Deck of Many Things Experiences
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Aaron L
Hero
We used a real deck of cards.
A friend of mine once drew 4 cards from a Deck with his slightly dumb) wood elven ranger. He drew the idiot 4 times. Ended up with a 4 intelligence. Not long after the guy moved away, and the character was adopted by the local temple of Corellon. I'd have my PC visit him because he ended up very childlike and was scared that his friends were leaving him, and it made for some good roleplaying, and even got kind of sad (in a good way) sometimes, because he remembered that he wasnt always so slow.
Another time my friends wizard drew the card that takes all of your magic items away. My wizard drew next, and got teh exact same card. That happens a lot to me. The next time we encountered a Deck (different game) teh above mentiond wood elf got stupified, and I said I wasntgoing to draw any cards, but I got "persuaded" (goaded) to do it by the rest of teh group, and I promptly drew the card that takes away all your magic items. Those are the only 2 times Ive ever seen a Deck, and all 3 cards I drew were that same damn card!
A friend of mine once drew 4 cards from a Deck with his slightly dumb) wood elven ranger. He drew the idiot 4 times. Ended up with a 4 intelligence. Not long after the guy moved away, and the character was adopted by the local temple of Corellon. I'd have my PC visit him because he ended up very childlike and was scared that his friends were leaving him, and it made for some good roleplaying, and even got kind of sad (in a good way) sometimes, because he remembered that he wasnt always so slow.
Another time my friends wizard drew the card that takes all of your magic items away. My wizard drew next, and got teh exact same card. That happens a lot to me. The next time we encountered a Deck (different game) teh above mentiond wood elf got stupified, and I said I wasntgoing to draw any cards, but I got "persuaded" (goaded) to do it by the rest of teh group, and I promptly drew the card that takes away all your magic items. Those are the only 2 times Ive ever seen a Deck, and all 3 cards I drew were that same damn card!
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WhimsyTheFae
Explorer
The only time I've seen it as a player, I don't even remember what I drew (something like the -1 to all saves or something). I do remember what the dwarven tank drew, because he said no at first, but was persuaded into drawing. If I remember correctly, the DM made you roll a d4 for how many cards you drew. Well, he rolled a two and promptly lost all material possessions and then had his soul imprisoned. Needless to say, he doesn't like the Deck of Many Things.
The couple times that I've used it in my games, I wound up with overpowered characters (where are all the red cards, I ask...where are they?).
The couple times that I've used it in my games, I wound up with overpowered characters (where are all the red cards, I ask...where are they?).
sad_genius
First Post
I read somewhere that either a PDf of the Dragon DoMT or a file containing a printable deck lurked somewhere on the vast plains on the interweb ... Anyone got a link?
LordVyreth
First Post
This thread has given me a nasty idea for a future campaign. Before the official campaign starts, the players control pre-generated characters of various alignments and classes. At the end of the adventure, they encounter either a regular Deck or a greater version that enhances some of the effects. Instead of getting some jewelry, for example, it might reward the character with unfathomable wealth. The game then ends, and the DM reveals that the characters were fated to be great heroes or villains who shaped the world around them, but that chaotic forces defied fate by leaving that deck for the characters just as they were about to begin their rise to power. The DM then hands out the future events of the characters but modifies them for the rest of the campaign based on the draws from the deck.
DM: Let's see, Roland the Virtuous, who was fated to form a great and noble kingdom, was Voided, so that area's still a barren wasteland. But Faxtizz the wizard had an alignment change, so he won't be becoming an evil necromancer tyrant after all. And Grug the half-orc barbarian with Int 6 is now seen as a true leader in people's eyes? Interesting...
It'd take a flexible DM willing to change the campaign world before the game even starts, but it could be a lot of fun.
DM: Let's see, Roland the Virtuous, who was fated to form a great and noble kingdom, was Voided, so that area's still a barren wasteland. But Faxtizz the wizard had an alignment change, so he won't be becoming an evil necromancer tyrant after all. And Grug the half-orc barbarian with Int 6 is now seen as a true leader in people's eyes? Interesting...
It'd take a flexible DM willing to change the campaign world before the game even starts, but it could be a lot of fun.
TracerBullet42
Explorer
Well, it's been a while, so the details may be a bit sketchy, but here goes...
