The Deck of Many Things is back, and with gusto. The newly-upgraded deck of cards moves the game from a static 22-card deck to a fluid deck system which allows DMs to use cards from a 66-card pool to create the perfect Deck for their game. D&D Fans will also meet the first-ever canonically autistic NPC in the new material. Learn everything you need to know for the preorder here.
When is it Coming?
The Deck of Many Things 5E boxed set will be in stores starting November 14th. For those who don’t want to wait that long, the digital version of the material is available starting on Halloween (October 31st). This means Dungeon Masters running a game Halloween evening can use the digital material to throw in some tricks and treats for their holiday game.
What’s Included?
Unlike other boxed sets so far, this set isn’t made up of three books and a Dungeon Master’s screen. Instead, there’s a physical deck of 66 cards, The Book of Many Things (192 pages), a guidebook for using and interpreting the cards (80 pages), a storage box for the materials, and a digital copy of the materials which can be accessed with D&D Beyond. If you pre-order, you get early access to the Book of Many Things, starting October 31st, along with digital dice, frames, and backdrops which can all be used in D&D Beyond to customize your character sheet experience.
What Does it Cost?
The Deck of Many Things has an MSRP of $109.99, but keeping to the pattern Wizards of the Coast has had up to now, pre-orders are cheaper ($99.99 as of the time of this post). This is the price on Wizards.com as well as Amazon. This is a higher price-point than this writer would normally spring for, but the deck box and resources warrant adding it to the collection. If you’re wanting to go cheaper, you can always continue using the Deck of Many Things magic item as detailed in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
Is There a Story?
All of our favorite D&D releases have an adventure or setting included, and hopefully some backgrounds, feats, or magic items as well. For the Deck of Many Things set, there’s an adventure which is not combat-based, which makes it great for a one-shot that won’t get dragged out into multiple sessions.
It’s an “Everything” Resource
In addition to the aforementioned material, the Book of Many Things is a bit more “Everything” than the “Everything” books. When we look at Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, these references add class and character options, which make them fast favorites for players and DMs alike. In The Book of Many Things, however, this is pumped up to a distracting level. All of the rules and options in the collection are setting-agnostic, so they can be used at any table. That said, the rules also allow you to completely change your current game with sometimes subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle mechanics.
No Subclasses
The first thing I should note is the lack of subclasses. This does not mean character customization isn’t getting improved, it just means that the new options are not limited by your class they way subclasses would be. Only a handful of things are class-specific or class-restricted, making this the most flexible increase in customization options to date.
Types of Customization
The types of character options we have confirmed so far include:
— Feats, including Cartomancy
— Magic Items — some related to the Deck, others not
— Origins — 22 new origin options, based on the original 22-card Deck
— Backgrounds such as Ruined (those who have been ruined by certain magical effects)
— Adventure/campaign effects — such as daily effects that cards from the Deck might provide.
New Friends and Foes
For many players, certain cards have made little sense. For example, why does the Talons card destroy magic items? There are new monsters for DMs to introduce which ground these cards in a more concrete way. The Talon Beast, for example, steals and eats magic items. For those curious about the Ruin card, the Ruin Spider has venom which destroys non-magical matter, explaining why the Ruin card destroys all of your non-magical possessions.
Uriel (left) and Asteria (center) face a Talon Beast (right). Image: Wizards of the Coast
The Two Heroes We All Deserve
In a recent press conference with Makenzie De Armas, the game designer for this product, she revealed two new characters for us to dream about until they can show up in our games. The first is a medusa paladin named Uriel, Makenzie revealed that the medusa was an intentional choice, as sexual assault survivors use the medusa in iconography for solidarity and kindship. The second character is Asteria, a sister in all but blood, who is the first-ever canonically autistic character in Dungeons & Dragons. Uriel and Asteria have stat blocks like many other NPCs, and they can be included in any campaign where guidance is needed, especially if the subject of the Deck of Many Things is involved. These sisters live in the Outlands, an interplanar region connecting many planes of existence to each other. If you want a deck, want to undo the effects of the deck, or are trying to prevent someone else from getting the deck, Asteria and Uriel can be guides, consultants, patrons, quest-givers, or even opponent, depending on your agenda.
As an autistic survivor of sexual assault, this writer is terribly excited to have these two characters emerge. Not only is the character Asteria autistic, but she was created (and all of her quotes written) by Makenzie, who is an #ActuallyAutistic artist, and I look forward to the full reveal of these sisters, and to see how each personality is brought to life through the text. It shouldn’t be the case that we need to celebrate autistic characters, much less those written by autistic authors, but that’s where we are today, and I want to thank Makenzie for including not just one, but two marginalized communities in the epic characters who are so full of love, drive, and zest for life.
Customizing and Using the Deck of Many Things
The 80-page guidebook for the Deck of Many Things adds countless details and an abundance of depth to every card in your arsenal. All cards have an interpretation related to monsters, situation, items, challenges, and characters. This means one can use the Deck of Many Things as an oracle deck (how real-life analog tarot cards are used), or used for other forms of divination or inspiration. There are also lists available for DMs to use, which help you decide which cards to include in your campaign. These include the Deck of Wonders, which has very little fate-changing effects included, and is a lighter, more fun option.
Use for DMs
As a DM, you can use the Deck to prepare a campaign, to insert wisdom into your game via an oracle or seer, as an idea generator, and countless other ways. This means that even if the Deck never makes it into your game, the product has a seperate and valuable purpose. For example, Makenzie De Armas shared that she used the Adventure Spread from the Book to generate the campaign she would run at Gencon. Her entire preparation for the campaign was to draw and lay out cards, consult the 80-page Guide, and then set up at the table. She reported that she wildly enjoyed the process, as there was some guidance from the cards on what might happen, but she didn’t have to write out the whole adventure, just for players to go in a different direction.
Constellations
The last feature of thie product I want to introduce is the Constellations system. Each constellation is named for one of the 22 core Deck cards, and add detail to the world. This can be inserted into any game, and it allows the DM to make celestial bodies relevant in-game. There are optional rules for world-effects which change as the constellations go through their cycles. These won’t have character-based effects, but will change the way the world works around the characters. They also have character creation hooks, and details for characters born under their sign. This gives DMs a new character-creation activity which encourages players to think deeply about their characters and develop their worldview.
TL;DR
The Deck of Many Things 5E is an exciting rework of the classic magic item, and brings more power to DMs and players to bring their adventures to life. Not only does it have a physical version of the 22-card deck, but the expanded deck (a further 44 cards) is included, and the resource books give you all the information you need to make small or massive changes to your campaign at home, tuned to how you and your friends play. It is currently available for pre-order, for $99.99, and pre-orders will give access to the material on D&D Beyond beginning October 31st.
