World Roulette Randomizer Deck
You can find the World Roulette Kickstarter and project details here.
The World Roulette Randomizer is a deck of 80 double-sided cards featuring attributes / catalysts / concepts & dynamics for developing robust, incredible worlds! This is a highly expanded version of the randomizer used to create the World Roulette Art Book.
We love good creative projects at Light Grey -- so we decided to design an expanded version of the tool we provided the World Roulette Art Book participating artists! The Randomizer Deck uses hundreds of world attributes, catalysts, concepts and dynamics that can be shuffled and combined together to fuel any worldbuilding project. This deck uses simple mechanics of layering, twisting, and combining cards to prompt dynamic idea generation for building robust, intriguing, believable worlds! The 80-card, double-sided deck comes with how-to instructions and helpful layouts for how to combine any number of cards for infinite possibilities and is great for artists, writers, and creative RPG Dungeon Masters!
The Randomizer Deck was published by Light Grey Art Lab, designed by Lindsay Nohl 2020
You can purchase the Randomizer Deck on the Light Grey Shop here.
HOW TO USE THE RANDOMIZER DECK
USE THEM TO BUILD AWESOME ROLE PLAYING CAMPAIGNS
COMBINE LIGHT (PROMPT) CARDS WITH DARK (DYNAMICS) CARDS FOR RICH COMBINATIONS OF WORLDBUILDING FACTORS
COMES WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO LAYER CARDS FOR INNUMERABLE EXCITING CREATIVE COMBINATIONS
TWIST THE CARDS TO SEE HOW THE SCENARIO CHANGES AND STACK THEM TO DEEPEN THE STORY
Anatomy of the Cards
Light Cards are best used in the beginning of the brainstorm process. They feature broad themes and attributes and four ways to explore that attribute.
Center: Theme focus of each card
Edges: Articulations, four ways the central theme can manifest
When using these cards, focus first on the central theme and think about how it could relate to the world or story. Then rotate the card and choose an articulation you would like to use for your brainstorm. Begin the process of layering additional cards and relate the new cards and their attributes to the previous cards.
Layering Cards
Beginning with Light Cards. Start by shuffling the deck and draw a card. Orient it so the articulation you would like to explore is on top. Draw a second and a third in the same manner. Stack the cards vertically so that the top articulation (the smaller words) are easy to read in a sequence.
Read all themes and their corresponding articulations our loud and spend a moment crafting a scenario that could include all of the attributes. If you have a hard time creating an interesting relationship, twist any card to reveal a new articulation and try combining all visible themes and top articulations again. In many cases, twisting the cards can also inspired challenges or solutions to a similar concept.
Because the light cards can include both macro and micro concepts, not every group will be appropriate for all-encompassing specifics of the world. However, as with all good improvisational exercises, building upon ideas established int he first few card combination will help flesh out a more developed world.
Working with Dark Cards
The Dark Cards can be used just like the Light Cards by stacking them atop one another to create unique groupings. They can be used either in combination with Light Cards or on their own.
The Dark Cards provide more specific details and dynamics than the Light Cards, and therefore, are perfect for story-points. Details about civilizations or scenarios, or to specify moments in time within the world.
Tuck the Dark Cards under a card of your choice to reveal one of the two dynamics. Use this prompt to further explore the established relationship between all cards. Dark Cards can also be used on their own.
Anatomy of the Cards
Dark Cards are best used in stacks once a more broad set of rules has been applied to your world or creative scenario. They feature more nuances to help propel the story, timeline development, or catalysts for action within the world.
The Dynamics: A more specific action, inquiry or series of thoughts that can include atmosphere, environmental, societal, relationship, or character related prompts.
The Dark Cards feature two distinct dynamics on either end. When exploring the idea noted on the card, layer the dark cards beneath any other card (Dark or Light) with the text at the bottom of the card visible.
An Example
The example above shows a trio of cards layered to produce an interesting scenario:
Life Force with Longevity/ Mortality
Healer and their Role in Society
With Puzzles or Riddles. Challenge of wit, memory, or logic.
Expanding the concept
Next pull additional cards to inform any lingering questions. For example, how did this healer acquire their magical abilities? What does this life force look like? Do they only share their healing abilities when someone has solved the riddle? etc.
Multiple Stacks
Define your own theses for each new stack and continue to build upon your world. The combinations can utilize any number of Light or Dark Cards. If you wish to re-use prompts from a card, write your word list in a notebook and shuffle the cards back in the deck before proceeding with new new stack and keep building!
The deck relies on your ability to make creative connections between disparate themes. Feel free to re-shuffle or pull new cards at any time if you are stuck. Work to find interesting ways to questions the specifics of your new project. Use the prompts to spark creative explorations and take it from there!
Have fun exploring the Randomizer Deck prompts for your creative endeavors!