Davitt Luckbringer was a halfling priest of Tymora despite the fact that everyone in the group was pretty convinced he was a thief. Something about always being the first to the loot and whatnot...
Anyway, one day in his race to the loot, he finds a deck of cards. It is identified as a deck of many things and is known to have great and terrible powers. (It is important to note that Tymora was a goddess of luck and Davitt was always taking chances with the understanding that Tymora favored him, and therefore luck would be on his side.)
Despite the groups requests to leave the cards be, Davitt decided to draw from the deck. I believe the first draw was the card that raised your primary attribute up a couple points. Being satisfied with that result, Davitt draws again. This time, it is the "wish" card. Armed with three wishes, Davitt tries to help out the group by using a wish to summon a high priest that the group needs to find.
It is at this point that Davitt discovers how very specific one must be when making wishes. Having not given a good enough description, some other priest was summoned via the wish. Davitt then used the second wish to send this fellow back to where he came from, and then used the third, and final, wish to summon the correct priest. (Nice use of three wishes, eh?)
Out of wishes, Davitt decides to draw from the deck again. Suddenly, he has a keep! It seems that luck truly is favoring him this day...
Until the next draw...
A poof a smoke and "Death" appears before Davitt, declaring that he has come for Davitt's soul. A panicky Davitt did the only thing that he could think of...draw another card.
3 MORE WISHES!
Meanwhile, "Death" is closing in on Davitt and as Davitt runs from it he makes his next wish...words that I'll never forget.
"I wish this 'Death Guy' away from me forever!"
.....
Just let that sink in for a moment.
It wasn't planned, that's just how it came out.
So with a "poof" of smoke, the "Death" disappeared.
It is at this point that I, the player, looked around the table and saw the rest of the players staring at me...mouths agape.
We carried on, not sure of what the ramifications to Davitt might be. Ultimately, he went on to survive being mauled and drowned by sea lions, cut his way out of a bag of holding when the group thought he was dead, and eventually offer his "immortality" back up without so much as a fight when something named "Retribution" asked for it back.
Fun character...good times.
Oh, and it was probably 2nd edition, for whatever that's worth.
Davitt Luckbringer was a halfling priest of Tymora despite the fact that everyone in the group was pretty convinced he was a thief. Something about always being the first to the loot and whatnot...
Anyway, one day in his race to the loot, he finds a deck of cards. It is identified as a deck of many things and is known to have great and terrible powers. (It is important to note that Tymora was a goddess of luck and Davitt was always taking chances with the understanding that Tymora favored him, and therefore luck would be on his side.)
Despite the groups requests to leave the cards be, Davitt decided to draw from the deck. I believe the first draw was the card that raised your primary attribute up a couple points. Being satisfied with that result, Davitt draws again. This time, it is the "wish" card. Armed with three wishes, Davitt tries to help out the group by using a wish to summon a high priest that the group needs to find.
It is at this point that Davitt discovers how very specific one must be when making wishes. Having not given a good enough description, some other priest was summoned via the wish. Davitt then used the second wish to send this fellow back to where he came from, and then used the third, and final, wish to summon the correct priest. (Nice use of three wishes, eh?)
Out of wishes, Davitt decides to draw from the deck again. Suddenly, he has a keep! It seems that luck truly is favoring him this day...
Until the next draw...
A poof a smoke and "Death" appears before Davitt, declaring that he has come for Davitt's soul. A panicky Davitt did the only thing that he could think of...draw another card.
3 MORE WISHES!
Meanwhile, "Death" is closing in on Davitt and as Davitt runs from it he makes his next wish...words that I'll never forget.
"I wish this 'Death Guy' away from me forever!"
.....
Just let that sink in for a moment.
It wasn't planned, that's just how it came out.
So with a "poof" of smoke, the "Death" disappeared.
It is at this point that I, the player, looked around the table and saw the rest of the players staring at me...mouths agape.
We carried on, not sure of what the ramifications to Davitt might be. Ultimately, he went on to survive being mauled and drowned by sea lions, cut his way out of a bag of holding when the group thought he was dead, and eventually offer his "immortality" back up without so much as a fight when something named "Retribution" asked for it back.
Fun character...good times.
