Deck of Many Things 5e magic item

Wondrous item, legendary · 2024 version: Mysterious Deck

Type: Wondrous Items
Rarity: Legendary
Attunement: Not required
Price (2014): 50,001+ gp (DMG value range)
Price (2024): 200,000 gp

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 only thirteen cards, but the rest have twenty-two.

Before you draw a card, you must declare how many cards you intend to draw and then draw them randomly (you can use an altered deck of playing cards to simulate the deck). 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 fades from existence. Unless the card is the Fool or the Jester, the card reappears in the deck, making it possible to draw the same card twice.

Playing Card	Card
Ace of diamonds	Vizier*
King of diamonds	Sun
Queen of diamonds	Moon
Jack of diamonds	Star
Two of diamonds	Comet*
Ace of hearts	The Fates*
King of hearts	Throne
Queen of hearts	Key
Jack of hearts	Knight
Two of hearts	Gem*
Ace of clubs	Talons*
King of clubs	The Void
Queen of clubs	Flames
Jack of clubs	Skull
Two of clubs	Idiot*
Ace of spades	Donjon*
King of spades	Ruin
Queen of spades	Euryale
Jack of spades	Rogue
Two of spades	Balance*
Joker (with TM)	Fool*
Joker (without TM)	Jester

* Found only in a deck with twenty-two cards

Balance. Your mind suffers a wrenching alteration, causing your alignment to change. Lawful becomes chaotic, good becomes evil, and vice versa. If you are true neutral or unaligned, this card has no effect on you.

Comet. If you single-handedly defeat the next hostile monster or group of monsters you encounter, you gain experience points enough to gain one level. Otherwise, this card has no effect.

Donjon. You disappear and become entombed in a state of suspended animation in an extradimensional sphere. Everything you were wearing and carrying stays behind in the space you occupied when you disappeared. You remain imprisoned until you are found and removed from the sphere. You can't be located by any divination magic, but a wish spell can reveal the location of your prison. You draw no more cards.

Euryale. The card's medusa-like visage curses you. You take a -2 penalty on saving throws while cursed in this way. Only a god or the magic of The Fates card can end this curse.

The Fates. Reality's fabric unravels and spins anew, allowing you to avoid or erase one event as if it never happened. You can use the card's magic as soon as you draw the card or at any other time before you die.

Flames. A powerful devil becomes your enemy. The devil seeks your ruin and plagues your life, savoring your suffering before attempting to slay you. This enmity lasts until either you or the devil dies.

Fool. You lose 10,000 XP, discard this card, and draw from the deck again, counting both draws as one of your declared draws. If losing that much XP would cause you to lose a level, you instead lose an amount that leaves you with just enough XP to keep your level.

Gem. Twenty-five pieces of jewelry worth 2,000 gp each or fifty gems worth 1,000 gp each appear at your feet.

Idiot. Permanently reduce your Intelligence by 1d4 + 1 (to a minimum score of 1). You can draw one additional card beyond your declared draws.

Jester. You gain 10,000 XP, or you can draw two additional cards beyond your declared draws.

Key. A rare or rarer magic weapon with which you are proficient appears in your hands. The GM chooses the weapon.

Knight. You gain the service of a 4th-level fighter who appears in a space you choose within 30 feet of you. The fighter is of the same race as you and serves you loyally until death, believing the fates have drawn him or her to you. You control this character.

Moon. You are granted the ability to cast the wish spell 1d3 times.

Rogue. A nonplayer character of the GM's choice becomes hostile toward you. The identity of your new enemy isn't known until the NPC 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. Any documentation that proves you should own something lost to this card also disappears.

Skull. You summon an avatar of death-a ghostly humanoid skeleton clad in a tattered black robe and carrying a spectral scythe. It appears in a space of the GM's choice within 10 feet of you and attacks you, warning all others that you must win the battle alone. The avatar fights until you die or it drops to 0 hit points, whereupon it disappears. If anyone tries to help you, the helper summons its own avatar of death. A creature slain by an avatar of death can't be restored to life.

Avatar of Death

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 20

Hit Points half the hit point maximum of its summoner

Speed 60 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
16 (+3)	16 (+3)	16 (+3)	16 (+3)	16 (+3)	16 (+3)

Damage Immunities necrotic, poison

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, unconscious

Senses darkvision 60 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 13

Languages all languages known to its summoner

Challenge — (0 XP)

Incorporeal Movement. The avatar can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Turning Immunity. The avatar is immune to features that turn undead.

