Evil DM FORCES Players To Draw From The Deck Of Many Things || D&D Story

[@09blueblaze]

Hi friends! I’m actually the gf in this story. He totally ruined my taste for D&D because he made it so miserable for us, and I’ve been trying really hard to play again because of how bad he was. But I hope anyone who comes along and reads/watches this story never mistreats their party. Thanks for turning this into a video!

[@melmacianmage]

Pizza Hut man bad

[@newbienoah9461]

He deserves a slap on the nuts with the deck for all the shit he pulled.

[@silg7262]

Oh that really sucks! I hope you are able to find a better group and dm to play with soon!

[@RossPitSharkHunter]

You have gained my respect

[@SomeLonelyShmuck]

Yeah, people can be bastards but at least it didnt totally muddle your view of the community. Thats a win

[@SuperLlama42]

"You get a Wish spell." "I wish to destroy this stupid deck and undo its effects."

[@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097]

Why not just tip the deck upside down so all the cards fall out or set the deck on fire?

[@Galvamancer]

My guess would be that the magic in the deck is too powerful to destroy by normal means or trick the deck itself. I thought about holding the deck out to another player and have them read the effects but then I rationalized that the deck would leave all cards blank until chosen.

[@Fure2]

Thats a pretty cool idea. When it comes to wish it is sometimes the only thing that can undo certain conditions: like death from an intellect devourer eating a player brain. But the deck can also bestow a keep or imprison a character that can only be released via a divine intervention or if the characters go on an adventure to find them. So wish isn't a a fix-all for the deck. It is intended to be a force of chaos and fits that role very well. However, if the deck negatively effects players in a way that is 25000gp or less in value, then wish is definitely a viable option.

[@superjanembaishappy5512]

"I've used the deck to destroy the deck"

[@Fure2]

@@superjanembaishappy5512 lol

[@Mareoandanime]

DM: Ok, new system for the deck; You no longer have to pull from the deck- Players: *DEAL.* DM: I wasn't finishe- Players: *NO TAKE BACKS.*

[@SomeLonelyShmuck]

Sounds about right XD

[@needoriginalname]

I once put a "deck of many things" in the first session. They found it in a wizards tower in the first session. I described it as a deck of tarrow cards that had a very powerful magical presence on it. I never made my players grab it, and when interacting with it I always asked if they are drawing from it or not. Our rouge kept it in her inventory for several months in real time. Then one day a few bug bears tried to swindle the party with a fake toll. Our rouge tried to do a tarrow card reading in exchange. It was made clear who actually drew from the deck, and it was the bugbears. The bugbears started to scream about this aweful music in their heads. After the bugbears left, I spilled what that was to the party. It was a FAKE deck of many things. The wizard who used to live in the tower was a known magical prankster, and that fake deck of many things is just one of his pranks. Who ever drew from that deck would hear the Trolololo song over and over again in their heads. Without anyway to stop it untill dispelled.

[@pLanetstarBerry]

Permission to steal? I have a solo campaign I'm working on where the player would find that hilarious.

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

Isn't that basically the same effect as listening to the Trolololo song, or being reminded it exists?

[@--CHARLIE--]

Did a similar(ish) thing on accident once. The players were on their first mission going through a cult's headquarters. They found a deck of cards. One player (rouge #1) unaware of the existence of decks of many things (the players were mostly new), decided to draw from it. Another more knowledgable player (rogue #2) is convinced it's a deck of many things freaks out IC and a little OOC and tries to convince him not too. But that just makes him and the rest of the party more curious. More stuff happens but it's not really relevant. Rogue 2 has his character leave the room, rogue 1 draws a card. I go get an actual deck, which makes rogue 2 even more scared for all the PCs. Then I draw. I don't remember what it was it was a club or spade, and it was not a royal but that's besides the point. Then nothing happens. Sighs of relief followed by "wait so it was a normal deck of cards". We all had a laugh about that. Then closer to the premature end of the campaign they get an actual deck of many things.

[@robthebuilder2966]

Genius

[@BigsZone]

The deck is also a prank in itself, so it's a prank in a prank/

[@tmage23]

Rule 2 (Rule 1 is always make sure everyone is having fun) of being a GM: Never remove player agency without good reason.

[@clothar23]

There is no good reason to remove player agency. It's meant to be game about choices and consequences. Not a game about your deluded power fantasy. If a player wants to do something so incredibly stupid you have to let them. And if they fail at it so be it. If you can't DM around that you don't deserve to DM or even play.

[@eewweeppkk]

@@clothar23 ...I mean a good reason might be that they're under a mind control spell or maddening effect. Yeah saying "Your character does this" is wrong if there is no reason for the player to not have full control but sometimes your players simply don't have control of their characters, because the characters aren't in control of themselves.

[@edschramm6757]

@@eewweeppkk my group actually has the option for the person under control to still be the one in control of the character, depending on the scenario. certain actions are forced (via discord DM). that is an individual preference, some people really dont like using their characters against the party, so have the DM do it directly. outside of mind control (which we usually avoid. i used it once with a ghosts possession ability), the closest my group gets to the DM removing player agency is giving an out-of-character "are you sure you want to take this action". usually because its a horrible idea in every way shape and form. but if the player confirms it, the character still does it. i actually died to one such scenario, and it was the most glorious death i have ever experienced. a goblin storm herald barbarian phoenix sorcerer sprinting through 3 platoons of enemies at 40+mph(2 copies of the haste spell on me), leaving a trail (wall) of fire, being physically on fire himself, and arcing lightning all the way whilst yelling "BONSAI!" at the top of his lungs. 29 attacks of opportunity, 800+ damage taken premitigation. i dealt 60-70 damage to every enemy i ran through, which ended with me slamming into the BBEG and knocking him to the ground before going the way of team rocket. made the vampire lord who was helping us (more he was inconvenienced by the BBEG than a true desire to help us) drop his weapon in utter shock of what he had just witnessed. the DM's "are you sure" also consisted of suggesting the "disengage" action, but i didn't take it

[@Ertwin123]

@@clothar23 I recently attuned myself to a cursed item that gave me murderous compulsions. While I chose how it manifested, I couldn't exactly ignore the effects of the cursed item. (I went with toying with my party while I tried to kill them so they actually stood a chance)

[@TailsClock]

GM: "Your character wants to do this." rule 1 of GMing, never ever overstep the one single boundery of controlling PCs.

[@Dekunutcase]

Yeah, it's the worst. I spend THREE whole sessions doing NOTHING because a GM forced my character to go 'crazy' and then wouldn't allow me to roleplay it, even though I asked to roleplay it and he told me I could. Is there any worse way to waste time?

[@zakuraRabbit]

Yeah its one thing to have a player say "its what my character would do" but if the DM is saying it... he's a pretty bad DM.

[@fbalter]

How to answer: "My character doesn't want to do this. Your NPC might, but I no longer have anything to do with him. I'm out, don't bother waiting for me next sessions."

[@Gantradies]

@@zakuraRabbit its a pretty bad statement from either, id say!

[@nucleargandhi1139]

Possession?

[@Konpekikaminari]

"it's always the DM who's super into it" probably because if the DM is _not_ super into it, the bloody thing won't even show up

[@timd4524]

True. Might as well just throw a dragon at my 1st level players. Which actually when I was once a player the DM did. All because he wanted to use a dragon. Some folks can't handle the idea of balancing.

[@Crow453]

Tim D I was in a game where the DM threw a dragon at us at first level, too. My very first DND game, actually. And the DM’s brother still swears up and down that it was a completely fair thing to do.

[@shanerasmussen5225]

@@Crow453 I once started a campaign with 60 Level 1 conscripts being sent against a Dragon (1 player per 10 characters), 6 survived, with the help of a Spectral Mage they met on the way and convinced to help through RP. Game lasted years and my players still talk about it.

