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GanonBoar
2016-04-24, 04:37 AM
Most Dungeons and Dragons players are familiar with the Deck of Many Things. While you may never actually encounter it due to how crazy the effects can be, when you do, it can be hilarious. Do you have any funny stories relating to it?

Here's mine:
Our group has sessions twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. The party were all level 6. One Friday, me (the fighter/wizard) and the barbarian were absent: I was ill and the barbarian had some work. This was the session that the remaining three-a Monk/Death Cleric, a Champion Fighter, and an Aarakocra Rogue/Ranger-encountered the deck, on their own expedition. After it all, the Fighter got a -2 penalty to saving throws and a small kingdom, the Cleric went up a level, and the Ranger was dead-he pulled the Donjon card. (Well, technically he wasn't actually dead, but whatever.)

On Wednesday, the Barbarian is still absent but I'm there. Our characters are not told of the deck (The fighter wanted to keep it secret) but are told of the Ranger's death. We are introduced to the Rangers new character, another Aarakocra but a Monk, one level lower than the rest of the party(the penalty for death). At this point, the DM was getting pretty tired of the Arrakocra's stupidly fast flight speed, and warned the player that if this character died, he would disallow any new Aarakocra characters. We encounter a strange cavern with a dragon, and loads of unrelated stuff happens that I won't go into to.

Then, on Friday, everyone is present. We have a pretty fun session, and we encounter a giant stone sphere that seeks out and destroys the nearest magic item-which I knew due to it zooming straight at my ring of spell storing. Near the end of the session, the ball goes towards the fighter, who makes a strength check to hold it back. But that's odd-he doesn't have any magic items. Oh wait!

As he is keeping the sphere at bay, I rummage through his pack and find the deck, and instantly pull three cards. I get The Fates which I decide to save for later, go up a level, get a magic saddle, and get 50,000gp in jewelry. The Aarakocra asks me for it and pulls a card, figuring his luck would be better this time. First, he pulls the skull, summoning an avatar of death. He wins the initiative, and pulls another card on the first turn. When we see it, we all fall over laughing.

It was the Void.

Temperjoke
2016-04-24, 08:12 AM
Most Dungeons and Dragons players are familiar with the Deck of Many Things. While you may never actually encounter it due to how crazy the effects can be, when you do, it can be hilarious. Do you have any funny stories relating to it?

Here's mine:
Our group has sessions twice a week, on Wednesdays and Fridays. The party were all level 6. One Friday, me (the fighter/wizard) and the barbarian were absent: I was ill and the barbarian had some work. This was the session that the remaining three-a Monk/Death Cleric, a Champion Fighter, and an Aarakocra Rogue/Ranger-encountered the deck, on their own expedition. After it all, the Fighter got a -2 penalty to saving throws and a small kingdom, the Cleric went up a level, and the Ranger was dead-he pulled the Donjon card. (Well, technically he wasn't actually dead, but whatever.)

On Wednesday, the Barbarian is still absent but I'm there. Our characters are not told of the deck (The fighter wanted to keep it secret) but are told of the Ranger's death. We are introduced to the Rangers new character, another Aarakocra but a Monk, one level lower than the rest of the party(the penalty for death). At this point, the DM was getting pretty tired of the Arrakocra's stupidly fast flight speed, and warned the player that if this character died, he would disallow any new Aarakocra characters. We encounter a strange cavern with a dragon, and loads of unrelated stuff happens that I won't go into to.

Then, on Friday, everyone is present. We have a pretty fun session, and we encounter a giant stone sphere that seeks out and destroys the nearest magic item-which I knew due to it zooming straight at my ring of spell storing. Near the end of the session, the ball goes towards the fighter, who makes a strength check to hold it back. But that's odd-he doesn't have any magic items. Oh wait!

As he is keeping the sphere at bay, I rummage through his pack and find the deck, and instantly pull three cards. I get The Fates which I decide to save for later, go up a level, get a magic saddle, and get 50,000gp in jewelry. The Aarakocra asks me for it and pulls a card, figuring his luck would be better this time. First, he pulls the skull, summoning an avatar of death. He wins the initiative, and pulls another card on the first turn. When we see it, we all fall over laughing.

It was the Void.

Apparently, the powers that rule the Deck really didn't want him playing an Aarakocra :smallbiggrin:

SimonMoon6
2016-04-24, 09:33 AM
I remember one game in which the DM told us he was using a variant Deck from some 3rd party source which was supposedly more balanced.