Actions

Reaping Scythe. The avatar sweeps its spectral scythe through a creature within 5 feet of it, dealing 7 (1d8 + 3) slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.

Star. Increase one of your ability scores by 2. The score can exceed 20 but can't exceed 24.

Sun. You gain 50,000 XP, and a wondrous item (which the GM determines randomly) appears in your hands.

Talons. Every magic item you wear or carry disintegrates. Artifacts in your possession aren't destroyed but do vanish.

Throne. You gain proficiency in the Persuasion skill, and you double your proficiency bonus on checks made with that skill. In addition, you gain rightful ownership of a small keep somewhere in the world. However, the keep is currently in the hands of monsters, which you must clear out before you can claim the keep as yours.

Vizier. At any time you choose within one year of drawing this card, you can ask a question in meditation and mentally receive a truthful answer to that question. Besides information, the answer helps you solve a puzzling problem or other dilemma. In other words, the knowledge comes with wisdom on how to apply it.

The Void. This black card spells disaster. Your soul is drawn from your body and contained in an object in a place of the GM's choice. One or more powerful beings guard the place. While your soul is trapped in this way, your body is incapacitated. A wish spell can't restore your soul, but the spell reveals the location of the object that holds it. You draw no more cards.

How the Deck of Many Things plays

Before drawing you announce how many cards you’ll draw, then draw them one at a time, each within an hour of the last. Each card’s magic happens the moment you draw it, and most cards go back into the deck, so the same card can come up twice. Most decks (75 percent) have 13 cards; the rest have 22, adding the most extreme cards. If you don’t finish your declared draws in time, the rest fly out and take effect all at once.

The results range from game-changing to campaign-ending. You might gain a keep, wishes, a legendary weapon or a level. You might lose all your wealth or every magic item you carry, be imprisoned outside time, have your soul stolen, or be hunted by a devil. It’s a legendary item because nothing else can rewrite a campaign in a single turn.

The best and worst cards

Best: Moon (cast Wish 1d3 times), Star (+2 to an ability score, up to 24), Sun (50,000 XP and a wondrous item), Throne (a keep, if you clear out the monsters living in it, plus doubled Persuasion), Key (a rare or rarer magic weapon), Knight (a loyal 4th-level fighter), Gem (50,000 gp in jewels) and The Fates (erase one event, any time before you die).
Worst: The Void (your soul is imprisoned somewhere, your body left incapacitated), Donjon (you’re entombed outside time), Skull (you must defeat an avatar of death alone), Talons (every magic item you carry disintegrates), Ruin (you lose all nonmagical wealth and property), Flames (a powerful devil becomes your enemy), Euryale (−2 to saves until a god or The Fates lifts it) and Rogue (an unknown NPC turns against you).
Odd: Balance flips your alignment, Comet grants a level only if you defeat the next monster alone, Idiot lowers Intelligence but gives an extra draw, Jester and Fool change your XP, and Vizier answers one question within a year.

Common questions

How many cards should I draw from the Deck of Many Things?

As many as you’re willing to risk. The deck is roughly balanced between great and terrible cards, and each card goes back in unless it’s the Fool or Jester. Many players draw one or two; drawing none is the only safe choice.

What happens if I stop drawing early?

You can’t, really. If you don’t draw the number you declared, each within an hour of the last, the remaining cards fly from the deck on their own and take effect all at once.

What is the worst card in the Deck of Many Things?

Most players would say The Void or Donjon: both take your character out of play until the party finds a way to rescue them, and neither can be undone by a simple spell. Talons, which destroys every magic item you carry, is a close third.

Can Wish undo a bad card?

Sometimes. A Wish can reveal where the Donjon holds you, but it can’t restore a soul lost to The Void, only show where it’s held. The Fates card can erase one event, including another card.

What’s the difference between a 13-card and a 22-card deck?

The 22-card deck adds nine extra cards: Vizier, Comet, The Fates, Gem, Talons, Idiot, Donjon, Balance and Fool. They include some of the best and the very worst results.

Should a DM put the Deck of Many Things in a campaign?

Only if you’re ready for it to change the campaign. Players can gain wishes or lose characters, and both need a plan. Many DMs let players know what the deck is before anyone draws.

The Deck of Many Things compared with similar items

Item	How it compares
Deck of Illusions	Uncommon: 34 cards that each create an illusory creature. The harmless deck.
Ring of Three Wishes	Legendary: three castings of Wish, with none of the risk.
Wand of Wonder	Rare: a random magical effect with every charge, from Fireball to a shower of butterflies.
Bag of Beans	Rare: every planted bean produces something unexpected, good or bad.
Luck Blade	Legendary sword with a reroll each day and sometimes a few Wishes.

