D&D 5E My players just drew from the Deck of Many Things - and Holy Crap!

[GlassJaw]

Yup, it's a campaign killer.

 

[BookTenTiger]

How fun! What a great twist that they all end up in prison together.

"How'd you get in here?"

"I tried to steal the Eternal Ember from Xanthuul, Lord of the Eighteenth Realm of Fire. You?"

"I drew a bad card."

 

[DND_Reborn]

LOL that is FUNNY!

I have used a Deck of Many Things in every game by 10th level. Usually, 1 PC gets screwed over, but the rest make out like bandits and get tons of awesome stuff!

 

[Maxperson]

However, I have my own deck, and the deck also works slightly differently. You select how many cards you want to draw, and then they start to draw themselves. They do not stop until your pulls are finished - and then you can never draw from it again. Also, it wants to find a way into the hands of unwitting people, so it tends to be lost, stolen, or otherwise misplaced quite often.

My favorite version of the deck is the Tarot Deck of Many Things. There are 77 or 78 Tarot cards and the deck had two powers per card. One for when drawn with a normal facing and one for the inverse. 156 different possible effects. I've never seen duplicate draws with it. I have it in my Encylopedia Magica from 2e, but it first appeared in Dragon Magazine 77.

 

[billd91]

We've had fun with the Deck in previous campaigns. In one campaign, we started off with The Return to the Keep on the Borderlands and one of the PCs drew gaining a keep in her Deck of Many Things draws - so I ruled it was the deed to the Keep. It was a nice way to tie in previous events and gave them a place they already knew.

 

[ART!]

I just had a terrible idea, and maybe this already exists in these decks and I just can't remember: cards that affect everyone present. I mean, obviously if a monster appears everyone might have to deal with it, but besides that. You could definitely wind up with some party members very upset with the PC who whipped out a "everyone is imprisoned!" card.

 

[Guest 6801328]

As I said in the Curse of Strahd thread, the best thing to do with a Deck of Many Things is to give it to the Dusk Elves.

 

[R_J_K75]

How fun! What a great twist that they all end up in prison together.

Reminds me of the Seinfeld finale.

Player 1
1) Fights Death (and wins)
2) Fights Death again! (and wins)
3) Gains a level and a belt of fire giant strength.
4) Loses 2 Int and draws again
5) Is thrown into an Extraplanar Prison (aka Imprionment)!

Player 2
1) Gets a devil as an enemy
2) Is thrown into an Extraplanar Prison (aka Imprionment)!
3) Gets another devil as an enemy
4) A friendly NPC becomes a secret enemy

Player 3
1) Gets a permanent curse (-2 to all saves)
2) All magic items are disintegrated
3) Is thrown into an Extraplanar Prison (aka Imprionment)!
4) Gains Expertise in Persuasion and a personal keep.

Shouldnt the Donjon card have disappeared after Player 1 drew it, so it wouldnt be available for Players 2 & 3 to draw? Same with the Devil card right?

 

[Li Shenron]

Sounds like a plan!

Although, I'd be worried about that keep however, you never know what consequences it might have...

 

[Mannahnin]

My favorite version of the deck is the Tarot Deck of Many Things. There are 77 or 78 Tarot cards and the deck had two powers per card. One for when drawn with a normal facing and one for the inverse. 156 different possible effects. I've never seen duplicate draws with it. I have it in my Encylopedia Magica from 2e, but it first appeared in Dragon Magazine 77.

Nice. I like variant decks.

In one of the first high-level convention games I ever played, a 1st/2nd ed mix (maybe in '91?) one of the rewards at the end came from the elven gods, and involved drawing from the Deck of the Seldarine, a DoMT specific to the elven pantheon.

The DM had made a unique tarot deck full of boons and curses, each card having positive or negative effects depending on whether it was drawn upright or reversed. The gods promised each hero one "safe" draw (the card would always be treated as upright), but gave us the option of drawing up to two more, with no guarantees on those ones. It was quite a fun finale to an epic double-time-slot game.

Also, he had printed up the descriptions of the boons & curses on slips of paper, accompanying them with a "Note to DMs" explaining the origin and power level of the abilities, attesting to their having been won fairly, in case anyone might need that to show to their DMs (the game description had encouraged people to bring their own long-running high level characters).