Deck of Many Things

[Mr. Sparkle]

Hmm, we had one of these show up in our campaign around 6th or 7th level. None of the PCs wanted anything to do with it except our barbarian, who chose to draw FOUR cards, figuring that at least one of them had to be good....

He got a radical alignment change, lost all his material wealth, got betrayed by the leader of his tribe, and gained the eternal hatred of a succubus.

Now, at 16th level, the betrayal and the outsider enemy still play a significant role in our campaign. Our clever DM used these events to create a lot of the backstory. And none of us can forget the day that reason failed our poor barbarian friend. Ever.

 

[Jolly Giant]

Seen it used/used it in a few campaigns... No-one in my gaming group wants to see it ever again! 'Nuff said.

 

[Eldren]

You should always be careful when allowing the use of this item in your campaign. It can quickly result in items being given to the PCs that you aren't ready for, or it can result in your campaign being blown to smithereens if someone draws the wrong card and gets their character fuxx0red.


Use it carefully, and be prepared for the worst. Players are often going to acquire a kender-level of greediness when presented with such an item as well, and this can be problematic. They might get a couple of good cards and decide to press their luck, and they can wind up completely hosed.

 

[jdfrenzel]

I've used it a few times (see sig) with results being roughly typical with what has been posted here. Experienced players will generally avoid it like the black death. It's the only artifact that's usually treated with appropriate awe by players, which is why I like having it around. It is magnetic; some can't resist, others run with mighty determination!

Basically, if you aren't comfortable handling 6 game-months worth of changes in a single session, or like/need more control over game events, leave this deck on the shelf.

--- John

 

[jester47]

should I ever use one, I would not make the events happen immediately. For instance, if someone were to draw the void, they would not get sucked in until a certain time that I picked, like the first time they wandered into a completely dark place without a light, stuck thier hand in a hole, or were the first through a door. Extra XP would be confered through a very realistic series of dreams, alnmost as if he were somewhere else.... And magic items would be found almost like someone put them there. The idea being, that the players would initially think, "Man that gypsy lady was such a crock with all her fortune telling stuff..." then the effects take place..... I would wait until the greatest XP reward will only move the players up one level to present it.

Aaron

 

[TracerBullet42]

Ok, I could launch into the long, long story about when we used one in a campaign I played in, but I won't. It's rather entertaining, but I just don't feel up to it right now. So here's, what I thought, was the most dramatic use of a draw from the deck.

I don't remember what edition we were playing at the time, so the effects of the cards have since changed...

First of all, it should be noted that I was playing a chaotic good cleric of Tymora. So my character never doubted that his good luck would prevail...

On one pull of a card, I drew the "death" card in which the grim reaper showed up and demanded my soul. In a moment of panic, I drew another card...the wish card. To this day, and it has been many years, I still remember my exact wish.

I said, "I wish this "death guy" away from me forever."

The group sat silent, stunned at my phrasing.

Now, granted, I wasn't after immortality. I just wanted the bad guy to go bye bye, and that's how the words came out of my mouth.

So for a long time, I was "immortal". I found out the hard way that it has its bad sides too. Be fatally mauled and surviving is no fun. Choking and surviving is no fun.

Eventually, the DM had a dude show up named "Retribution" and he said he would give me my mortality back whether I liked it or not.

Now, I'm not sure if I was supposed to resist this or not, but I just said, "Ok."

And that was that.

I guess that story ended up being pretty long anyway...but there were many, many times that I drew from that deck. And overall, I think I may even have come out ahead.

Good times.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

Hmm, we had one of these show up in our campaign around 6th or 7th level. None of the PCs wanted anything to do with it except our barbarian, who chose to draw FOUR cards, figuring that at least one of them had to be good....

He got a radical alignment change, lost all his material wealth, got betrayed by the leader of his tribe, and gained the eternal hatred of a succubus.

Now, at 16th level, the betrayal and the outsider enemy still play a significant role in our campaign. Our clever DM used these events to create a lot of the backstory. And none of us can forget the day that reason failed our poor barbarian friend. Ever.

Hey! I was going to post that story!

Nice to see you here, Mr. Sparkle. Not to hijack the thread or anything, but when over Presidents Day weekend are we gaming?

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

I've seen it once as a player and once as a DM. Neither situation turned out good.

As a player, I remember having to use wishes of one of the players to undo the damage done to another player.

As a DM, we had a player draw "lose all magic items" then "fight death". Needless to say, that character died. Another got an alignment change, lots of xp & treasure (effectively taking him out of the group due to being too powerful). Another got lots of treasure and xp (again, taken out because of too powerful). Another lost lots of XP. In the end, the following week there was only 1 character that had been there the week before.

They're fun, but bad news for any campaign you care about.

 

[Ferox4]

should I ever use one, I would not make the events happen immediately. For instance, if someone were to draw the void, they would not get sucked in until a certain time that I picked, like the first time they wandered into a completely dark place without a light, stuck thier hand in a hole, or were the first through a door. Extra XP would be confered through a very realistic series of dreams, alnmost as if he were somewhere else.... And magic items would be found almost like someone put them there. The idea being, that the players would initially think, "Man that gypsy lady was such a crock with all her fortune telling stuff..." then the effects take place..... I would wait until the greatest XP reward will only move the players up one level to present it.

Aaron

I like that spin.

Back in 1E our DM disguised the deck as a chalice filled with a liquid of everchanging colors. It turned out to be disastrous for the party. That was almost 20 years ago and I still remember the room, the plot and characters - the deck can leave lasting imprints on a campaign.

 

[Moe Ronalds]

I'm currently working on a "Deck of Many Things Which Will Break the Game, Maybe Not So Much" for inclusion in a d20 modern game. The effects will be fun and random, but less game breaking (gender switch and Uncontrollable Magnetism, opposed to lose all possessions and flat-out die).