The Deck of Many Things is a hand grenade many a DM has thrown into their campaign. It’s a borderline game-breaking magical item, and there’s been unlimited commentary throughout the years about the dangers of adding one to your campaign. People spend countless hours arguing back and forth about the merits of each card, the effects the cards have on a campaign, and the insane things players wish for when they are lucky enough to pull a Moon card.
Let’s take a look at the deck from our perspective as players. Most of the time, we only see the cards as impressive or deadly. In reality, there is a wide range of good and bad cards, especially in a twenty-two-card deck. How you approach them is up to you.
The Deck of Many Things
The latest incarnation of the item can be found in the 5th edition Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Wondrous Item, legendary
Usually found in a box or pouch, this deck contains a number of cards made of ivory or vellum. Most (75 percent) of these decks have only thirteen cards, but the rest have twenty-two.
Before you draw a card, you must declare how many cards you intend to draw and then draw them randomly (you can use an altered deck of playing cards to simulate the deck). Any cards drawn in excess of this number have no effect. Otherwise, as soon as you draw a card from the deck, its magic takes effect. You must draw each card no more than 1 hour after the previous draw. If you fail to draw the chosen number, the remaining number of cards fly from the deck on their own and take effect all at once.
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.
Generally, when your characters find a deck of cards, they immediately know something is up. Even without using detect magic, it’s a dead giveaway that you have a powerful set of cards when the DM requires you to tell them how many cards you will draw. The cards are broken down as follows:
Positive Effect Cards
Thirteen-card deck (7): Jester, Key, Knight, Moon, Star, Sun, Throne
Twenty-two card deck (11): Comet, Fates, Gem, Vizier
Negative Effect Cards
Thirteen-card deck (6): Euryale, Flames, Rogue, Ruin, Skull, The Void
Twenty-two card deck (11): Balance, Donjon, Fool, Idiot, Talons
The odds are slightly in your favor when you have a thirteen-card deck but 50/50 when you are lucky enough to find a twenty-two-card deck of fun and mayhem. Let’s break the cards down into categories more than just positive and negative, ranking them from worst to best. In doing so, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. There’s always a lot of talk about all the negative cards you could draw, and I never realized there were just as many beneficial cards in the larger deck.
Another interesting tidbit is there are no cards that kill your character outright. There’s a fair amount of discussion about the ‘deadly’ cards, but there is no card you can draw that says, “You die. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars”. Now, being suspended in an extradimensional sphere or having your soul trapped in a box somewhere isn’t fantastic, but at least your friends can try to save you.
Each card will be ranked based on its effects. Cards with an * are only found in the twenty-two-card deck.
Excellent - This is a card you really, really want.
Good - A positive effect card, but it’s no three wishes.
Meh - Positive that does little or negative that’s annoying but manageable.
Ugh - Not a card you want to draw. Hard to overcome or end its effects.
F*&k me - You’re screwed.
Euryale
The card’s medusa-like visage curses you. You take a −2 penalty on saving throws while cursed in this way. Only a god or the magic of The Fates card can end this curse.
Ugh - It could be a lot worse. If you don’t have a twenty-two-card deck, let’s hope you’re in good standing with a divine being. In the earlier editions, the card could prove to be quite deadly. Saving throws were much harder to make, and there were any number of effects that would immediately kill you if you failed. That -2 doesn’t seem quite as bad now, does it?
Idiot*
Permanently reduce your Intelligence by 1d4 + 1 (to a minimum score of 1). You can draw one additional card beyond your declared draws.
Ugh - This is a bad card, and if you’re a wizard, it’s an F*&k me card. The biggest problem for most players when they draw this card is losing points from their character’s dump stat. If you lose 5 points of Intelligence when you only had 10 to start, that -3 modifier you now have will hurt. Being able to draw an additional card may feel like it will take the sting out of your loss of brain power. That is, of course, until you pull the Flames card.
Key
A rare or rarer magic weapon with which you are proficient appears in your hands. The DM chooses the weapon.
Meh to Excellent - A Deck of Many Things isn’t something that will usually appear in a campaign when the characters are low-level. By the time it does, most characters already have a powerful weapon. If the DM decides to roll on a random table and you end up with a needle of mending, you’re probably going to sell it the first opportunity you get. On the flip side, if the legendary warpick Ironfang appears at your feet, you’ll be nothing but sunshine and smiles.
Knight
You gain the service of a 4th-level fighter who appears in a space you choose within 30 feet of you. The fighter is of the same race as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the fates have drawn him or her to you. You control this character.
