D&D’s Deck of Many Things is the physical embodiment of a dungeon crawl

Deck of Many Things, the next new supplement for 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons, is a first-of-its-kind product for Wizards of the Coast. According to lead designer Jason Tondro (a veteran of Paizo’s Pathfinder), the “innovation project” seeks to build a new body of lore around one of the game’s oldest magical items. The eponymous card deck can be used in a way that embodies old-school dungeon exploration at its best. Like its namesake deck, the short pile of cards is full of secrets.

Deck of Many Things, the original version was released in 1975 The following are some examples of how to use Greyhawk, only the fourth book and the first supplement published for the first edition of D&D. The creation of the mythical object is therefore attributed to its authors — Rob Kuntz and the game’s co-creator, Gary Gygax himself. Originally, the magical object had only 22 cards. Each card contained a chaotic effect in-game that would be revealed when it was pulled from a stack. Wizards of the Coast has relaunched the game in 2023. In total, 44 new cards were created bringing the grand sum to 66. The Sun, Moon and other well-known cards are now joined by newcomers such as the Door.

The cards feature new and vibrant art along with a unique gold foil treatment, and they’ll come packaged inside a presentation-style box. The box set includes an interpretation booklet and a hardcover book called “The Book of the Dead”. Card Reference Guide. Tandro gave a briefing to the press. He revealed some information about what’s inside.

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The Deck of Many Things can be used to build a dungeon or an adventure on the fly, mimicking the kind of random tables that D&D has used from the very beginning. Dungeon Masters can find alternate entries if a card is turned upside-down. That’s a total of 660 “things” to be found inside the deck — more than enough to add a little variety to any adventure.

“In addition to all of that,” Tondro said, “it also includes the ways to use the deck as an oracle deck for your characters or for the DM, so the characters can visit a fortune teller and get their fortunes read.”

But it will also include another style of use — a way to use the deck itself to build out a larger adventure, or even an entire campaign. It’s called an Adventure Spread.

“The first card represents where the party is before the adventure starts,” Tondro said, “kind of like what they’ve been doing or the starting situation. And we cross that with a card that’s the inciting event — someone staggers into the tavern with an arrow in their chest and a map in their hand, right? The adventure begins with something.

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“Then we follow this with a card that represents the journey, and then a card for the entrance to the dungeon — the doorway — and then challenges.” Tondro explained that you could start with three challenges, adding more or taking some away depending on how long you wanted the adventure to run. “Then we finish that with a treasure and a final guardian card.”

What was the process for testing the Adventure Spread’s design? Tondro says they got the whole design team together and had them take turns shuffling nine identical cards. As the deck was passed around the table, three of Wizards’ best designers — James Wyatt, Dan Dillon, and Carl Sibley — had all made completely different adventures.

“When three different designers could use the same cards to create three wildly different adventures with the Spread,” Tondro said, “that’s what I knew that we had something. That’s how we knew that it worked.”

Deck of Many ThingsAlso included is a second title, entitled The Book of Many ThingsTondro claims that contains everything from new character options, to locations and monsters. It also includes magical items. In this way, Tondro said, it’s much like the other “everything” books that came before it, including Xanathar’s Guide to EverythingThe following are some examples of how to get started: Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. It’s just that this time they’re all organized by card, not necessarily by topic.

“It’s [even] got chapters on DM advice,” Tondro added. “It’s got a chapter of puzzles, riddles, and traps. This is [truly] a book of many things — it’s not just a clever name.”

Deck of Many Things Pre-orders can be made at game shops and online. The retail release date is Nov. 14. Both Amazon and Wizards of the Coast are offering it for $99.99, but only those who purchase it directly will have early access to digital content via D&D Beyond on Oct. 31.