Fortune Cards Threads [Merged]

[Aberzanzorax]

This is almost certainly a test-bed for the mechanics of 5e - if this product flies, expect to see the 5e powers available on a deck.

And that's my big concern. I'm okay with 4e, but prefer 3e/pathfinder. If WotC goes in this direction for 5e, it is basically creating a game I will never play.

The randomness of it is fine with me (like the card versions of deck of illusions and deck of many things....both of which I own).

BUT the collectible nature of it...that makes character creation about money spent rather than CREATING A CHARACTER YOU WANT TO ROLEPLAY (never mind the power issues). This takes the utilization of a "character" one more step away from his story and choices he makes/events that happen....and one more step toward being a game piece.

I can see it now:

"Guys, I just got 2 rare powers from my new deck and one ultra rare feat! I'm so powerful now!"

DM: "Ok, let's roleplay how you developed those powers in game."

Player: "Naw, let's roll some dice! I wanna try em out!"


Aberzanzorax: *Is sad.*

 

[I'm A Banana]

Randomness is fun!

Collectability makes me want to throw up.

Yay for Drama Decks, for Decks of Many Things, for Gambler Rolls, for Wandering Prostitute Tables! Yay for randomly rolling origins in Gamma World!

Boooooooooooo for "This is a Rare Expensive Doxy from the Whores of the Free City deck!" and "This is a Common Sly Pimp from the Tentacles of the Illithids deck!"

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

It adds no value to the game for me.

So I will use the Paizo GameMastery Decks instead.

Screw. This. Collectability. Noise.

 

[DumbPaladin]

I'm so sick of Chuck Norris jokes. If you actually read about him you'll find out he's kind of a terrible person.

Two things:
1) Every person is kind of a terrible person. That's why we're all people, and not called "perfects" or "angels".

2) I'm not really sure what Chuck Norris has to do with a thread on Fortune Cards. Is Chuck Norris actually the name of one of these D&D fortune cards, or did you just decide you wanted to try and hijack this thread?

As to the actual topic at hand: one point has been made that I feel most strongly. It's wonderful that WotC thinks that creating products that require collecting (and lots of purchasing) in order to keep up with other people who are doing so (we're talking about people using Fortune Cards in their D&D game, here) should become a basic part of D&D.

So officially, we'd like D&D to become something where people without disposable income will be at a disadvantage to the idle rich?

I have one finger on both of my hands that can succinctly describe how I feel about this mentality ... but I am otherwise at a loss for words to describe how terrible this is.

 

[LightPhoenix]

Pretend you have a 100 page splat book that you payed 20 bucks for. That's 5 cents a page. Let's pretend some more and say that you could maybe fit 10 powers on each page. That's half a cent per power, and you could share it with all your friends. Heck you could even have two characters in the same game using the same power at the same time.

If this ends up working for them, that's 50 cents for a 1/10th of a page of a book that no one else can use.

Your point still stands, however...

$20 = 2000 cents / 100 pages = 20 cents/page.
20 cents/page / 10 powers/page = 2 cents/power.

 

[The Human Target]

Collectible cards have no place in a rpg. I believe WotC has forgotten that an rpg is about being a character in a story and not about pushing miniatures around a game board and flipping the next card in a deck to see what happens.

I thought it was about being a character in a game.

And for the record- I have zero interest in buying random booster card sets for 4E. There is plenty of cool stuff already, no need to add more into my game in this fashion.

 

[Cyronax]

Two things:
1) Every person is kind of a terrible person. That's why we're all people, and not called "perfects" or "angels".

2) I'm not really sure what Chuck Norris has to do with a thread on Fortune Cards. Is Chuck Norris actually the name of one of these D&D fortune cards, or did you just decide you wanted to try and hijack this thread?

.

I put a picture of TSR's D&D Deck of Many Encounters from the mid-1990's. I said 'Yes.'

I then put a picture of a power card, a la, Pokemon or Magic style. I just used a Chuck Norris-mock card since it was in the same style. I then said 'No."

I was saying that I prefer 'event' cards that actually help build the game with more than just a few fiddly powers or bonuses. That was directly related to the discussion at hand.

So no dude I wasn't threadjacking.

 

[Zaran]

I thought it was about being a character in a game.

And for the record- I have zero interest in buying random booster card sets for 4E. There is plenty of cool stuff already, no need to add more into my game in this fashion.

No, it's about being a character in a story. That's why you have one guy who works out a plot and gives a narrative. That's why you make a character with motives and quirks. If I wanted to take the story out of DnD I would play Warhammer Quest or some other dungeon crawl type board game.

 

[TerraDave]

Also meh.

As pointed out upthread, a small number of RPGs integrate cards in fun ways to really let the PCs (or GM) do things they couldn't do with other mechanics.

These aren't really integrated into the game (overall, a good thing) and they do pretty much excactly the same kinds of things that existing class abilities, powers, feats, and magic items are doing now.

No thank you.

 

[Riastlin]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to use overly harsh language. I meant that the idea that players who are willing to spend more money to get the "good" cards would have an advantage over the other players is distasteful. If that doesn't turn out to be the case with these cards, great! But from my previous years of playing Magic: The Gathering, I worry that this might happen.

The requirement to buy a pack or two of cards every time you want to play in an organized event that previously didn't require such purchases would also be distasteful if it happens. However, that might not happen, either.

I agree in principle that a character should not be based upon how "lucky" one's "draws" were or how much money that person had to spend, which is why I agree it would be terrible if they made power/feat cards a requirement for 5th Ed. As for requiring cards to be purchased for organized events, I'm kind of "meh" about it. I don't want the fortune cards, I don't plan to buy them. If they make them a requirement to play at a gameday, I just won't play at the gameday. I'll simply vote with my wallet.

As for the earlier comments about the splat books (not referencing OnlineDM here), I think the point is that while its true that anyone would ordinarily be allowed to use the same subset of books, its highly probable (in my experience) that the person who owns "The Splat Book of Ninjaness" is going to be much more likely to use something from it than the guy who only gets to reference it on gameday. Technically, they can both use the book, I just don't think its as likely they'll both use it. As with all things though this will vary from group to group.

 

[renau1g]

So they just threw up a few more onto their January & Beyond page.

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying Game Official Home Page - Article (January and Beyond)

"An exclusive to game stores, Fortune Cards provide a new, optional dynamic to the game. Here's how they work:

* At the start of each encounter, shuffle your deck and draw a card.
* You can play one card per round. It requires no action to play. The rules on each card state when you can play it and what effect it has. A card takes effect just once unless it states otherwise, and you discard the card when its effect ends.
* You can have only one Fortune Card in your hand at a time. At the start of each of your turns, you can do one of the following:
o Discard the card in your hand and draw a new one.
o Draw a new card if you don't have one in your hand.
o Keep the card that's in your hand if you haven't played it.

Easy enough! Now, let's show off a few of these cards and what they can do:"

So...what do they do you ask?

1) When you use a close or area attack, omit one creature from the attack.
2) Adjacent target is hit by melee or ranged power, change target to you instead.
3) When you are bloodied by an attack or hit while bloodied gain a Stroke of Luck. That can be used to re-roll any d20 roll you make.

Wow...so 1/round I can add these buffs in and I can make my deck however I want?

The last one is rare, the first is common, and the second is uncommon.