Wondrous Wednesday: The Deck of Many Things, et. al.

 So, one of the most (in)famous items of D&D is the deck of many things. Inspired by Tarot cards, Gary Gygax first introduced the deck in Supplement I: Greyhawk in 1975, and it has destroyed or derailed many campaigns since then.

At its core, the deck is about powerful random effects. Each card has either a beneficial or detrimental effect, and they take effect immediately when drawn. Over the editions, the effects have varied slightly, but the essence has remained the same. The standard deck consists of:

• balance: change alignment (2♠)
• comet: defeat a challenge in solo combat (2♦)
• donjon: imprisoned (as per the spell) (A♠)
• euryale: penalty to petrification/all saving throws (Q♠)
• fates: avoid any situation you choose, once (A♥)
  
• flames: gain the enmity of a fiend (Q♣)
  
• fool: lose experience points; you must draw again (Joker with trademark)
  
• gem: gain valuable gems or jewelry (2♥)
  
• idiot: lose Intelligence; you may draw again (2♣)
  
• jester: gain experience points or two more draws (Joker without trademark)
  
• key: gain a major magic weapon (Q♥)
  
• knight: gain the service of a fighter (J♥)
  
• moon: gain wishes (Q♦)
  
• rogue: one of your friends turns against you (J♠)
  
• ruin: immediately lose all wealth and property save for magic items (K♠)
  
• skull: defeat an agent of Death or be destroyed forever (J♣)
  
• star: gain an increase in an ability score (J♦)
  
• sun: gain one beneficial medium wondrous item and a lot of experience points (K♦)
  
• talons: all magic items you possess disappear (A♣)
  
• throne: gain diplomacy and a small keep (K♥)
  
• vizier: know the answer to your next dilemma (A♦)
  
• void: your body functions but your soul is trapped (K♣)
  

The number of possible effects are based on the number of cards. The D&D deck consists of 22 cards, but they do not map to the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The full Tarot consists of 78 cards (22 Major and 56 minor) and interpretation varies based on whether the card appears upright or reversed to the reader; only a few variants utilize more than a few options.

D&D Original Edition

The deck appeared in Supplement I: Greyhawk (1975), consisting of 18 cards. The cards are not given names but are, but for minor variations, effectively: comet, sun, moon, knight, key, gem, star, fool, rogue, death, flames, balance, talons, euryale, jester, and one where you gain a scroll of 7 spells. An alternative version appeared in Dragon magazine #026 (June 1979), in the article "Deck of Fate" by Kevin Hendryx.This version, which Kevin calls the tarot deck of unalterable fate, consists of the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. Interestingly, this variant included upright and reversed effects, allowing for 44 possible effects.

AD&D 1st Edition

Appearing in the Dungeon Masters Guide, the deck consists of either 13 or 22 cards. A variant called the tarot of many things was introduced in Dragon magazine #077 (September 1983), in the article "Tarot of Many Things" by Michael J. Lowrey. This version, much like Kevin Hendryx's, includes upright and reversed effects.

A variant called the deck of fickle fortune appeared in the Gamescience revision of Tegel Manor. This consisted of 22 cards: star, enchantress, mage, moon, sun, coin, chalice, candle, wand, quill, masque, sword, king, queen, prince, princess, knight, lady, jester, sun eclipsed, old night (the dark), and fortune's wheel. While some share names with the deck of many things, the effects are different.

AD&D 2nd Edition

This edition's deck is similar to 1st edition.  It also appeared in the 2nd edition Dungeon Master's Guide.

Illustrated cut-out cards printed on cardstock were included with Dragon magazine #148 (August 1989), to accompany the article "Luck of the Draw" by Robin Jenkins, which treated the deck to a sort of "Ecology of..." article treatment. This article introduced a lesser version of the 13-card deck, with reduced effects, for DMs who wanted less possibility of campaign upset.

The deck forms both the treasure and the trap of the scenario "House of Cards" by Randy Maxwell in Dungeon magazine #019 (September 1989). This scenario also included a set of black-and-white versions of the cards from issue #148. The cards in this scenario have modified effects from the standard deck, in keeping with their effect on the scenario; this sort of interlacing of card effects and scenario would not be repeated until the 4th edition days.

A web app is available on the Wizards of the Coast website to automate the process of drawing cards.

In Dragon magazine #271, the article "A Totem Deck: A Deck of Many Wild Things" by Patrie Neagle and Sean W. Kliethermes introduced a variant called the minor deck of many things. This deck consisted of 54 cards with somewhat less powerful effects than the standard deck. Most of the benefits and detriments were animal- or monster-themed. The article included pages of illustrated cards you could photocopy and cut out.

