Build A Deck Of Many Things That Won't Hurt Your Campaign

[@dungeonstaverns6707]

I have Dmed for about 18 years now and even though the Deck is the "cliche item" of d&d I am amazed at how many veteran players never encountered one. This same scenario often plays out for players not have ever encountered a Dragon a Beholder or the tarasque

[@DDHomebrew]

I agree, but I'm also hearing on-line players talk about it as though it should be in the culminating event of a campaign. That's why I say if you give in, change it so it doesn't screw up all of your hard work!

[@dungeonstaverns6707]

@@DDHomebrew I can agree with that. I know i'm supposed to be the players steward he gained from the deck but he really wanted to so now there are situations where he roleplays with himself and it was awkward for myself and judging by players nonverbal communication them as well but after a year noone seems to mind anymore. I also had a player who had a wish burning a hole in their pocket and I granted a wish I for sure should not have and know better just to see how I can play off of it. So when he wished for the vampires (a minor bbeg) power(stats) and divided it evenly among the party I then made that vampire one who was turned against her will and has become the hero or would have been if the players didnt take her powers and so now they essentially obligated through emotion to carry out her plan and feel bad and realizing their actions have consequences. In the end it worked out and is ongoing.

[@DDHomebrew]

@@dungeonstaverns6707 A great usage of the wish spell! You always want to be creative and hope the players either go along or appreciate how the story evolves through their actions, not because the GM planned it all out. The interaction is what makes D&D so great.

[@HowtoRPG]

What a cool subject. Great video.

[@DDHomebrew]

Thanks Fred.

[@mattnerdy7236]

Hello Mr King, I read the comments and I have the same the view. Never have ran into one myself, but I mostly DM. I would never use the deck of evil things! Maybe as a campaign end game event or to set up some off world adventure. Heck the deck of illusion scares me as a DM. Thanks Mr King & have a wonderful day.

[@DDHomebrew]

I'm so glad to see all of these veteran GM's who never use the deck: we all looked at it in the book in the 1st edition DMG and though: too deadly!

[@bbd121]

I mentioned this in someone else's video, but I'll repeat myself here. I humbly prefer the deck of many things in AD&D(2e) compared to the tamer 5e version. It's more wild, but it's the very first Deck of Many things I ever got. The 'Harrowed Deck of many things' in Pathfinder 1e is a lot of fun too. And if you have the Year 2010 "Classic Treasures Revisited", you'd have the rules to swap out Ruins with Amnesiac, Skull with Bones, Balance with Girdle (we had lots of laughter when our bard drew Girdle), Knight with Lover, Rogue with Madness, and Star with Mastery in the original deck of many things. I wish there was a video going through the growth and evolution of the deck of many things from D&D 1e to today. Like, 'the history of the deck of many things'; comparing all the delightful offshoots in D&D supplements like frog god, and other systems like GURPs (I think it's called the deck of fate or the deck of chaos, or something, but I can't be sure), or Pathfinder.

[@DDHomebrew]

As I say in this video, the idea that you can draw as many cards as you want has always made the Deck one of the deadliest treasures: the Russian roulette of magic items! I believe in the Pathfinder version the Donjon card merely stated that you were imprisoned "as an imprisonment spell or a powerful creature, with the loss of your items." So you weren't necessarily in some far off dimension that only a wish could find, which takes a little of the sting off!

[@bbd121]

@@DDHomebrew Oh! Oh, you need to read the cards of the "Harrowed deck of many things". Oh, you'll have so much fun just reading it. And if you want a cool variant rule on how to use a deck of many things, try "Haykali's House of Cards", also from the 'Classic treasures revisited' printing.

[@sweetspirit8240]

@@bbd121 I'm reading about this harrowed deck of many things, and it sounds like a really bad idea to use this in a campaign. I mean, 1D6 exact clones of you appear within 20 miles that is your opposite alignment and will work to oppose your goals? Or anyone from now on who touches you must succeed on a roll or be poisoned? (Isn't there a girl in X-Men who has this problem and can't touch anyone.) Or anytime you lie with the intent to deceive, you turn into a random animal for an hour, and lying with the intent to trigger an animal change doesn't work? This sounds like cards written by the mad hatter. How any campaign can survive this deck is currently a mystery to me. Although I do confess, nobody I play with wants a deck of many things (normal, harrowed or otherwise) in our campaign. I myself, have never pull from a deck of many at any table. So, yea....

[@DDHomebrew]

@@bbd121 I did look at these: I did have fun reading both: but I don't know about having them happen as a player! The problem with the Deck (of any kind) is you shouldn't pick, but you can't resist picking. But if you enjoy it in your game, go for it!