[@Crow453]

@@shanerasmussen5225 See, that I would have had no problem with, because there was the advantage of numbers. But this guy sent three players (two of us hadn't played DND before) with one Level 1 character each against a dragon. So yeah, that was not a particularly good introduction to tabletops for me.

[@timd4524]

@@shanerasmussen5225 Yes. That's feasible. My first players used a lot of retainers for things as long as they didn't abuse them it was fine. But if they did abuse them, it would be harder and more expensive for them to hire people. That sounds like it was a fun game. Back in the day as they say, my players were interested in building domains and things like ground, and naval battles. The older versions were much more deadly, but treasure was pretty abundant. It was part of the leveling up. Most of your experience came from treasure then. I don't know what version you started with but you probably know that. Therefore building castles and armies was a lot of fun. I still play that version and 5e which I like quite a bit. Bad DM's were the reason I became a DM. If you spent 45 minutes creating a character, only for the DM to kill you in session 1, well hell, that isn't fun.

[@bigslurpee2078]

I wish for a deck of many crabs, in which there are hundreds of different crabs with different abilities.

[@marxxplaysgames]

King Crab, helps with anything that requires royalty, usually has a wax stamp with him

[@marxxplaysgames]

Oh oh! FIDDLER CRAB, IT'S A BARD CRAB!

[@mbrsart]

BRB gotta homebrew this

[@cthulhufhtagn2483]

Boxing crab, gives you a +1 to melee rolls and the option to add 1d6 poison damage to any weapon attack. Yeti crab, turns your hair white and resistance to cold damage. Coconut crab gives you proficiency in Sleight of Hand and a permanent Potion of Climbing effect.

[@marxxplaysgames]

@@cthulhufhtagn2483 Ghost Crab, become Incorporeal for a while

[@Chimly_Stonefoot]

What an awful waste and abuse of the deck of many things Personally I've had games in the past that have had it but only used it as a weapon of last resort that led to some hilarity

[@annabella1650]

@James Gudmundson Exactly, the deck can be well used...but not when it’s forced down the group’s throat like that.

[@FreedomAndPeaceOnly]

*_" You activated my trap-card. I activate Obelisk the Tormentor! Obelisk... obliterate the deck of many things!! "_*

[@vahlok1426]

My friend had the deck be essentially a sentient character, being contained inside the skull of a gambler that a vampire lord had trapped the soul of the same gambler inside of. He was then forced to contain a Deck of Many Things and forced to serve the vampire for almost a century. We saved him and he became a new, fun member of our little group. We ended up drawing from him a few times, but nothing terrible ever happened.

[@Reishadowen]

"I introduce a Deck of Many Things to the campaign!" *panik* "Don't worry, it's a modified version!" *calm* "If you displease me, I'm forcing you to draw from the deck!" *PANIK*

[@GarlicIsIdeal]

Kinda have respect for the dm’s ex gf for calling his bs out in a lot of these stories the gf or bf seem to abuse their power for being so close to the dm

[@THEPELADOMASTER]

I'd hate it if I got favoritism from a DM, especially if they were my partner.

[@Ryan-ov5jj]

I know it's the tubes are a part of his OC's eyes, but I choose to believe it's a little crab mustache

[@papadikolov1378]

i know right?

[@shadikal12345]

Wait, that's not a moustache?

[@ChouhouinNeko]

same

[@UnknownFox]

I always thought it was a mustache and now I can't unsee it D:

[@kyledilbert6424]

Looks like it’s mouth..hehe

[@joshk3273]

There was one instance when a DM smashed the DoMT onto our low level faces. He ruled that, if anyone draws a card, it's effect will take place within 24 hours (a 2d12 roll). I immediatelly said I want to draw from it. He asked: how many cards? My answer was "all of them!" That's how my character saved the campain from being derailed by the DM...

[@annabella1650]

When you start using a mechanic as a threat, you have screwed up. The Deck of Many Things can be used well, however it shouldn’t be used if the group as s whole doesn’t agree it to. After all it’s s game that’s not meant to be the DM vs. the Players.

[@rosev9448]

Why would a DM make someone draw from the deck? That is a campaign destroyer.

[@mbrsart]

DM clearly cared less about the campaign and more about character torment.

[@SymbioteMullet]

The deck has a bad reputation. It's really not that bad. Although in this case, it really is.

[@catalin2766]

@@SymbioteMullet I mean once I drew a card that gave a -5 int penalty with my high int character and that could've ruined my whole character. But a friend got fate and changed the whole god damn thing. Another one became imprisoned and another one got a curse on his saving throws.

[@destroyerinazuma96]

who knows ? Had previous bad experience from campaign derailers and wanted to "take revenge"?

[@lordhearthfire4713]

I used the deck in one of my campaigns. I used a personally modified version however. The player upon finding the deck would have to roll a Wisdom save to resist the temptation of drawing from it. If they succeed they can do with it whatever they wanted. Also I added a feature where if you didn't draw a certain card that bound it to you, it would disappear after being drawn from, turning it into a fun reoccurring item. And I didnt tell my players this so as not to lower the intensity of the moment but I did remove the insta kill cards like donjon.

[@antoinelambert938]

The Deck Of Many Things is a great things when done right but don't force it, there is always someone willing. some of the bad effects are actually good. but that version of the deck is evil as is the dm

[@drewjohnson1814]

Yo, so my level five character actually does have a deck of many things. He is neutral good cleric. I've drawn one card when I first got it, but ever since it's literally just hung around my waist on a belt for months. What would you suggest doing with it?

[@antoinelambert938]

@@drewjohnson1814 you can use augury (2nd level spell) to know wetheir the next draw will be good or no (if dm says good he should only let your draw good cards ). You could also put in in a safe place so that it does not get missused.

[@drewjohnson1814]

@@antoinelambert938 ok, so I think my dm would merely say no to any and all attempts, but that is good.. I'll give that a shot. And about how much (money) is the deck worth?

[@antoinelambert938]

@@drewjohnson1814 no good cleric would try to sell the deck for it would be too dangerous. If you part with it without destroying it, do it in a responsible manner like letting the higther up of your church put it in safety.

[@drewjohnson1814]

@@antoinelambert938 that's fair, I would normally totally agree with you, however there is an NPC who has magic items faar Superior to the deck. He gave it to me in the first place. Since my character doesn't want to risk the consequences he was going to bargain with the NPC (who's open for that)

[@Niko__01]

Before even watching the video... The Deck can both break (or even kill) a character or unbalance the game... DMs should always present it to players with caution (and possibly even removing some cards from the deck if you are particularly worried). It should NEVER be mandatory...

[@dudeist_priest]

The real crime was suggesting he had a plan for the deck when his "plan" was just to force untested jank. I don't get it.

[@KyuubiKin]

I want to make a halfling bard that's actually Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh. Challenge people to a game, whoever draws the higher card wins. Use the deck of many things instead of a regular deck. Hopefully you can convince the person your playing against to draw first.

[@siredgen4917]

Doesn't Yugi always draw a winning card automatically? He has a feat "Heart of the cards", you know

[@KyuubiKin]

@@siredgen4917 True, but the best moments are at the end of the battle.

[@siredgen4917]

@@KyuubiKin true

[@destroyerinazuma96]

incidentally Tulok the Barbarian has a video about a Yu-Gi-Oh build

[@KyuubiKin]

@@destroyerinazuma96 yeah that's a good one but I think this would be more of a season 1 Yugi that breaks people through mind games.

[@samanthayote]

"...and made her continuously pull from the deck, and she ended up pulling about eight cards." "DURAW! MONSTAH CARDO!"

