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Hey tinygreyhawk, that's such an awesome idea! Thanks for suggesting it! 

I've created a form that I hope people can throw in ideas for days.  I'm gonna try and share it around and see if others are interested! Please feel free to add any suggestions of your own :) 

Thanks so much for the comment! 

For War of the Pips, there are a ton of influences that contributed to the lore of the world. Its main focus was to capture the wonder I experienced when I was a kid playing games and reading fantasy stories. 

World of Warcraft and Zelda are two main contributors. You can see this in certain locations and their names. Kokorin Forest is inspired by Zelda's Kokiri forest. There, you can find the great deku tree that is wise beyond years. This inspired me to create the Ancient Tree. But, what really sealed the deal for me is how universally resonant this idea of wise/knowledgable trees is. We see it Lord of the Rings (Ents), Norse Myth (Yggdrasil), etc. 

Lord of the Rings is a cornerstone to my upbringing, and you'll find loads of references there from the Eye, the One Ring, etc. 

I also did some research on the French Cards themselves, which resulted in One-Eyed Jack, The Flower Queen, and the Black Lady. 

Regarding the European setting, it is indeed the case, though I can't say I consciously leaned into the War of the Roses. I was brought up in British schools and was taught English history, so there definitely is influence there. But, below are what I aimed for to the best of my memory.

Spades - My partner is Slovenian and inspired me to craft the Spades with a Balkan/Slavic flavour. In the Heroes of Spades insert, there is a story of someone who is killed while sitting on a latrine. This actually happened in Predjama Castle, in Slovenia. The King of Spades is also modelled after Vlad Tepes, or dracula.

Diamonds -  Inspired by the romance countries, but mainly by the merchant city-states of Italy.  We have ships that are a nod to the Venetians and the guild explorers who seek out ancient works (Lorenzo de Medici sent out people to bring back ancient Roman sculptures for artists to learn from). 

One fun story is the quest for the Vintners of Vis, which is called Judgement of Vis. Long story, short, it was a wine competition held in France where everyone thought French wines would win. But, being a blind taste test, it turned out that a Californian wine won, which shook the wine world to the core. It was a small story I heard during my hospitality days and thought I'd make a reference here.

And Vis? Vis is an island off the coast of Croatia. It's the island that inspired one of the locations in Porco Rosso, one of my favourite animations. 

Clubs - From Tolkien's love of the English countryside, to Robin Hood, the clubs were mostly inspired by English stories. 

Hearts - The hearts are inspired by Merlin and European Wiccan traditions. Cardinal witches (think wizard of Oz - witch of the east, west, etc.) is common in Wiccan traditions as the cardinal directions are points of power, often tied to elemental powers. Under Names and Aliases, you will find "witch" names like Befania, a nod to the Italian Befana. 

I hope this is a good start to help you begin exploring! :) 

Hi there, 

Thanks for your interest! I've added some more community copies. Please feel free to grab one. 

Love the design! Great setting too!

I used Dogica. You can find the font here - https://www.dafont.com/dogica.font

Awesome work! Such a cool design and idea!

Thank you! :D

Awesome work! Thank you!

Hey Hodslate! You have a keen eye! It's work by Gustave Dore. It was a big inspiration in making this game.

Hi Shan! I'm currently selling the game here https://nobilepress.itch.io/monstrum for $5. Hoping to possibly kickstart a physical copy someday. 

A ttrpg where you create monsters and slay them! https://nobilepress.itch.io/monstrum

Inspired by games like Dark Souls, this is a 1-4 player game where you use dice tables to build your monster, tell its lore, and slay it. Build your slayer with powerful items and cooperation. 

Hey folks! 

ust released Zodiac, a small zine with 12 archetypes you can use to explore your characters with for your stories and games. Please feel free to check it out here: https://nobilepress.itch.io/zodiac

Thank you!

https://nobilepress.itch.io/houston

Houston: Ground Control is a 4 Player, plus GM, roleplaying puzzle experience that allows you to relive the events of Apollo 11 from Ground Control, Houston. 

Expect high-octane cooperative puzzle-solving, with the aid of a Flight Plan made up of authentic NASA documents. Be guided by Gene Kranz (GM), Apollo 11 Flight Director as he depends on your problem-solving skills to ensure the mission is a success.  

Hi, thanks so much for feeding back what you've found! Will be adding them to the next update. Would love to hear your solo game when you get a chance! 

Thank you!

Love the design. It's so cool!

Thank you for making this! It is truly awesome!

Thanks so much Marcos!