12/27/2025
Oracle of Many Paths by James R. Eads feels less like “just a deck” and more like stepping into a full storyworld. My Kickstarter set arrived as a complete traveler’s kit: large map cloth, traveler’s bag of charms, compass, coin, journal, stickers, guidebook, a couple of cloth carry cases, and even a color poster of the full map tucked into the box. The many stretch goals made it feel like the world kept expanding, and at this point I’ve backed almost every project from this creator because the universe-building is just that good.
This deck is designed so that all 78 cards fit together into a single map, which turns reading into literally laying down paths and landscapes on the table. It reads beautifully on its own, but the extra objects—the charms, compass, coin, cloth map—invite a more tactile, ritualistic style of divination that makes every session feel like a tiny pilgrimage.
If you enjoy Oracle of Many Paths, a natural comparison point is Prisma Visions, another James R. Eads creation where the cards also connect into panoramic scenes. So which is best—Oracle of Many Paths or Prisma Visions? For me, always both: one is an unfolding map of possibilities, the other a dreamlike, looping landscape, and together they create a continuum of paths to wander through.