I picked up a random set and made a leather case. Also added a tarot cards. It's been a lot of fun in game because the players don't know which one they're pulling from.
I love these kinds of videos and am a big fan of collecting decks: tarot, DnD spell decks etc. And I’ve been looking at the animated deck for a while. Thanks!
Thank you very much for this honest review. I have been boycotting buying new products since the OGL. That said this one was a huge temptation for me and as a result of other factors ended up not buying it. Given your review it looks like I dodged a bullet. I intend to buy it in the sales but Would like to point you towards reviewing CultZilla's Deck of many things. Its even cheaper than the black box deck and prettier graphics, sturdy card and as they are printed on tarot sized it still stands out. They also did deck of illusions but thats another video / post :)
A very useful review, thanks!I'd say also a very generous int score for the expensive one, given your observations. The disorganisation of the info would drive me up the wall.
With the initial thumbnail I saw on my feed, I didn't even register this was a D&D video. I thought the video was for some TCG so I scrolled right past. Glad the next thumbnail caught my eye enough to watch!
I came to many of the same conclusions you did about the WotC product. The fact that info was not available for all 66 cards in the Book of Many Things or, more preferably, the book that came in the box with the cards was far and away my biggest disappointment. While I understand what they were going with by creating the 22 separate chapters it really is a hot mess to navigate for the information you need. I ended up buying the digital copy (because like you I got the alternative cover and couldn't pre-order it on D&D Beyond with the digital version) and also entered key info into the program I use for my D&D campaign and world building notes. Of course, that led to another annoyance in that they only put the digital images for the original 22 cards on D&D Beyond and not the other 44. Overall though it was totally worth the purchase and I expect it to be used for many years to come. Just introduced it to my party recently and they spent most of last session just drawing from the deck and it led to a very memorable session. I created lore around our deck that was given to them by a riffler that allows me to make changes to the deck. It will remain 22 cards but I may switch out cards. In this way, I was able to create a deck from the 66 cards that are good for them now at their current level and can adjust accordingly as they level up. In our recent session they started with the Corpse card and the player rolled a Nat 20 on their first saving throw, the Book card which is self explanatory, the Skull card that really threw them for a loop and had four Avatars of Death on the map before everything was said and done, and the Beast card that turned the player into a crab but he still has two more cards to draw once he turns back into himself. Great coverage!
Great reviews. And I agree 100 percent. Makes no sense to me why they did not put a complete card reference list and what each card does if you just want to run them like the original cards.
I love the art on hit point press's deck of many. I cheaped out though i got the non animated cards for half the price. Though I'd i could buy the cards for the book of many bundle of drop the money for them in a heart beat, i would die for a deck of many more things (which is what the new 44 cards turn the deck of many things into)
This is so frustrating. Hate the way way WotC thinks DMs utilize book information. Hate the way they're ripping us off by deciding against including DMG cards. It all feels so scummy and decided by corporate, not game designers.
If you only use it as the basic magic item - it’s not worth it, I’m building a campaign around it with all the options in the book and it’s an exciting resource for a first time homebrew campaign where I don’t have to do as much thinking about what happens next because the deck helps dictate that
I found exactly the same with the official release, there’s no nice easy list that just tells you what the cards do. All the lore and info is nice but once that’s been read what you really need is essentially just an excel spreadsheet listing everything and it’s not there
$125?!? I paid roughly $80. You might still think that is high but the quality is actually quite good and reasonable for the packaging, two books and the deck as well.
It is used in far more ways than for a deck of many things. You can use single cards as individually magic items, you can use them to randomize inspiration effects, you can use them for fortune telling, to name a few options in the book.
Taken in the context of everything WoTC / Hasbro has done lately, their newest Deck of Many Things screams cash grab-y to me. It feels like a rushed product that isn't providing a lot of new innovative value, esp when compared against some 3rd party materials of similar or cheaper cost. It feels like tax for buying something that's officially D&D branded.
As beatufiul as the WoTC version is, and having 66 cards instead of 22, I just would not be able to justify that price for a prop youll use maybe once a year... maybe. Most likely once per campaign, and my campaigns run 2-3 years.
