Deck of Many Things

[renau1g]

Good idea Puget as it seems very easy to keep up a good score, especially for wizards (ironically the class that may least likely by prone to chaos) as they can just cast a cantrip every day. It's not hard for the sorcerer either, just cast an at-will at the ground each day. I think making it an implement is a cool idea, but also sucks for non-arcane parties.

 

[Squire James]

Well, I'm sure the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords wouldn't be terribly useful to a party who doesn't use axes (or in an anti-duergar campaign), so it kind of evens out. Still, non-arcane parties can still treat it like the "old school" deck by "doing a reading" on most of the party, then have the owner draw a final card to send it on its way.

 

[renau1g]

That's true, however the axe of teh dwarvish lords hasn't been a wondrous item/artifact since early D&D.

 

[Asmor]

That's true, however the axe of teh dwarvish lords hasn't been a wondrous item/artifact since early D&D.

Err... You're aware it's in the 4e DMG, right? Page 165. It's one of only four artifacts in there (and two of those are Vecna's lucky charms)

 

[renau1g]

Correct, however the Deck of Many Things has had a long and storied history in the game. My comment was that it kinda sucks for groups without an arcane caster as traditionally thoughout the history it was never used as a weapon or implement, but rather something the DM threw in there that usually mucked up the campaign, but was usually a blast to draw from. That's how I got my follower in my 2e game.

The Axe however was always a weapon to be wielded. They didn't turn that into a neck item or a wondrous item.

 

[Kinneus]

I'm fairly impressed. Every time I think 4e will wuss out on something really tough, something save-or-diey, they always surprise me by being pretty harsh. The rust monster still destroys magic weapons and armor... it then supplies the party with the weapon's exact value after they kill it, sure, but I was still surprised that the designers were still willing to leave a PC weaponless for an encounter.

And now this. I was thinking they were going to make the minuses really weak, but some of those mess you up. Euryale seems harsh, and then there are of course those two that imprison your mind or body.

I do agree that they shouldn't have made it such a good implement. Personally, I wouldn't of made it an implement at all. I'm frankly wondering what incentive a PC would have for drawing from the deck at all. The only thing I can think of is borderline DM fiat: "The deck tempts you to draw from it with its chaotic allure. Does 29 hit your will?"

 

[Shroomy]

The Deck of Many Things in the compiled Dungeon 177 issue makes many minor tweaks to the way the artifact works, many of which address complaints raised here and in other similar threads:

1. The deck's base encounter power now has a range of 10 squares.

2. The concordance penalty for gaining any magic item is now -1d10 instead of -1.

3. Balance Card: You now cannot gain any XP from minor or major quests until you complete the quest associated with the card (well, the evil turning good option doesn't have such a requirement, but I'm not sure if that's an oversight).

4. Flames Card: You now cannot gain any XP from minor or major quests until you complete the quest associated with the card.

5. Rogue Card: You now cannot gain any XP from minor or major quests until you complete the quest associated with the card.

 

[renau1g]

Is it still a +5 implement even though it's in Paragon tier?

 

[Shroomy]

Is it still a +5 implement even though it's in Paragon tier?

Yes, but the concordance score for gaining new magic items is a much more severe penalty.

 

[renau1g]

Cool....so you get it and then you have a decision if future items come to you.... cool.