Royal Blood is a 2019 Tabletop RPG written by Grant Howitt and published by Rowan, Rook and Decard.
It's a magical heist game using a diceless system, designed for one-shot play. In the world of Royal Blood the Major Arcana of the tarot ("The Arcane") are almost godlike figures, wielding vast magical power. The player characters are Royals, based on the tarot court cards, modern magicians who are more than human.
For whatever reason, these Royals are trying to unseat one of the Arcane, stealing their power and taking their place. They've got one night to make it happen - and directly confronting one of the Arcane isn't going to work. If they fail, the consequences they face are going to be horrible...
A revised edition was published in 2026, including a deluxe variant accompanied by its own set of tarot cards.
Royal Blood contains examples of the following tropes:
- The Caper: The allied Royals believe they have a way to unseat one of the Arcane. They have one night to make it happen and by dawn they'll either have usurped their target's position or failed and left themselves at the Arcane's mercy. The game is a heist scenario with Tarot Motifs covering that fateful night, with several major arcana cards randomly drawn to represent the twists and obstacles that'll form the plot.
- The Chessmaster: One first edition Blood ability lets the King of Pentacles reveal that they'd actually "planned all of this in advance". This is triggered at an appropriate moment in play as an Internal Reveal.
- The Dreaded: The first edition lets the King of Pentacles take a Blood ability that leaves people scared to even say their name.
- In Medias Res: As the game is structured around The Caper, it begins at a relatively late stage in events. The Royals have already identified their mark's weakness and created a plan. The obstacles and advantages are already broadly defined, represented by the major arcana cards dealt at the start of play. Now they have one night to pull it together and claim victory.
- Super-Speed: One first edition Silver ability for the Knight of Swords apparently makes them "unnaturally fast".
- Tarot Motifs: The player characters and their adversary are figures from the tarot. The player characters are all Royals, "half-magic, half-human" beings who hold a court role in one of the four tarot suits. Their target is one of the "reality-bending monsters" of the Arcane, the tarot's major arcana.
- Time Stands Still: One first edition Silver ability for the King of Wands allows them to pause time while they hold their breath.