Mysterious Deck in the 2024 rules

The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide revised the magic items, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new text. What changed:

It’s called Mysterious Deck in the 2024 rules.
Dice: 1d4, 1d3, 1d10, 1d8 → 1d100, 1d3, 1d4, 1d10, 1d8.

Type: Wondrous Item
Rarity: Legendary
Attunement: Not required

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 Mysterious Deck 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.)

Mysterious Deck

1d100 (13-Card Deck)	1d100 (22-Card Deck)	Card
—	01–05	Balance
—	06–10	Comet
—	11–14	Donjon
01–08	15–18	Euryale
—	19–23	Fates
09–16	24–27	Flames
—	28–31	Fool
—	32–36	Gem
17–24	37–41	Jester
25–32	42–46	Key
33–40	47–51	Knight
41–48	52–56	Moon
—	57–60	Puzzle
49–56	61–64	Rogue
57–64	65–68	Ruin
—	69–73	Sage
65–72	74–77	Skull
73–80	78–82	Star
81–88	83–87	Sun
—	88–91	Talons
89–96	92–96	Throne
97–00	97–00	Void

Each card's effect is described below.

Balance. You can increase one of your ability scores by 2, to a maximum of 22, provided you also decrease another one of your ability scores by 2. You can't decrease an ability that has a score of 5 or lower. Alternatively, you can choose not to adjust your ability scores, in which case this card has no effect.

Comet. The next time you enter combat against one or more Hostile creatures, you can select one of them as your foe when you roll Initiative. If you reduce your foe to 0 Hit Points during that combat, you have Advantage on Death Saving Throws for 1 year. If someone else reduces your chosen foe to 0 Hit Points or you don't choose a foe, this card has no effect.

Donjon. You disappear and become entombed in a state of suspended animation in an extradimensional sphere. Everything you're wearing and carrying disappears with you except for Artifacts, which stay behind in the space you occupied when you disappeared. You remain imprisoned until you are found and removed from the sphere. You can't be located by any Divination magic, but a Wish spell can reveal the location of your prison. You draw no more 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.

Fates. Reality's fabric unravels and spins anew, allowing you to avoid or erase one event as if it never happened. You can use the card's magic as soon as you draw the card or at any other time before you die.

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.

Fool. You have Disadvantage on D20 Tests for the next 72 hours. Draw another card; this draw doesn't count as one of your declared draws.

Gem. Twenty-five pieces of jewelry worth 2,000 GP each or fifty gems worth 1,000 GP each appear at your feet.

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 GM 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 GM to create a name and backstory for this NPC. The GM can use a different stat block to represent the knight, as desired.

Moon. You gain the ability to cast Wish 1d3 times.

Puzzle. Permanently reduce your Intelligence or Wisdom by 1d4 + 1 (to a minimum score of 1). You can draw one additional card beyond your declared draws.

Rogue. An NPC of the GM'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. Any documentation that proves you should own something lost to this card also disappears.

Sage. At any time you choose within one year of drawing this card, you can ask a question in meditation and mentally receive a truthful answer to that question.

Skull. An Avatar of Death (see the accompanying stat block) 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 GM) appears on your person. In addition, you gain 10 Temporary Hit Points daily at dawn until you die.

Talons. Every magic item you wear or carry disintegrates. Artifacts in your possession vanish instead.

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 GM'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.

Avatar of Death

Medium Undead, Neutral evil

AC 20 Initiative +3 (13)

HP Half the HP maximum of its summoner

Speed 60 ft., Fly 60 ft. (hover)

	Score	Mod	Save
Str	16	+3	+3
Dex	16	+3	+3
Con	16	+3	+3
Int	16	+3	+3
Wis	16	+3	+3
Cha	16	+3	+3

Immunities Necrotic, Poison; Charmed, Exhaustion, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Unconscious

Senses Truesight 60 ft., Passive Perception 13

Languages All languages known to its summoner

CR None (XP 0; PB equals its summoner's)

Traits

Incorporeal Movement. The avatar can move through other creatures and objects as if they were Difficult Terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) Force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Actions

Multiattack. The avatar makes a number of Reaping Scythe attacks equal to half the summoner's Proficiency Bonus (rounded up).

Reaping Scythe. Melee Attack Roll: Automatic hit, reach 5 ft. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) Slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) Necrotic damage.

Other legendary wondrous items

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