D&D 5E 5E Deck of Many Things - does it ever disappear?

[Acolyte of Zothique]

So, I'm thinking of introducing the Deck into my game; reading it's description in the 5E DMG there is no mention of any circumstances where the Deck disappears. In contrast, the 1E version disappears whenever the Donjon or Void cards are drawn. Has something been left off the 5E version or is it actually supposed to stick around?

I'm leaning towards the 1E interpretation but it would be nice to know the true intention for the current version.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

So, I'm thinking of introducing the Deck into my game; reading it's description in the 5E DMG there is no mention of any circumstances where the Deck disappears. In contrast, the 1E version disappears whenever the Donjon or Void cards are drawn. Has something been left off the 5E version or is it actually supposed to stick around?

I'm leaning towards the 1E interpretation but it would be nice to know the true intention for the current version.

By RAW, no, it doesn't. Which is what makes it broken, and also makes the "You can draw take 10K XP or draw two more cards"-type outcomes pointless.

I strongly recommend allowing only one person to draw a full hand of cards, and then the Deck disappears.

 

[CapnZapp]

I would allow more than character to take part - why limit the fun to a single player?

(Before any card is drawn, all participants state how many cards they want. Then each participant draws a single card in order, resolving each card before the next is drawn. Then everyone that wanted two or more cards draw another card. And so on...)

This way you won't have everybody around the table just passively watching, unless each player actively passes on the opportunity.

Also, less bickering about who gets to have the deck.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I would allow more than character to take part - why limit the fun to a single player?

(Before any card is drawn, all participants state how many cards they want. Then each participant draws a single card in order, resolving each card before the next is drawn. Then everyone that wanted two or more cards draw another card. And so on...)

This way you won't have everybody around the table just passively watching, unless each player actively passes on the opportunity.

Also, less bickering about who gets to have the deck.

Yep. Who cares if the deck stays around. After the stated number of cards are drawn the deck no longer has any power. Let them keep it as a souvenir.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

Yep. Who cares if the deck stays around. After the stated number of cards are drawn the deck no longer has any power. Let them keep it as a souvenir.

That would be fine too.

 

[CapnZapp]

Yep. Who cares if the deck stays around. After the stated number of cards are drawn the deck no longer has any power. Let them keep it as a souvenir.

I don't disagree to what you're saying, Exploder, but I wonder if you replied to the wrong post.

(I said nothing regarding the brokenness of the deck, neither for nor against)

Now that you have brought up the subject, however, I will say that I think you're misinterpreting the complaint. I don't think the physical deck is a problem - it's magic is. The worry is if you can use and reuse the magic in the deck over and over; not whether you can use the deck to play cards...

 

[Fanaelialae]

It's easy enough to rule that once you've drawn your declared number of draws, that Deck will no longer function for you. That's how my table handles it. While we've never gotten our hands on one (the Decks we've encountered have been owned by NPCs who usually let us draw for a price) it might be fun to have the party wandering around with a Deck that no longer functions for them, trying to tempt others into drawing from it.

EDIT:
It seems that something like this may have been the intention, since otherwise why even declare a number of draws? I could just say I draw one. Okay, I'm drawing another one... and so forth.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

It's easy enough to rule that once you've drawn your declared number of draws, that Deck will no longer function for you. That's how my table handles it. While we've never gotten our hands on one (the Decks we've encountered have been owned by NPCs who usually let us draw for a price) it might be fun to have the party wandering around with a Deck that no longer functions for them, trying to tempt others into drawing from it.

EDIT:
It seems that something like this may have been the intention, since otherwise why even declare a number of draws? I could just say I draw one. Okay, I'm drawing another one... and so forth.

My memory is a bit hazy but I seem to recall the 3.x versions of the Deck only allowed someone to make use of it once. I'm happy with that.

So it seem the 5E Deck needs erratta then.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

A detail I think may have been missed:

"Before you draw a card, you must declare how many cards you intend to draw and then draw them randomly... Any cards drawn in excess of this number have no effect."

You can't say "I'll draw X cards" over and over again because there is no reset time given on the bold statement above - even though the deck doesn't disappear, each character still only gets one drawing of their elected number of cards before they need to find a different deck of many things if they want more.

 

[Acolyte of Zothique]

A detail I think may have been missed:

"Before you draw a card, you must declare how many cards you intend to draw and then draw them randomly... Any cards drawn in excess of this number have no effect."

You can't say "I'll draw X cards" over and over again because there is no reset time given on the bold statement above - even though the deck doesn't disappear, each character still only gets one drawing of their elected number of cards before they need to find a different deck of many things if they want more.

Good point but the wording is ambiguous, there needs to be additional information e.g the Deck cannot be used by that person ever again.