Deck of Many Things (13 Cards)
Source: Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024) p. 250. Available in the SRD (as “Mysterious Deck”) and the Free Rules (2024)
Usually found in a box or pouch, this deck contains a number of cards made of ivory or vellum. Most (75 percent) of these decks have thirteen cards, but some have twenty-two. Use the appropriate column of the Deck of Many Things table when randomly determining cards drawn from the deck.
Before you draw a card, you must declare how many cards you intend to draw and then draw them randomly. Any cards drawn in excess of this number have no effect. Otherwise, as soon as you draw a card from the deck, its magic takes effect. You must draw each card no more than 1 hour after the previous draw. If you fail to draw the chosen number, the remaining number of cards fly from the deck on their own and take effect all at once.
Once a card is drawn, it disappears. Unless the card is the Fool or Jester, the card reappears in the deck, making it possible to draw the same card twice. (Once the Fool or Jester has left the deck, reroll on the table if that card comes up again.)
Deck of Many Things
| dice: 1d100 | Card |
|---|---|
| 01-08 | Balance |
| 09-16 | Comet |
| 17-24 | Donjon |
| 25-32 | Euryale |
| 33-40 | Fates |
| 41-48 | Flames |
| 49-56 | Fool |
| 57-64 | Gem |
| 65-72 | Jester |
| 73-80 | Key |
| 81-88 | Knight |
| 89-96 | Moon |
| 97-00 | Puzzle |
| ^deck-of-many-things |
Cards
Euryale
The card’s medusa-like visage curses you. You take a -2 penalty to saving throws while cursed in this way. Only a god or the magic of the Fates card can end this curse.
Flames
A powerful devil becomes your enemy. The devil seeks your ruin and torments you, savoring your suffering before attempting to slay you. This enmity lasts until either you or the devil dies.
Jester
You have Advantage on D20 Tests for the next 72 hours, or you can draw two additional cards beyond your declared draws.
Key
A Rare or rarer magic weapon with which you are proficient appears on your person. The DM chooses the weapon.
Knight
You gain the service of a Knight, who magically appears in an unoccupied space you choose within 30 feet of yourself. The knight has the same alignment as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the two of you have been drawn together by fate. Work with your DM to create a name and backstory for this NPC. The DM can use a different stat block to represent the knight, as desired.
Moon
You gain the ability to cast Wish 1d3 times.
Rogue
An NPC of the DM’s choice becomes Hostile toward you. You don’t know the identity of this NPC until they or someone else reveals it. Nothing less than a Wish spell or divine intervention can end the NPC’s hostility toward you.
Ruin
All forms of wealth that you carry or own, other than magic items, are lost to you. Portable property vanishes. Businesses, buildings, and land you own are lost in a way that alters reality the least. If you have a Bastion (see the “Dungeon Master’s Guide”), it is destroyed by some calamity beyond your control. Any documentation that proves you should own something lost to this card also disappears.
Skull
An Avatar of Death appears in an unoccupied space as close to you as possible. The avatar targets only you with its attacks, appearing as a ghostly skeleton clad in a tattered black robe and carrying a spectral scythe. The avatar disappears when it drops to 0 Hit Points or you die. If an ally of yours deals damage to the avatar, that ally summons another Avatar of Death. The new avatar appears in an unoccupied space as close to that ally as possible and targets only that ally with its attacks. You and your allies can each summon only one avatar as a consequence of this draw. A creature slain by an avatar can’t be restored to life.
Star
Increase one of your ability scores by 2, to a maximum of 24.
Sun
A magic item (chosen by the DM) appears on your person. In addition, you gain 10 Temporary Hit Points daily at dawn until you die.
Throne
You gain proficiency and Expertise in your choice of History, Insight, Intimidation, or Persuasion. In addition, you gain rightful ownership of a small keep somewhere in the world. However, the keep is currently home to one or more monsters, which must be cleared out before you can claim the keep as yours.
Void
Your soul is drawn from your body and contained in an object in a place of the DM’s choice. One or more powerful beings guard the place. While your soul is trapped in this way, your body is inert, ceases aging, and requires no food, air, or water. A Wish spell can’t return your soul to your body, but the spell reveals the location of the object that holds your soul. You draw no more cards.