The Deck of Many Things, Explained | D&D Lore

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Let's dive into the Deck of Many Things!! Plus a cool module from 2nd edition that features it!
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Video Specific References:
Encyclopedia Magica - www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
Dungeon Magazine 19
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[@michaelc9311]

I was playing an evil wizard in a high-level campaign. It had become stagnant, and I talked to the GM. We conspired to reset the game using the deck. My character pulled lucky. Everyone else got greedy and died. We turned my wizard into a quest giver for a new campaign. Since I got all the items from my fallen comrades, he let everyone choose one item as payment to start a new campaign. He made it very rewarding and very difficult. My now NPC wizard tempted the entire group to do hard, evil things for the items our previous characters had. We ended up with a group of powerful, corrupted heroes. High magic is fun.

[@sandrinenoel7329]

I think the Deck can be a really interesting item to use in campaigns, it just depends what kind of party and DM you have (and which cards you pull.) I only saw the deck in action once, in the first ever campaign I joined. The evil warlock (unknown to me, the newbie), got the deck in the underdark and when we got out, decided to pull from the deck. He pulled three cards and got the following boons: a castle, shit-ton of money and a wish. He was EXTREMELY LUCKY. He used his castle, his money and his wish to bring about the apocalypse without us knowing, thus becoming the final BBEG of the campaign, along with his patron Grazzt. 10/10 would do it again. I think in our case, since I joined post-module and our DM was weaving the story as it unfolded, the Deck of Many Things was an integral tool to refining and giving the finishing touches to the final arc that would lead us to level 20.

[@alexeagleston5618]

What we did at my table and what I’m doing going forward is making the effects of the cards not instant. Making more a deck of Omens. Our party used it and two people got cards that gave them magic items. The other two members of the party picked the items and even wrote short back stories for them and DM’d the npcs that got the items to the other players. Our bard got a dancing sword delivered to him by a courier mistaking him for someone else and our cleric got a banner to help boost their healing from their local temple as a lost family artifact. Lose your soul? Nope, not until it’s separated from your body next. No death saves! You’re safely in a coma until your soul is saved.

[@oniminikui]

I use the Deck of Fates and most often they don't function immediately. Keep the mystery about it.

[@RealSaintB]

I like that

[@facundotorres175]

I think the best way to use it is to use a card as a centerpiece for a quest "Help me I'm being chased by an avatar of death" "The new king was not party of the family, help me dethrone him" "My husband is buried under a pile of gold!" So on and so forth, you could let the characters keep the drawn card and when they get to 13-22 they can draw again

[@dandrive3249]

So currently in my campaign, one of the parties greatest foes actually weaponized the deck. They haven’t met him yet, but when they caught his attention he slipped one of the cards into a NPC pocket and a bad effect went off and he got the Eyrines card. They haven’t fought him yet, but the know if they get a net 1 they will accidentally draw one of his cards which can go good or bad.

[@DurdleDers]

I implemented it in my campaign as a fortune teller that shows up occasionally and lets a player get their fortune told. They get to pick from 3 random face down cards, so they get a little more variation in their fate.

[@duckmanguy8575]

WOTC - "There has never been an official origin for the deck" This video - All of them

[@Jorphdan]

😂😂😂

[@TheGIJew.]

Well the point still stands. There's not "a" official origin story, there are many. The new book actually goes through all versions of the deck in all editions, origin stories included

[@elliot2118]

I’m thinking of using it I’m my upcoming spelljammer campaign, as something my players have to construct. They go from planet to planet, in somewhat of a quantum leap manor, in hopes of finding another card that would give the group a bonus or ability. Then would need the fully constructed deck at the end to unlock final macguffin(haven’t put all that together yet).

[@Jorphdan]

Always hoping their next leap, will be the leap home!

[@matthewconstantine5015]

I have definite plans to put in some version of the Deck into my Dungeon Crawl Classics game if I can ever get it off the ground. I've had no end of fun tossing in "game breaking" items into previous DCC games I've run.