[@Michaeljack81sk]

I once played in a group with a DM (and an experienced one in a long-time campaign at that) who used the DoMT as keycards in a dungeon he'd designed. We literally had to pull cards (the positions of which he had prearranged) to open doors. So not only was the DM breaking the game rules on how the deck worked but we were literally drawing from a stacked deck....My character got Ruin and Flames, gaining an enemy and losing his stronghold, two others lost levels or intelligence. The positive cards were oddly absent...

[@timd4524]

Sounds like the DM should have given them train tickets for the railroad first.

[@Domura]

DM: "So there's a Deck of Many Thin-" Me: *"I DRAW TEN CARDS."* Don't fucking tempt me, homie.

[@krisosphere9940]

Technically the deck has rules about it if your using the original version you can only draw one card then it vanishes.

[@blueeyestuber8673]

The version i found on dnd beyond says you can draw as many as you want but they have to choose before drawing

[@dominicthibeault6556]

@@krisosphere9940 in 5e's PHB it states you decide before drawing how many you draw and HAVE to draw thatn much

[@RedwoodTheElf]

@@krisosphere9940 No, actually. The ORIGINAL version, you could state you were drawing as many as you wanted to, and once you did, you were unable to stop until you had, or until you drew one of 2 cards: The Void, or Donjon, UNLESS you drew the card that gives wishes or the card that lets you avoid any one bad thing, in which case you can use a wish to cancel Void or Donjon's effects, or avoid them with the other card. And the deck doesn't disappear. Ever. Once a character is done drawing, he can never draw from that deck again, and all the cards drawn return to the deck. We literally had one character say he was drawing every single card. He got ridiculously lucky and his first card was 4 wishes. He used the wishes to cancel out the 4 worst effects (Talons, The Void, Donjon, and having to fight the incarnation of Death) and actually made it all the way through the deck alive.

[@SymbioteMullet]

My favourite time using the deck: The DM had stacked the deck, intending us to get a few specific things from it. He shuffled it absentmindedly right before giving it to us. We got a keep infested with monsters, a magic weapon, and i got my alignment flipped. This actually turned out really good, rping the descent into evil was really fun!

[@hannahwren6289]

Critcrab: “Deck of Many Things” Subtitles” There are many dudes”

[@nathanielthomson3455]

I'm glad that these players stood their ground. This DM was just a control freak.

[@embr4247]

I gave my players the deck and they gave it to a kobold NPC that drew the Jester. I leveled up to level 5 in an instant. I had it run away with the deck because my players clearly didn’t want it. Ended up with one of my Dragon NPCs. (The dragon had vaults for keeping dangerous items out of the grasp of evil or stupid people)

[@tatltails3923]

See, this makes me grateful for my DM. He gave my character a Deck of Many Things (specifically the one owned by my character's boss whom he is terrified of), and in-character I do NOT want to use it, ever. Out-of-character I also don't want to use it, but only because I don't want my character to die before I finish his character arc. A few sessions after I first got it, the DM convinced me (technically threatened me under pains of giving the deck to someone else, which would be disaster for my character) to use it, at least for one card. I obliged his one card use, worked myself up to a point where my character would panic enough to pull one out of desperation, and unbeknownst to me immediately pull one of the worst cards possible: the one that sends your character to the Halls of Judgement for 1D6 months. DM was kind though, saw I was literally on the verge of tears out of fear of losing my character, and gave me two chances to save myself. I just barely rolled high enough on my final roll, and as soon as I was back in the game I vowed in and out of character to never use it again. He hasn't pressured me to since (though he still does wanna see more out of it.) And then we played the Tomb of Horrors a few months later, and I gave one of my characters (entirely different one, one I had no attachment to) a Deck of Many Things. That character proceeded to earn enough EXP to jump up two levels, piles of gold and riches, and an entire second Deck of Many Things. The deck was lent to another character, played by the above DM, and the first card his character pulls? The one where your soul gets locked into a random inanimate object somewhere in the universe with no chance of being saved or even found except through Wish spells. I think he understands my fears in the larger campaign now.

[@DeathBringerBecky]

I don't see a reason to be grateful here. Yeah, he didn't force you to actually deal with the consequences. He still was a dick and forced you into it through manipulation and scare tactics.

[@Fure2]

Our dm also forced us to draw from the deck too, but he was not without mercy. We had a divination wizard in the party, so I suggested the wizard could use his portents to allow 2 times for players to draw 2 cards intead of 1 and take the best results. If not for the dm agreeing to that, I'd of had my character locked in that prison on a bad draw. Instead I was just cursed, but eventually our cleric got divine intervention and thanks to a good roll, cured me. And for other players the results were pretty good. Remember to ask your dm for extra options if they seem feasible. Remember if you dont ask, the answer is always no!

[@NWolfsson]

Yeah, but I mean, first of all I would ask my DM for a true reason for forcible draws (Like, a powerful ally of the BBEG magically being kept prisoner as a side effect of us drawing from the deck that we won't have to care about in the final assault...). Forcing the players and simply stating "You're curious!" as was demonstrated in the video seems weak to me :\

[@6036-freelancerdigrim]

*clears throat and pulls up DOMT* "the player determines how many cards they want to draw. Example: player wants to draw two cards but draws three by mistake, the effect of the third card does nothing" say you are drawing 0 cards while the dm forces the draw of N/A. NONE of the cards would work

[@6036-freelancerdigrim]

loopholes people, loopholes

[@vidyastuff3509]

"The DM and his girlfriend broke up" Shocking, truly a twist no one saw coming.

[@15oClock]

Remember, if you DM a group and they're not that into something, it's not their fault. Nor is it necessarily yours, but you can change it easier than the players can.

[@sirizaiahhumblecat7875]

Ah! I remembered when my DM made one of my friends draw from such a deck! (I believe it was the illusion one but idk lol) and instantly he was teleported out of our Tavern and was faced with a lich..... scary shit man

[@DeathBringerBecky]

The deck of Illusions is entirely different. Or do you mean the illusion card?

[@vahlok1426]

I wasn't forced to, but did once in a 3.5 game. I did twice in a row. I got the card that gives you either a bunch of gold or the same amount of valuable jewelry in weight. Took the jewels and got a bunch of gold at home city. Then I did it again, my Barbarian's great maul instantly transformed into a +5 Icy Burst Great Maul. Nothing like doing over 20 damage at minimum, gotta love old 2-Hand rules of 1.5x strength for atk and damage.

[@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong]

I once saw a guy get the jewel card followed instantly by the card that strips you of everything. I think it's probably the closest I've ever come to watching a man's spirit break in person.

[@vahlok1426]

@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong The opposite happened to the physical science professor at the college my story took place at. He drew the one that reduces a random stat, but then drew the one that gives a boatload of XP and immediately jumped by about four levels. He made back his missing stats and also got enough levels to get his prestige class from that.

[@greedfox7842]

that is party unbalancing damage yo.

[@vahlok1426]

@@greedfox7842 The party was already unbalanced. Our longest running player was a dwarf fighter who specced into dual wielding chain blades and had massively improved crits. He could crit on like a 15 or something and had like 10 feet of range. Though to be fair I DID kill a vampire in one crit after my barbarian got upgraded. Edit: Found his old sheet. Okay so with the belt of giant's strength +4 we found, my strength was 25, and when raging it was +7 (a whopping 32 since Barb's in 3.5 were busted). My minimum damage came off of two attacks, and their minimum damage with a 1 on the d10 and the ice damage d6 was 17 at least. So that's 34 damage per turn on minimum. At max, and with a crit, it would be a total of 82 damage per swing (10 on the weapon, 6 on the initial ice damage, 10 more ice for the crit effect, and +15 for modifiers, x2.) And all this was before I had a chance to get my Raging Berserker prestige. Never got it. Sad. Yeah he was pretty broke. Another edit: He also had at minimum 21 AC, since we managed to find a mythril breastplate (making a medium armor light) and I could afford the upgrades to put it all the way up to +3. And we also found an amulet of natural armor +3. The DM wasn't even trying to feed us either, it just so happened that we found all the magic items he had planned out and many of them worked for my barbarian.

