I love it when my tarot decks can be used for other functions, other than what it’s meant for. I’ve previously written about The True Sight Oracle Deck that blends divination with the creative sparks needed for epic adventures. In this new Kickstarter campaign, Mordant Arcana, the tarot deck and storybook by Bogfolk, artist–author Strega Wolf Eden van den Berg, writer Tessa Winters and editor Walton Wood, offers a similarly expansive experience. The deck is a haunting and intimate journey through 79 cards paired with equally evocative micro‑fictions. They are serving sensory experience where art, narrative, and introspection weave into a compact and compelling form.
The Mordant deck comes tucked in a no-fuss two-piece box. Inside, 79 cards illustrated in a moody, desaturated palette feel like something half-remembered from a dream. The artwork leans gothic, sure, but not in a heavy-handed way. There’s softness, too. Each card is paired with a micro-fiction, just a few lines long, written to echo or upend the archetype it accompanies. The stories aren’t trying to explain the cards. They’re there to stir something loose.
Creator Strega Wolf Eden van den Berg describes the project as a space for “shadow-conscious introspection.” Tarot, they say, functions best when it reveals tension, the gap between what we say we believe and what we actually live. By pairing each card with a micro-story, Mordant Arcana wants to inspire readers not just to draw a symbol, but to consider a scene, a character, a whispered inner narrative.
The design roots in Rider–Waite–Smith structure, yet the deck reminds us that tarot is language, and language is malleable. So some cards diverge in meaning or suit logic when philosophical weight demands it. The result is structurally familiar yet thematically daring.
Bogfolk’s track record in indie RPG and art publishing underscores their ability to fuse storytelling and tactile design. With Mordant Arcana, they channel that background into the deeply personal world of tarot. This is not a project aiming for mass appeal but built for readers who appreciate ambiguity as a gift rather than a flaw.
I can’t wait to get my hands on this deck and marvel at its illustrations, but more importantly integrating it in my paper & pen gaming sessions.
Support the project here from €50: Kickstarter | Mordant Arcana Tarot by Bogfolk
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