The Deck Of Many Things Review D&D 5e's Latest Sourcebook Is A MustHave For DMs

We're approaching 2024 and the fifth update of Dungeons & Dragons . The Book of Many Things and the Deck of Many Things , the latest 2023 editions, require excellent execution.

The Book of Many Things and its accompanying Deck of Many Things are, at first glance, exactly what you'd expect. A resource for players looking to integrate the Deck of Many Things spell into their local game, but it goes much further.

What's in the Deck of Many Things box ?

The Many Things deck has been around since Dungeons & Dragons and was even mentioned in the original Fifth Edition Dungeon Master's Guide, albeit with very little description.

By purchasing The Deck of Many Things , the DM receives the 192-page Book of Many Things reference book, a physical collection of 66 cards representing the Deck of Many Things and the Deck of Many Other Things, and an 80-page sourcebook. book. To tell you everything about each card, the Plenty of Things Card Reference Guide.

On the surface , The Book of Many Things and the Deck of Many Things are ways to introduce players to the Deck of Many Things, which tells the history of the universe as well as the history of its publication in Dungeons & Dragons.

What players will really find when they start flipping through the 22 chapters of The Book of Many Things is a wealth of knowledge on how to use the new Deck of Many Things to structure their Dungeons & Dragons games from a storytelling perspective or enhance storytelling. Mechanics. even without a deck. . will appear in your game.

The book provides context and deeper understanding of many things .

In this volume you can find all the information you need about the Deck of Many Things, the Deck of Many Other Things, or the deck's advanced uses.

After a brief introduction to the story of The Deck of Many Things, you'll move on to a second summary that explains, in each chapter, what you'll find in the book and what relevant information you'll find there. These groups include the Dungeon Master toolbar, Character Creation Options, Celestial Set, Adventure Locations, and Opponents and Enemies.

These clearly structured sections are very interesting to read and understand. If you're looking to gather information about new traps and puzzles, you'll find that the puzzle card will be your friend, and the Tips chapter will show you how to introduce and use the deck in your game.

Not all chapters are entirely related to the map that bears their title, but the effort is worth appreciating.

On page 15 you will find information on how to use the deck and what each card does. Everything else adds layer upon layer of depth to the deck and has multiple uses.

Many things will replace folding tables for you.

My favorite DM chapter is “Balance.” This chapter provides examples of how to use cards in a deck to develop creativity or how to use them in place of cards laid out on the table. Not everyone uses the Deck of Many Things, some examples use the regular set, but it's fairly easy to replace.

In this book, you'll get tips on how to create a new inspiration system for your players, generate random events and rewards while traveling, or create a list of random encounters that you can take advantage of. You can also use it like

I was incredibly impressed by the use of the Deck of Many Things as a way to create new encounters during the group's journey. This requires some intelligence on the DM's part, but can lead to a more reliable experience.

When you create a travel spread, you will have two cards from the deck: one is a challenge and the other is a risk or reward. Risk or reward may depend on whether the group succeeds in completing the task and whether the card is turned up or down.

Using the dungeon as a challenge could mean the party takes place in a zoo of sorts as they travel around and see the Ring Bearer aggressively training the manticore. The Party could have avoided this situation entirely or intervened.

If the risk/reward card is a gem, its treasure may become a reward, spooking the ring bearer, but if the gem is reversed, the ring bearer may bring an imitation treasure chest, which carries additional risk. to the party, to fight.

I like the idea of ​​ditching the encounter/creature table and using a deck. Not only will this add to the fun of using the desk accessories, but it will also allow you to use the name and image on the card for inspiration. I think a few cards with interesting images, like in Dixit, could serve the same purpose.

You can stack the deck however you want - if you're in the middle of a city, the cave card might not make much difference. Alternatively, you can rely on your ability to improvise or use a map book. a guide that gives more information on how to use the card.

How a Many Things deck can affect a character in D&D 5e

Moving on to the chapters on character creation, Rogue will give the DM ideas for "magic items suitable for bards, rangers, rogues, and other skill-based characters." The Sage does something similar with mage characters, and Destiny tells the story of those who rose to power through the cards and those who took everything from them.

Characters with the Spellcaster trait can also gain the Diviner ability, which allows a deck of cards to become their focus when casting spells. Additionally, there are some card spells, such as the 2nd level spell Card Decay, which acts as a cone-shaped explosion of cards that will deal 2d10 force damage if you fail a Dexterity saving throw for the target. .

Another new character option is the Sky of Many Things. Simply put, this is the astrology of the world of Dungeons & Dragons , where characters can be born under different signs. All these 12 zodiac signs will have nicknames and fame.