It certainly seemed OK when I pulled out one card and got some really minor but permanent bonus (I forget what it was now, but it was something like a +2 to saves vs petrification while standing on the ground).

But when the next guy pulled out some cards, we realized that the deck was only more balanced in the sense of "players can't get nice things". All the horrible PC-destroying effects were still in the deck. So, this next player drew the "lose all your possessions" card. And since we were high-level, this was basically a "game over" card for him.

He did get out of it though because he had previously drawn the "avoid one bad thing" card.

Inevitability
2016-04-24, 11:12 AM
Not the 'real' DoMT, but something similar.

In a random village, the party meets a fortune teller who offers to sell draws from a strange and powerful deck of cards she found. After drawing a few cards, the paladin gains the ability to destroy nonsentient, nonanimate trees by touching them.

Fast forward a few sessions and the party arrives back at the village to find someone who can resurrect a dead party member (not the paladin). They are approached by the town guard and get into an argument, when suddenly the paladin declares he's punching a tree.

Not quite sure what he meant, I tell him he does so, and he declares the tree turns to dust. Then I remember what he drew.

Long story short, he got the guards to back off.

Traab
2016-04-24, 11:25 AM
Speaking of the deck, one of the cards grants "a major magic weapon" What exactly constitutes a major magic weapon? I mean, does it vary depending on level? Is it up to the dm's discretion entirely?

themaque
2016-04-24, 11:35 AM
The campaing BBEG was a psyho, but fairly smart and well equipped. He had gotten himself a Deck of many things and had planed on using it as... almost a torture device for my character.

He just set it down in front of me, pulled a crossbow and said DRAW.

Well, I can't recall the real rules of engagement for the deck, but the GM made you declare how many cards you would draw before you started. So, I said... 23. I figured I was pretty much boned so why not go for gusto eh?

First card "Get out of any situation". BLAMMO. I'm free. But the deck is still with me and I still have to draw!

Well.... I manage to pull forth a level of luck that must have damned my next 20 characters. I ended this streak alive and well, almost 8 levels higher than I started, naked, alone, but being I was a sorcerer with Eschew Materials, ready to take on anything that might come my way!

Problem was... I still had the Deck WITH me when I met the rest of the party and they wanted what I had.

outside myself a near TPK.

I've NEVER seen a Deck of Many Things end well. It spreads chaos and destruction.

Oh, I'll just take ONE card. Oh, HE got a good card, I'll just take ONE card. Oh no! She's doomed! I better draw TWO cards so that I can help her out of that mess!

It always ends in tears. Maybe Laughter.

GanonBoar
2016-04-24, 11:59 AM
Speaking of the deck, one of the cards grants "a major magic weapon" What exactly constitutes a major magic weapon? I mean, does it vary depending on level? Is it up to the dm's discretion entirely?
I'm not sure about other editions, but in 5E the Key card specifies a Rare or Rarer weapon that the drawer is proficient with, most likely to not annoy the Sorcerer who pulls a +3 Greatsword.

Traab
2016-04-24, 12:39 PM
I'm not sure about other editions, but in 5E the Key card specifies a Rare or Rarer weapon that the drawer is proficient with, most likely to not annoy the Sorcerer who pulls a +3 Greatsword.

I hadnt thought about it that way, but what I more meant was, if you gave a level 1 and a level 20 this card, would they both be really happy with their reward? Or would the 20 get some bit of junk he has surpassed long ago?

Talyn
2016-04-24, 12:51 PM
So, we are tracking down a Legendary Vampire who has taken over a magical library and sucked it into a Ravenloft-esque demiplane. (Our DM was using the original Strahd module as a model, but heavily modified to fit our campaign world.)

We find the Deck in a treasure hoard, hovering over a pedestal lit with magical light, with a pair of former-adventurer skeletons on the floor next to it. Our Arcane Trickster Rogue figures out what it is right away, and the whole party freaks out - "no WAY are we using this thing!" But it was too powerful and dangerous to leave behind for the Vampire to possess, so we took and it gave it to our Halfling fighter-rogue.

