Fortune Cards: you likey?

[Incenjucar]

Not true. They (of course) encourage their use, but it was never mandatory. That is some horrible rumor that I keep seeing pop up.

Rumors are pretty rampant in the fandom in general (I blame the paranoia on Gygaxian dungeons), so one should really be skeptical of anything they don't see in official material.

 

[jimmifett]

I have no problems with them. I like them, tho while they get used at the table, they are rarely in play. I follow the LFR deck building guidelines (3 of each type, 1 of any type. 1 copy of a card per 10 cards) with a 10 card deck. It adds 1 second to my turn to flip a card, read it, and decide if it is going to be in any way useful to what i've already decided to do. I allow my players use them, but require the same deck rules, and enforce using the cards with the right trigger. You miss the trigger, you can't go back.

 

[delericho]

I haven't used them, won't use them, and won't play in a game that uses them as-written. I'll grudgingly play at a table where they are used as a common pool (or similar mechanic).

I remain opposed to them in principle, and would prefer to see them fail utterly.

(Without actually being angry about them - WotC are completely free to do whatever they want with D&D; but that doesn't mean I'm going to support what I see as bad ideas.)

 

[the Jester]

I have not used them, have no interest in using them and cannot imagine ever adding yet another thing to keep track of to the mess at our table.

I mean, seriously- character sheets that vary from three to five pages (including notes, some of the players have a clipboard full), dice, minis, props, maps, modules, papers galore, which beer is mine?, where's the damn battlemat marker?, power cards, snacks, players' reminder notes to themselves (the warden has a large table tent that he puts in front of himself that says "MARK 'EM DUMMY!" because he always used to forget), etc, etc.

Add a bunch of little loose cards to this mess? Hell no. No way, never. I occasionally use index cards for initiative, but even that has proven too easy to lose bits of. No cards in my game unless the party is playing with a deck of many things, thankyouverymuch.

 

[Tony Vargas]

In fairness, I think Wizards made it mandatory to use them in encounters or something stupid like this.

Players are under no obligation to use Fortune Cards, but DMs are expected to allow players who wish to use them to do so, under the standard rules, which means 1 card/round. :shrug:

Similarly, only Essentials+ characters are 'legal' for Encounters.


There's not real enforcement mechanism, but that's what they're asked to do.

 

[OnlineDM]

Not true. They (of course) encourage their use, but it was never mandatory. That is some horrible rumor that I keep seeing pop up.

The "mandatory" speculation that I've seen has been about the as-yet-unnamed "super-delve" organized play events that WotC has announced they'll be starting in September. The original announcement specifically said "Bring your Fortune Cards." That statement was in the context of "these adventures are hard, so you'll want every edge you can get," but it sure sounds like Fortune Cards are going to be mandatory for that particular program.

I believe that the original Fortune Cards announcement mentioned that they would be required for certain programs, but not Encounters (where they are permitted, but are optional). The dot-connecting says (at least to me) that they will be required for the super-delve program. And the players to whom that type of ultra-challenging game is pitched will probably be happy to use Fortune Cards if it can give them an additional edge.

 

[delericho]

I believe that the original Fortune Cards announcement mentioned that they would be required for certain programs,

Yeah, I was sure I remembered seeing them say that they'd be mandatory for something, but when I looked again, I couldn't find the actual statement...

Edit: I should note that I have no problem with them doing so for their organised games - their game, their rules. Just as long as they don't try to foist them on me!

 

[Aegeri]

Backing both of you up, I can swear I read they were mandatory and now I cannot find it either. Maybe I am mistaken and it was just mandatory to allow their use and not actually have to use them. Sometimes I do need my crazy bucket.

 

[Tony Vargas]

I don't recall them as being 'manditory' for the 'drink from the fire-hose' program. Rather, they said something like 'you'll need 'em,' simply implying that the challenges were going to be so overpowering that even your 5-feycharger party is going to have to abuse 'Unfair Advantage' to have a shot at prevailing.

 

[OnlineDM]

I found the links I was originally talking about. The new program from this fall is at this link and it says (as both Tony Vargas and I acknowledged):

Bring extra character sheets. Bring Fortune Cards. You’ll need them.

Begin your lair assault this September.

The original Fortune Cards announcement is here, and it says in part:

For some Wizards Play Network programs aimed at experienced players, Fortune Card purchase will be a requirement to participate, but our broadly-appealing programs like D&D Encounters will feature their use without such a requirement.

So, they're not required for Encounters, but they WILL be required for some programs aimed at experienced players... which is almost certainly the "lair assault" program from the first link.