Depending on the sign you were born under, it may be helpful to tell your character your birthstone, creature and birth color, as well as your recommended ability score. Combined with the ability to use the Deck of Many Things as an Oracle deck and the awesome abilities of the Spell Stones, this opens up a whole new way to play the character.

Masters also receive hints on how to further incorporate this astrology into their world through zodiac phenomena, events that may occur when the seasons change or when a zodiac-inclined character makes a prediction.

What else is this bunch of stuff?

The Sage's Chapter also contains the Deck of Many Other Things effect. This is another 44 cards created specifically for this set. Some of these cards were created in response to the original deck's shortcomings.

An example of this is the Staff card and Shield card, in which the player can use a rare or rarer wand, staff, staff, or magic armor respectively. Interestingly, while the Key is said to counter the original Key, which allowed the creation of rare or even rarer magical weapons, the Key's description now grants the player access to five silent attack spells per day.

The Lots of Things deck, like the Lots of Things deck, can be built in a variety of configurations and inserted into your game. Several pre-made decks are included to help you balance the difficulty or ease of content for your group.

A starter deck is used for low-level characters, an RPG-oriented deck can be useful for groups that like to explore and interact with the world, or a horror deck can be added to the group when you're willing to commit for the real thing. thrown to the bottom.

Many other magic decks have been added to the game. One creates mundane items, another for dimensional travel (perhaps suitable for Spelljammer or Planescape ), and one for Lesser Wonders. "The First Deck of a Thousand Things for Children", which has a similar effect, but has less impact on the campaign as a whole.

Fill your world with a deck of many things.

In addition to how DMs influence world events and player roleplay, this sourcebook also takes a deep dive into the NPCs and locations associated with the Deck of Many Things.

The original effect of the Donjon card looks like this:

You disappear and enter a state of suspended animation in the interdimensional world. Everything you carried and carried remains in the place you occupied when you disappeared. You will remain in prison until you are found and removed from the sphere. You cannot be determined by divination magic, but granting a wish can reveal the location of your prison. You no longer draw cards.

The dungeon map now provides information on what the player can do with a captured character, how the party can find the dungeon, and also includes a full layout of this interdimensional prison and what you will find inside.

Another great addition is the different factions. A member of the sacred order of the Sun card, the lycanthropic cult of the Moon card, and even the apocalyptic cult of the Comet card, which believes that the discovery of the original deck of many things will lead to the end of the world.

Create your next D&D One-Shot with Adventure Spread

All this time we've been talking about all the different options available in The Book of Many Things, but we haven't talked about the incredible possibilities of using the Deck of Many Things card guide . Spread the adventure.

Using cards from the Many Things deck (and the Many Other Things deck), you can build an adventure from them. Using the cards, you can determine where the group will meet and what incident led to it, as well as what journey they will have to take and what difficulties they will face.

In the Deck of Many Things reference book, each card contains an embodiment of the card that is its overall theme. As well as a number of meanings for its vertical or inverted position. These values ​​can be a person, a creature or trap, a location, a treasure, or a situation.

Depending on where the card appears in your adventure expansion will determine what role it will play. An aberration map appearing vertically in one location may mean that physics or gravity is being distorted in that location, but an inverted aberration may occur in a location where nature has overcome the previous distortion.

The same Vertical Aberration card as Human could be someone who believes in a distorted view of reality, "perhaps a cult or mage of the Ancient One."

I really like the idea behind this. It's not so rigid that you feel stuck on an idea, but it's a great way to stimulate your imagination and create a One-Shot you'll never have to repeat.

Is it worth buying a lot of things ?

There are many reference books available that cover very specific topics. Planescape is a great Planescape adventure book, the space adventures make Spelljammer a must read, but this is one of the first books in a long time that I would recommend to anyone.

The cards and information in the book can improve all aspects of your game. These cards can improve roleplaying, mechanics, and even the solo planning phase for the DM.

Confidence in your improvisation skills can also help eliminate the need to plan adventures in advance or allow you to try them out on the spot.

Lots of Things Deck Review | Final thoughts

I was simply fascinated by reading this book. The variety of uses that Jason Tondro, Makenzie De Armas, and the Book of Many Things team have developed for the Book of Many Things or a regular deck of cards is impressive.

I'm looking forward to introducing a few of my players to astrology, having random encounters by drawing cards and consulting the rulebook, and creating random one-shots for friends and family that aren't tied to any major campaign.

For the master of the long game, everything in this book is an opportunity to level up your game; For a group of players who don't have time for a lengthy campaign, this is an opportunity to get started. run.

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The copy of The Deck of Many Things used in writing this review was provided by the publisher. All photos were taken by the reviewer at the time of writing.

Many things | Official trailer | D&D