A bit of background: the player who plays said Halfling has the WORST DICE LUCK IN THE WORLD. Seriously. I've played with him for years, and his bad luck defies statistics in a way incomprehensible to us mere mortals. As an example, in a Hunter: the Vigil game, he once rolled 6 ones, and no successes, on 11 d10s. We don't let him touch other players' dice, because his bad luck is temporarily contagious. In 5e, he can only play a Halfling, so he can reroll those ones, which he routinely gets multiple times per combat.

Heck, having bad luck was an integral part of his character backstory! He got the deck, since he was the one who wouldn't be tempted to draw from it. (The rest of the party at the time consisted of an utterly fearless paladin (me), a low-WIS Sorceress, a high-WIS monk played by an extremely low WIS player, a fighter who was a new addition to the party and not particularly trusted, and a dwarf Arcane Trickster with a severe gambling addiction.)

We figure that once we get out of the demiplane and back to civilization, we'll find a secure place for it, or maybe auction it off. In the meantime, we move on.

Long story short, we are able to track down the Legendary Vampire and defeat her in an epic battle that leaves the party badly wounded and utterly drained of resources - but she escapes in Misty Form, and we end up in a reckless dive into the trapped depths of her castle to find her coffin before she can reform and come back for us!

We are too late, when we get to her coffin room, she has already reformed and regenerated, and has a contingent of Vampire Spawn backing her up. We're low on hit points, almost completely out of spells, Ki, and class abilities, and she is in the heart of her power.

Within two rounds, the sorceress is down and bleeding out, the fighter has been Dominated and was busy shredding the monk, and the dwarf rogue had tripped a trap and got teleported into a tomb where he was being buried alive. My paladin, who was the only one capable of dealing consistent damage to the Vampire, realized that the end was nigh.

He tells the Halfling to grab the sorceress' unconscious body and run for it, and he would hold the vampires off for as long as he could, so at least some of them would survive to warn the world that the legendary vampire was still at large.

Instead, the Halfling player just looks our DM straight in the eye, and says "I pull out the Deck of Many things."

Cue groans around the table.

The Halfling invokes the Goddess of Luck by name, calling out to her that his lifetime of bad luck has been in service to Her and according to Her will - and now, she owes him!

The DM pulls out his deck of cards, shuffles them ostentatiously. "How many cards?" he asks the halfling's player, not able to keep the evil grin off his face.

Stone-faced, but with a manic gleam in his eye, he replies "Two."

Two cards are dealt to him, face down.

The whole table cranes to look at he picks them up. The first card, the Vizier. There is a sigh of relief. Sure, kind of useless if you are about to die, but at least it wasn't something catastrophic.

Then the second card. He flips it over, and we stare at it in shock. The moon - three Wishes! There is a second of stunned silence around the table, and then we explode into cheers, howls of delight, and backslapping.

When he uses his first Wish to heal and restore the party, the Vampire doesn't stand a chance.

His character is now known as the Favored Consort of the Lady of Luck, and a literal lifetime of astonishingly bad luck paid off in spades for the player.

Inevitability
2016-04-24, 12:51 PM
I hadnt thought about it that way, but what I more meant was, if you gave a level 1 and a level 20 this card, would they both be really happy with their reward? Or would the 20 get some bit of junk he has surpassed long ago?

Well, in 5e magic items aren't taken for granted and a party might in fact end up with very little in the way of magic, so even if you're level 20 a free rare item will probably be appreciated.

Âmesang
2016-04-24, 01:19 PM
Speaking of the deck, one of the cards grants "a major magic weapon" What exactly constitutes a major magic weapon? I mean, does it vary depending on level? Is it up to the dm's discretion entirely?
If you're feeling lazy you can roll on the "Specific Weapons" table in the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide using the "Major" column.

A roll of 100 on the d% gets you a 3 wish luck blade. :smallbiggrin:

Inevitability
2016-04-24, 01:52 PM
If you're feeling lazy you can roll on the "Specific Weapons" table in the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide using the "Major" column.

A roll of 100 on the d% gets you a 3 wish luck blade. :smallbiggrin:

Which can be used to wish for several DomT's. Maybe it's all part of the DomT's reproductional cycle?

BWR
2016-04-24, 03:03 PM
I'll start with slight rant:
I do not understand the hate so many people have for the DoMT. Yes it can be dangerous but barring things like the Red Jester (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/red-jester) players have themselves to thank. But it isn't just a bunch of good or bad effects. The most important thing about the DoMT is to not think of it as nothing but a bunch of status effects that always manifest the same way. It is an artifact and therefor plot hooks in physical form. Things like the outsider enmity and a friend betraying you have the right idea. The effects do not necessarily show up immediately, they may be a bit delayed and the DM should not be afraid to alter the effects of the cards a bit to encourage a story (and keep things a bit mysterious and unpredictable). Every card can be made into a story, and I think it becomes so much more fun when it does.

