Reckless Deck - Getting Started

Reckless Deck is an idea-generating prompt series designed to supercharge your imagination and maximize your creative potential. Its incredibly easy to dive into and access, with card prompts that start sparking combinations in your mind almost instantly.

Reckless Deck grabs its prompts from literally everywhere - sci fi, fantasy, steampunk, horror, comics, video games, literature, mythology, history - no place is safe, and nothing is sacred. And, it removes the guardrails that separate one genre from another - suddenly weapons, costume items, and objects we all think of as belonging to one particular world are freely mixing and interacting with character traits and objects from several others.

"But that's CHAOS!" You say. Maybe so, but it's the good kind. A whole world of unexplored possibilities opens up when you stop creating "by the rules". This forces you ("forces" is such a strong word - maybe invites or encourages is more like it) to step outside your comfort zone, and allow those things from all those different genres to come together. Turn them in your mind like pieces of a puzzle, looking for hook points you can use to start to fuse them - or maybe bend them a little - to fit the idea that's starting to take shape in your mind. As you do, more ideas, more ways to combine these different objects and attributes start to bubble up. Before you know it,  you've left your creative block in the dust, you're creating well outside the boundaries of your usual comfort zone, and you're on your way to creating a character that's completely new. 

The Categories

Reckless Deck has 6 categories:

Core Concept - a powerful, "all over" categeory, it reveals the main idea or basic design theme of your character (especially effective when creating non-human characters or creatures)

Modifications - Localized changes to your character's body

Weapons - Guns, blades, or other fighting implements your character wields

Costumes - Wardrobe or armor worn by your character

Accessories - Personal objects, tools, or equpipment your character carries

Powers - Metahuman abilities your character possesses

The Genre Icons

Sometimes, the genre-smashing power of Reckless Deck may come on a little strong. The Genre Icons act as a kind of volume knob for it, allowing you to refine and narrow your paramaters. 

Each card has one or more Genre Symbols that indicate the genres that card would most likely be associated wtith. For example, if you know you want a primarily Fantasy-themed character, every card with the dragon's head symbol is a perfect fit for Fantasy. Sort only those cards, and your card combination results will be strictly Fantasy-appropriate. 

Add in one other genre, like Sci Fi, to widen the genre smashing aperture a little bit. Or, sprinkle in a few cards from other genres, and get a primarily Fantasy-themed deck with the occasional surprise or curve ball.