[@ChadHensley]

I'm super excited to use it. Had originally planned to introduce it to my players next week and then the whole print run issue has now derailed my plans so I'll hold out introducing it until January. I'm planning on using the Deck of Many More Things (additional cards) from the new product along with the original cards to create my own deck. It will be balanced between good and bad still but will likely build it based on what I know my players can handle. It's a unique group and I think they will love the physical cards once they finally arrive. Super excited to see what it does to our campaign, which is a homebrew mixed with the Keys from the Golden Vault book.

[@chriswhittington5790]

I have the book of many things, the source books that comes with that bundle, and I like it section on single effects for cards and I've piecemealed some cards into my game. For example the knight card has the effect, as an action a player can throw this card anywhere within 60 of their character and summon a Deck Defender, the Deck Defender lasts for one minute and follows orders the player gives, this effect can only be used once per dawn. I'm paraphrasing the actual description. The book of many things gives you the tools to turn the deck of many things into more than a fate altering deck but an army knife of once per day effects to aid you in the adventures. Of course the deck can still be used in the traditional manner of the players so choose, but they can also use it in far more interesting ways as well.

[@balijosu]

Definitely make the deck your own. Tune it to your campaign. All published materials are suggestions.

[@dwil0311]

The rules in the new book have made the deck infinitely more interesting on so many levels while maintaining the same mystique. The same feast or famine in the results can remain the same, but it can now more easily be adjusted to what you role you want it to play in your game.

[@jamesxavier20]

In my current campaign of Phandelver and Below, I had a former PC, now NPC who left the party have the deck and will occasionally “pull cards”. We had some new players join mid way through Zorzula’s Rest so I said that these players can have their own backgrounds and backstory but one aspect is they were magically pulled to help our current adventures and they knew it was because a card was drawn. Also if a player ever cant attend, their character gets enveloped by playing cards and become Deck Defenders so that the party can remain the same size but their characters wont die. As long as they have any deck of playing cards, characters can be brought back if say a deck defender is destroyed. Before these adventures went into a region, the players had to draw from the deck and that effect would be a “chaos magic” effect on their character for 8 hours in game. Its a way for the cards to be active and fun yet not totally derail the campaign by having total chaos or campaign destroying cards pulled. Im also gonna eventually have the NPC be one of the individuals captured that the mindflayets have kidnapped so that they will have the deck at the end of the campaign once they are rescued.

[@gregoryfoss1475]

My players want the deck of many things in every big campaign I’ve done. I gave them all the card possibilities. And it always leads to fun chaos. I do have to roll with whatever happens from that point onward.

[@CoyoteGris]

My players know about the limitations of the wishes, or the countereffects (like bad wording), and im quite good at improvbvising, so, to this day, I have given full decks in all of my tables, and has been a great experience. From an instant kill of a player that was cancelled an hour later by another card (FATES). A player wishing for inmortality (only age inmortality). and background effects like becoming the enemy of a devil. (free plots) it has been a fun experience. no remorse.

[@ThirstyForRed]

I own Deck of Daddy Things, a joke item connected to the Dungeons and Daddies podcast, it's sort of a double deck, 22 cards from normal deck and 22 with podcast related injokes. I love randomly pulling it out on my players, especially because they never know how I will prepare it. Will it be normal deck with all highs and lows? Or will their characters cursed with wearing birkenstocks for the rest of campaign? Last week during the Witcher TTRPG game (who said i can't hammer dnd items in other systems, lol) players let villains pull one of the cards, so now they have a group of elven terrorists in 2013 Honda Odyssey wrecking havoc on the countryside

[@philurbaniak1811]

_You draw Gemini, The Twins; the card becomes a second Deck, identical to the first_

[@DoctorCJDM]

Idk if I would use the deck in my standard campaigns but 1000% use in a one shot! That could be super fun!!

[@bobaugust3430]

Happy thanksgiving!

[@sietsewijker1530]

I miss a mention of the 4e adventure 'Madness at Gardmore Abbey' where the deck plays a significant role (and is included in the boxed set).

