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What's all this then?
The Rider-Waiteless Oracle Jam is an event encouraging the creation of tabletop roleplaying games (ttrpg) and ttrpg-related materials based on oracle decks that are not the classic Rider-Waite-Smith tarot!

What's an oracle deck?
An oracle deck is a deck of cards used for interpretive purposes, sometimes as part of spiritual practice, sometimes as self-reflection, and sometimes just for fun. The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot is the most well-known example of an oracle deck. In my experience, people are more likely to go "ohhh!" when I use tarot to define an oracle deck after I've mentioned the latter and been asked what I'm even talking about. Like squares and rectangles, tarot decks are oracle decks, but not all oracle decks are tarot.

What kind of oracle decks are out there?
Oh my gosh, so many. I wouldn't necessarily place any particular deck as a "runner up" in popularity to the Rider-Waite Tarot (except for the Tarot de Marseille or the Thoth tarot deck), but a quick search of "oracle decks" on your favorite engine will return all kinds of results. Because oracle decks are so broad a concept, they aren't married to the specific symbology that Rider-Waite-Smith uses, so there are infinitely imaginable themes and purposes behind them. The bee-themed Thanks, I Hate It deck is straightforward and sassy. The Flower Medicine deck uses little else but basic flower symbolism attached to gorgeous portraits. The Elements of the Source deck is tied to a specific ARG (y'all ever been to Omegamart? that shit rules). The Adventurer's Tarot is meant for D&D-style gameplay, but has interpretive options. And then you have things like For the Love of Dragons which uses exactly the kind of art style you expect when I tell you "it's fairies with dragons."

That's so many! Where do I start?!
Pick one specific oracle deck you like or have and build a game or supplement with it! There probably aren't nearly as many games to look to for inspiration as there are games that build on tarot; what makes your deck unique and how does that reflect in your gameplay?

Make something that you can use with just about any oracle deck—even the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot, if one so pleases. How do you design for a game where you're not 100% certain what tools the player will be using?

Ask in the Discord or on the forums for someone's favorite oracle deck and, if you like it, too, design for it

I started my game/supplement before the jam began! Can I still submit it?
That's fine! Please just avoid submitting games/supplements that were completed before the jam started.

My game/supplement uses the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, but has alternate rules for other decks. Can I still submit it?
For the purposes of this jam, I'm going to ask that games/supplements focus on non-tarot decks. If your game has rules generic enough to request any deck, including the Rider-Waite-Smith, though, that's fine!

My game/supplement uses classic playing cards. Can I still submit it?
Unless you are doing something especially oracle-y with them, I'm going to say no. I'm not, like, a cop or anything, though, so I'll trust your judgment on that.

My game/supplement uses the Marseille or Thoth tarot deck. Can I still submit it?
Go for it!

I'm making a supplement for a game that uses the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, but my supplement is focused on a different oracle deck. Can I still submit it?
Go for it!

What's the point of all this, anyway?
I'm gonna be real with y'all. I collect tarot decks that primarily get used for ttrpg purposes, and have a couple of non-tarot oracle decks that I've done absolutely nothing with and boy I sure would like to change that.