In one long-running, multi-generational campaign I play in (and partially run) my original character got a DoMT. I can't even remember which cards he pulled but it wasn't anything too damaging one way or the other. What he does with it these days is the more interesting thing: when the children of his family (or those of close family friends) officially become adult he allows them to draw from the deck. He informs them of what it is and what consequences there may be (based on what he knows of the cards).

This has lead to no end of awesome stories.

Get a castle? Now you have a story seed for how you actually get the castle. Conquest? Inherit it from a ghost you befriend? Find a small temple in a remote valley and dedicate your life to contemplation and ministering the spiritual and educational needs of the locals?

Gain the services of a 4th level fighter? New NPCs to befriend and expand the cast of characters. What adventures happen to make this person become so loyal to you? What happens now that you have a loyal friend who might have baggage?

Get a major magic weapon: How did you find it? What happens now that you have it? (major weapons are not just faceless, history-less items in this campaign)

For instance, one grandson pulled the Fool - lose 10 000 xp and draw again. But how does a 1st level character lose 10 000 xp? Does it not apply? Does it suck up the next 10k xp to come his way? Or does it remove all class features? Guess which we chose.
No skills, no feats, no class abilities, nothing but ability scores left for someone who was the pride of his school and had the eyes of the nation on him, full of expectations of greatness. How to regain his skills without showing his shame to the world?

One poor kid pulled five black cards. Bad saves, outsider enmity, fight a dread wraith, lose all wealth and property and have a friend turn against him. Well, the wraith was taken care of by bad-ass great-granddad (as well as the one that showed up to stop him interfering), but he didn't really have any wealth or property. Rich family but little of value that he actually owned and nothing that wouldn't be easily replaced, and no notable friends that we had developed before this event. So the cards did not take effect immediately but ruined things at the next natural opportunity in the game. He managed to let loose a dangerous demon and had his teacher throw him out of school for being a failure and cast out of family and clan for being so bloody useless and dangerous. So out on his own with a demon that wants to eat his soul.
Then he became Tainted (yay, -1 to saves).

One girl (woman, officially) had the soul trapped. Since this had occurred to a couple others (who had awesome stories for regaining their souls) we decided it was less of a soul trap and more of a spirited away to distant lands, hidden from magical means of discovery and recovery. Instant adventure for her to get back home.

One pulled two Suns and got two castles, then got trapped in the dreams of a mad god. The xp was her becoming infused with some of the god's knowledge and the magic items were infused with some of its power (we ruled that no xp was lost, so she was pretty powerful).


Not every card becomes a story but many do, and it's always fun when they do.

Pex
2016-04-24, 07:00 PM
Not so much funny but a happy ending.

It was a 2E game. I was playing a cleric, not that his class is relevant to the story. This was with a college group, and we were allowed to port our characters among different DM's games all considered part of the same world. As I played along I was getting irritated with the character. I can't really say why, I just know I wasn't having fun playing it as the game sessions passed. When a deck of many things showed up, I drew two cards without hesitation not caring what happened. If my character dies or was "lost" I wouldn't care because it would be an excuse to myself to stop playing the character. The first card was The Jester, netting me 10,000 XP. I immediately gained a level. The second card was The Knight, giving me a loyal fighter companion.

Since I hadn't lost my character I didn't have an excuse to myself to stop playing it. However, things changed. With my new level and NPC buddy, I noticed I started having fun again with the character. It was like a spark. Something really Nice happened to my character that became a morale boost for me personally. I stayed with the character until he was retired at level 15. It was my first character to ever reach that level, and it was a lot of fun playing and having spells like Heal and Find The Path as tactical choices to make, stuff only NPC Patrons ever did before. The character became one of my favorites, and I miss playing him even after all this time. As typical with many DMs, he has a place in my world when I DM.

Ironically enough, the Deck of Many Things saved my character.

Draconium
2016-04-24, 07:10 PM
Well, the first long-running campaign my group participated in was actually set around the DomT... More specifically, the main point of the campaign was to destroy the thing. Good times... :smallbiggrin: