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There are plenty of legendary magical items inDungeons & Dragonsstories, from powerful weapons to artifacts that can destroy kingdoms. Yet few of them work like the Deck of Many Things, known for derailing entire campaigns with a single draw.
The Deck can give players incredible riches or rid them of all they own, give them powerful allies or earn the ire of a Devil. Bold adventurers seek the Deck for their power, while desperate ones might not have much of a choice. The mysterious Deck has many incarnations and alleged origins, having versions of 13 cards and others of 66.
What Is The Deck Of Many Things?
The Deck of Many Things is a magical Deckwhose cards create all sorts of effects when drawn.The main appeal of the Deck is the extreme punishments and rewards behind every card, and the fact that you can replicate it with a regular deck of cards.
There’s an undeniable sense of fun from a player physically grabbing a card, not knowing the fate that awaits their character from such an action.DMs usually modify the physical decks to force their desired outcome, adding more of a specific card or removing others.
The original set of cards comes intwo variants, 13 and 22 cards. Some of its most famous effects include:
There’s also an expanded set, known asthe Deck of Many More Things, which includes66 cards total. There are plenty of exciting new auditions for this Deck, including:
What Is The Origin Of The Deck Of Many Things?
There are many versions of how the Deck came to be, fromthe machinations of mad wizardsto it being an ancient hellish artifact. The one depicted in The Book of Many Things revolves aroundthe only card depicting an individual with a proper name, Euryale.
Euryale is a medusa, but that doesn’t make her an evil monster. Far from it.She’s a Druidwho cares deeply for the land and mostly keeps to herself. A long time ago, she lived in a secluded grotto away from people, sinceanyone who saw her treated her as the monster she looked like.
One day, a young woman appeared at the shores of her grotto, having nearly drowned. This wasAsteria, the daughter of a harsh noble ruler from a nearby land. Euryale tended to her wounds, and in return, Asteria treated her with kindness.Their friendship would take no time to blossom.
Asteria decided to stay with Euryale, since she never felt at home with her father. She spent years in the grotto enjoying the freedom of being herself, and the companionship of someone who loves you for who you are.This freedom would last her a decade, until her father found her.
Asteria resents that her dear friend Euryale is still depicted as a monster even within the deck, since the Euryale card curses whoever draws it with a -2 penalty to saving throws.
Euryale fought hard to defend her grotto, but was ultimately captured by Asteria’s father andsentenced to death.Asteria herself was locked upto stop her from doing anything foolish, but she did plenty, from pleas of mercy to her father to trying to escape her prison entirely.
As a last-ditch effort of desperation,Asteria screamed to the stars in rage. The stars answered, andIstus, a god of fate, appeared in front of Asteria. Istus claimed that nothing could be done to change their fate, sinceit was written: Asteria would become a loyal princess to the kingdom, and Euryale would die a monster.
Asteria protested, claiming that this story cannot be. Euryale wasn’t a monster in her eyes, nor was she some royal pawn to Euryale. Istus replied thatthere could be a way to change their fate, but there was no guarantee that it would be a good one. Asteria was adamant in her position, so Istus gave her a tool to change her fate.
Istus reached into the sky, pulling down 22 constellations and forming a deck of oracle cards: the first Deck of Many Things. Placing 13 of these cards face up, Istus rewrote Asteria and Euryale’s story.This allowed Asteria to rescue Euryale, flee the kingdom, and have countless adventures.
The extra cards found in the Deck of Many More Things were created by powerful mortals throughout the years, not by Istus.
Asteria and Euryale no longer travel together, butthey’ll forever be the greatest friends. Their lives seem to beintrinsically linked to the Deck, so as long as it exists, so will they. As for the Deck, the magic that created it reverberated across the planes, creating the countless copies you can find in the multiverse.
How To Use The Deck Of Many Things In A Campaign
Whether you use its original story or not,the Deck remains a powerful item that can make or break campaigns. It’s not an item you can just throw in your setting without proper thought, unless you and your players are willing to live with the consequences.
As a one-off adventure, you may have the Deck be the only way of salvation your players have.For this set-up, consider removing time-consuming cards, like The Void or Donjon. Both of those cards incapacitate the character that drew it, necessitating a whole side quest to rescue them.
If none of the players in your adventure have a set story they want to play,the Deck is a great way to spice things up. Cards that were previously too time-consuming, like the mentioned Donjon, can all of a sudden give them a clear goal. Throne is also great here, since it grants them a keep that they can own (but have to clear the monsters inside first).
If you want a campaign dedicated to the deck, the best way is to havethe main quest be about gathering all the cards. In this instance, the Deck would be scattered, andthe players would need to find the cards one by one, dealing with all the effects.
