Deck of many things...

[ImmortalItalian]

So, I feel like such a nerd writing about this but who cares. Recently in my DnD campaign our party ran into some church, etc etc, found a portal to a Demi-Plane then jumped in. We went through rooms, blah, more door opening and demons to face-rape. We came up to a Demon Dragon where my DM insists on not telling me exactly what it was after we killed it since I am fairly new to DnD at this point.

I am a 9 Hexblade / 10 Dragon disciple right now and well we easily slayed the dragon which unveiled a room full of treasure. I retrieved a great sword which trapped the dragon's soul within and had random chances to posses and use me as a 26th level caster to destroy everything which I didn't mind. I'm Chaotic Evil. Besides that, we ended up finding a deck of many things...and boy did the fun start.

Our Druid took first and as a party we decided all or nothing to draw all 3 each. She gained a keep, then the next card she lost it, all her wealth and every magic item she possessed. The last one she hated me because of the damn card draw. Next person drew, who was named Omnom our Spelltheif. He quickly drew a 10k experience card, then the next one was his fate. He drew a card which steals his soul and he cannot play his character. Then the next one was another 10k experience. Twas my turn.

Sevian Shadows the Dragon Disciple drew a 10k experience. Then I got another card which gave me permanent - to all my saves. Then the last card was a big screw me over, or so I thought. I drew death. I got to fight Death himself and he was a level CR 25. Caster Fighter Cleric I think. But the battle was almost lost. Until I did a last resort and prayed for my next dice roll when I sat at 10 Hp out of 206 total. I Crit on all of my attacks and downed Death. Retrieved our Spelltheif's soul. Huzzah! But then it was our others turns. There were some hate draws, lose items and property, and Experience. Then came to our final draw of our friend who received the Queen of Diamonds I believe which gave us 3 Wishes. Well he did something stupid and used his ring he had received before, a minor wish and screwed us all over to REDOING the draw.

So we Redid all the BAD draws and got even worse things. Until it came time to...against my belief, the soul in my sword wanted to draw. He drew Death...killed him, got imprisoned within imprisonment, and got a cohort...which we 1 shotted. Here comes the annoying part...We had also intelligent weapons and such. They also drew and got good things or weapons until our Assassin's dagger drew and got wishes. Now...We almost got screwed over by these as you can guess what the assassin within' the dagger wished for. Now matter of opinion...Deck of Many Things...ruins a game or no?

 

[Altorin]

Well, the only time I ever encountered it was level 1.

So yeah, it ruined our game.

But if you're level 19, you should be able to deal with them.

also, a note for the future - paragraphs make a big block of text easier to read, and this is primarily a video game forum

 

[ImmortalItalian]

Well, the only time I ever encountered it was level 1.

So yeah, it ruined our game.

But if you're level 19, you should be able to deal with them.

also, a note for the future - paragraphs make a big block of text easier to read, and this is primarily a video game forum

Laziness also doesn't help. Also a beer doesn't either...A few.

 

[Sennz0r]

Whaaa wall of text! Help, don't have climbing gear!

But seriously, can you put it in paragraphs?

EDIT: I thank you for your time and effort

 

[ImmortalItalian]

Well, the only time I ever encountered it was level 1.

So yeah, it ruined our game.

But if you're level 19, you should be able to deal with them.

also, a note for the future - paragraphs make a big block of text easier to read, and this is primarily a video game forum

Anyways, how did you get it at level 1? Fighting Death or getting anything bad would most likely screw you over and make you hate your DM like hell.

But honestly, what happened at level 1 with the damned deck.

 

[Dogeman5]

Escapist+DnD= way too much,

 

[ImmortalItalian]

I actually HAVE the deck of many things. It's a fun little thing to bring to game.

-Twitch- Fun? Elaborate.

 

[Flying-Emu]

The Deck of Many Things? Really now.
That's probably the least safe item to put into any campaign, at just about any level. Too much risk involved for lower levels, and the rewards you have a CHANCE of getting are too powerful for said low levels, and useless to higher levels.

 

[Caliostro]

...I may be the "alien" here, but nothing in there seems legitimately fun... But to backup your point, to me, the more random chance the less fun.

 

[ImmortalItalian]

The Deck of Many Things? Really now.
That's probably the least safe item to put into any campaign, at just about any level. Too much risk involved for lower levels, and the rewards you have a CHANCE of getting are too powerful for said low levels, and useless to higher levels.

That's the thing. We had a CHANCE to get something and just about every card screwed us over.

We only got one good card, and that was the free wishes card which we cleared everything up.

 

[ImmortalItalian]

...I may be the "alien" here, but nothing in there seems legitimately fun... But to backup your point, to me, the more random chance the less fun.

I think there are more BAD cards then GOOD. I thought it was annoying but we actually pulled through without anyone dying.

 

[Caliostro]

...I may be the "alien" here, but nothing in there seems legitimately fun... But to backup your point, to me, the more random chance the less fun.

I think there are more BAD cards then GOOD. I thought it was annoying but we actually pulled through without anyone dying.

It's still randomness. It's still pulling a card and hoping for the best.

Then again, the game is mostly based on dice rolling and such, so I suppose it depends "how much of the random element do you want in".

