Drawing it is a risk, that’s what makes it fun. The point of someone else having the deck is it allows the DM to control when it’s drawn from.
Also, you don’t permanently lose your character with Don Jon… you just have to go find him. Don Jon is one of the better cards because it lets one member play a side character for a while and gives the party a good quest to bring them together and venture into some crazy settings.
Use the deck when you are ready for it and your players are willing. It really relies on the Dm's ability to adapt to the randomness more than anything. It can derail campaigns if you can't bring a detour back around.
If you want to take it easy then I recommend maybe using a soft version of the deck. Use it early in the campaign, maybe session 0 as a prophecy telling device like COS and then build them into your campaign to occur naturally. Doing that in the middle of an established campaign is allot harder.
The best time to introduce the Deck of Many Things is when you've come to the end of your stint as DM in a shared-DM campaign, and you're handing over the potentially disastrous consequences to the next DM :-)
Drawing it is a risk, that’s what makes it fun. The point of someone else having the deck is it allows the DM to control when it’s drawn from.
Also, you don’t permanently lose your character with Don Jon… you just have to go find him. Don Jon is one of the better cards because it lets one member play a side character for a while and gives the party a good quest to bring them together and venture into some crazy settings.
If you want to place strictures on the Deck of Many Things to ensure it's only used when the DM is ready for it, that's fine. Also curious in how your "non-rookie" DMing approach is actually railroading the draw, make it a compulsory act of game changing. Again, that's fine, but as I and many have stated, it's not for everyone, and most of the comments on this thread were spoken of with some experience as opposed to rookie perspectives.
I like how you phrase Don Jon with rookie rhetorical self-awareness gaps in the context of this thread*. When Don Jon is pulled "you just have to go find him" means the game has stolen the player's character (and no one else's) and forces the player to play the game in order to find the character they really want to play (and have to rework them into whatever continuity gaps the desired character will have to reintegrate into, having missed out on the whole mini quest). "It lets one player play a side character for a while" isn't so much an allowance or permission, as your too facile wording puts it, but makes it compulsory. If a player says they want to play someone else for a bit, there's plenty of actually creative ways to accommodate that as opposed to a player who is invested in their character losing that character and being granted the you-called "privilege" to play a side character. One would assume even at the level you're prescribing the Deck as "a good quest bringing the party together and venture into some crazy settings" presumes the characters somehow weren't together for this campaign already ... and the DM is incapable of creating a catalyst to bring that campaign into outlandish settings outside chaos cards. That actually speaks to my and others' claim that the deck is best used in a campaign's creative rut as a literal game changer whose core ideas have been played out.
*I mean calling a player having their character stolen by donjun as an allowance to play a side character or that the deck is somehow needed for party cohesion or a reason to adventure is sorta Orwellian doublespeak via Harlan Ellison DMing, and while a compelling (sic) story, "I have no Mouth But I Must Scream" is a pretty bad setting for a TTRPG dynamic. I mean, I guess you came into the thread feeling folks were hating on the deck, but this intervention doesn't really help and sort of simply reiterates the Deck's function as discussed.. Could be because the target "hating the deck" is actually more cautionary sentiment than malicious.
I've always thought and have used the Deck of Many Things as a plot Device. I plan it out of head of time based on how I think the campaign should go as the DM. A little slight of hand with a physical deck or fudging the numbers. All part and parcel to the DM's Agency which if done fairly and correctly trumps player agency period. It is run at the DM's discretion after all. I know. I know. I'm now 2 years late coming in to the discussion.
There are a few ways I run something like the deck of many things.
Soft magic prophecy which is like the tarokka deck in curse of strahd. The cards effect your planning as a dm and the effect don't occur instantly or unavoidably. Draw at the beginning of the campaign and use the results to add aspects to your future plan because this has allot of flexibility it can be used at any time. For example the cards that would kill wouldn't kill you on the spot but there would be omens of your death and maybe in part of the story a deadly assassin comes after that character.
Absolute chaos where it's more akin to something like a wild magic surge. The effects occur instantly creating chaos. This more about making silly things in your campaign and works best when players are interested in comedy. You can run a one shot all about doing something like a bank heist for the deck using only wand of wonder and chaos magic subclasses for a bit of silly fun. I personally don't think the normal effects of the deck are great for this but there are lots of modified version that can do sillier things which work well.
End game consequences and down time. The effects occur as part of some narrative description you make as dm and the players deal with the consequences afterwards. It can add some random elements to epilogues and time skips after parties disband, take long breaks or consequences to a powerful magic like time travel, wish spells or getting scattered across dimensions.
Back story generator. Also part of a narrative period but more cooperative with the player. You use the deck to help generate back story but for balance reasons you will need to be flexible with effects. So something like a fool card may not mean they start behind the other players but they have a history having failed at being a previous class ect. It also has similar effects to the prophecy route in that it effects your future planning as a dm.
Although a very possibly game breaking item, you have to admit it can have some very fun features. As a DM, your job is to keep the campaign on track and control the world, however, you can also use items like this to add spice and subplots. Part of being the DM is your ability to interpret items. When something game breaking occurs, it is your job to roll with the punches. Sure, some of these cards can essentially erase the character off the board, but they can also be used when a player is gone for a session or two, allowing you to play a rescue quest with the rest of the party. I think that when you are using level 4-5 characters, who's to say that a player being hard to find isn't just as difficult as hunting down another monster that matches the rest of the party's power. The Flames card can add an extra layer of the plot. This can lead to the players to obtain new artifacts or skills and can even get linked into the main plot. Any experience or money gained can be used as the players want to help them to accumulate the fortune that most partis carry. As far as the experience goes, I use a leaning system for my campaign that allows my characters to gain extra proficiencies. I would consider making the experience add points towards a new proficiency instead, so the player doesn't outpace the rest of the party. I think my method will be to have a certain oracle that will allow the players to draw a card for a fee. This will let me control where and when a card can be drawn and help me to be ready for the event, rather than them just drawing in the middle of combat.
the new book really spreads the good word about the deck of many things. a provided level 1 encounter gives the characters the chance to see a deck and perhaps even draw one. pulling out a knight, rogue, flame, or throne could lead to many levels of adventure. spending your gem card might make you easier to track for someone searching for a moon card. later there's huge potential story if the donjon, void, or skull cards come up or you want to meet Euryale herself. personally, i'm hoping to send the scooby gang to the ruins of gardmore abby one day. dm goals!