[@faeb26]

I think it could be interesting to draw from the deck during character creation to give some inspiration on interesting interactions like perhaps the player draws balance and their character has Jekyll and Hyde situation going or something. Or for the Knight card that player gets proficiency in trying to get NPCs to help the party on one mission at a time. Like, give little bonuses or interactions but nothing game-breaking if that makes sense.

[@TrueHavoc13]

"Most of the effects are good" That is incorrect. Even half of the good ones have some shitty requirement to get the benefits. You get a keep: it's infested with monsters You get a free level: if you beat the entire next encounter by yourself

[@TrueHavoc13]

Edit: Oh homebrew deck. Even worse considering what happened.

[@shanerasmussen5225]

The next encounter could be anything, even a pure RP interaction, or some measely goblins, and it is irrelevant how the encounter is "defeated". Convinced the guard to let the party in to town with a couple persuade rolls? Got your level. Used a Simple Illusion to scare off a squad of Orcs? Got your level. Etc.

[@mystic-malevolence]

I don't know, "You get a keep: it's infested with monsters" sounds like a perfect plot hook to me, real easy to work with, basically gives the party a home base. The encounter one, I'm afraid that one probably doesn't work out unless the DM throws in something specifically to be defeated by that one person. Though I suppose it pairs well with the avatar of death fight.

[@filipferencak2717]

@@mystic-malevolence Yeah, the thing is, a keep infested with monsters is pretty much any keep that the party will have to travel to at some point. Also, a keep full of monsters isn't a plot hook on it's own because a combat encounter with a monster, on it's own, is not plot. It's just an arbitrary way of forcing your players to grind for the reward that they already should've recieved. Recieving one as a "good" card is bullshit, when you have to clear it. A good card / reward would've been just recieving the keep, which would provide the players with a homebase and could totally still serve as a plot hook based off the things they find inside, like mysterious secret rooms, artifacts, portals etc.

[@redholm]

I would actually want to disagree slightly with you. It's not that any card has any base requirement on the books. It's all dependent on the DM. If you have a nice DM that Fort could come along with a title and servants. A evil DM it's infested with Demons, it's in your name and if you don't clean it out you get a 10000 Gold bounty on you from the King of that land. Even the Void can be seen the same way. You soul in trapped elsewhere. But does that need to mean you are comatosed? The DM could bind your soul to something and use it as a plot hook while you adventure looking for your soul. It's the same thing with the Wish spell. Mostly the DM likes to fuck around with the Players and twist any wish made. But not necessarily.

[@leftthigh3999]

Giving your party a deck of many things and FORCING YOUR PARTY TO DRAW FROM THE DECK are 2 VERY different

[@dddmemaybe]

If the player draws willingly it's much less painful when they get smote by a bad roll, and much more rewarding when they get those good ones.

[@Self-replicating_whatnot]

I would've put my foot down from the very beginning. If gm tells me "your character draws from the deck of many things" my response would be "no he doesn't, i don't want anything to do with the stupid thing" And if he keeps insisting, i'd just say that it is clearly not my character anymore but a gm's sockpuppet so i don't have any reason to stay at the table, and leave.

[@Cuprite1024]

I could see a cursed DoMT working, but only under very specific conditions (I.E.: The deck is extremely nerfed (Both good and bad effects) and/or scales with the party's level, and its not triggered at random, maybe only in times where the party's morale is lowered significantly by some event (Ex.: An important character's or even a P 's death) and they'd be more vulnerable to its lure). Generally speaking tho, just don't, especially if you don't have much experience as a DM. (I barely have any experience with TTRPG's in general, so take that all with a grain of salt. Lol)

[@kalebburbine4056]

When I was 6 or 7 my dad ran a campaign for me and my brother (1 1/2 years older) over a few weeks during the summer (we lived with our mom in a different state and visited during the summer). He wanted to end our campaign with a fun and funky thing and so after our epic battle and our completion of our major mission for a celestial order they allowed us to pull from the deck of many things if we so chose. And of course, we were kids and hadn't heard of this awesome magic item and its many incredible possibilities and being that this was the final stage in our story we of course pulled from the deck. My brother goes first and does 2 pulls getting mass wealth and status and really setting himself up to live out his days in bliss. Now its my turn and I also am going to pull twice, and of course my first pull was the donjon, which to young me of course was the most devastating thing that could ever happen and my entire life was ruined. My father knowing this was the end of the campaign and wanting to be fair but also end on a good note let's me still take my other pull. And I get the void. I will never forget the look on his face when he sat down and just knew that he couldn't do anything for me, that no matter what my hero that had braved so much and done so well was dammed, and he just looked at me and said "sometimes that is just how it happens". I recall crying at the time but I remember it as one of the best moments I have ever had in dnd.

[@donniejefferson9554]

Do most people need to be forced to draw? I tend to immediately draw multiple cards any time its available

[@cthulhufhtagn2483]

I mean, I would only draw to save my life, but that's just me. I've never actually encountered a Deck.

[@annabella1650]

I think a lot of people don’t like being forced, mostly because the worst effects do mean death if they’re not prepared.

[@sharcblazer99]

Madlad.

[@NoTimeAllTime]

Absolute mad lad

[@redholm]

If it's a character I have used for a while I don't want to draw unless it's a life or death situation. If it's a new character fuck it. I'll draw 5.

[@thomasmorris7427]

As a new DM, I love watching these videos! It's a great teaching method to know how to run your games, show new players what to avoid, and ensure that everyone at the table is having a blast. Thank you, CritCrab, for bringing these stories into the spotlight and for the Redditors for posting them. The Deck of Many Things definitely holds up to its legacy as a campaign wrecker. After looking through it, the deck seems more harsh and destructive than good. But, I can see the appeal of its mystery and the thrill of toying with the luck of the draw. But, it should never be forced onto players, no matter how badly you want them to use it. I feel bad for the players that had to go through this and hope they're enjoying new and better games. I feel if you just leave the option to draw in the open, the players will eventually take the gamble, either out of boredom or out of curiosity. That way, everyone wins. In my current campaign (my first one I've ever run), I made a tweaked, semi-nerfed version of it called "The Deck of Fate," which my players unknowingly have. To summarize, my party (which I won't describe in detail if any of them by some miracle find this comment) had been hired to collect a magical, warded box from a guild called the Sigil Order. The organization's notion is they believe magic should not be a common luxury and that it threatens the safety of everyday folk and society. So, they believe that only the wisest and smartest individuals should possess it to keep the world safe, and have begun seeking out magical sources and hoarding them from the public. But, it's a newly established guild that could only afford broke college students. Which my players, without hesitation, electrocuted, set on fire, and left them bound and helpless in the middle of a dragon fight... And no, they are not Chaotic Evil... But, after retrieving the box, and several other useless magic items that these kids collected (such as a crystal ball with a baby elemental inside, which they also haven't learned yet), they found the box which contains the Deck. But it's enchanted with a protective ward that could have been easily dispelled, but my players are, for some reason, scared of the harmless box. How I'm going to play this is out is when they turn in the box, the quest giver will reveal the deck to them. He will give them the option to either take the already planned rewards or pull from the deck for a chance at something better. As for what I did to nerf the deck, nothing within it can kill the players instantly (I hate the concept of instant death just because you rolled one number too short or too high), any curses that they may receive can be cured (new plot elements), and the benefits while great won't tip the scales drastically so one player is more powerful than the others such as bonus levels. I'm so excited for the next session, but if the players choose not to draw from the deck, that is fine. I'll always leave it open for them to do in the future if they seek the thrill of the gamble.

