Eren's Arcane Compendium of Characters - The Deck of TTRPG Characters

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Eren's Arcane Compendium of Characters is the ultimate card deck of fantasy characters for TTRPGs: an indispensable resource for both Game Masters and players!

The Compendium features 100+ high quality and diverse characters to be used in fantasy TTRPGs, either as player characters, NPCs or anything else TTRPG enthusiasts might need.
The deck is the perfect resource to help Game Masters plan NPCs for the a new campaign, or to give players a solid but flexible base to create their new character, or even a fun way to select random ideas for a crazy one-shot!

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The Compendium helps Game Masters and players alike to build characters and stories in a variety of scenarios. Here are just a few ways to implement the deck in your stories:

FOR THE GAME MASTER:

Campaign preparation: are you planning your new campaign and want to fill it with interesting characters for your party to meet or fight? The goals and secrets of each character will help you build plots and subplots, connect storylines and give your players hundreds of awesome allies, opponents, loved ones and arch-nemesis!
DM, who do I find at the tavern’s counter? suddenly need to populate the tavern with NPCs? Need a merchant for an unexpected shopping session? No problem, the deck has got you covered! With plenty of options for artisans, villagers and experts to give life to any location.
Let your players choose! Sometimes it's fun to go with the flow and see where your players take you. Show your players the portraits of the people who surround them and see which one they choose to interact with, without revealing any of the juicy background info!
Let fate guide you! Feeling wild for tonight's session? With the deck you're in good hands! You -or your players- can select a random encounter, while also having the safety net of a flexible set of options to help incorporate the mysterious figure in your game!

FOR THE PLAYER:

Fast player character creation: need a quick idea for a new character? Fish a random card from the deck or choose the one that visually appeals to you the most! The background will provide enough information to jumpstart the character creation process and help drive the character forwards in both long-term or short-term format games.
Oh brother where art thou?! Want to deepen your background, but don't have any ideas at the top of your head? Extract a random card from the deck or select a character that speaks to you, or your character, and use the background hooks at the back to tie them into your backstory. Or maybe have your GM do that for you, while keeping it a secret!
Surprise! Here’s your character: spice things up and organise a one-shot with randomly selected characters! A fun way to push you and your party to try new things, without the pressure of having to build everything on your own.
Choose your path! testing out a new solo game? Choose a character for the deck that fits your vibe or needs. So you can fully focus on the gaming experience, without worrying about first creating a solid base... you already have one at your disposal!

Any way YOU want! Integrate the characters in your world building, solo gaming or character ideation process in the way that best suits your needs and desires! Have fun, that's the most important part after all!!

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The deck features 135 character cards, divided in three main categories: Adventurers & Heroes, Merchants & Experts and Miscellaneous.

The front of the cards only features the portrait, without any information on the character. This is to ensure that the GM, or the player, has full control on what type of information they want to share about the character they're introducing. No spoilers here! ;D

The back of the cards displays a set of flexible background details, providing useful inputs and plot hooks to seamlessly integrate the figure in any game, without limiting the GM’s or player’s creativity.

The information provided include:

Character’s name and suggested pronouns: including nicknames or titles, when applicable.
Profession and specialisation: a more targeted and a more generic option are provided for each character, to make them as versatile as possible.
Background: a brief description of the character, their origin or any other relevant information for a first encounter.
Personality: attitude, approachability or the way in which the character is usually perceived or how they present themselves.
Flaw: everyone has a weakness, a fear or an unpleasant trait to avoid or exploit.
Goal: the thing that the character is openly working towards, be it an adventurous mission, a career or life aspiration or a short-term objective.
Secret: a personal piece of information kept hidden by the character: could be about a dark past, a lost love or the true objective of their mission.
Fun Fact: from a favourite dish, to the reason why they chose their career and much more! These facts are meant to give more dimension to the character, without being necessarily connected to their plot.

The card format will be similar to that of a tarot card (or exactly the same as the Dixit cards, for those who know the game): 80 x 120 mm (approximately 3.1 x 4.7 inches), and will be printed on high quality paper stock (300 gsm).
Which also means that folks who prefer using sleeves to protect their cards will be able to find a wide range of options.

The frames on the back of the cards have specific colours to quickly differentiate the character categories, but without making the graphics too cluttered or less readable.

The Compendium is fully system agnostic, so it can be used with any fantasy setting or ruleset of your choice. With no mention of specific races or classes, each character can be personalised, expanded and connected within an existing IP or can merge seamlessly with your homebrew creations!
Creative freedom is at the core of this project and making sure GMs and players can adapt each portrait to their own needs and interpretations is one of the main principles of the deck.

Please keep in mind that the packaging shown in this page is just temporary: the final designs will be created once the campaign is closed and pledgers will be able to see the actual prototypes and samples once they've been created withe the manufacturing plant.

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If all of this seems interesting to you, but you're still not quite sure or maybe you'd like a more in-depth look at the cards and characters, I have the perfect solution! Check out this free sample I put together: it features 8 characters from the Arcane Compendium deck, both in booklet form (temporary design) and in card form.
The cards in this pdf are in smaller format than the ones which will be produced for the deck, but at least like this you can have a feel for what the product will look like and also print them at home, if you'd like!

Click HERE to download 8 FREE characters and printable cards!

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The Digital Compendium includes only the digital version of the Arcane Compendium deck (no expansions), as well as a PDF Booklet with all the characters.

Digital Deck
PDF Booklet