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So... this last Sunday when my group got together the DM sprang a "tough" fight on our group of three 1st level characters + wolf animal companion. Afterwards we began searching a chamber and found a variety of artifacts of power.
One of these items was the Deck of Many Things. Needless to say much hilarity ensued... but there were some lucky draws first and then unlucky draws. Being rather unwise my fighter Gregor was the first to draw one card. I had managed to draw the hard that gave me 50,000 exp. and a moderate magical item. Having gained a wealth of experience in such a short time I RP'ed him wandering off to a corner to absorb his new life experiences. (on the slow progression and still gained 4 levels)
The other two players (a druid and a cleric) changed off drawing cards back and forth. The player of a cleric got 4 wishes... then managed to draw three bad cards in a row which he negated with his wishes... While he was deciding what to do the other druid's player drew several cards managing to get his soul entrapped... which was negated with the cleric's final wish and then get a 4th level fighter retainer and 10,000 experience. The cleric drew several more times and managed to get a castle, a mace of smiting, a free avoid any situation card, as well as draw a card that let him level up on the next creature he defeats. (At which point a spider wandered by.)
So our party of 3 first level characters is now a party of...
Gregor - Human Fighter 5th
Hida - Half-elf Cleric 2nd (master of a castle)
Phin - Half-elf Druid 3rd (4th level Fighter Retainer + Wolf Animal Companion)
... and we've managed to wander onto the elemental plane of earth through a portal in the next room. This'll be interesting.
Do any of the wonderful members of the boards have amusing stories dealing with artifacts?
I do not like the Deck of Many Things as is. It is too game changing. You can't continue the game; you have to radically alter it.
It would be just as fun an item to throw into a high level game once in a while if the boons and curses were toned down a little.
Instead of a bajillion free GPs, receive 30,000. Instead of getting trapped with Imprisonment, get trapped in a Maze with a minotaur that reanimates one round after it's killed for eternity. Instead of getting a stronghold and land somewhere, get a magic item that creates a Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion for 8 hours per day. A Wish that doesn't try to screw you over -- a Wish that does try to screw you over. Gain a little XP or lose a little XP -- not so much that it dramatically affects the game.
So, it's really cool or unfortunate stuff that is occasionally fun for a High Level game but it doesn't break the game.
I gave my high-level players a Deck of Many things (literally-I made the deck and it can be seen here on my artblog.)
One character refused to touch the deck completely, another drew Death the first draw and barely survived the fight, having begged the cleric to save him with some healing (and causing the cleric to fight his own reaper). Another character said he wasn't going to draw, but ended up drawing four cards, gaining wealth, losing it all, lost experience, and finally a wish which he used to wish he had never drawn any cards in the first place.
The cleric drew one card, and won himself a brand new castle. The dwarf fighter, who had been experiencing numerous dream sequences revealing tidbits of his forgotten past, was granted a wish, and asked for his full memory to be returned. THAT was quite the game changer, as it set the group off in an entirely new direction in the campaign to realize his destiny. I was eventually going to do the reveal for him, but this just sped up the process.
The last character (a rogue) gained a fighter cohort and drew the Rogue card. He was eventually betrayed by his own master and nearly killed. The player no longer games with us, but the new player that is entering the game after I restart it next year is taking over the character and has been given some secret instructions which will lead him to eventually betray his own party at a critical juncture, which I will happily blame upon the deck. :D
None of my players read these boards, so I'm safe..
Never used the Deck of Many Things, but my group instead has a custom item that pops up in nearly every campaign - spread across 3 or 4 DMs even - known as the Bag of Fate.
Basically the DM alerts the players that Bag of Fate will be appearing in the campaign soon, and the players each create a custom magic item, or pull an item out of a book. It can be pretty much anything they want, it can even have a nasty curse on it. However, the one other rule is that if the player's description is vague, the DM can fill in the blanks on their item. Furthermore, the DM also creates an item.
All the items - written on pieces of paper - are placed in a dice bag and shaken up, and the players each draw one. They write the description one side of the paper and the properties on the other; the drawing player reads only the description and has to find out the item properties through in-game events and actions.