[@murkyhydra6351]

The Deck of Many Things should've been named The Deck of Mostly Death

[@shino4242]

Bad stuff happens to you instantly, good things are mostly either small scale (arent he magic items it makes only +1?) or you have to work for them (win the next encounter on your own to level, you get a keep...thats full of monsters and you have to clear it out before you can use it). So while you can get cool quest hooks from it, the deck is really almost purely bad news. Heck even the one that gives you wishes, no strings attached, can still be bad if you have a monkey paw DM.

[@dddmemaybe]

@@shino4242 yea but you have 1/22 roughly to shoot from level 1 to 9 instantly and break the game in a really unsatisfying way. (lol.)

[@trial_with_an_error9687]

Whenever I used the “Dreaded DoMT” I had my players roll a con save as I home-brewed it that the deck had some kind alluring effect to it, tempting players to draw a card. But to be fair I always had them roll with advantage. Edit: Another quick thing was that I never made it do anything horrible like blind characters are steal away their souls or some shit. The worst thing my home brewed deck could do was turn someone into a sentient toy for 2d4 days. Anything else was like Sheogorath from Elder Scrolls playing kiddie pranks on them, like turning their coolest item into a block of stinky cheese, or making them smell like dragon shit for a week. And if it ever did something good it was like a monkey’s paw kinda thing, where one good thing happened at the cost of something else later on down the road, in the only instance it happened a player got a super cool magic dagger that flew around whenever she whistled and later on down the road she lost a very precious necklace to her character.

[@Stormeris]

Should be a Charisma check (or Wisdom), Con is for diseases, poisons and necrotic effects mostly.

[@trial_with_an_error9687]

Juodas Varnas ended up changing it to a wisdom save later on in the campaign, still had them roll with advantage.

[@theawkwardpotato1973]

Sounds fun and interesting with some equally fun and feels-inducing roleplay opportunities! I don’t think I would mind playing with a deck like that. Kind of a “DoMT Lite” or “Least Deck of Many Things.”

[@trial_with_an_error9687]

The Awkward Potato They thought it was kinda fun too, and I was glad I could make their first campaign a good one. We still play and we just started our 4th a few days ago. I’ve unfortunately been relegated to forever DM though.

[@bobrandomness1055]

A dagger that flew around whenever they whistled? Was that intended to be a guardian's of the galaxy reference or a coincidence?

[@Sgt-Wolf]

Guess you could say this made the players a bit *CRABBY* ... Thank you I will let myself out.

[@fhuber7507]

I never force them to draw. I always stack the deck.

[@fhuber7507]

READ the magic item description! ONE PC draws. They indicate they are going to draw. They are instructed to pick a number (or to roll) 1 to 6 to determine how many BEFORE THE FIRST DRAW. Each card is then drawn and resolved as it is drawn. Once you start, you can't stop until the number selected before the first draw have been drawn (adjusted by the cards that can adjust the number) Once the draws are complete and resolved, the deck is GONE. It vanishes. Nobody else gets a draw. The deck does not stick around. You don't pass it from player to player each drawing one or more if they want... ****************** You always stack the deck so you can control the possible effects. First card is the best the player can draw. Second is a minor negative. third and 4th are minor good 5th and 6th are bad, with 6th being the worst they can get. Reward taking the risk. Punish greed.

[@cthulhufhtagn2483]

Hi! I know you from the DM Lair. I didn't know you were a follower of the Crab.

[@Sonikku2008]

@@fhuber7507 The deck does not disappear once used. The drawn card fades from existence as its effects happen (so someone else can't pick up the same card and use its effects as well). There is nothing in the text that states the entire deck disappears once someone decides to draw from it; however, an effect such as Talons can destroy the deck. Additionally, the drawn cards do not have to be drawn one right after the other. The item's description, as far as 5E goes, states that you must draw your next card within 1 hour after the previous draw until all the cards you stated you want to draw are drawn (adjusted by whether you draw a card that changes this number), or else all remaining cards fly out of the deck and take effect simultaneously. I imagine this clause is here in case one of your draws is Skull, forcing the drawer into single combat against an avatar of death. Source: roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Deck%20of%20Many%20Things#content

[@redholm]

@@Sonikku2008 The deck kinda just does what it want. I think it was one of the Artifacts with a will of its own. It's kinda like the Necronomicon, you never know where it will show up or how long you can keep it. One day it's just not there anymore.

[@jackiechan715]

@@Sonikku2008 Minor correction. *Once a card is drawn, it fades from existence. Unless the card is the Fool or the Jester, the card reappears in the deck, making it possible to draw the same card twice.*

[@tiaxanderson9725]

Instead of the Deck of Many Things I suggest the DM uses the Deck of Some Things.. The Deck of a Number of Things.. The Deck of Things of Which There Are Many. Just not the DoMT

[@slameradon165]

I personally recommend the Deck of Minor Things. The d100 version of it has a lot of effects that cause some general chaos, but not enough to where it completely derails the campaign. It is quite funny though when a player pulls a card, and completely forgets the effect until 5 sessions later when they pick up a candle and suddenly burst into flames because the card made them incredibly flammable.

[@supercannonball1236]

God the sound effects at the beginning of this video are phenomenal. 10/10

[@RedwoodTheElf]

"Most of the effects are good" - that person has never seen the deck of many things.Talons, the Void, Donjon.

[@edgaranchondo4898]

Honestly I think the sound of sea waves makes the mood more relaxing and more chill in general, that´s a pretty cool idea dude. Love your videos

[@thepaladinofthenorth2027]

I’ve used the deck once, I’ll keep the story short. It was during session 1 and the party was basically escaping a dungeon that was suppose to be way over their power level... kidnapped and all that. Party only had to draw once from the deck as a part of the escape out and whatever they drew I would make as an overarching plot point. It turned out amazing with The Devil card and the party really had a lot of fun with it.

[@NWolfsson]

"yep. Ya got a powerful devil on yo' ass. Time to get priests!"

[@JaelinBezel]

Me (the cleric): I cast Burning Hands on the Deck The Wizard: And I cast Firebolt on it The Monk: I blast it with my freezing breath!

[@rafabuda0]

"if you're wack, you get the deck." - this DM

[@VegaHawk769]

I particularly love the ending of the story In part of an attempt to do the DM thing I came up with a Homebrew version of the deck of many it was created by chaos mages that were not as experienced as they should have been Personally I saw that as a way of preventing the deck from derailing the story

[@UnkleKlumsy1353]

I'm very inexperienced with D&D so in cases like this I have to question why people are so willing to not just make a stand on this kind of nonsense. Do you get booted and garner a bad rep that makes it hard to find a new group to play with? Or is it just difficult to find a group in general

[@GenlennialEntertainment]

It can be difficult to find groups for some people. Either due to lack of venues, or not knowing anyone to help them get into a group. Some DM/GMs have God complexes or think their ideas for campaigns are the best thing ever. It's more about getting along with the players at the table than just having your characters get along. Dip your toe in as a player, but if you feel uncomfortable, let the DM know. If they don't offer suggestions to help or stop what's making you uncomfortable, maybe look for a new DM. It can take some time to find a group you gel with enough to open up and have fun, but it's worth it once you do. I wish you luck and great success.