D&D 3.0/3.5 Edition

The Dungeon Master's Guide for these editions lists the same 13 or 22 card decks as 1st edition, but the powers are adjusted for the new game mechanics. Wizards of the Coast actually produced a physical deck.

A variant, the deck of fates, appeared in Dungeon Crawl Classics #17/17.5: Saga of the Witch Queen (2007). Considerably less powerful, it acts as a divination tool.

After the Player's Handbook II came out, Sean K. Reynolds published an article "Variant Deck of Many Things" (June 14 2006) on the Wizards website. This variant makes use of the retraining rules of the PHB 2 to allow for massive character changes without the chaotic randomness of the original magic item. It included cards you could print out. Mr. Reynolds later included another variant, the deck of past and future possibilities on his website; this variant expands the deck to a full 54 cards and rebalances the effects of the cards to attempt to reduce its potential to disrupt campaigns.

One of the previews for the 4th edition in Dragon magazine #363 ("Epic Destinies in 3.5") included a 4E Epic Destiny called Artifact Lord, which provided the player character with the ability to expand and maximize their use of an artifact in their possession. The example included the deck of many things, which was not yet developed as an item. Rules included attempted to provide an adaptation of the epic destinies for 3.5 edition; it's not clear how well this would work in practice.

Pathfinder 1st Edition

As a variation of 3.5 edition D&D, this game included a large number of variations and expansions on the concept. The classic deck was detailed in the supplement Classic Treasures Revisited (2010). The supplement included variations and some narrative possibilities. The third-party Call to Arms: Decks of Cards (2018) supplement added several variant decks and class options to utilize them.

D&D 4th Edition

This edition put an emphasis on game mechanical balance; as a result, the deck received a major overhaul. The game defined tiers of play, with levels 1-10 being Heroic Tier, 11-20 Paragon Tier, and 21-30 Epic Tier. A Paragon Tier version of the deck appeared in Dungeon magazine #177 (April 2010). In 4th edition terms, it became a tome implement, which meant it could aid arcane casters in casting their spells. As an artifact, it had a personality and goals: to spread chaos, topple existing power structures, and be at the center of important events. The cards still had major effects, but they were rebalanced so that the item would be no more or less powerful than any other artifact appropriate to the Paragon Tier. A new set of cards you could print out were included in the pdf.

A version of the item modified to suit the Heroic Tier appeared in the boxed adventure Madness at Gardmore Abbey (September 2011). This artifact was intertwined with the module in an interesting and innovative way. A high quality version of the cut-out deck from Dungeon #177 was included with the box set.

D&D 5th Edition

In the most recent edition, the deck is present in the Dungeon Master's Guide in a form that updates the 3.0/3.5 edition version. A number of third-party products involving the deck of many things have been produced, including:

• The Deck of Many More Things, which expands the deck by 32 cards.
• The Deck of Multitudinous Things, which attempts to add more narrative juice to the deck.
• The Tarot of Transcendent Treasures, which contains a full magical artifact for each of the cards of the tarot.

Other Games

Several other games have used the same concept. A few are notable.

The Talislanta Handbook (1987) introduced the zodar deck. The zodar are 20 triangular cards typically used in divination, but there is a magical tradition called Cartomancy that can bring out the magical effects of the cards. The zodar cards are dark moon, blue moon, crimson moon, purple moon, green moon, amber moon, silver moon, lesser sun, greater sun, charlatan, rogue, warrior, assassin, peddler, wanderer, wizard, mystic, alchemist, reaper, and archon.

The Rolemaster Companion VII (1993) included the tarot of many teachings, which had four variations for each of the 78 tarot cards: a benefit, a neutral effect, a penalty, and a simplified effect, leading to over 300 possible results from each draw.

In The Rifter issue #13 (January 2001), the article "In the Hands of Fate" by Crystal Frazier introduced the deck of fate, which had 33 cards: dragon, star, death, faerie, eye, jinn, ancient, sun, eclipse, dyvil, joker, suicide, waxing, waning, dream, lovers, syvan, gate, castle, beggar, mount, taunt, claw, black cat, moon, ankh, gem, elf, jilted lovers, golem, basilisk, fruit, and soul.

The Oldskull Deck of Strangest Things (2017) for OSR develops fantasy versions of the 22 Major Arcana in the style of the traditional deck, but with variable effects depending on the level of the character. It includes the following cards: fool, archmagus, hierophanta, imperatrix, imperator, hierophant, adorers, chariot, strength, maiden crone, chaos, law, mad god, death, temperance, devil, tower, falling star, luna, sol invictus, judgment, and gaea.