[@jerrythegray1977]

I'm super stoked on the release of the box set... I'm planning on it being my 1st DM experience with Baba Yaga as the main antagonist. I want to utilize all of the utility or side options for the "new" deck and rules, quests, boons, banes, opponents, items, monsters, deities... I feel the Rifflers will be a major component.. Baba Yaga will be be both good and bad until decisions are made in late game. Im both stoked and scared. Disclaimer... I will most likely usually be stacking the deck a bit.

[@qwerty098cool1]

For anyone curious about the 5e deck of many more things, i can confirm that of the 44 new cards about 30 of them are postive effects. And the effects are (in my opinion) a lot tamer than the og deck in the dmg.

[@darthmemewalker2807]

i call it the deck of world destroyers

[@CrossTrainedMind]

If I were to use it, it would be the first thing they really find and it'll create the campaign. This is made easier by the newest version, so I can select which cards I want to include.

[@OviD11111]

I like the fey origin. But I'd sell it so: the seelies and unseelies decided to get rid of a fey domain, ruler and all. so they trapped it wholesale into a magical object. it's now akin to a domain of dread. if u pull cards, u experience parts of the fey realm trapped within

[@Zeheal]

So I ran a poorly translated/updated written adventure in 5e based on some older things. This module swings really hard with chaos, fighting it and putting a stop to it, and in difficulty. Balance and such is wacky here and there. One enemy had a ranged attack that UPON HITTING THE CHARACTER HAS TO DEAL WITH AS IF THEY DREW FROM THE DECK OF MANY THINGS. Character drew The Fates, and undid the whole mcguffin creation that started the adventure in the first place.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

I have a deck from 3.5.and that's the one I stick with. I do have a custom 54 card Deck of Many Things with Red Joker being the best card you can pick and Black Joker being the worst card.

[@thactotum]

13 cards x 5 = 65 cards. I feel like an Arch Fey or a god could distribute an entire deck among multiple groups. and in a way make the cards like a rod of 7 parts. making a world spanning or even multiverse spanning campaign of champions of the deck. if you went with 4 sets of 14 and one set of 22 it would be the suits, and the major arcana of a tarot deck (though I think mixing them up is more interesting). I've breifly contemplated using tarroka cards as a deck of many. there are a lot of ways to play with the idea.

[@Spllyn]

If your interested in purchasing some Dragon Magazines, I do have a fair bit, All pre number 150.

[@jonnasser84]

Our group has a player who owns a super decorative and ornate DOMT. He is positively irritating about it and our DM shuts him down 99/100 times.

[@skullsquad900]

The DoMT didn't destroy any of the campaigns I've been in, if anything it's improved them. No TPK's no broken abilities items or powers, just fun RP stuff like the Knight, or rewriting History.... Can't wait to see all the things we can do with a Whole BOOK of it!

[@davidragan9233]

From what I've seen, the lore is pretty interesting, although having it refer back to the Dungeon Master's book for the effects of the original cards requires a bit of juggling.

[@digunder14]

the dungeon is in the book of many things last i checked or at least it reimagines the concept

[@orcwarchiefreviews]

Honestly some of the new decks are too easy to beat it became absurd when I had a pixie character and half the abilities and half the cards drawn really didn't bother her that much and I pretty much drew the whole deck the old original deck of many things is the best and it's fun to watch twitch and squirm when I pull it out

[@cjsmith5482]

Whelp. I just finished building a campaign with a strong Netherese background and the hub city is WestGate. I wasn’t planning on including the deck. But……

[@vinspad3]

Aaaaaaaand yup. Ill be using the dungeon for a 1shot (probably 2-3 sessions). To makenit go quickly Im likely converting to ICRPG

[@markcampbell4080]

Never, every campaign I've heard use it comes to a screeching halt.

[@zeugenberg]

Is that Code with a double-PH or what?!?