[@kooldudematt1]

Generally a DoMT is best used by a party with access to Wish. The Wish is very simple: to be able to choose whether an effect of the DoMT will activate or not activate upon the drawing of the card by {them | their party}. Depending on the DM, either in that Wish or in a later Wish, it should be instructed by the player that they wish for the DoMT to be activatable [{by them | by a party member}] without the need for random/unknown pulls from said deck. In essence, this allows the {player | party} to scroll through the deck casually, picking out cards and choosing whether to activate, not activate, or destroy them. Hope this helps! Note: Some DM's may require Greater Wish for some or all of these effects.

[@kendrickrochelanzot2053]

At that point I'll volunteer being DM

[@Signal_Lost.]

I screamed in terror at the mention of the deck that shall not be named

[@a_sad_cinnamon_roll1594]

The deck of many things is my favorite plot hook because there is infinite possibilities for future adventures and conflicts

[@dreamsscream]

Our DM implemented one in our current Strahd campaign at the request of one player. The player for external reasons started pulling cards in session 1 or 2. He pulled Flames and then Void. So now we have a side quest to go retrieve the characters soul which when we find it, the character will then be hinted by a demon... oh, and the replacement character he's playing pissed off a succubus in another campaign which the DM decided was in the same universe.

[@lockskelington314]

The one true way to Use a DoMT, sell it someone and let them deal with the fallout while you get the magic items or gold that you got for it!!!

[@zyxaqc]

I once implemented a homebrew magic item that was basically a deck of tarot cards that a player could use to cast a handful of spells based on the major arcana cards and a few others. It was pretty simple stuff like draw the Sun, cast Scorching Ray. The second I described it as being "like a tarot deck" on of the players shouted "It's the Deck of Many Things! Don't touch it. That thing ruins games." None of them wanted it and my special homebrew deck went unused.

[@DrPluton]

What happens if he doesn't draw from the deck? Will the DM kill his character? This was a really bad idea. Edit: I guess one of those questions was answered.

[@FireLuigi514]

In the first group I played in, we had a guy who was super into "the deck of many things". We always joked about bringing it into the game. Eventually, this guy started DMing and was pretty good. His games were very open world and had really interesting NPCs. Eventually, he asked us to draw a card from "the deck" out of game. He then used everyone's results later on, in a boss fight against an undead king/lich. In his quest for power, he had turned to "the deck" and tried to steal its power. He then proceeded to curse or bless the party members based on the cards we drew, with new effects happening every so many rounds. My card caused me to end up paralyzed for the majority of the fight [I played a 3.5e Factotum that was largely a support character]. It was a lot of fun and he put a lot of effort into it!

[@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097]

What would happen if you just tip the DoMT upside down letting all the cards out?

[@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong]

It'd probably interpret that as the entire damn deck being drawn, honestly.

[@GenlennialEntertainment]

As a DM, having safeguards in place for situations like that is key. Any God or Goddess of magic would have that situation be counted as no cards being willingly drawn. Unless they were purposely being a massive jerk and didn't care about backlash from the other Gods.

[@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097]

@@funnyvalentinedidnothingwrong well that would fix the problem at the cost of only one PC.

[@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097]

@@GenlennialEntertainment would the god/goddess take the deck away? That would also solve the problem of the deck.

[@GenlennialEntertainment]

@@justanotherglorpsdaymornin5097 If you can be as fluid in the campaign as the deck requires, I don't really see a problem with it. You could even homebrew the deck so it isn't the classic deck. Maybe it has no bad cards, the deck of legendary antiques. Each card drawn has link to some sort of old furniture or hobby. Deck of many awkward encounters. Each card drawn summons one to five beings. Could be anything and it'll summon it there before you to have an awkward conversation after you called it during something awkward. Sky's the limit really.

[@thomasallen3570]

One of the best ideas I have seen for the Deck of many things was in Pathfinder (1e), I think. You make a house of cards out of the deck, and as soon as the house is built the party in the room is taken to a new place, a house with rooms based on every card in the deck of many things. Kind like a super dungeon, the party has to solve/survive every card/room to escape and when they do escape, they basically come out with all the riches and wealth the cards give. Could be a neat mini-campaign where someone in the part finds a deck of cards, while bored, and builds the house to pass the time, making it a subtle hint as the cards stay up rather well, even when they manage to build a few levels. Then as the party catches up with the bored PC, the last two cards are placed and the ride begins.

[@dustyfedora]

Now I want it to be a common law that a certain city has access to a Deck and any decently wanted criminal (like middle ground crimes) and they can gain acquittal if they draw a card from the deck. But the city that uses it has quite corrupt rulers so the deck has been modified so that there are very few beneficial cards so there are more dangerous cards like the void card but so that suspicion doesn’t arrive over the deck they leave some of the good ones inside. And instead of a random roll to see if what card you draw you make a DC 13 Dex save and on a fail you draw a dangerous card, on a success you get a good card, you can also gain advantage on the Dex save if you succeed a DC 15 slight of hand save.

[@declannn_m]

My first DM (my brother) used the deck of many things. But he changed it up, a lot. They were very powerful cards. They were almost cards that let you control almost elements. One was the card of teleportation. Another was the card of gravity. Stuff like that. It was really fun.

[@SkyeBerryJam]

Title makes it sound like it could have actually been a really cool concept if done well and with a custom deck of many things made for the campaign, this though... no thanks

[@destroidhak2556]

"Pick a card! Any card!" -street magician with a deck of many things, about to pull the biggest prank ever

[@asarishepard8171]

hey dm, you made the players not trust you! just stop with the deck. stop it.

[@omnie22]

my DM, who is a close friend, was running a mystery campaign, basically we had to find a missing person, he gave us a deck of many things for fun, one person decided to pull a single card, and they got the "get an answer to any one question" card... in a campaign where the one objective was to track someone down... we had to think really hard for an in character question that wouldn't immediately end the campaign

[@pencilbender]

A lot of these stories are making me introspective on what kind of player/ dm ive been.

[@andreavasquez4355]

I've only used the Deck once, and it was pretty fun. I asked if my party wanted to do it first, and I made it optional to obtain. Because of it, they're now enemies with an archdevil.

[@amyelnah8717]

In one of our campaigns our DM put a Deck of Many Things in a magical auction near the end of the campaign. I think the party was planning on using it in a deal with a devil (i think it was Azazel but might be wrong) to save someone but instead... half the party ended up drawing from it... Someone ended up drawing the card that sends a devil after you, which ended up being a Pit Fiend, and this snowballed into a full scale invasion from Hell which ended up being an interesting finale of the campaign.

[@KalinaHitanaVTuber]

I only started playing DnD recently, but I knew about the Deck of Many Things prior. And with the DM's help, I managed to incorporate the Deck into my character's backstory, to allow her to exist within the setting of our campaign (thanks to, funnily enough, the effects of the Donjon card)

[@Kraiglyndor]

I’ve got an example of a time players and DM both enjoy the effects of the deck of many things. It’s a story online about a oneshot where a group was given 300 unlabeled wands of Magic Missile+quirk. The story was that the players were all villagers hired to test and label these wands in order to get paid a large amounts of gold. The campaign starts with the guy who hires them getting a negative effect that forces him to leave. Plot hook established but half way through explaining the mechanics the DM makes his primary quest giver disappear, derailing the campaign himself. All the effects are more or less just as entertaining. The goal is to use 300 wands and witness the effects (or not, some effects are mental and enemies aren’t always human, or the effect is confused by circumstance such as when the caster gets knocked down and believes it to be recoil when the effect is that everyone nearby in armor falls over, the castor being the only one). The campaign was fun enough for the players to come back for multiple sessions. The story is called “Commoner’s Curse of 300 Wands” by u/draz825

[@TheTsugnawmi2010]

I like the way Matt Mercer used the Deck by giving it to the dumbest character in the party. That way, it's more likely to get used and if it does get used, it's not railroading but character-motivated. If a DM wants to be more assertive, use the WIS save idea (but only with high level characters).

