The Tarot Deck of Many Things
Ok Amethyst, what are you even talking about?
If you’re anything like me, you probably have a special relationship with tarot, oracle cards, and other tools often used and loved by psychics. Considering you’re taking the time to read this, that probably rings true. If you’re even more like me, you probably also have a love for Dungeons and Dragons, a time-honored game where you and a few friends roll dice, struggle with simple addition, and tell some of the most amazing stories you will ever hear.
So what do these two things have to do with each other?
Honestly, not much for me. I tend to keep my practice on the more solitary side and have no interest in converting my friends unless they are curious. But I firmly believe that what separates a good psychic from a great psychic is having hobbies and interests. A psychic who dedicates all of their time to honing their abilities will be able to give you insight to your questions, but a psychic who has lived experiences will be able to offer you further context and even personal advice every now and again.
Some DnD Lore
The Deck of Many Things is a famous (or infamous) legendary item that many Dungeon Masters like to put into their games. This can add a bit of chaos due to the randomness aspect and is a very high risk/high reward item for players and DM alike. There has been more than one occasion where a card drawn from the deck has made me rewrite entire arcs of a campaign. There have been even more occasions where players will have to re-roll for their characters or even make new characters entirely because of this dastardly deck. This item in particular is so infamous across DnD campaigns that many seasoned players have the cards memorized and would avoid the deck altogether.
But where’s the fun in that?
As an Aries stellium, I tend to revel in a bit of chaos every now and again. I thought to myself “What’s the point of putting the deck in if my players already know the risks and rewards? They’ll never pull anything!” So I took out one of my tarot decks and got to work. I took each of the Major Arcana cards and assigned an equivalent to happen in my game, should that particular card be pulled. I did my best to take into account the meanings of each tarot card while still trying to keep the balance that the Deck of Many Things has. That being said, this was made for fun. I don’t treat tarot as too precious to be played with - it was started as a card game, after all. Players can draw cards by either pulling from a major arcana deck themselves or by rolling for it. I have them roll a d100 and add the two numbers if they’re higher than 22, while counting 100 as 0. Each card will disintegrate after use. DM’s, please let me know if you use this deck and let me know what crazy adventures stem from it. If you’re one of my players, please kindly close this page and live your life in blissful ignorance until you pull a card for yourself. So without further ado, here is:
The Tarot Deck of Many Things
0 - The Fool: You feel yourself falling off the edge of a cliff. As you land, your life begins anew. Your character is reset to level 1. You may now level back up to your current level, taking whatever classes, feats, spells and abilities you want at each level. You must also draw 2 additional cards.
1 - The Magician: In an instant, your understanding of magic and manipulating the unseen powers around you clicks. Replace your highest level class with Wizard. You may add 1d4 + 1 to your Intelligence score for a maximum of 24. You may add your spells and class features as you see fit.
2 - The High Priestess: A magical being of pure knowledge and intuition appears before you. You may ask them up to 3 questions about anything past, present, or future. The being will answer as honestly and insightfully as possible. You may save some of these questions for later. Once the third question is answered, the card disappears.
3 - The Empress: An abundant garden grows underneath your feet. The garden is 90 feet in diameter and it contains plenty of food and fresh water. Inside the garden are 2d10 awakened shrubs what will obey you.
4 - The Emperor: A phantasmal crown materializes around your head. The edges are jagged and a grim reminder of the responsibilities of a leader. Your alignment shifts to Lawful Neutral or Lawful Evil. Additionally, A rare or rarer magic weapon with which you are proficient appears in your hand. The DM chooses the weapon.
5 - The Hierophant: The gods have taken notice of you. A messenger of a god appears before you. The god that they speak on behalf of wishes to make you a holy instrument of their power. If you accept, you gain 1 level in Cleric or Paladin and live in service to your god. If you refuse, you will receive -2 to all saving throws. Only a Wish spell may remove this curse.
6 - The Lovers: Your soul is permanently connected to that of another. Choose one other player. A shimmering, radiant thread connects the two of you at the heart. This thread is non-corporeal and can pass through objects. Both of you add +2 to one of your abilities or +1 to 2 abilities. If one of you dies, the other immediately dies as well.
7 - The Chariot: A spectral steed appears before you. You can now cast Find Steed at will. Additionally, you have +5 to your movement speed.
8 - Strength: You feel yourself grow stronger. Add +2 to either your Strength or Constitution score to a maximum of 24.
9 - The Hermit: It’s time to reflect. Your physical body becomes banished to the recesses of your own mind. You must acknowledge and battle your shadows in order to return. Your party members cannot reach or help you during this time. If you die, your soul is eternally trapped. Only a Wish spell may bring you back.
10 - The Wheel of Fortune: Roll a d100. If the roll is odds, you instantly die. If the roll is evens, you receive 10,000 GP.
11 - Justice: You become a paragon of truth, fairness, and law. Your alignment shifts to Lawful Good.
12 - The Hanged Man: For a brief moment, your perspective shifts completely upside down. You are granted truesight, but have a permanent -15 to your speed.
13 - Death: Through death comes rebirth. You immediately die and are brought back via the Reincarnate spell.
14 - Temperance: Your highest and lowest ability scores become equal in the middle. For example, an 8 Strength and a 20 Intelligence would become a 14 in both skills, respectively. If the score wouldn’t add up evenly, take the lower of the two numbers.
15 - The Devil: You summon an avatar of The Devil-a ghastly fiend clad in a tattered black robe and carrying a spectral scythe. It appears in a space of the DM'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. A creature slain by an avatar can't be restored to life.
16 - The Tower: The Tower is ready to fall. The foundation you stand on crumbles beneath your feet as the world collapses in on itself to begin anew. This is complete armageddon and total destruction.
17 - The Star: You are granted the ability to cast the Wish spell 1d3 times.
18 - The Moon: You are briefly transported to a land of pure darkness and fear. All Wisdom checks and saving throws are rolled with disadvantage.
19 - The Sun: You become a being of light. You now shine a bright light that extends 20 feet in all directions and dim light for an additional 20 feet. All of your attacks do an additional 2d10 radiant damage.
20 - Judgement: Your soul is tried before the gods. You stand trial before gods of all alignments. You must plead your case to all sides. The gods will then hold a vote. If you are successful, you receive a Legendary artifact of the DM’s choosing. If you fail, your soul is forfeit.
21 - The World: You have the ability to choose one thing in this world to happen or to have happened. Reality will rewrite itself upon your decision.
And there you have it.
Hope you have fun with this new deck. Tell me all about the crazy antics your players get up to with it!
