There is, quite frankly, too much 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons stuff. There are several full scale official adventures that take most parties over a year to work through, about as many anthologies of one-shot adventures offering lots of little one-off sessions too, and more releasing every few months. Then, you know, only about a thousand unofficial versions of the same thing floating around the internet. All that, and like many other DMs, I write my own adventures, and am currently playing through one, with a second almost fully written, and ideas brewing for a third after that. With so much stuff, it can be difficult to see how to use it all. 168澳洲幸运5ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ开奖网:But the Deck of Many Things is different.
If you try to keep up with everything, you'll be overloaded with ideas. Case in point, only a few months before the Deck of Many Things was Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants. It has 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:a vast bestiary, collection of magical items, and assortment of giant enclaves. I loved the options it gave me, but ended up using only a couple of creatures, one (heavily adapted) enclave, and a handful of magical items. There's no narrative to speak of in Bigby Presents, it's supposed to be a well of ideas. Other books are full fledged stories, where you're meant to follow it along a set path, though obviously with room for freedom of roleplay. Deck of Many Things is neither, and it’s both.
Some of the Deck of Many Things' cards, and the cool presentation box and items it comes with
The Deck of Many Things is a Tarot-like deck of cards that represent various events, like Comet or Knight. It also comes with a book (the creatively named Book of Many Things, which doesn't actually have that many things in it), detailing potential lore behind each card. Each has five different interpretations listed out, like a character, an obstacle, or a treasure, so if you want to, you can play it like a story. Either the DM or the players choose a combination of cards, either in advance or on the day, and that sets in motion a story featuring the aforementioned characters. It gives more variety and chance to affairs, turning the Deck into a collection of one-shots that's bigger on the inside.
The alternative way to do it is to, once more, hav💮e either players or DM draꦰw cards - again, either on the day or in advance. The book has difficulty and theme suggestions, as well as arcane layouts to get you in the mood. This time, rather than follow the lore, it becomes a question of improv wherein various random challenges appear, possibly aided lightly by the Book of Many Things or a general Monster Manual. This means rather than a collection of one shots, the Deck becomes an endless story generator, with in-advance card drawings offering more time for writing more elaborate adventures.
But there's still more. I do like the idea of a short improv story conjured up by a magical deck in-game, providing new challenges for the players as they go. Considering I write my D&D adventures for fun, I also could see myself using it as a chisel on my writer's block, throwing in a random element when I'm not sure what side quest to use for a character I need in the world but want to have more depth. But the Deck of Many Things doesn't need to be limited to just one thing. The clue's kinda in the name for that one. And storytelling, as vast as it is, is just one thing.
The artwork on the cards is so detailed and memorable, and as a physical deck it’s a much more tangible prop, and so I want to use it as much as I can. They're clean enough to serve as puzzles or runes, and could be used as a magical deck that can summon one-off events in combat. With other Dungeons & Dragons books or releases, there are so many various parts and I can only ever use a handful. With the Deck of Many Things, there is just one thing, but it can be used in so many different ways that I know I will never exhaust them. Rather than feeling like I must limit my choices, it’s more like the choices can choose me.
The Deck (and the Book itself) also come with the unique Cartomancer feat, which 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:you can read about here.
No matter how good any given Dungeons & Dragon book is, recommending it always comes with caveats. This is great... if you've got 18 months to play it. This is great... if your group has less than five people in it. This is great... if all you want is combat. This is great... if you don't want much combat. This is great... if you write your own stuff. This is great… if you never write your own stuff and want a fixed story. The Deck of Many Things is just… great. It’s a prop, it’s an item for your players, it’s a way to plan your stories. The variety of uses it provides means that, however you play Dungeons & Dragons, you'll probably play it a little better with a Deck of Many Things.
The Deck of Many Things - Includes The Book of Many Things (D&D Expansion Book)
- Title
- The Deck of Many Things & The Bo🅘ok of Many Things ꦉ
- Genre
- Dungeons & Dragons ⛦
- Publication Date
- November 14, 2023 ꦰ
- Age Range
- Teens
- Number of Pages
- 192
- Publisher
- Wizards of the Coast 🤪