[@DDHomebrew]

@@sweetspirit8240 I see your point here, as I see Benjamin's as well: I think it all depends on the type of game you play and how much chaos you want. Some would replace "chaos" in that sentence with "fun", and love to have crazy things happen for the challenge of getting the campaign back out of it. But you have to make sure your players are into it: it sounds like you and your players aren't: as I said in the video, I create an alternative to the traditional deck that sands off the brutal edges: but that might be just what Benjamin and his players want!

[@MastertheGamerpg]

Love your videos. I plan on going back and watching all of your videos. Great content!

[@DDHomebrew]

Glad you liked it!

[@LoveProWrestling]

My campaign is built around the players collecting the scattered cards in a race between themselves and other interested parties. Haven't even decided who will win the race yet, and it really doesn't matter. The deck is a tool to improve the game like any other magic item.

[@DDHomebrew]

I've always liked the idea of having a set of magic items scattered around the world that can be collected. Like the Rod is Seven Parts.

[@stephencollie8102]

Been playing since the waning days of AD&D 2nd and have never run across the Deck of Many Things. It also has not made an appearance in my homebrew setting either as I run a lowish magic setting so something so powerful would be quite out of place. If it ever showed up in a game I was playing in I would certainly not draw any cards! The thing is, I am not the one with my hand hovering over the deck. My character has the deck before them and although I do make decisions for them I run those decisions through the filter of my concept for that character. Would Captain Namfoodle, gnomish owner of the Fanged Harpy draw a card? Would lean yes if he had no information but if believed that it could help secure his reputation as a fearless treasure hunter and explorer on the seas (or wealth to better hire crew and make improvements on the ship) then someone would have to stop him from taking the entire deck. Would the scholar, educator, and contributor to the in-game monster manual Jace draw a card? No. He’d observe and record results of others drawing cards and might get distracted until he learned all of the possibilities or confirming them if they were already known. The dwarven paradox and mystic theurge, Gazdin? If old Gaz thought drawing a card would grant him more understanding of the arcane and architecture so that his clan back in Vogdarum could access more of the underground fortress they found as refugees then he would pull a card.

[@DDHomebrew]

I know a player who did just that Stephen: refused to draw a card, much to the amazement of other players. It was a 1st edition game, and I believe two of three got bad results, with the last card being the donjon and the deck disappeared! It really hurt the campaign.

[@gonecoastal4]

You don't have to tell your players the deck is less dangerous, just different. Let them think they all got lucky.

[@DDHomebrew]

Great idea gonecoastal! Unless, of course, they saw it on an internet game and thought they could beat the "real" deck.

[@OffbrandGandalf]

Hello again! I had a question. Do you have any advice for coming up with enemy factions and sinister organizations? Not necessarily cults, but criminal gangs, rival mercenary guilds, any group of antagonists the PCs might have to contend with. Thank you!

[@DDHomebrew]

Amazing you asked that Brandoff; I've been working on a PDF on just that topic! I'll be announcing a whole series of PDF's soon: I'm not an expert at formatting them, so it takes time, but I'm really excited about going into the detail that text gives you over a video.

[@OffbrandGandalf]

@@DDHomebrew Can't wait to check it out! And I hope you'll do a video to accompany the PDF, as it'd help get the word out, and make something of a companion piece. (I've noticed that when folks adapt blog posts to KZbin, or vise versa, there's usually something unique found in each format.)

[@DDHomebrew]

@@OffbrandGandalf That's pretty much my idea: I'm creating a series of PDF's taken from a variety of videos as well as creating a new series that expand upon those videos. And your comment on gangs and mercenary guilds is one of those ideas.

[@sillerbarly4927]

How about the Deck of Many Mimics, a deck that looks like the deck of many things but instead each card draws a different mimics that ethier are hostile to or will server the drawer

[@DDHomebrew]

Cool idea. Thanks!

[@kylemendoza8860]

I have never played. So maybe this is wrong. But don't the players have the power over the deck? What I'm asking is. Doesn't it depend on them role-playing it?

[@DDHomebrew]

They have to pick random cards. Hence the risk in getting one that is very bad.

[@raff3486]

Great video!

[@DDHomebrew]

Lots of ideas there! And some gags!

[@sebbonxxsebbon6824]

Build A Deck Of Many Things That Won't Hurt Your Campaign. Why? What fun is that? Let the cards roll and whatever happens happens!

[@DDHomebrew]

Players can't resist getting something for nothing, and when it comes to the big score versus the bigger screw job, they always think they'll win. If you want to send them to a prison dimension where only a wish can locate them but not save them, vs gaining 50,000 exp and a magic item, on the turn of a single card, go for it!

[@sindessaorellia]

It disappeared because of Satanic Panic , ( watch monsters and mazes ) . They killed the game to appease the church .

[@DDHomebrew]

I haven't heard a monsters and mazes reference in a while! Seems incredible that people actually believed in that stuff. TSR employees say the image on the cover of Eldritch Wizardry almost killed the company.