[@Jorphdan]

😅

[@DarkAutumnScribe]

I love using the deck in my games but I always use it between 3rd and 5th level, so, in case you do get your soul sucked out, you’re not too attached to your character…

[@mjp152]

"Destroyer of campaigns"? Naah, just introduce it deliberately at an inflection point where any chaos introduced by the deck can be spun into plotlines. Plenty fun - my group have encountered the deck a couple of times over the years and it has always been interesting if not entirely successful 😀

[@billcox8870]

The deck of yay and oh crud

[@J.G.rolling]

I was leading my third ever game of DnD and thought it might get my party a bit more interested in magic items they didn't try to understand. They waisted all the best cards on a peasant and trashed the deck afterwards.

[@RealSaintB]

Probably not using it in my current campaign, ever, there's too much structure and plot going on.

[@scasimir1000]

Why not make it that it's a dungeon like you stated but there's a trickster high level old devil forgotten by time and the other gods of themselves. He himself was tricked into guarding that dungeon instead of being mad or upset. He took a simple playing cards that he has altered the dungeon itself and the only way he can essentially be freed is by having your party draw a certain amount of cards. The DM rolls a d20 whatever number that is whatever number of cards they have to draw and when they get to the number or even halfway the demon is much more powerful and able to affect the outside world. Let's say a king's child was tricked into going into the dungeon and we can have the king pay any amount of gold to get his first born child back. Your convention group. Here's about it and then from there will be hired by a messenger of the king sill put it as your party's in another land altogether. From there to have the little adventures is so forth and so on if they're able to get riches beyond their dreams from drawing a card that they're allowed to get it, but no one said they're allowed to leave with it garden in the room or the treasurer is actually insects disguising them souls as that. The main thing of the goal is either the party abandoned the child after finding out some shaving form that the dungeon is actually a prison or save the child and doing the world with a devil that is more powerful due to the fact has been around from ancient times.

[@bossbullyboy195]

Being a Fae created artifact gifted to a Netherese King seems way better than an autistic paladin with a Gorgon girlfriend 😂

[@bartlester591]

And someone who played the original dungeons and dragons and has survived not once, but twice with someone playing around with the deck mini thing I’ll say this, it’s nothing more and nothing less in the spawn of Satan. It’s an evil deck, and it should never be used the third time I played in the campaign and somebody found the damn thing I said I will not draw from that deck ever. You can’t force me to, and I will never it is nothing more than something that will go horribly horribly wrong and yes, it always does because that deck is stacked and it’s not stacked in your favor

[@itzybitzyspyder]

The deck of many things is chaos. Its a chaos that many new DMs inject into their games because they are flailing. It's lazy and uninspired.

[@BrycePerry]

Will I be using the Deck of Many Things any time soon? Absolutely not. I still have the cards, unpunched, in my copy of Dragon Magazine 148. It's a horrible thing to inflict on a campaign.

[@Thanatos--]

I've long been of the opinion that the 'deck' as so far is described by DND is too wonky in its extremes of give and take. Yeah, I know that is part of the allure but making up a table of 52 low stakes things is way more fun and more likely to be used.

[@OpenWorldAddict0]

Couldn't you make a whole campaign based on the deck of many things?

[@Jorphdan]

Sure, 18 cards. A level discovery a card. Do it up

[@ZombieFood1337]

I don't get why the deck is considered a campaign ruiner. The absolute most damage the deck can do (in and of itself) is permanently kill a character. If your game can survive character death, the deck is just either boons or plothooks. Moon (1d3 wishes) and The Fates (undo an event) could potentially be problems, but they require players to actively use them in ways harmful to the campaign, and (since the DM has wide latitude in what happens as a result of those cards) the DM has to rubber stamp it. If the campaign is ruined after the use of the deck, the players should look in the mirror for who to blame. Also, shoutout to 4e's Madness at Gardmore Abbey: the best Deck of Many Things adventure.

[@TheGIJew.]

A well worded wish could instantly kill the BBEG or solve the main dilemma of the campaign. The DM has some freedom in interpreting a wish spell, but at some point you have to honor what the character asked for. I agree in general, though, most of the cards don't ruin a campaign

[@pandoraeeris7860]

He's lying, the 'ph' isn't silent.