted cleric of Asmodeus trying to recover her ward, a Shoanti orphan named Chaska, who was kidnapped by Gaedren Lamm. For her I chose due to its references to “a bargain made” that “always concludes true,” but with “ramifications” that can be “shocking for those that do not understand its implications.” Brana’s relationship to her deity, Asmodeus, is more akin to a D&D 5e warlock’s relationship with their patron than anything else. Brana isn’t evil, but her desperation to find and recover Chaska before it’s too late led her to make a literal deal with Pathfinder’s devil for a slice of his divine power. (We drew up a contract and everything.) Braxus Recilius : Tanky quarter-orc fighter who’s trying to make it in the Korvosan Guard despite scorn and prejudice from the Guard’s traditionalists. The Paladin was an easy choice for this character, because he basically is a paladin in all but class levels. He’s LG and trying to clear his name after a false murder accusation caused a “fall” from grace in the Guard. The Paladin “symbolizes standing strong in the face of adversity,” and Braxus has faced plenty of adversity while trying to serve and protect the people of Korvosa, and fend off racist accusations of being a “typical half-orc” at the same time. This character is definitely one who “does not back down under any circumstances.” (I also considered The Keep because Braxus uses Mobile Bulwark Style and is – as I discovered to my chagrin during the first session – literally unhittable.)

: Tanky quarter-orc fighter who’s trying to make it in the Korvosan Guard despite scorn and prejudice from the Guard’s traditionalists. was an easy choice for this character, because he basically is a paladin in all but class levels. He’s LG and trying to clear his name after a false murder accusation caused a “fall” from grace in the Guard. “symbolizes standing strong in the face of adversity,” and Braxus has faced plenty of adversity while trying to serve and protect the people of Korvosa, and fend off racist accusations of being a “typical half-orc” at the same time. This character is definitely one who “does not back down under any circumstances.” (I also considered because Braxus uses Mobile Bulwark Style and is – as I discovered to my chagrin during the first session – literally unhittable.) Uldresk Recilius: Amnesiac psychic and former drug addict who developed psychic powers after a bad dose of shiver. He’s also Braxus’s half-brother, though Uldresk’s drug use drove a huge wedge between them in their late teens and early twenties. Uldresk’s harrow card was also an easy choice. I chose The Vision because Uldresk received his psychic powers during a prophetic vision sent by Sinashakti, the empyreal lord of journeys, joy, and messengers. Uldresk’s brush with the divine also cured his addiction to shiver by wiping his memory of all the negative experiences in his life that could be tied directly to his drug use. This includes a lot of his interactions with Braxus as an adult, which means all he really remembers of Braxus is the close, carefree relationship they had as children. It’s definitely going to be interesting to see how that dynamic evolves during the campaign. Already we’ve seen some friction with Braxus, still bitter over the lies Uldresk told him and having to clean up his brother’s messes more than once, skeptical of Uldresk’s religious transformation and unsettled by Uldresk’s new psychic abilities.

When the PCs showed up at Zellara’s place and met her for the first time, she asked each of them in turn to hand over the card that brought them there, and uttered a short and somewhat cryptic interpretation of each. (I wanted to hint that these cards were meaningful to their characters, but I’m not sure how well the message transmitted. It felt a little stiff and rehearsed, although I could just be overly critical of my own performance. Broadway actress I am not.)

After Zellara’s little speech about making Gaedren pay for his crimes, the PCs were itching to get going. But there was still one more thing left to do before they departed from Zellara’s house, and it was something I’ve both been looking forward to and dreading for the last couple of months: the harrow card reading.

Why was I dreading the harrow card reading? Well, it’s because I decided to make things difficult for myself by doing a random draw instead of stacking the deck. I know my players (this is my third campaign with them) so I know that they would want to know whether the deck was stacked or not. I’m not in the business of lying to my players, and selfishly, I knew they would be less impressed if I told them that I planned everything out beforehand. (I was at least partly right – after the session was over, they did ask if the deck was stacked. I told them it wasn’t, and they seemed sufficiently impressed.)

