Random question about the Deck of Many Things

[JetThomasBoat]

Okay, so you know for one of the cards in the Deck of Many Things, you get the services of a fourth level fighter? I was wondering if any of you have any zany stories about it. Like did you keep them around? Did you do anything funny with them?

For our group, to avoid the cliche of someone trying to get a female fighter so they would basically have an escort along for the ride, one of the DMs ruled that in his campaigns, it would basically be a genderless clone that could swing a sword.

Anyone else have any funny stories?

[Toofey]

I gave a halfling character in a game I was DMig (who was a 16th level thief at the time) a very loyal 4th level fighter who was mostly interested in cooking.

[Rethmar]

I had a character that drew this card, as well as the one that gives you a small keep. I had my 4th level fighter clean and take care of my keep while I was away saving the world and all that.

[Jay R]

At eighth level, my character became an Earl, ruling a county in which he knew almost nobody. As an adventurer, he will be gone often, and needed to county ruled by somebody who would be loyal to him no matter what.

So the fighter from the Knight card is now his seneschal - simply because he is by definition completely loyal.

[JetThomasBoat]

I think one time one of our party members died and we were all like level five, so the player who's PC died just took over the 4th level fighter. I think the owner of the 4th level fighter was mad :P

[Tyndmyr]

A party I was in once found a deck. Basically nobody drew from it, as our chars had no idea what exactly it was. Instead, the rogue swiped it, and wandered around the thieves guild with it, offering it to random people.

One after another, they all drew the "change of alignment" card, and vowed to mend their evil ways, rushing off to join the temple.

Traumatized, the rogue threw it away.

[Exediron]

I haven't ever had any experience with the Knight card from the stock Deck of Many Things, but I did have a slightly humorous time with a character drawing from a modified deck. The characters had found three Decks of Many things on the fifth level of a great tower they were going through. One was slightly lower risk/reward than standard, one was equivalent to standard and one was higher risk/reward.

One of the group, a half-orc barbarian, elected to take two draws from the higher deck. The first draw was Knight, which on this deck created a loyal warrior of slightly higher than the characters own level to follow them. Rolling randomly to create the follower, it spawned a beautiful elven warrior maiden, who pledged allegiance to the half-orc.

Feeling smug, the half-orc drew a second card. Idiot: On this deck, the effect was 'Lose all intelligence. You are dead'. The horrified elf screamed as the half-orc's brains boiled out right in front of her, a bare six seconds after she had come into the world.

The party felt sorry for the elf and hired her. She later died on the next level of the tower.

[Erik Vale]

Thats cruel..... And funny... And cruel.... (Get the picture).

I need to persaude my GM for one for these.

[Peacehammer]

I haven't played with the Deck of Many Things, but I have a questions about it:

How would you get hold of it?

I don't think it is possible to craft one (Why would you put the bad ones it), which means that you would have to find it. Where would you look for it? Who would be holding it.

I kind of have this idea that it would be held in a temple of a trickster, and it would be a complete sidequest to obtain it.

After all, this is one of those game breaking things: eg, take the Leadership feat, get every member of your retinue to draw a card, and loot all the huge amount of stuff they get.

[Exediron]

After all, this is one of those game breaking things: eg, take the Leadership feat, get every member of your retinue to draw a card, and loot all the huge amount of stuff they get.

I don't think any DM should allow that to happen without a very good explanation. Many of the benefits from the Deck apply only to the person who drew them, and your followers aren't your mind slaves (well, unless you're a particularly creepy leader) - why would they willingly turn over whatever fabulous reward they got?

As to the rest of your post, the Deck of Many Things is an artifact, so no - it can't be crafted conventionally. Typical places to find one are in the possession of a powerful entity, hidden in a dungeon, stored in a magical museum, etc. I think your idea sounds good - perhaps it's used as some sort of initiation ritual, and the most powerful followers of the Trickster have been buffed by the deck ahead of time, making them more challenging.

[HunterOfJello]

Whenever I offer my players to draw from a strange deck of cards or give them a strange Rod with powerful auras from all 9 spell schools on it, they always get rid of the thing as soon as possible.

They also refuse to experiment with magical items at all, most especially when the item is strange and gives off a powerful aura.

I really don't understand why they do this. They've always had interesting times with all the cursed magical items I've given them before.

[Lord Il Palazzo]

I really don't understand why they do this. They've always had interesting times with all the cursed magical items I've given them before.

But yeah, depending on how you define "interesting", I could see their reaction being entirely reasonable.

[Yukitsu]

I drew that one, then immediately drew the "henchman betrays you" card, so I fired his ass then and there. Don't really know what happened to him after that.

