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I'd say that they would be consecutive encounters.
The thing with artifacts like the deck of many things, is that they rarely, if ever, receive any sort of errata, or rules-clarification, unless they are printed in an adventure or AP first, and then put in something for more regular play, later. The deck of many things is an old, Legacy item, that has been around since very long time, relatively speaking. Thus, it’s. It likely to see clarification.
In this case, it is ultimately up to the GM, but, as so many of the various abilities offer nothing but annihilation, and the deck is supposed to be a relatively odds-to-even chance, between good and bad, it seems like it shouldn’t simply annihilate itself, or else it would be guilty of breaking its own rules and spirit (by heavily skewing in favor of bad).
Having it stack so that both effects work at once has the benefit of having the deck activate and get out; the frects are basically resolved and not lingering from that point.
Having it stack by two consecutive encounters makes it much more difficult on the deck-puller, but leaves the deck’s direct effects “in play” (and requiring them to be kept “in memory”) for longer. This creates heightened tension, which can be good, but also creates more memory-work and bookkeeping (as you have to stop and level up twice - a potential problem for the whole table).
Ultimately, it’s up to your group and your GM, but it feels like you got lucky and should be awarded for it - that’s what the deck is all about, after all: high risk of doom and high reward to go with it. Just... use your newfound powers to help your party shine, instead of hogging glory, okay?
;D
I would say that the second one does nothing. Or rather, both will raise you to exactly the same point.
This might seem a bit unfair, but after the first one was drawn, you knew it could be drawn again, and you could have waited up to an hour before drawing again.
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"Comet: The character must single-handedly defeat the next hostile monster or monsters encountered, or the benefit is lost. If successful, the character gains enough XP to attain the next experience level."
The deck of many things is a very dangerous risk/reward gambling system. Each draw had the potential to literally destroy the PC. To shrug that gamble off and say "these two card overlap, not stack" is probably unfair, because that was a pair of draws that could have ended the character entirely.
As a DM, on consideration I'd probably take a break and do some encounter design. Depending on the PC's capabilities, I'd try to generate something fair and balanced, with roughly a 50/50 outcome. I'd probably take the two cards as inspiration that the threat should come from two monsters in a single encounter. Yes, that increases the danger, but the reward of gaining two levels is also pretty intense. (Note: I wouldn't grant wealth-by-level.) Just seems fair.
My mind is wandering... metagaming nastiness: the PC should have the party's wizard cast summon monster II (or druid do similar) if at all possible, and have them attack the PC. Welcome to cheese.
I would not describe a summoned monster attacking you on behalf of an ally as "hostile."
Agreed on not negating the PC's gamble.
I feel it's worth noting:
Defeat the next monster you meet to gain one level.
The "get an ally to summon the monster" is legit.
Comet: The character must single-handedly defeat the next hostile monster or monsters encountered, or the benefit is lost. If successful, the character gains enough XP to attain the next experience level.
A mere summons is... debatable.
... but if your ally were to summon, say, a daemon. It should be pretty hostile.
I mean, yeah, it's an evil act, but who wouldn't do a little evil for a friend... you know?
>:)
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For what it's worth, canon is that the cards are replaced, making it entirely possible to draw something twice. Not replacing cards could skew something that's very carefully balanced in a particular way.
"Carefully balanced" and "Deck of Many Things" are not two phrases that relate to one another.
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SHORT ANSWER: I would say that they stack.
I curb-stomp a kobold.
First card effect goes off: I have defeated the next monster, so I gain one level.
I have defeated the next monster, so the second card effect also goes off and I gain one level.
That's a total of two levels.
If the card said, “Defeat the next monster you meet to advance to the next level,” then I would say that the second card has no effect. However, it doesn't, it says you gain one level and there's nothing preventing both cards from working, so you should gain two levels.
SHORT ANSWER: I would say that they stack.
** spoiler omitted **
I have a slightly longer reply about how you stillmkight be correct, but for this short post, I’ll just mention you might want to look at my earlier post to see the actual wording: you seem to be reading the short version rather than the long version.
Comet: The character must single-handedly defeat the next hostile monster or monsters encountered, or the benefit is lost. If successful, the character gains enough XP to attain the next experience level.
The long version supports the second card being wasted; such is the capriciousness of The Deck of Many Things.
But the short description (which is also RAW) indicates that one gains two levels.
This, it's up to your DM to decide and either way, s/he's within the rules.
This is a definition of 'charm' with which I am utterly unfamiliar. (Can you guess that I really hate this thing and won't touch it with an industry-standard ten foot adventuring pole?)
The DoMT is my absolute favorite magic item & has been since 1st edition. I love springing it on PC's, 'cuz most of them can't resist drawing from the deck...at least once.
Favorite DoMT story: one of the 3.5 books (DMG II maybe) introduced a variant DoMT, where one of the cards was a forced reincarnation. My wife had spent weeks building the "perfect Elf character", she even found a website to translate her character background into the elven language.
Then she drew the card and was transformed into a Dwarf...to this day she still 1) hates dwarves and 2) refuses to come within 30' of a DoMT.
As for the OP's situation, I'd say they stack and he gets 2 levels from the next encounter. However, I tend to play on the munchkin side of things, so take my advice with a grain of salt.
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Favorite DoMT story: one of the 3.5 books (DMG II maybe) introduced a variant DoMT, where one of the cards was a forced reincarnation. My wife had spent weeks building the "perfect Elf character", she even found a website to translate her character background into the elven language.
Then she drew the card and was transformed into a Dwarf...to this day she still 1) hates dwarves and 2) refuses to come within 30' of a DoMT.
I don't understand how this isn't a story about your ex-wife.
I would go with two levels from one monster. This was a huge risk. The player got lucky and rewarded for taking that risk. Twice. I mean when you are a DM and choose to put the deck on the table it can’t only be for your own fun. You have to accept the RNG that comes with it. Otherwise it is really unfair for the player.