[@thechef9246]

I've made my own deck of many things that I bring to the table that is an actual deck of cards. 56 Anonymous effects after each effect is drawn I change it so that people can't cheat seeing as how they do draw their own cards. With this system I've managed to basically balance every single one because I just take it up with each level that the characters gain. Currently their are only two instant knockouts and one party knock out all of which have unique saving throws per player. One draw per session as in once any player draws the deck is locked to everyone else also. Just thought it was food for thought.

[@Hadaron]

I remember the DM, my first campaign ever, gave us all a Deck of Many Things at a local shop that we could pay 100g to draw from. One character, a Paladin, said he wanted to draw because he heard it would let him talk to his god. (He said that in-character; out of character he had no idea what the effects were.) He drew the Vizier card first try. For those who don’t know, the Vizier card lets you ask the DM one question. So yes, he got his desire.

[@NWolfsson]

Did you ever know what was the incentive for that psychopath shopkeeper to make people draw from a deck that could abduct persons/souls, or summon avatars of Death?

[@Hadaron]

NeRethil Wolfsson I think it was the DM just trying to give some of his players (avid critical roll fans... you know the kind) something potentially cool.

[@NWolfsson]

@@Hadaron I understand, I was just chuckling at the idea of someone disappearing in the middle of the shop, the clothes dropping to the ground, and the shopkeeper sweeping the clothes all like "Nothing to see here!" x)

[@King_Thulsa_Doom]

I once ran a one shot based on Zee Bashew's Goblins who stole the deck of many things video. During the session, the five goblins began yanking cards wildly, suffice to say it's not a oneshot anymore due to all the loose ends... By level 3, they had a mountain of treasure, deeds to castles, a handful of wishes, and scores of people who want to kill them... Oh, and two of the goblins have died, one dead from drawing the Void card, and another dead from the Avatar of Death.

[@Valkier_Kato]

We actually had a lot of fun with the deck in our campaign. Spawned in a knight and I decided to go against the typical rules and allow the knight to grow as a character. Then the one he was protecting pulled void and the NPC led the charge to find his PC. Then for fun the group convinced the an enemy to pull from the deck. He got the card that gave all the wealth and such so the enemy actually gave up fighting and retired. As a DM, I try to make everything as fun as possible.

[@jesternario]

I've occasionally used a deck of many things. It's always interesting to see what the players draw. The last time I did so was right at the beginning of a campaign, so no characters that had been worked on for years would be destroyed. One player drew the card that lets you level up from the next encounter, one drew a keep, and one drew the void. The first player declared he was rolling initiative against the one who drew the void and slew him to "win the encounter." We all agreed it was a novel idea, and didnt' hurt anything as the PCs had no way to get the soul back, so the first player character gained a new level, and the third one started up a new PC, which wound up being the key focus of the campaign because he was the most active player.

[@rowantanner9285]

That's really close to how I started my 1st campaign DMing. I'm a Junior in high school and am in a chess club, that basically became a gaming club. Since I have played DnD before and knew at least some of the members had as well albeit mostly pathfinder. I ended up randomly and jokingly suggesting it, but then I realized I had the supplies and could actually do that. We ended up starting a campaign and then eventually a new club for this. It's my 1st time being a DM but I'm trying my best and my players seem to be enjoying it. I will admit I immediately got in over my head because I was super excited and can't tell anyone no. So I have a custom world 5e campaign, with 10 PCs 3 of whom regularly can't or don't show up. My semi realistic post apocalyptic plague world is now possibly the most ironic thing we could be playing right now given the covid outbreak. I have no help with world building or plot points, I'm currently homeschooling myself because the world's a wreck, I'm not good at dedicating time to work and not procrastinating, and I'm doing it all online because we can't meet because of social distancing. Basically it's a clusterfuck but my players seem to be having fun and I'm managing to control/help them all as of now so hopefully things keep going this well and I don't make any rediculous mistakes. Ps. Writing this at 4 am on my computer maybe not the best idea.lol

[@Insanely42]

The deck of many things are great in oneshot campaigns as long as the DM is sufficiently prepared properly. My friend is the type that likes to wing it as well as using various tropes. It's a hell a lot of fun saving someone from a sphere as it becomes its own story, even if you have to use a new PC.

[@jonathanchapman1855]

I ran a game where I gave the deck to a group of level 3 players. Never forced them to take it or draw from it, and I modified it so it was more of a random plot generator than a character buffer or nerfer. I still had some of those effects but much less so than in the vanilla version. Like the void became a fun one-shot where the other players had to go find their lost friend.

[@VelkanKiador]

There are two ways I have found to have fun with the Deck of Many Things. First one is when I got one in game, and I never drew from it. However I often tricked others into drawing from it, npc's and enemies mostly. Second thing is modify the deck, and change it's name from Deck of Plot. Whatever you draw doesn't effect your levels, alignment, kill you or get the grim reaper after you, but they introduce a new plot point. Someone falls in love with your character, you inherit the deed to a fancy mansion that is a bit spooky, every important npc in your characters life gets involved in a murder mystery, your character becomes a wanted criminal for something they didn't do, your character got impotent etc. Players tend to be alot more excited to draw when it affects the plot, as even if you draw negative plot points they are still fun to play through. And some of the plots can be both positive or negative depending on the players point of view.

[@konradterlikowski8788]

In one of the sessions my character got a hold of a Rod of Chaos ( Basically the deck of many things but in another form ). And I, as a player, had a lot of fun using it - some other players also wanted to use it from time to time. Truth be told, because there were some handmade effects.....we did summon Tarrasque one time.....and that led to a destruction of a country.....( our characters were kind of evil - not murder hobos, and despite being evil we made a great team ). So yeah - there are times, that the players do want some chaos in their sessions. And yes - we were about lvl 17.

[@Arcticmaster1190]

I’ve heard of only one story from Spoony’s Counter Monkey in talking about Vegan Steve where the player was gun-ho about using a deck of many things. But yeah, it’s mostly the GM who’s eager to throw those things into the world, despite how much of a make or break the item is. Never used it myself, never plan to without either nerfing the benefits/consequences or pulling some cards out.

[@reichen3559]

Your videos have such varying audio levels, as much as I enjoy watching your stuff, this is kind of jarring for those late night watches.

[@AlainproFredric]

I got a deck of many things in one of my campaigns. But it was rechanged with new cards and a reason for it to be there. The deck was called "Deck of shattered reality" it was used to make new missions and NPCs. Most just had a image. Making what happens up to me. This box of cards was made by the villain. And the boss can't kill or hurt the players being a traped god. So he would make one person draw a card. Or he would send some crazy crap after them. It was fun. And I can't wait to do it again.

[@ScarFearz]

I've had the deck in 2 of my campaigns over the years. Each time, the DM just put it out there for us to use, but sincerely said : "It's up to you to decide, there are some major bonuses and some incredibly awful things inside". We were around level 11-13 in these campaigns when we gained access to it. One of these games was set in a high fantasy setting that was incredibly chaotic to begin with. We also got it through a gambling god because two of us were either INCREDIBLY lucky or INCREDIBLY lucky (I think it required 4x nat 20s or 4x nat 1s in a row, no matter what the roll was for). This appearance wasn't even the weirdest thing we had seen then. Overall, my favorite game I've ever played, even though I actually lost a character to the deck.

[@michaelcohen8259]

I have a plan for a (sort of) Deck of Many Things: Some gnomes created a version of the Deck as a prank. The effects are FAR lower, good or bad, than a true Deck. They call it the "Deck of Mini Things". Examples: "Flames": creates enmity between you and a devil...a LEMUR devil! "Throne" grants an item that glows but has no other effects. The idea is creativity and general wackiness.