[Blue Bandit]

The only time I managed to draw the knight from a Deck of Many Things, I drew the card that makes you lose all your possessions(The Talon I think) right after it. The DM ruled that the knight counted as one of my possessions by virtue of being in a since, my slave. So I lost him as fast as I gained him.

Our DM has an actual set of the Deck of Many Things ( as opposed to using regular playing cards) that I believe he got in an old Dungeon Magazine. So in every campaign, we run into those blasted cards at one point or another.

[TuggyNE]

I don't think any DM should allow that to happen without a very good explanation. Many of the benefits from the Deck apply only to the person who drew them, and your followers aren't your mind slaves (well, unless you're a particularly creepy leader) - why would they willingly turn over whatever fabulous reward they got?

Another reason Thrallherd can be awesomely broken?

(I do not support breaking games. Please optimize responsibly.)

[holywhippet]

I haven't played with the Deck of Many Things, but I have a questions about it:

How would you get hold of it?

I don't think it is possible to craft one (Why would you put the bad ones it), which means that you would have to find it. Where would you look for it? Who would be holding it.

I kind of have this idea that it would be held in a temple of a trickster, and it would be a complete sidequest to obtain it.

After all, this is one of those game breaking things: eg, take the Leadership feat, get every member of your retinue to draw a card, and loot all the huge amount of stuff they get.

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems...ckofManyThings

You can make one since it's only a minor artifact - you need to be a level 20 caster with the right feat.

As with any artifact, getting hold of one is a factor of DM fiat. They just have to add one in a place where they feel it is appropriate. It could be in the bottom of a dungeon filled with monsters, or they could give it as a door prize for the 10,000th visitor to a pub.

The real abusive danger of the deck is if you use the augury spell before choosing the number to draw. You could cast the spell and ask "What happens if I draw 3 cards?". If the answer is woe then you recast and ask with less cards. Basically if forces the DM to work the cards out in advance.

[Kelb_Panthera]

If I ever used the deck of many things in one of my campaigns, (suppose I want to kill it or something.) I would torpedo augury and every other form of "how many cards should I draw" divinations.

It's an artifact. It's power is something that, RAW, only gods can produce, and only the god that produced it can tell you anything about it. Any god that would craft a DoMT is going to see use of a divination as cheating and refuse to answer.

[holywhippet]

Um, no, a DoMT can be created by any level 20 caster in theory (at the top of the SRD page it does say: "Even so, they are magic items that no longer can be created, at least by common mortal means." but I assume they aren't considering a level 20 caster to be a common mortal.

In theory you could be a bard, wizard, sorcerer etc. and still make a deck of many things. No Gods power required.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Um, no, a DoMT can be created by any level 20 caster in theory (at the top of the SRD page it does say: "Even so, they are magic items that no longer can be created, at least by common mortal means." but I assume they aren't considering a level 20 caster to be a common mortal.

In theory you could be a bard, wizard, sorcerer etc. and still make a deck of many things. No Gods power required.

I agree that a 20th level caster is no ordinary mortal, but the means he uses to craft magic items, item creation feats, are no different than those used by 1st level apprentices and neophytes. Artifacts were revealed to be god-crafted items in Deities and Demigods, on page 37. Craft Artifacts is a salient divine ability, not a normal craft feat. While an epic wizard can craft magic items of artifact level power with one of the epic item creation feats, only the gods can create true artifacts.

[holywhippet]

I agree that a 20th level caster is no ordinary mortal, but the means he uses to craft magic items, item creation feats, are no different than those used by 1st level apprentices and neophytes. Artifacts were revealed to be god-crafted items in Deities and Demigods, on page 37. Craft Artifacts is a salient divine ability, not a normal craft feat. While an epic wizard can craft magic items of artifact level power with one of the epic item creation feats, only the gods can create true artifacts.

Deck of many things is a minor artifact, not a full blown one.

Technically it isn't created the same as other magical items either. If you look at the details for regular magical items to be created on the SRD it lists the feat, spells, cost etc. For minor artifacts though, the only thing listed is caster level - no feat, no spell, no cost.

[The Random NPC]

Deck of many things is a minor artifact, not a full blown one.

Technically it isn't created the same as other magical items either. If you look at the details for regular magical items to be created on the SRD it lists the feat, spells, cost etc. For minor artifacts though, the only thing listed is caster level - no feat, no spell, no cost.

Right, and all the artifacts are under the sentence, "//they are magic items that no longer can be created//"

[Kelb_Panthera]

Deck of many things is a minor artifact, not a full blown one.

Technically it isn't created the same as other magical items either. If you look at the details for regular magical items to be created on the SRD it lists the feat, spells, cost etc. For minor artifacts though, the only thing listed is caster level - no feat, no spell, no cost.

Is this supposed to be an argument for why I'm wrong? Because it kinda looks like it supports my position.