What Is the Deck of Many Things? (2024)

It’s one of the most famous—and most infamous—magic items in Dungeons & Dragons. It has disrupted more games than cats jumping on tables, and even makes seasoned Dungeon Masters nervous. It is the Deck of Many Things.

With the Deck of Many Things set, you’ll dive deeper into these chaotic cards with a new expanded physical deck, plus a brand new sourcebook, The Book of Many Things.

But what exactly isthe Deck of Many Things? Here’s your introduction to the legendary magic item.

• Pick a Card, Any Card… Wait, Not That One!
• Deal Us In: The History Behind the Deck
• What the Book of Many Things Adds

Pick a Card, Any Card… Wait, Not That One!

The Deck of Many Things is an iconic and magical deck of cards in D&D lore.

While the number of cards in the Deck may vary, each card is infused with powerful magic that can alter the course of your character’s life or even your campaign. For example:

Artist: HINCHEL OR

• The Fates allows you to avoid or erase one event from history as if it never happened.
• Donjon imprisons you in an extradimensional sphere.
• Gem grants you incredible wealth.
• Ruin strips you of all your worldly possessions. (Well, most of them. You get to keep your magic items, so, you’ve got that going for you, which is nice.)

Using the Deck of Many Things is easy. Dealing with the consequences is where things get tricky.

Before drawing from the Deck, you must declare how many cards you intend to draw, and then draw that many cards at random. Each card takes effect as soon as it is drawn. Fail to draw the appropriate number of cards, and the remaining cards will spring from the deck and take effect.

Deal Us In: The History Behind the Deck

One of the reasons the Deck of Many Things remains such a popular item is that from the beginning, it was designed to be a tangible and interactive aspect of the game for players, and not just for their characters.

When the Deck was first introduced in 1975 in the Greyhawk supplement book, the original 18-card concept was designed to be assembled with a standard deck of cards, utilizing the face cards plus the jokers. This increased the immersion and the stakes. It wasn’t just your character drawing the declared cards, it was you.

Newer source materials and different editions of D&D have added and removed cards from the total available over the years, bringing it to 13 or 22 cards in fifth edition. Over time, the cards have been given more defined features and names, as well. Tarot card variations on the Deck began being published as well, and as tarot cards became more popular and accessible to the mainstream, rules for how to utilize them as an alternative to playing cards were published.

Every new edition of D&D has dealt with the Deck of Many Things in new and interesting ways. The third edition established the Deck as a minor artifact. The fourth edition implied that the cards in the Deck were imbued with sentience, a willpower that beseeched the adventurers to help them sow chaos in the world. The Deck has grown and adapted to fit each version of D&D.

With The Book of Many Things, the Deck is being examined yet again, this time with a greater emphasis on different ways to include and customize the Deck of Many Things to best serve your game and the storytelling you’re doing. While many DMs and players over the years have hung “beware” signs on the Deck of Many Things to ward off others, The Book of Many Things invites you to take a draw. It reminds you that, in fact, you hold all the cards and can tailor them to suit your campaign.

What The Book of Many Things Adds

Artist: JULIE DILLON

The Book of Many Things expands the lore of the Deck so that its weight as a legendary wondrous item can truly be felt within the world it inhabits. The book’s chapters are modeled after the cards of the Deck itself and allow DMs to flesh out the impact of finding it, drawing from it, and existing in a world where such a chaotic force can be found.

The Deck Has Friends and Enemies

If your characters have interacted with the Deck, you might have interacted with factions who keep eyes on it. The Solar Bastion monitors the Deck across the multiverseand tries to limit the damage it causes. The Heralds of the Comet are a nihilistic doomsday cult hungry to find the original Deck as a means to carry out their own twisted goals, the kind you expect a nihilistic doomsday cult to have. There’s also the Grim Harrow, a faction of undead who seek the destruction of the Deck so they can finally be at peace.

Expanding Game Mechanics for the Cards

Remember that Donjon card I mentioned earlier? Have you ever wondered what the dungeon inside that sphere looks like and what is involved in hunting it down and trying to free your compatriot? The Book of Many Things can lead you on a journey toward not only finding the Donjon sphere but also delving into its dungeon.

Personal History for Characters

Perhaps you’re a player who wants your character’s backstory tobe tied to the Deck of Many Things. Two new background options are available: Rewarded and Ruined, which allow you to begin play as a character whose fate was altered, either by the Deck or a similar magic item. You could start the game aware of the effect that the Deck had on you, or you could be someone unaware that you had a whole other life but are now living a different path due to a card draw.

Are You Ready for a Reading?

The Deck of Many Things is known for the hurricane of disruption that it can drop into your campaign. But what The Book of Many Thingscan show you is that it doesn’t have to feel that way. Not only does the book show us multiple ways in which the Deck can work alongside your campaign, but it can even have the potential to be at the center of your campaign.

So if you’re ready to try your luck, be sure to grab The Book of Many Thingsas part of the all-new Deck of Many Things set!

Riley Silverman (@rileyjsilverman) is a contributing writer to D&D Beyond, Nerdist, and SYFY Wire. She DMs the Theros-set Dice Ex Machina for the Saving Throw Show, and has been a player on the Wizards of the Coast-sponsored The Broken Pact. Riley also played as Braga in the official tabletop adaptation of the Rat Queens comic for HyperRPG, and currently plays as The Doctor on the Doctor Who RPG podcast The Game of Rassilon. She currently lives in Los Angeles.