One of the players in my campaign just drew the Comet card from the deck of many things, which is the one that gives them enough xp to level up if they singlehandedly defeat their next encounter. However, the player is super close to leveling up anyway, (about 800xp away). If he does defeat the next encounter by himself, should I add the combatxp, then the comet so that he goes up 2 levels, or the other way round and allow only 1 level up?
The caveat as written is: "as soon as you draw a card from the deck, its magic takes effect." My interpretation is that if (if!) the player does singlehandedly defeat the next monster(s), then the player reaches the next xp level to gain a level. Nothing more, nothing less. So, whether 8 xp or 8000 xp away from next level. My interpretation is that this supercedes any other amount of xp that may otherwise have been gained and the effect is primary over ordinary xp and which does not stack, and so the character does not gain ordinary xp. If the player does not singlehandedly defeat the next monster(s) then the magic fails.
The Deck of Many things is an item that has been around since almost the beginning of D&D. Back when everyone had their own xp tables and it was more common to have groups with characters of different levels. Most of the cards, I would tweak for 5E or just realize that many of the cards are party breakers or character enders.
The 5E rules kind of assume that you defeat enemies and obstacles as a group. If you agree, I would say that the Comet card becomes a party boon. I would probably pick from a couple different options for it's effect.
1) You could give everyone a level(very generous).
2) Say that the card generates high xp and it is based on an amount of whoever is furthest from making a level divided by the number of party members. Example, one party member has the longest way to go to next level at 50k. There are 5 members so, everyone gains 10k. This could also keep the Deck holder from feeling the card draw was a waste.
Well, they would still get the normal XP from the encounter as well, right? So they will get 800 + normal encounter value xp from the card. Or you could have them level up and end up at an equal distance from the next level (so if the 800 xp are the last 10% of the xp needed for the next level, they will now be at 10% from the level after that).
Or you could simply have "the next encounter" be dealing with a bunch of city guard who want to search their bags or something. Not every encounter has to be about fighting. Maybe a test of character? A young orphan comes up to them and asks them for money to feed a sick sibling, perhaps?
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One of the players in my campaign just drew the Comet card from the deck of many things, which is the one that gives them enough xp to level up if they singlehandedly defeat their next encounter. However, the player is super close to leveling up anyway, (about 800xp away). If he does defeat the next encounter by himself, should I add the combatxp, then the comet so that he goes up 2 levels, or the other way round and allow only 1 level up?
Hmm. Just my opinion:
The caveat as written is: "as soon as you draw a card from the deck, its magic takes effect." My interpretation is that if (if!) the player does singlehandedly defeat the next monster(s), then the player reaches the next xp level to gain a level. Nothing more, nothing less. So, whether 8 xp or 8000 xp away from next level. My interpretation is that this supercedes any other amount of xp that may otherwise have been gained and the effect is primary over ordinary xp and which does not stack, and so the character does not gain ordinary xp. If the player does not singlehandedly defeat the next monster(s) then the magic fails.
Just my opinions.
Boldly go
The Deck of Many things is an item that has been around since almost the beginning of D&D. Back when everyone had their own xp tables and it was more common to have groups with characters of different levels. Most of the cards, I would tweak for 5E or just realize that many of the cards are party breakers or character enders.
The 5E rules kind of assume that you defeat enemies and obstacles as a group. If you agree, I would say that the Comet card becomes a party boon. I would probably pick from a couple different options for it's effect.
1) You could give everyone a level(very generous).
2) Say that the card generates high xp and it is based on an amount of whoever is furthest from making a level divided by the number of party members. Example, one party member has the longest way to go to next level at 50k. There are 5 members so, everyone gains 10k. This could also keep the Deck holder from feeling the card draw was a waste.
Well, they would still get the normal XP from the encounter as well, right? So they will get 800 + normal encounter value xp from the card. Or you could have them level up and end up at an equal distance from the next level (so if the 800 xp are the last 10% of the xp needed for the next level, they will now be at 10% from the level after that).
Or you could simply have "the next encounter" be dealing with a bunch of city guard who want to search their bags or something. Not every encounter has to be about fighting. Maybe a test of character? A young orphan comes up to them and asks them for money to feed a sick sibling, perhaps?