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Drawing it is a risk, that’s what makes it fun. The point of someone else having the deck is it allows the DM to control when it’s drawn from.
Also, you don’t permanently lose your character with Don Jon… you just have to go find him. Don Jon is one of the better cards because it lets one member play a side character for a while and gives the party a good quest to bring them together and venture into some crazy settings.
Use the deck when you are ready for it and your players are willing. It really relies on the Dm's ability to adapt to the randomness more than anything. It can derail campaigns if you can't bring a detour back around.
If you want to take it easy then I recommend maybe using a soft version of the deck. Use it early in the campaign, maybe session 0 as a prophecy telling device like COS and then build them into your campaign to occur naturally. Doing that in the middle of an established campaign is allot harder.
The best time to introduce the Deck of Many Things is when you've come to the end of your stint as DM in a shared-DM campaign, and you're handing over the potentially disastrous consequences to the next DM :-)
Start small and give them Robe of Useful Items and see how well that goes and then follow Farling's advice.
If you want to place strictures on the Deck of Many Things to ensure it's only used when the DM is ready for it, that's fine. Also curious in how your "non-rookie" DMing approach is actually railroading the draw, make it a compulsory act of game changing. Again, that's fine, but as I and many have stated, it's not for everyone, and most of the comments on this thread were spoken of with some experience as opposed to rookie perspectives.
I like how you phrase Don Jon with rookie rhetorical self-awareness gaps in the context of this thread*. When Don Jon is pulled "you just have to go find him" means the game has stolen the player's character (and no one else's) and forces the player to play the game in order to find the character they really want to play (and have to rework them into whatever continuity gaps the desired character will have to reintegrate into, having missed out on the whole mini quest). "It lets one player play a side character for a while" isn't so much an allowance or permission, as your too facile wording puts it, but makes it compulsory. If a player says they want to play someone else for a bit, there's plenty of actually creative ways to accommodate that as opposed to a player who is invested in their character losing that character and being granted the you-called "privilege" to play a side character. One would assume even at the level you're prescribing the Deck as "a good quest bringing the party together and venture into some crazy settings" presumes the characters somehow weren't together for this campaign already ... and the DM is incapable of creating a catalyst to bring that campaign into outlandish settings outside chaos cards. That actually speaks to my and others' claim that the deck is best used in a campaign's creative rut as a literal game changer whose core ideas have been played out.
*I mean calling a player having their character stolen by donjun as an allowance to play a side character or that the deck is somehow needed for party cohesion or a reason to adventure is sorta Orwellian doublespeak via Harlan Ellison DMing, and while a compelling (sic) story, "I have no Mouth But I Must Scream" is a pretty bad setting for a TTRPG dynamic. I mean, I guess you came into the thread feeling folks were hating on the deck, but this intervention doesn't really help and sort of simply reiterates the Deck's function as discussed.. Could be because the target "hating the deck" is actually more cautionary sentiment than malicious.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
I've always thought and have used the Deck of Many Things as a plot Device. I plan it out of head of time based on how I think the campaign should go as the DM. A little slight of hand with a physical deck or fudging the numbers. All part and parcel to the DM's Agency which if done fairly and correctly trumps player agency period. It is run at the DM's discretion after all. I know. I know. I'm now 2 years late coming in to the discussion.
There are a few ways I run something like the deck of many things.
Although a very possibly game breaking item, you have to admit it can have some very fun features. As a DM, your job is to keep the campaign on track and control the world, however, you can also use items like this to add spice and subplots. Part of being the DM is your ability to interpret items. When something game breaking occurs, it is your job to roll with the punches. Sure, some of these cards can essentially erase the character off the board, but they can also be used when a player is gone for a session or two, allowing you to play a rescue quest with the rest of the party. I think that when you are using level 4-5 characters, who's to say that a player being hard to find isn't just as difficult as hunting down another monster that matches the rest of the party's power. The Flames card can add an extra layer of the plot. This can lead to the players to obtain new artifacts or skills and can even get linked into the main plot. Any experience or money gained can be used as the players want to help them to accumulate the fortune that most partis carry. As far as the experience goes, I use a leaning system for my campaign that allows my characters to gain extra proficiencies. I would consider making the experience add points towards a new proficiency instead, so the player doesn't outpace the rest of the party. I think my method will be to have a certain oracle that will allow the players to draw a card for a fee. This will let me control where and when a card can be drawn and help me to be ready for the event, rather than them just drawing in the middle of combat.
the new book really spreads the good word about the deck of many things. a provided level 1 encounter gives the characters the chance to see a deck and perhaps even draw one. pulling out a knight, rogue, flame, or throne could lead to many levels of adventure. spending your gem card might make you easier to track for someone searching for a moon card. later there's huge potential story if the donjon, void, or skull cards come up or you want to meet Euryale herself. personally, i'm hoping to send the scooby gang to the ruins of gardmore abby one day. dm goals!
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!