Anyway, when you draw randomly from a harrow deck, there’s no guarantee that the cards will line up nicely with the themes and events of the AP. I knew I was just going to have to liberally make shit up. I practiced (kind of). I spent a few days memorizing the meanings of all the cards with a flashcard app. I even built a web app that would let me do the reading remotely, instead of trying to hold up plastic-sleeved cards in front of my crappy webcam. (You can use my web app if you want. It’s pathfinder-harrow.web.app. I make no guarantees about its quality or whether it will still be hosted by the time you read this.)

Every harrow reading starts with the “choosing,” where each subject draws a role card from the suit associated with the reading. The first harrow reading in Curse is tied to the suit of keys (Dexterity). Here are the cards the players drew and the interpretations I came up with for them:

The Avalanche (Lawful Evil, Dexterity) : Agammemnon drew this card. I told him this meant his role in the coming events would be that of a “disaster,” one which his enemies (including Gaedren) would not be able to escape. The Avalanche is the card of unrelenting, unmitigated disaster – disaster to all of Gaedren’s carefully laid plans, decades in the making.

: Agammemnon drew this card. I told him this meant his role in the coming events would be that of a “disaster,” one which his enemies (including Gaedren) would not be able to escape. The Avalanche is the card of unrelenting, unmitigated disaster – disaster to all of Gaedren’s carefully laid plans, decades in the making. The Cricket (Neutral Good, Dexterity) : Brana drew this card. I told her that this card represented speed and quick passage, and a treasure at the end of a journey. This meant that she would have to be quick to recover her “treasure” (Chaska) from Gaedren’s clutches. I hoped to instill a sense of urgency, so that she would feel compelled to act without carefully considering all of her options. (Just call me Asmodeus.)

: Brana drew this card. I told her that this card represented speed and quick passage, and a treasure at the end of a journey. This meant that she would have to be quick to recover her “treasure” (Chaska) from Gaedren’s clutches. I hoped to instill a sense of urgency, so that she would feel compelled to act without carefully considering all of her options. (Just call me Asmodeus.) The Demon’s Lantern (Chaotic Evil, Dexterity) : Braxus drew this card. I told him this is the card of traps and tricks, and an unusual pick for someone as straightforward and honest as Braxus (it’s also the exact opposite of his alignment). I told him that choosing this card might mean that he would have to adjust his usual tactics to handle some of the difficult situations coming up in the near future. More subterfuge, less breaking down doors.

: Braxus drew this card. I told him this is the card of traps and tricks, and an unusual pick for someone as straightforward and honest as Braxus (it’s also the exact opposite of his alignment). I told him that choosing this card might mean that he would have to adjust his usual tactics to handle some of the difficult situations coming up in the near future. More subterfuge, less breaking down doors. The Locksmith (Lawful Neutral, Dexterity): Uldresk drew this card. I told him that this card meant that his role would be that of The Locksmith, and that he would hold the keys to unlocking a new location, clue, or treasure in the coming days. Given Uldresk’s psychic abilities and the number of divination spells at his disposal, I thought this was particularly appropriate.

Note that I had to come up with all of the above on the fly, so it wasn’t particularly fluid or concise. Imagine a lot of pauses filled with silent panic, some unrelated rambling, and reading straight from the card description to buy myself time. However, I definitely think that my practice and memorization paid off. I didn’t have to refer to my notes or look anything up, which made the reading feel more natural (if somewhat vague). Don’t skimp on the prep!

After the choosing, I went straight into the actual reading, where you draw nine cards and arrange them in a grid. The left column represents the past, the middle column the present, and the right column the future. Cards in the top row are interpreted positively, cards in the bottom row are interpreted negatively, and cards in the middle are treated as unclear. If any role cards show up in the spread, they’re especially relevant for the subject who drew them. (No role cards showed up in this spread, which was simultaneously a relief and a disappointment.)

The nine-card spread, with the cards from the choosing on the left. Note the slight glow around some of the cards – this represents how closely the card’s position in the spread matches its true alignment. Upside-down cards are misaligned (read good cards as bad, and vice versa).

