Tarot (occult practice)

The manner of divining events through drawing cards from a specific deck containing 78 cards, including the suits of Cups, Petacles, Swords and Wands (together known as the minor arcana), as well as 22 cards of the Major Arcana.

The cards are drawn and laid down to first deduce which card is pulled, then the orientation of that card ~ whether it is upright or reversed.  Each card that is pulled with the express purpose of divining events or characteristics of the world causes the manifestation of wild magic to occur.  This effect results whether one card is pulled or many, but only if the occultist draws the card and only if the act of drawing the card is done specifically to learn the secrets the card will tell.  The more cards that are drawn, the more complex ~ and potentially chaotic ~ the results may be.

This is because tarot cards can offer profoundly beneficial and profoundly malignant events ... and the more cards that are pulled, the more likely that a malignant event will place itself at the heart of all other events dictated by the cards.

This is not how traditional tarot works precisely ... but of course, tarot as a practice is all talk and no substance.  In terms of game, real magic results as the cards are drawn, not mere words ~ and it takes very little badness to undermine even a lot of goodness, as we all have experienced.

Descriptions for the tarot cards themselves, and what the DM is to do about them, can be downloaded through this link.  Each card comes with a phrase to give the players, which they must decipher for themselves; this is followed by a prescription for the DM's in-game response.  I do not fear the full disclosure, as obviously the tarot reader would have some idea of what was coming, and a careful DM will be able to hide their tracks well in a school of red herrings.

See Occultism