Deck of Many Things

[ph34r]

Any DM's out there ever let their players draw cards from the deck? If so, about what level were they when they drew? Did doing so disrupt the balance and/or flow of the game?

 

[Piratecat]

I've used it or seen it used in three campaigns. It stopped all three dead in their tracks. It's a fun idea, but a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[cdsaint]

In my experience, the deck can be the quickest way to end a campaign ever. I've probably included it 4 or 5 times, mainly in 1e games in high school many years ago. Included it in 3e once, and the campagn ended shortly after.
As a PC, I played in a game that included the deck when we were 18th level, the inclusion of the deck made more sense than any other I had seen or done, and for once it did not kill the campaign, just one character. None of the rest of us would have anything to do with it.

Chris

 

[Benben]

I recently used one of these in my long running campaign.

It was given to the party by their greatest foe, who was then disguised as a friend. He used it as a tool to sow weakness and chaos into their ranks before striking.

In my view the Deck of Many things is either a tool of the villain to potential eliminate the party, or it is a tool used by the DM to end the campaign on anticlimax.

That said it can be really fun when good things happen.

Edits for stupid cut and paste colour issues.

 

[Crothian]

Ya, we have used it. It's laways been at a point when the campaign was at a place that it could go many directions. The Deck always lead to interesting adventures.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

The DM of my home game loves it, and has used it with both groups of PCs. Since we all went to another plane and can't get back, we're rolling up new characters and will undoubtedly get it again.

Both times, the party was about 7th level. The Deck did not end the game at all, but maybe that's because no one drew anything severely unbalancing. Except once. One person drew the 50,000 xp card, which bumped him up quite a few levels. He was a barbarian, but for various role-play reasons took a few levels of Rogue, which made for an interesting combination.

One time, I drew the Moon, and got three wishes. I wasted one wish getting back a PC who drew a bad card (either Donjon or the Void one). Someone else drew Talons and lost all his gear, so I wished all his gear back in return for his Ring of Regeneration (the Deck had changed my PC's alignment to CN). And I used the third wish to get a magic bow, but with the limits on getting an item it wasn't that great (+2 Flaming longbow, I think).

I suppose, I could have used the wishes to unbalance the game. But the PC was only CN, not CE.

 

[SylverFlame]

In every campaign that a deck has shown up it has altered the flow drastically. I decided the only way to control it is make a person declare how many draws they're making before the first draw and having the cards pop out even if the character doesn't pick them.

I won't use a deck without A LOT of preperation and never in a situation where I have an idea as to what the party has to do next. I don't think it's out of line to prepare for the introduction of a deck as if it were a whole session, or even two. At least that's how many it takes to resolve/clean up the mess that generally ensues.

 

[afreed]

I used the Deck in a one-shot, where it was a great deal of fun. (A character started out with it, and essentially used it as a last resort option.)
Some day, I want to run (or play in) an encounter where the PCs and villains draw from the Deck as part of some desperate bargain. (Or trick: 'Since we're at a standoff, I propose we resolve our differences by drawing cards. Highest wins. You want to go first, or should I?')

 

[trentonjoe]

I used the Deck in a one-shot, where it was a great deal of fun. (A character started out with it, and essentially used it as a last resort option.)
Some day, I want to run (or play in) an encounter where the PCs and villains draw from the Deck as part of some desperate bargain. (Or trick: 'Since we're at a standoff, I propose we resolve our differences by drawing cards. Highest wins. You want to go first, or should I?')

I've never had big enough stones to try it but I played in a 1E game when we used it.

If I remember my character lost his soul, another one lost all his gear, and a third changed sexes and gained a level. It was quite fun and added real depth to our characters.

Our DM ruled that losing my sould didn't kill me but I always did minimum damage on hits. I did 7 points of damage for like 8 games. It was great.

 

[Olive]

I did it once, in 3e. The character disappeared, taken to the lair of Grazzt. The player wasn't too upset, and roled up a better, more useful character who he's haveing a lot more fun with. It was a bit dumb, but interesting, and it didn't really harm the campaign at all.