Oh, and it was probably 2nd edition, for whatever that's worth.
genshou
First Post
Whenever I encounter one as a PC, I draw one card or no cards for a prudent character, or two cards for a more reckless fellow. I won't go up to three or above unless I am playing a madman.
I once had an NPC archmage who owned a deck of many things. Through a great deal of research and arcane study, he had determined that there was a 99% chance he knew the top card, a 96% chance he knew the second card, and a 92% chance he knew the third card. The PC chose to draw two cards, and ended up with a vast XP increase, a medium magic item, and the ability to alter the course of one recent event. When he was finished drawing, I turned over the third card. It was that 8% chance of being something not predicted... and that something was Imprisonment. He really lucked out on avoiding that.
I once had an NPC archmage who owned a deck of many things. Through a great deal of research and arcane study, he had determined that there was a 99% chance he knew the top card, a 96% chance he knew the second card, and a 92% chance he knew the third card. The PC chose to draw two cards, and ended up with a vast XP increase, a medium magic item, and the ability to alter the course of one recent event. When he was finished drawing, I turned over the third card. It was that 8% chance of being something not predicted... and that something was Imprisonment. He really lucked out on avoiding that.
Three_Haligonians
First Post
I've had a similar experience to TracerBullet's:
It was 2e, and I was playing what I constantly referred to as an "inept mage" who was really a thief that coveted as many spell producing magic items as he could for his "spells." At one point, the party ended up trapped in a strange underground complex and stumbled upon a cavern filled with mountains upon mountains of treasure - and the deep dragon it belonged to.
One save against breath weapons later, my "mage" dove behind a hill of treasure and was separated from the rest of the group. So I did the logical thing: opened my bag of holding and shovelled treasure in as fast as possible, all the while yelling my opinions about what to do at the rest of the group. A few rounds later we all decided it was best to flee the scene and escaped.
A little while later, we found ourselves at the exit - but it was blocked by a Living Wall (remember those?) and a cryptic clue about having to sacrifice something (or someone) to it in order to leave.
Just as we were puzzling over it - enter the Dragon for round 2 (a very angry round 2 since I had stolen from its hoard). Another long fight ensued but in the end, we won since we managed to force the dragon to touch the wall and thus it was consumed (and luckily - we gave it what it wanted so it let us out).
So later, we're in a tavern and I declare that I'm counting up what I managed to steal and the DM describes to me an exquisite statue of a Dragon with a riddle carved into its base. My appraise skill tells me it is worth easily half a million gold! The riddle is simple enough and once I declare the answer - it opens up to reveal the Deck of Many Things and I decide to take it but that causes the dragon statue to disappear.
Bummed about it, I draw a card - get the 1d4 wishes, roll a 1 and with a big smile back on my face, I loudly declare:
"I wish I had that Dragon back!"
J from Three Haligonians
It was 2e, and I was playing what I constantly referred to as an "inept mage" who was really a thief that coveted as many spell producing magic items as he could for his "spells." At one point, the party ended up trapped in a strange underground complex and stumbled upon a cavern filled with mountains upon mountains of treasure - and the deep dragon it belonged to.
One save against breath weapons later, my "mage" dove behind a hill of treasure and was separated from the rest of the group. So I did the logical thing: opened my bag of holding and shovelled treasure in as fast as possible, all the while yelling my opinions about what to do at the rest of the group. A few rounds later we all decided it was best to flee the scene and escaped.
A little while later, we found ourselves at the exit - but it was blocked by a Living Wall (remember those?) and a cryptic clue about having to sacrifice something (or someone) to it in order to leave.
Just as we were puzzling over it - enter the Dragon for round 2 (a very angry round 2 since I had stolen from its hoard). Another long fight ensued but in the end, we won since we managed to force the dragon to touch the wall and thus it was consumed (and luckily - we gave it what it wanted so it let us out).
So later, we're in a tavern and I declare that I'm counting up what I managed to steal and the DM describes to me an exquisite statue of a Dragon with a riddle carved into its base. My appraise skill tells me it is worth easily half a million gold! The riddle is simple enough and once I declare the answer - it opens up to reveal the Deck of Many Things and I decide to take it but that causes the dragon statue to disappear.
Bummed about it, I draw a card - get the 1d4 wishes, roll a 1 and with a big smile back on my face, I loudly declare:
"I wish I had that Dragon back!"
J from Three Haligonians
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