Deck of Many Things results

[Slife]

The one time I've seen a Deck in play (back in 2e), one person drew Death, another drew a card that gave him a couple of Wishes.

The guy who drew the wishes card used one to make the other person's Death go away, and since he aided in the fight against the other pc's Death, he got a Death of his own to deal with. He wished that one away as well.

The DM ruled that both pc's were now immortal, Death would never come for them. As much curse as blessing, since they would age as normal, but never die.

So, you eventually get baleful polymorphed into a grasshopper?

 

[Lanefan]

At some point during a long campaign, a Deck just has to rear its ugly head and shake things up a bit...

I designed a variant...every bit as potentially good or bad for the users...based on dice. The very first person to roll got the worst possible result...character and all carried items reduced to ash in a sudden blaze of fire...but things got better from there and the end result worked out OK.

Lanefan

 

[Thurbane]

We should stat up a Minor Deck of Many Things, with the same cards, but less overpowering results...

 

[danzig138]

The Deck is a gamewrecker.

Not really.

but it should never, ever see the light of day for PCs to actually use.

Umm, okay. Sorry you can make it work for you, but I've used the deck in almost every D&D game I've run in the last 19 years, and it's never once wrecked or broken a game. People have to choose to draw from the deck, so everyone involved who doesn't like the results should not whine about it. The DM didn't have to introduce it, the players didn't have to draw. And you know, some people actually have fun with it.

 

[Meloncov]

As a player, I HATE the Deck and what it usually brings.

There is a revised Deck somewhere on the WotC website that isn't as drastic as the stock Deck.

It's the Web Enhancement to PHBII. It can seriously change your character (as in different race/class), but the power level of characters who draw stays more or less the same.

 

[Jolly Giant]

I've seen the deck used in four campaigns. It utterly ruined all four of them...

 

[robberbaron]

It's the Web Enhancement to PHBII. It can seriously change your character (as in different race/class), but the power level of characters who draw stays more or less the same.

I wanted to give my players the opportunity to use a Deck and considered the PHB2 one. Very pretty.
Trouble is, every card causes a rebuild of the character. Imagine someone drawing 3 of these puppies.
"So, I've got to rebuild my character as a Halfling Half-Dragon Bard? Damn, I was just getting the hang of a Half-Orc PsyWarrior!"

I went with the original and it was fine. Sure, one character became instantly 2 levels higher than the rest but it didn't screw anything up. We had one Donjon and the party agreed in advance that they wouldn't try to find/rescue anyone drawing it.

If anyone whinges about the effects of drawing a card perhaps they should be playing something else. It isn't compulsory and can be a laugh. I've used at least one Deck in both the long-running campaigns I have GMmed.

 

[Karlson_the_red]

I've used the "Deck" in several campaigns. I usually use the Tarot deck version, modified slightly. You are suppose to have the "Face" cards attack the drawer, but usually I have some other interaction, such as The queen of swords gave on the characters a magic sword. It wasn't powerful, but it was good for my low-magic item campaign.

One character actually drew 7 cards. I usually don't reveal the effects instantly, such as the "gain a magic item" card. The character literally stumbles across something that he has been looking for. The best card he got was one that drove him slowly insane. It took the player a little time to warm up to it, but with a lot of Ninja notes, he really started getting into it and it created some really good RP moments.

Only one character drew the void card, and her spirit was sucked away. One of the other characters had gotten the wish card, and didn't know it and when he said "I wish that hadn't happened..." Poof... She started to reach for a card, and everyone in the group jumped on her to stop.

As a player, I was in a game where the deck broke a lot, and it took some time to restructure the campaign, but our DM was good, and it only took a session or two to get everything straight. A character had obtained a keep and the likes, so he retired and his nephew joined the group.

The effects of the deck are unpredictable and thats the allure for players and Dm's alike. You as a player/dm/character always have the choice not to draw...

But you know you want to.... Go ahead.... You know you want to... Just one card...

What could that hurt?


Karlson_the_red

 

[GlassJaw]

RE: deck = gamewrecker

The DoMT is a gamewrecker if you are treating it as just another magic item. If you think you can put the Deck in the hands of your players and then continue the campaign as normal, you are sorely mistaken.

The Deck is a campaign-changer, though not necessarily a campaign-wrecker. You just have to be willing to alter your campaign based on the results of the Deck.

 

[ivocaliban]

I introduced the Deck of Many Things to the PC in my single-player Greyhawk campaign a few years ago. It was both a way to reward him for previous deeds and to introduce the concept of fate and destiny to the game. It was an ongoing battle, the fact that character had a destiny and yet fought against the idea that he wasn't in complete control of his own fate.

The fortune-teller, actually an aspect of Istus, did a reading for the PC in which the final card would be the "drawn" card from the Deck of Many Things. I didn't stack the deck, but he got "The Sun" card, which turned a great many things around. In fact, he eventually came to worship Pelor, seeing the light, as it were. It was a choice made by the character, not one forced upon him, but it worked out well for the overall storyline.

That's the only time I've ever used the deck. It worked well for that purpose, but I certainly would never put it in the hands of the players.