I have taken to writing and elaborating on things "as needed," because I have / had a habit of writing reams of background stuff that isn't publishable (too long / esoteric) rather than concentrate on tasks on hand.

I don't know much about the Swords and Wands . . . but as a result of one of those elaborate dives, I do have some notes on the Cups AKA Chalices. This was for an probably-never-will-be-finished adventure, "Enter: The Emperor." And now that I start thinking on it, I had notes for MoonMagus / The Moon (a lunar-powered mage, replacing Moonflash) and The Lovers (a pair of exiled alien nobles with light control powers, recruited by Noman) and The Emperor (who has access to a bunch of ancient, pre-Atlantean artifacts with animal spirits inside.) They run a professional kidnapping services ring; kidnappers bring them captives for safe "storage."

The Chalices can create chemical weapons; smoke and gas and acid attacks. That sort of thing.

Hah-hah, I last touched this file in January 2010! This is all I have on the cups. I assume that the cups can produce a limited variety, maybe three, reagents at a time, and have a limited number of uses per day. (Like other Tarot troops, the Cups carry a pistol of some sort.)

Chalice Attacks

Toss: A attack which effects a single target. Maximum range is (S + A)/8 inches (round up). Roll a ranged HTH attack to see if the target is hit. On a miss, the fluid hits a space 1" away; roll 1d8 for the direction.

Spray: An attack which effects a 2" x 2" area, up to (S + A)/8 inches away from the thrower. Each target in the area can roll 1d20 under Agility to avoid the spray.

Arc: The chalice wielder lays down a semi-circular line of the fluid. The radius is (S + A)/8 inches (round up). It takes 15" of movement to lay down the arc.

Line: The wielder lays down a line of fluid while running. It requires 3" of movement to lay down 1" of fluid. A full chalice can lay down 6" of fluid.

Recharge Urn

A large glazed ceramic urn used to "train" chalices to produce new fluids. A gallon or so of the new material are placed in the urn, which produces a slurry of nanotech devices. The goo is dispensed into a chalice via a spigot. After a day the chalice will be able to produce the fluid; the programming replaces the oldest existing fluid template. The urn can produce two batches of slurry a day; each batch can program 5 chalices.

Chalice Reagents

Smoke: A thick, oily liquid which starts evaporating into thick, white smoke the turn after being laid down. The smoke fills the entire square rises 6" a turn. After 4 turns the fluid will stop producing new smoke; each square has a 50% chance of dispersing each turn thereafter.

Dope: Similar to smoke, but produces a translucent knockout gas. Victims have a 50% chance of being knocked out on each turn they breath the stuff. Characters can roll d20 under Endurance to hold their breath. Effects last 100/Endurance minutes.

Flame: A thick fluid which burst into flames two turns after being layed down. The flames fill the entire square and rise 2" (10') high. They do 1d4 damage to living creatures which pass through a square, 2d4 to creatures which stay inside a flame square at the end of a turn. The flames peter out after 4 turns.

Slippery: A super-lubricant. If sprayed on a person, he or she must roll 1d20 under Agility to move without falling, draw or swing a weapon, or pick up objects. Non-porous surfaces (tile, concrete, asphalt, etc., but not soil or grass) coated with the stuff become slicker than polished ice; roll 1d100 under Agility to stay upright, and 1d20 under Agility to move out of the space. Slippery stays active for 10 minutes.

Thanks so much, sir!

At some point, I should throw up some of the characters I've filled in to the Major Arcana. I haven't gotten around to converting any of them yet from 2.1.