Good - A 4th level friend is nothing to shake a stick at. With the addition of the sidekick rules in Tasha's, let's assume you have a 4th-level warrior sidekick. This newly found comrade has the following abilities: Proficiency in a single saving throw, two skill proficiencies, and a slew of weapon proficiencies. The warrior is either an Attacker or Defender, the first gaining a +2 bonus to all attack rolls, and the latter being able to use its reaction to impose disadvantage on a creature's attack roll within 5 feet of its target that isn't the sidekick. Hey wizards, you now have your own personal meatshield. The sidekick warrior also gains the second wind trait and the improved critical hit ability (crit on a 19 or 20). Even if the rest of the party is 15th level, your best buddy can still be an asset in any battle.
Rogue
A nonplayer character of the DM’s choice becomes hostile toward you. The identity of your new enemy isn’t known until the NPC or someone else reveals it. Nothing less than a wish spell or divine intervention can end the NPC’s hostility toward you.
Ugh - This card is fun for the DM, but not most certainly not for you. Unlike the Flames card, where the devil is actively making your life a living hell, this NPC lurks in the shadows, constantly messing with you. Whether this new foe sends creatures to attack you or sabotages your best-laid plans, such interference in your life can range from annoying to deadly.
Ruin
All forms of wealth that you carry or own, other than magic items, are lost to you. Portable property vanishes. Businesses, buildings, and land you own are lost in a way that alters reality the least. Any documentation that proves you should own something lost to this card also disappears.
Ugh - This was a terrible card in the 1st edition. Your goal in life after reaching a specific level was to build a castle and have henchmen. If you've no money to pay them, you'll have henchmen no more. Now, maybe you and your friends own a tavern. Not sure if all of your booze, food, and furnishing will disappear. At least you get to keep your magic weapons.
You summon an avatar of death—a ghostly humanoid skeleton clad in a tattered black robe and carrying a spectral scythe. It appears in a space of the DM’s choice within 10 feet of you and attacks you, warning all others that you must win the battle alone. The avatar fights until you die or it drops to 0 hit points, whereupon it disappears. If anyone tries to help you, the helper summons its own avatar of death. A creature slain by an avatar of death can’t be restored to life.
F*&k me - The avatar of death isn't the most powerful creature you'll ever encounter. Defeating the creature alone may not seem that difficult at first glance, but don't be fooled. Its Reaping Scythe action is an auto hit, an AC of 20 is good, and a fly speed of 60 ft can help keep it out of range of melee fighters. Also, the avatar doesn't specify what will happen if you do not heed his warning, so there's a good chance at least one other person will be fighting their own avatar of death. Learn your lesson, watch your friend fight death, and have a resurrection spell handy, just in case.
Throne
You gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill, and you double your proficiency bonus on checks made with that skill. In addition, you gain rightful ownership of a small keep somewhere in the world. However, the keep is currently in the hands of monsters, which you must clear out before you can claim the keep as yours.
Good - I've always found this to be a strange card. Proficiency in Persuasion is, well, fine. There's probably a decent chance you already have proficiency in this skill. If so, you've gained nothing from the first half of the card. The second half grants you a home you can call your own. Who hasn't dreamed of having a keep they can call their own? Unfortunately, it's filled with squatters who probably won't just pick up and leave. I'm betting they're kobolds. It can add a new quest to your campaign, which revolves around you! Why not use your newfound silver tongue and convince those kobolds to become your loyal followers?
Vizier*
At any time you choose, within one year of drawing this card, you can ask a question in meditation and mentally receive a truthful answer to that question. Besides information, the answer helps you solve a puzzling problem or other dilemma. In other words, the knowledge comes with wisdom on how to apply it.
Meh - The vizier feels like a ribbon card, which was thrown in to balance the positive and negative cards in the twenty-two-card deck. There’s nothing wrong with having a question answered by the universe, which certainly won’t kill you. Make a note of it, tuck it away, and use it when you happen upon an Androsphinx, and one of its tests is solving riddles.
The Void
This black card spells disaster. Your soul is drawn from your body and contained in an object in a place of the DM’s choice. One or more powerful beings guard the place. While your soul is trapped in this way, your body is incapacitated. A wish spell can’t restore your soul, but the spell reveals the location of the object that holds it. You draw no more cards.
F*&k me - If the Donjon is the worst card in the deck, the Void is a very close second. While most people will disagree with me, I beg to differ. At least with the Void, your friends have your body and can keep it safe while they search for your soul. The container where your soul is trapped is heavily guarded, making it harder to get back, but extradimensional planes are no walk in the picnic either.
A Deck of Many Things is a fun and exciting magic item for any campaign. Choose the number of chances, I mean cards, you want to pull and think good thoughts. Who knows, maybe the Moon card is in your future.
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