[@athroughzdude]

I once had an idea for a campaign centered around the deck. The party would be contracted by a Wizard obsessed with something called the Deck of Many Fates. A legendary item said to change one's fate by drawing but a single card. What it was was a modified Deck of Many Things with only boon effects that any creature can only draw from once in their lives. It would then present them with a major boon they could use to change their fate, like infinite money, a loyal army of super powerful warriors, super abilities for yourself, etc. Basically the campaign would be about finding the deck before someone more nefarious did and they wouldn't know the full mechanics until they found it. They could then use any boons they draw, if they draw, to defeat the BBEG who was also after it in his bid to, you guessed it, take over the world. I dunno, seemed neat in my head.

[@lojybtdty]

I've added it into my game as a fortune tellers deck to predict future encounters, like the tarokka deck used in curse of strahd. It appears as a purple tent with a hag inside offering free readings

[@DocDelray]

I remember an epic level campaign my friends and I played where we played around with the deck during our session zero. It was just a fun little gimmick that exploded into me and the rogue trying to one up each other on who was more ballsy. It boiled down to both of us agreeing to roll a D6 to decide how many cards each of us would draw. Afterwards my wizard was two levels ahead of the group, I had a free Staff of the Magus, a plus four to my intelligence and my mortal soul was being kept by the one true prime evil far beyond the deepest hells. So all in all, I counted it as a win and started making plans to ascend as the future God of magic. With no soul, who could stop me?

[@pyrosianheir]

The one true prime evil who could do unspeakable things to your soul? :D

[@DocDelray]

@@pyrosianheir Who gives a crap about my soul at that point, I'm the all powerful god of magic and probably some other domains, I think they were Lawful Evil and Order. Let'em keep the soul, I'm essentially an uber lich at that point.

[@Mathee]

I could imagine this working if, AND ONLY IF, it was talked about with all the players before hand, and the campaign was specifically meant to be more of a silly adventure than epic fantasy (and of course the player characters were specifically made for this campaign). Ooh! Or maybe something like the campaign being about a deck of many things having been scattered and the players need to track down all the cards and reassemble the deck, but upon picking up a lost card, it counts as drawing it, thus you get the effect!

[@kevinsullivan3448]

Oh, Deck of Many Things, you have been a blast since 1E AD&D. So, about two years ago my Nephew, an active duty Marine, ran a 5E game for his wife, myself, another nephew, and his little brother. I brought out my copy of the Deck that came in Dragon Magazine back in the 80s. The Deck became a gag in the game and would show up in odd places, offering us to draw. We did regularly, often to hilarious consequences. We drew about 30 times in the 4 sessions we played when he was home on leave for my father's funeral. It had started off as a serious campaign, but using the deck made it really goofy and we all started doing goofy stuff and the game became fun in the goofiness. If you take the game too seriously, the Deck can ruin your fun.

[@friendpelle]

I remember one of my DMs games had the deck of many things. What was supposed to be a short campaign of about 4-6 sessions turned into a oneshot as we all sat and started drawing and drawing and this kept going until only the death card was left. We used that along with the wish card to get the fuck out of the maze and killed the guy that sent us there before leaving ending the game

[@Ellisepha]

For a second I was afraid that this was one of my players submitting the story, but luckily, that wasn't the case. Also, the only that happened when I introsuced the DomT to my game was, that I destroyed my campaign all on my own. In my first campaign, I had a magical Items shopkeeper NPC, who was supposed to sell the PCs cool stuff from time to time. I also found a page in the DM Guide about weird trinkets and stuff (a bag of 38 teeth, an anciwnt elven arrow, a vest with like 100 pockets), and thought it'd be funny if the NPC had some sort of second hand stuff there too. So I gave him a chest, put 9 of those creepy trinkets in there, and thought "for 1 silver, I'll let the players reach into that chest blindly, roll a d10, and give them one of the trinkets. But I had trouble finding a 10th item, so I though, hey, why not the Deck? It's a 1/10 chance that they'll get it! Enter the rogue. He had bad rollsduring the entire session, and when he reached into the chest, he rolled a 0 on his d10. He got the Deck. Now, I have 3 players: the rogue who got tze deck the elf warlock who'se player is the only one who watched campaign 1 of critical role and therefore knows, what that thing does, and the Tiefling paladin who doesn't know her family. Skip forward a few sessions, the party got kidnapped by the Tiefling's family, who are all bandits, and is fighting her sister to regain their freedom. While that is happening, the rogue and the warlock are bound to a tree. One of the tieflings comes over and is going through their stuff. I thought this was a good idea to show the other players in game, what that Deck of many Things could do. The bandit turns their bags upside down and the deck spills out, cards everywhere. Curiously, the bandit picks one up. I ask the rogue to mix the deck and let me pull a card. It's the Knight. That card immediately materializes a lvl 4 Fighter, who is loyal to the person who summoned him until he dies. Nit really the result I wanted, but okay. Next session, the party got free and travels through the woods. Upon their nightly rest, the realized that someone is following them. Two people, to be precisely. It's the bandit and his knight. The bandid demands that the party give him all of their "Knight Cards". He thinks they all magically summon a fighter, and wants to use them to overthrow the bandid tribe's leader and become leader himself. The gang reluctantly make a deal with him. He doesn't believe them when they try to tell him that those cards aren't purely beneficial, so instead they allow him to pick 1 (one) more card. If the outcome is something maleficient, he mustn't seek revenge, and if the outcome is something beneficial, he needs to have them profit from it too. Out of character, we discuss what may happen. He may pick the card that makes a devil hate him, or the one that gifts him a surprise castle. Warlock's player worries that he may pick the wish card, but I say "no, that's highly unlikely. I mean, what are the odds?" We laugh. Laughing is healthy. I once again ask the rogue player to mix the cards and pick one. The card I picked was "The Moon". Here's the description for that card if you don't know: "You are granted the ability to cast the wish spell 1d3 times." I stop laughing. My players look at each other in worry, then when I tell them what card he got, they start screaming too. I roll my d3 to see how many wishes he got. Maybe he just got the party a free wish spell? Nope. I rolled a 1. He got ONE wish. I describe how all of a sudden, they are surrounded by 300 of the same lvl 4 fighter that the bandid summoned yesterday. I explain through him, that with this army he'll easily take control over the bandid tribe and kill the current leader. Which, by the way, is Tiefling Paladin's brother-in-law, as she had just found out yesterday. Uncomfortable with the current happenings, the party reminds the bandid that he technically owes them a favour now. Luckily, that guy isn't the smartest one, so he agrees to gifting them one of his fighters. The party accepts and now has a newborn lvl 4 DMPC in their ranks. I start interally screaming. The best part about this? That bandid tribe secretly worked for the BBEG. I had a whole plot planned about them kidnapping and getting rid of people that betrayed the BBEG, which of course, doesn't happen anymore. Also, that Deck of many things had a connection to the BBEG, as the only reason why he's evil is because he once pulled a card from it and got an alignment change, making that lawful good Firbolg chaotic evil. *TL;DR: I tried to show my players what dangers the Deck of many things holds, but only played myself, ruined my own campaign, and got myself a DMPC*

[@Toldasor]

I think Colville's advice for the deck is quite good: Customise it so it is of the level of disruptiveness appropriate for your game and level, and do some card magic to make sure an awesome effect comes out on top on the first ever draw

[@ampere11]

I gave a group the DoMT's in a dragon's horde on their first adventure at level 1. It was in a sealed box that couldn't be opened (the plan was to have them open it when they were around level 15). In the meantime, I would have it cause good luck and bad luck effects at the start of some sessions just to keep it in the back of their minds (not every session). Unfortunately, we didn't stay together as a group long enough for them to open it. That was the most success I've ever had with the DoMT's. lol