(As I write this, it’s starting to dawn on me just how much of a slog the remainder of this blog post is going to be. Individually describing how I interpreted each card is going to be a huge wall of text. But I must persevere, because I would have found it extremely valuable to read a similar harrow spread interpretation from another Curse GM before doing my own.)

Here are the cards from the past, and how I interpreted them (in order from good to bad):

The Carnival (Chaotic Neutral, Wisdom) : The card of illusions and false dreams, which “depicts imprudent plans or unrealistic ambitions.” I told Uldresk that this card appeared to be intended for him. His unrealistic ambitions of being admitted into the Acadamae had led directly to his depression and shiver use. It’s notable that shiver could literally be called the “drug of illusions and false dreams,” since shiver users “get high” by falling asleep and having wild hallucinatory dreams. However because this card appeared in a positive position, it also represented the prophetic vision that got Uldresk’s life back on track and cured him of his addiction.

: The card of illusions and false dreams, which “depicts imprudent plans or unrealistic ambitions.” I told Uldresk that this card appeared to be intended for him. His unrealistic ambitions of being admitted into the Acadamae had led directly to his depression and shiver use. It’s notable that shiver could literally be called the “drug of illusions and false dreams,” since shiver users “get high” by falling asleep and having wild hallucinatory dreams. However because this card appeared in a positive position, it also represented the prophetic vision that got Uldresk’s life back on track and cured him of his addiction. The Wanderer (Neutral Good, Intelligence) : A collector who “appreciates that which others regard as junk or trash.” I told Braxus that this card seemed to refer to his family and others who had supported him in his bid to join the Korvosan Guard and rise through the ranks. Many Korvosans dismiss half-orcs as worthless, and Braxus has certainly seen his share of prejudice, but he’s also been fortunate enough to have a supportive family and some personal help from Cressida Kroft, the leader of the Guard. However, due to this card’s neutral position, it’s unclear whether this support was enough for Braxus to truly succeed.

: A collector who “appreciates that which others regard as junk or trash.” I told Braxus that this card seemed to refer to his family and others who had supported him in his bid to join the Korvosan Guard and rise through the ranks. Many Korvosans dismiss half-orcs as worthless, and Braxus has certainly seen his share of prejudice, but he’s also been fortunate enough to have a supportive family and some personal help from Cressida Kroft, the leader of the Guard. However, due to this card’s neutral position, it’s unclear whether this support was enough for Braxus to truly succeed. The Eclipse (Lawful Evil, Wisdom): “Self-doubt or loss of purpose,” or “loss of a way along a path.” I told Agammemnon that this card was for him. He had previously been comfortable and sure of his role as a Red Mantis assassin, but everything changed when he was tricked into murdering his own long-lost brother. He definitely suffered from self-doubt and a loss of purpose, leaving the Red Mantis behind and entering an uncertain future. (The alignment of this card also matches the Red Mantis as an organization – LE.)

Then we moved on to the cards in the middle column (the present):

The Paladin (Lawful Good, Strength) : We’ve already discussed this card, since it was the one I picked for Braxus’s invitation. I told the group that this card appearing in the spread was a sure sign that they were on the right path, and that bringing Gaedren Lamm to justice was the right thing to do for Korvosa, although they would no doubt face some significant obstacles in their quest.

: We’ve already discussed this card, since it was the one I picked for Braxus’s invitation. I told the group that this card appearing in the spread was a sure sign that they were on the right path, and that bringing Gaedren Lamm to justice was the right thing to do for Korvosa, although they would no doubt face some significant obstacles in their quest. The Publican (Chaotic Good, Wisdom) : This card is hard to explain without going into the details of everything I changed about the first chapter of Curse, which I intend to explore in full in a future blog post. Suffice to say, I focused on the card’s interpretation as a place of refuge for those in need, knowing that the PC’s first task for Zellara would take them to a run-down charitable mission that had been taken over by Gaedren and turned into a drug den.