 

[ImmortalItalian]

...I may be the "alien" here, but nothing in there seems legitimately fun... But to backup your point, to me, the more random chance the less fun.

I think there are more BAD cards then GOOD. I thought it was annoying but we actually pulled through without anyone dying.

It's still randomness. It's still pulling a card and hoping for the best.

Then again, the game is mostly based on dice rolling and such, so I suppose it depends "how much of the random element do you want in".

Yea...I'd rather the deck gone.

It's a game destroyer, along with the wish spells and miracle spells. Wishing for ANYTHING kinda strips the game of all challenge.

 

[Flying-Emu]

The Deck of Many Things? Really now.
That's probably the least safe item to put into any campaign, at just about any level. Too much risk involved for lower levels, and the rewards you have a CHANCE of getting are too powerful for said low levels, and useless to higher levels.

That's the thing. We had a CHANCE to get something and just about every card screwed us over.

We only got one good card, and that was the free wishes card which we cleared everything up.

You were level 19! You'd be better off razing villages and beginning crusades against Lord Captain-Commander Renan's Elite Guard.
I mean, seriously. You don't get no +10/+10 vorpal broadsword of wounding by using a deck of many things.

 

[ImmortalItalian]

The Deck of Many Things? Really now.
That's probably the least safe item to put into any campaign, at just about any level. Too much risk involved for lower levels, and the rewards you have a CHANCE of getting are too powerful for said low levels, and useless to higher levels.

That's the thing. We had a CHANCE to get something and just about every card screwed us over.

We only got one good card, and that was the free wishes card which we cleared everything up.

You were level 19! You'd be better off razing villages and beginning crusades against Lord Captain-Commander Renan's Elite Guard.
I mean, seriously. You don't get no +10/+10 vorpal broadsword of wounding by using a deck of many things.

Eh. Our DM makes everything harder. Raiding a town or fighting some massive...well anything is pretty difficult. DM gives everything class levels. All monsters have class levels / Interesting spells / Insta Death things. And most of the town's guards stood in massive groups with insane magic items =/

 

[meatloaf231]

I can't stand The Deck of Many Things. I refuse to risk the entire campaign for a chance at getting something fairly useful.

 

[Caliostro]

...I may be the "alien" here, but nothing in there seems legitimately fun... But to backup your point, to me, the more random chance the less fun.

I think there are more BAD cards then GOOD. I thought it was annoying but we actually pulled through without anyone dying.

It's still randomness. It's still pulling a card and hoping for the best.

Then again, the game is mostly based on dice rolling and such, so I suppose it depends "how much of the random element do you want in".

Yea...I'd rather the deck gone.

It's a game destroyer, along with the wish spells and miracle spells. Wishing for ANYTHING kinda strips the game of all challenge.

Next time your friends pull that just wish for something stupid to show them how pointless it is. Something like "I wish to win the game", or "I wish for a chainsaw bazooka of infinite power and ammo. Instantly kills everyone and grants +1 style per shot"... Or just be retarded and go for something like "I wish for a fish!".

 

[ImmortalItalian]

...I may be the "alien" here, but nothing in there seems legitimately fun... But to backup your point, to me, the more random chance the less fun.

I think there are more BAD cards then GOOD. I thought it was annoying but we actually pulled through without anyone dying.

It's still randomness. It's still pulling a card and hoping for the best.

Then again, the game is mostly based on dice rolling and such, so I suppose it depends "how much of the random element do you want in".

Yea...I'd rather the deck gone.

It's a game destroyer, along with the wish spells and miracle spells. Wishing for ANYTHING kinda strips the game of all challenge.

Next time your friends pull that just wish for something stupid to show them how pointless it is. Something like "I wish to win the game", or "I wish for a chainsaw bazooka of infinite power and ammo. Instantly kills everyone and grants +1 style per shot"... Or just be retarded and go for something like "I wish for a fish!".

Each "And" you put in that wish is technically another wish. We literally had to sit down and write it out to make a very good wish into one without loopholes and extra wishes. For instance Omnom our Spelltheif wished "I wish I had my wealth back" He got it back but has no idea where it is. He didn't specify where he wanted it.

 

[Caliostro]

Each "And" you put in that wish is technically another wish. We literally had to sit down and write it out to make a very good wish into one without loopholes and extra wishes. For instance Omnom our Spelltheif wished "I wish I had my wealth back" He got it back but has no idea where it is. He didn't specify where he wanted it.

Wish for the "boss", whatever he is, to die of a heart attack. Or to teleport the objective of your quest to your hands. Tada.

 

[ImmortalItalian]

I actually HAVE the deck of many things. It's a fun little thing to bring to game.

-Twitch- Fun? Elaborate.

Well, see, some of my fellow players like to complain about the rewards we are given for quests. And whenever they do, I just pull out the cards, and begin shuffling them. The first time I did this, I said to my friend, "If you are unhappy with the rewards, you are welcome to try with this." He drew two cards, and had to write up six new characters because of it.
So, it's nice to have an object that speaks for itself. So that whenever they get pissy about rewards, they have a chance to "consider" the alternative.

You're punishing them, not making it fun for them. Although it seems fun to you. I mean honestly our DM is strict with rewards and we let him know so he randomly throws in generosity. Being a scrooge is no way to have your players like you.