augur
one for sorrow,
two for mirth,
three for a funeral,
four for a birth...
you're well familiar with the saying. a nursery rhyme, a schoolyard chant. count the birds, the children tell each other. they will be able to tell your future.
it’s more complicated than that, of course. it’s not just the number of birds, but also their demeanor, their flight, their nests, their song. any number of elements must be considered.
at its core, however, the nursery rhyme holds truth – the birds do know many things.
consult the deck, traveler. let the birds help you divine your future.
🕊
augur is an open-ended oracle deck for one or more readers. in augur, participants interpret a flock of strange and wonderful birds (represented by a unique deck of cards) to tell a story, foresee an outcome, or play to find out what happens.
- 24 cards, each with its own distinct symbolism and intention
- 3 unique suits that lend additional meaning to each card in the deck
- poetic, philosophical meditation on memory, circumstance, and future action
- 8-10 minutes per solo read, or more with additional interpreters
the demo (free to download) contains a .txt file of the basic instructions and a pdf containing 6 of the 24 cards.
the base game contains the instructions and the full 24-card deck in two versions: a print-and-play version, and individual files.
Purchase
In order to download this oracle you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Exclusive content
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Donate a community copy
for $10 USD, you'll get a copy of augur and also donate an additional community copy to the pool.
for every $5 above this reward's base price, I'll add another as well (donating $15 will add two community copies, donating $20 will add three, etc.)
Community Copies
if you're interested in my work, I want you to check it out! if the price is standing between you and downloading this, I invite you to claim a free community copy.
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Comments
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Question, for printing purposes what is the card size?
The pages are formatted to print on 8.5"x11" sheets — depending on your printer settings when you adjust for margins, the cards will probably come out to roughly 2.5" x 4" each, or just a little bit larger than your average playing card.
Wow... this was incredible, I couldn't have loved this more.
Augur is an oracle game about interpreting the movements and bearing of a flock of birds.
It's 9 pages, with a tight layout and a lot of cool, expressive illustrations of crows sprinkled throughout.
To play, you draw and interpret bird cards from the game's included deck.
The deck is extremely creative, but it's also genuinely useful. The prompts are abstract and broadly applicable enough that you can use Augur in the same sort of way you'd use tarot. It has a different flavor than tarot, but I can't imagine that being a reason to claim Augur is any less valid.
I think I'd recommend Augur to anyone who's interested in fortune-telling, and it feels like it would be perfectly at home in convention booths or small board game shops. It's also very combinable with other games or settings, and could be used as an at-the-table prop in a more conventional rpg. At its current price, it's a ridiculously good bargain. This is a great thing, made well.
This game is wonderful. Pure, magical poetry, and such a beautiful expression of the history of folk divination. There was so much here that I hoped for, executed brilliantly, and some surprises (like the feather rhymes) that I adored.
For $2 this is a steal - IMO it's worth $5 at least. Can't wait to print out a copy and carry it everywhere I go.
Ahh, I'm so glad you enjoyed this game, Luke! Many thanks for your kind review.
Absolutely beautiful. If you're at all interested in poetry games, oracle decks, or games as folklore (or folklore as games), definitely check this out if you can. It might become one of your favorites. It's certainly one of mine.
Thank you so much for the kind comment, Abe!
A beautiful, poetic game where you play as augurs who tell fortune by reading birds. To divine the future, you draw from a deck of custom cards that represent the birds, and each of them contains story prompts and part of a poem/nursery rhyme. Using three cards, you tell a complete story and make a full poem/nursery rhyme.