Deck of Perilous Fortunes
GM-Info!
Work in progress!
Slightly NSFW!
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The Deck of Perilous Fortunes consists of 99 cards, tightly bound within a snug leather sleeve. Some believe the deck was crafted by the gods themselves, designed to tempt mortals with its promises of power and fortune. Others propose that it was created by a benevolent enchantress who, driven by madness, imbued the cards with unpredictable magic. Any attempt to destroy it or permanently remove its cards proves futile. When such efforts are made, the deck simply vanishes, only to materialize elsewhere in the world. Similarly, any cards separated from the deck will mysteriously find their way back, reappearing randomly within the leather sleeve.
Knowledge about the Deck of Perilous Fortunes is fragmented and scarce. Only a handful of cards and their effects have been documented, and this information is scattered across the world. To gather comprehensive knowledge, one would need to embark on a global journey, piecing together lore from various sources. The majority of cards and their consequences remain shrouded in mystery. As such, it falls to the Game Master to decide what information, if any, a character receives upon drawing a card, particularly if the effect isn't immediately apparent.
Drawing Cards
When the deck is complete, only one card can be drawn at a time. Attempting to draw more results in the leather sleeve becoming inexplicably tight, preventing any additional cards from being extracted until the next day. The deck resets at midnight. A clever individual could exploit this by drawing a card just before midnight, quickly returning it to the sleeve, and then drawing another card immediately after the clock strikes midnight. A card must be drawn willingly to make its effect work. The moment a card is pulled, its effect is set in motion, though the consequences may not be immediately apparent. These magical outcomes are inescapable; no amount of luck or skill can circumvent them. Eg. forcing multiple luck rolls on minor things to prevent bad outcomes on important luck rolls later proves futile against the deck's powerful enchantments. Optional Rule: If a card is drawn upside down, the effect is reversed, provided such a reversal is feasible. If the reversal is not applicable, the Game Master determines the outcome, ensuring that the upside-down draw still has a meaningful impact on the game. This optional rule requires two rolls from the player: first, a d99 to determine which card is drawn, and second, a coin flip (or d2 roll) to establish the card's orientation. On a coin flip of tails (or a d2 roll of 2), the card is considered drawn upside down. You can find the Cypher System version here: Deck of Perilous Fortunes - Cypher System.List of Cards
# | Card Name | Effect |
---|---|---|
1 | The Alchemist's Apprentice | All your healing potions and poultices are twice as effective for 1d10 days. |
2 | The Alchemist | You can create one random potion without ingredients. The effect lasts for 1 hour. |
3 | The Amnesia | You forget all your skills for 1d10 hours. |
4 | The Assassin | You gain +10 to Stealth and Sleight of Hand for 24 hours. |
5 | The Bard | You can captivate an audience with your performance, gaining their rapt attention for up to 1 hour. |
6 | The Beastman | Your Intelligence characteristic decreases by 10 for 1d10 hours. |
7 | The Berserker | You enter a frenzied state, gaining +10 to Strength and -10 to Intelligence for 1d10 rounds. |
8 | The Burden | Your carrying capacity is halved for 24 hours. |
9 | The Changeling | You can alter your appearance at will for 24 hours. |
10 | The Chaos Creature | You transform into a random monster for 1d10 minutes before reverting to normal. |
11 | The Chaos Warrior | Your armor's Armor Points increase by 2 for 24 hours. |
12 | The Chidaya | You can fly for 1 hour within the next 24 hours. |
13 | The Comet | Gain 1 Fate point permanently. |
14 | The Coward | You automatically fail all Willpower tests for 1d10 hours. |
15 | The Curse | One of your attributes (randomly chosen) decreases by 10 for 1d10 days. |
16 | The Cursed Dream | You fall into a deep sleep and cannot wake for 1d10 hours. |
17 | The Doomsayer | Your proclamations of doom cause Fear in enemies for 1d10 hours. |
18 | The Doppelganger | A perfect copy of you appears and follows your commands for 1 hour before vanishing. |
19 | The Doppelganger's Curse | An evil duplicate of you appears nearby. It has all your abilities and memories, but opposes your goals. The duplicate vanishes after 24 hours or when defeated. |
20 | The Dragon | You can breathe fire (as per the spell "Breath of Fire") once within the next 24 hours. |
21 | The Drunkard | You suffer from the effects of extreme intoxication for 1d10 hours. |
22 | The Dwarf | Your Toughness characteristic increases by 10 for 1d10 hours. |
23 | The Elf | Your Agility characteristic increases by 10 for 1d10 hours. |
24 | The Emperor | Gain 1 Resilience point permanently. |
25 | The Engineer | You gain the ability to understand and operate any mechanical device for 24 hours. |
26 | The Exhaustion | You gain 1 level of Fatigue that cannot be removed for 24 hours. |
27 | The Flagellant | You gain immunity to Fear and Terror for 24 hours. |
28 | The Fool | You critically fail your next skill test. |
29 | The Forester | You can track any creature perfectly for 24 hours. |
30 | The Ghoul | You can consume any organic matter for sustenance without ill effects for 1d10 days. |
31 | The Glutton | You must eat twice as much food for the next 1d10 days or suffer Fatigue. |
32 | The Grave Robber | You find a random magical item on the next corpse you encounter. |
33 | The Haggler | You gain +10 to Haggle and Charm for 24 hours. |
34 | The Hallucination | You see terrifying visions for 1d10 hours, causing Fear tests in combat. |
35 | The Hedge Knight | You gain the use of a warhorse for 1d10 days. |