Some fun items we've gotten:
* A deck that summons the monster depicted on the card. The monster attacked the first creature in the area that made a noise, then vanished. The psion in one party got it, summoned a Clay Golem, shouted "Whoa sweet!" and got sucker-punched and inflicted.
* A pair of Ninja Shoes. Allowed Water Walk, Spiderclimb, Longstrider, and similar effects.
* A Figurine of Wondrous Power: Iron Golem/Pirate Ship/Heavily Armed Carriage ("Tank"). Yes, someone put in a Transformer.
My Beloved Spouse (Kobold chorus: "We love you!") and I are playing a planar travel game, and in the party's travels they encountered a Halfling Deity friendly to the party's main NPC (they used to adventure together before the Halfling went all ascendy. Said deity pulled out an edited Deck of Many Things and invited us to draw.
We did.
The Main NPC (an Elven Wizard/Fighter/Rogue named Olias) drew the Throne and got a keep. We needed a base of operations, and now we have one.
The Dwarven Evoker, Gerfried Isidor, drew the Knight and gained a 4th level fighter. Amusingly, this retainer became the Keep's cook and quartermaster and mostly stayed home. He later joined the main party in Castle Amber and got slurped by an ooze.
The Bariaur Planar Ranger, Vash Doe of Vara of the Dalerunners of Ysgard, drew the Key and was given a +1/+3 longsword that belonged to a legendary Valkyrie.
The Kitsune Bard (Akakino Chouko) drew the Jester, and chose two more draws. Rocked it with Vizier and Fates.
The half-Demon Sorcerer (whose name escapes me currently) drew the Gem. We needed capital to fund the operation, which we now had.
And finally Clarice Brindlespot, our Gnomish Archivist, drew the Star and bumped her Wisdom.
That night, upon returning to the Keep, the Kitsune had a dream wherein the Halfling Deity appeared to her. Being a trickster Deity, he likes the Kitsune's Chaotic nature. And gives her an UNedited Deck of Many Things. Which follows her back to the waking world.
Later, the Kitsune, the half-Demon and the Bariaur set out to go exploring the area around the Keep. Making peaceful contact with the locals, to boldly go where many have gone before. That sort of thing.
As they reach the point where they want to stop for the night, they realize that noone packed sleeping gear. No tents, no blankets, no bedrolls.
"I have an idea!" the Kitsune proclaims, drawing the Deck. "We'll pick a few cards and we'll definitely get something good!" (paraphrasing of course)
So they do. The half-Demon draws Flames and scratches her head. "Huh, I wonder what that did." Vash draws the Sun and sky-rockets to 8th level. (this is a 3.0 game)
The Kitsune draws the Key and gets a Nine-Lives Stealer longsword! Then the Retriever shows up to take the half-Demon back to her former Master in the Abyss (Emnity between her and a powerful Evil Outsider).
At this point, the highest level character is like... level 8. The Retriever is CR 11. Retriever grabs half-Demon and proceeds to wipe the rest of the party. Well, kinda. The Bariaur does some damage to the thing, but in the end falls. The Kitsune, in desperation, draws again. This time, she gets the Knight. Being a character of an Eastern bent, she gets a Samurai (yanked from Complete Warrior) rather than a standard Fighter. The Samurai (whom we posthumously named Jack) charges at the Retriever. Chouko draws One More Time and gets Void. Blam, body - soul falls to the ground.
Game pauses for the night as the GM scrambles to pull this back together.
Olias finds the aftermath the next morning. Vash is eviscerated and very dead. The sorceress is missing. Chouko is sans soul and motionless. Boss (which is what the group calls Olias) burns a Wish to return Vash to life and then another Wish to determine where Chouko's soul went. A snowglobe. On a fireplace mantle. In Chateau D'Amberville. Yep, Castle fluffin AMBER. Tamlyn (the sorceress whose name I just remembered) was taken back to the brothel where we originally found her. In the Abyss. High adventure, here we come!
A modified Deck of Many Things showed up in an AD&D campaign I was in ages ago.
Up to three cards could be drawn at one time, but only one had to be turned face up.
An avatar of a CN trickster deity was wandering around with it, playing 3 Card Monte.
Of course, we didn't realize this until after our cleric / fighter had plopped down some gold to play and ended up losing his soul.