: This card is hard to explain without going into the details of everything I changed about the first chapter of Curse, which I intend to explore in full in a future blog post. Suffice to say, I focused on the card’s interpretation as a place of refuge for those in need, knowing that the PC’s first task for Zellara would take them to a run-down charitable mission that had been taken over by Gaedren and turned into a drug den. The Waxworks (Chaotic Evil, Constitution): I was a tad bit evil with this card. I told Brana, who didn’t get a “past” card that seemed to refer to her specifically, that this card was meant for her. The Waxworks is the card of “torture and imprisonment,” and I implied that it represented the current situation of Chaska, her adopted son. I reiterated the message from her choosing, that there wasn’t much time to save Chaska before a terrible fate befell him.

Finally, the right-hand column (the future):

The Rabbit Prince (Chaotic Neutral, Dexterity) : I told the group that this card represents physical combat, especially fights with mismatched odds. The Rabbit Prince’s broken sword symbolizes that any combatant can fall in battle, no matter how skilled or brave. I told the group that this card appeared in a favorable position, implying that the group was likely to win most of the battles in their near future, even if the odds didn’t seem so good. (This one’s a gimme, since the PCs nearly always win by design. And if they lose, hey, I can just blame the Rabbit Prince.)

: I told the group that this card represents physical combat, especially fights with mismatched odds. The Rabbit Prince’s broken sword symbolizes that any combatant can fall in battle, no matter how skilled or brave. I told the group that this card appeared in a favorable position, implying that the group was likely to win most of the battles in their near future, even if the odds didn’t seem so good. (This one’s a gimme, since the PCs nearly always win by design. And if they lose, hey, I can just blame the Rabbit Prince.) The Rakshasa (Lawful Evil, Intelligence) : This is the card of dominance, mind control, and slavery. I told the group that this card’s appearance meant that they were likely to encounter someone or multiple someones who had been imprisoned or enslaved. Due to the card’s neutral position, it wasn’t clear whether the group would be able to save these people, although they would almost certainly have the chance to attempt a rescue. (I had both Chaska and a certain house drake in mind while interpreting this card.)

: This is the card of dominance, mind control, and slavery. I told the group that this card’s appearance meant that they were likely to encounter someone or multiple someones who had been imprisoned or enslaved. Due to the card’s neutral position, it wasn’t clear whether the group would be able to save these people, although they would almost certainly have the chance to attempt a rescue. (I had both Chaska and a certain house drake in mind while interpreting this card.) The Survivor (Neutral Good, Constitution): This card normally represents loss through ordeal and rebirth, but in this spread it appeared misaligned and therefore had much darker implications. I told the group its appearance heralded a terrible loss in the future, which would have immense negative impact on those adjacent to the loss. I hoped for this card to be something of a red herring given that Chaska was on everyone’s minds, but it actually refers to the upcoming death of King Eodred (and its consequences for Korvosa).

Phew, that wasn’t so bad. Again, the interpretations above come with a heavy disclaimer that I wasn’t nearly so eloquent in the moment. If you think my interpretations seem clumsy now, oh man, you should have been there. You would have cringed.

But to be honest, I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t bad. It was a little awkward, but it was fun. The group sat in silence for a few long moments after I concluded the reading, and I wondered if everything I said had just gone in one ear and out the other. But later in the session, Uldresk referenced his role card (The Locksmith) and wondered aloud whether he would be able to pick the lock on a door, despite having no ranks in Disable Device. And Brana seemed tense and stressed, objecting to any suggestions or ideas that would involve waiting around for any length of time. Maybe this was because of the pressure I put on her during the reading, maybe not. Given that the group’s hunt for Gaedren Lamm is going to take a lot longer than it does in the original AP, I hope I can maintain that tension and sense of drama.

I’m really looking forward to the rest of the harrow readings in the AP. As written, there’s one at the beginning of each of the six books, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to sneak in a few more. Given my experience with this group and how meticulously they plan for everything (despite all of those plans going awry 100% of the time), I’m pretty sure they won’t object to getting some extra clues about how to proceed, even if they come cloaked in confusing metaphor and lots of “umm”s and “uhh”s.

In the next post, I’ll talk about how the rest of the session went, and why the first thing this group did after going to Zellara’s was walk into a drug den and request some group counseling (spoiler alert – that’s not part of the written AP).