36 | The Hedge Wizard | You learn one random petty spell permanently. |
37 | The Horseman-at-Arms | You gain resistance to cold and +10 to ride tests for 24 hours. |
38 | The Ice Witch | You gain resistance to cold damage and can create ice objects for 24 hours. |
39 | The Illiterate | You lose the ability to read or write for 24 hours. |
40 | The Innkeeper | You can create a small pocket dimension resembling a cozy inn room, lasting for 8 hours. |
41 | The Inquisitor | You can detect lies for 1d10 hours. |
42 | The Jailer | You can create an invisible, 10-foot cube prison once within 24 hours. It lasts for 1 hour. |
43 | The Jester | Roll twice and apply both effects. If you draw The Jester again, all cards are reshuffled into the deck. |
44 | The Jinx | Your next three Luck tests automatically fail. |
45 | The Kachhua | Your Movement characteristic is halved for 1d10 hours. |
46 | The Kendric | Your size reduces to that of a Kendric for 1d10 hours. Adjust characteristics accordingly. |
47 | The Klutz | You suffer -10 to all Agility-based tests for 1d10 hours. |
48 | The Knight | You gain 1d10 temporary Wounds that last for 24 hours. |
49 | The Liar | No one believes anything you say for the next 24 hours. |
50 | The Lichmaster | You gain the ability to speak with the dead for 1d10 hours. |
51 | The Mercenary | You gain proficiency with all armor types for 24 hours. |
52 | The Merchant | You find 1d100 gold crowns in your pocket. |
53 | The Messenger | You can send a short message to anyone you know, regardless of distance, once within 24 hours. |
54 | The Miser | You compulsively hoard all money you find for 1d10 days. |
55 | The Mutant | Gain a random mutation that disappears after 1d10 days. |
56 | The Necromancer | You can summon a skeleton to fight for you once within the next 24 hours. |
57 | The Nemesis | Your greatest enemy learns your exact location. |
58 | The Noble | You are mistaken for a noble and gain Advantage on all social interactions for 24 hours. |
59 | The Oracle | You gain a prophetic vision about a future event. Interpretation is up to the GM. |
60 | The Outcast | All NPCs are hostile towards you for 24 hours. |
61 | The Paranoia | You distrust everyone, including allies, for 1d10 hours. |
62 | The Pilgrim | You are blessed with good fortune on your travels for 1d10 days (+10 to Luck tests). |
63 | The Pit Fighter | You gain +10 to Weapon Skill for 1d10 hours. |
64 | The Plague | Contract a random disease. A successful Endurance test halves its duration. |
65 | The Priest | You can attempt one Prayer to your deity without consequences. Success is automatic. |
66 | The Quack | You can convince anyone of one false "medical fact" within the next 24 hours. |
67 | The Quake | The ground shakes, knocking you prone and dealing 1d10 damage. |
68 | The Rat | You gain the ability to communicate with rats and other rodents for 1d10 days. |
69 | The Ratcatcher | You gain immunity to disease for 1d10 days. |
70 | The Reckless | You must always choose the most dangerous option for 24 hours. |
71 | The Roadwarden | You always know the direction to the nearest settlement for 1d10 days. |
72 | The Scholar | You gain +10 to Intelligence tests for 1d10 hours. |
73 | The Seer | You can ask one question about the past and receive a truthful answer. |
74 | The Shadow | You can move through shadows without being detected for 1d10 hours. |
75 | The Shrinking | Your size decreases by one category for 1d10 hours. |
76 | The Silence | You cannot speak for 24 hours. |
77 | The Smuggler | You can hide one item of any size on your person, undetectable by normal means, for 24 hours. |
78 | The Storm | A sudden storm erupts, reducing visibility to 10 feet for 1 hour. All ranged attacks suffer Disadvantage. |
79 | The Tainted | You emit a foul odor, imposing -10 to all social interactions for 24 hours. |
80 | The Thief | One random item in your possession disappears. |
81 | The Timekeeper | Time seems to slow for you. You gain an extra action on your turn for 1d10 rounds. |
82 | The Treasure Map | You find a cryptic map leading to a hidden treasure. Deciphering it requires a successful Intelligence test. |
83 | The Troll | Your size increases to that of an Troll for 1 hour. Adjust characteristics accordingly. |
84 | The Troll Slayer | Your Strength characteristic increases by 10 for 1d10 hours. |
85 | The Unicorn | You can purify any water or food by touch for 1d10 days. |
86 | The Unlucky | You automatically fail your next three tests. |
87 | The Vampire | You gain Dark Vision and vulnerability to sunlight for 1d10 days. |
88 | The Vishaal | Your body becomes resistant to extreme cold for 1d10 days. |
89 | The Void | One of your characteristics drops to 0 for 1 hour. |
90 | The Warrior | You gain proficiency with all weapons for 24 hours. |
91 | The Watcher | You can see through solid objects for 1 hour within the next 24 hours. |
92 | The Weakness | All your weapons deal minimum damage for 1d10 hours. |
93 | The Wibbit | Your Movement characteristic doubles for 1d10 hours. |
94 | The Witch Hunter | For the next 24 hours, you have Advantage on all Tests to detect or resist Chaos corruption. |
95 | The Wizard | You can cast one random spell from the Lore of Magic without ingredients or consequences. The spell disappears after one use. |
96 | The Wrath | You fly into an uncontrollable rage for 1d10 rounds, attacking friend and foe alike. |
97 | The Xenophobe | You gain +10 to all tests against creatures not of your species for 24 hours. |
98 | The Yeoman | You gain +10 to all Outdoor Survival tests for 1d10 days. |
99 | The Zealot | You become fanatically devoted to a random god for 24 hours, alienating those of other faiths. |
I love this idea so much. May I adopt a version of this for Mirintha?
The basic idea is the Deck of Many Things from D&D with way less cards. https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/wondrous-items:deck-of-many-things - but surely make your version. :)