I picked up a random set and made a leather case. Also added a tarot cards. It's been a lot of fun in game because the players don't know which one they're pulling from.
I loved this video! Thanks for showing us such sublime Decks!!!! Definitely an interesting tool to use in TRPG’s.
The reference book is for DMs for fortune telling or building encouters or sessions.
It says so in the main book.
Those alternatives that you included at the end are killer. I love the inspiration of that alternative Balance outcome
I love these kinds of videos and am a big fan of collecting decks: tarot, DnD spell decks etc. And I’ve been looking at the animated deck for a while. Thanks!
Thank you very much for this honest review. I have been boycotting buying new products since the OGL.
That said this one was a huge temptation for me and as a result of other factors ended up not buying it.
Given your review it looks like I dodged a bullet.
I intend to buy it in the sales but Would like to point you towards reviewing CultZilla's Deck of many things. Its even cheaper than the black box deck and prettier graphics, sturdy card and as they are printed on tarot sized it still stands out. They also did deck of illusions but thats another video / post :)
A very useful review, thanks!I'd say also a very generous int score for the expensive one, given your observations. The disorganisation of the info would drive me up the wall.
I agree, but outside of the disorganisation, it is SO good!
With the initial thumbnail I saw on my feed, I didn't even register this was a D&D video. I thought the video was for some TCG so I scrolled right past. Glad the next thumbnail caught my eye enough to watch!
I came to many of the same conclusions you did about the WotC product. The fact that info was not available for all 66 cards in the Book of Many Things or, more preferably, the book that came in the box with the cards was far and away my biggest disappointment. While I understand what they were going with by creating the 22 separate chapters it really is a hot mess to navigate for the information you need. I ended up buying the digital copy (because like you I got the alternative cover and couldn't pre-order it on D&D Beyond with the digital version) and also entered key info into the program I use for my D&D campaign and world building notes. Of course, that led to another annoyance in that they only put the digital images for the original 22 cards on D&D Beyond and not the other 44. Overall though it was totally worth the purchase and I expect it to be used for many years to come.
Just introduced it to my party recently and they spent most of last session just drawing from the deck and it led to a very memorable session. I created lore around our deck that was given to them by a riffler that allows me to make changes to the deck. It will remain 22 cards but I may switch out cards. In this way, I was able to create a deck from the 66 cards that are good for them now at their current level and can adjust accordingly as they level up. In our recent session they started with the Corpse card and the player rolled a Nat 20 on their first saving throw, the Book card which is self explanatory, the Skull card that really threw them for a loop and had four Avatars of Death on the map before everything was said and done, and the Beast card that turned the player into a crab but he still has two more cards to draw once he turns back into himself. Great coverage!
Great reviews. And I agree 100 percent. Makes no sense to me why they did not put a complete card reference list and what each card does if you just want to run them like the original cards.
You got my like, sub, and comment just for saying you paid Canadian currency for everything! I haven't even watched the video yet!
I love the art on hit point press's deck of many. I cheaped out though i got the non animated cards for half the price. Though I'd i could buy the cards for the book of many bundle of drop the money for them in a heart beat, i would die for a deck of many more things (which is what the new 44 cards turn the deck of many things into)
Thank you! 😃
Ahhhh the cat cameo! So beautiful!
This is so frustrating. Hate the way way WotC thinks DMs utilize book information. Hate the way they're ripping us off by deciding against including DMG cards. It all feels so scummy and decided by corporate, not game designers.
If you only use it as the basic magic item - it’s not worth it, I’m building a campaign around it with all the options in the book and it’s an exciting resource for a first time homebrew campaign where I don’t have to do as much thinking about what happens next because the deck helps dictate that
Embossed cards would be nice but as a printer, the cost of an embossing die for each card would be phenomenal
I found exactly the same with the official release, there’s no nice easy list that just tells you what the cards do. All the lore and info is nice but once that’s been read what you really need is essentially just an excel spreadsheet listing everything and it’s not there
$125?!? I paid roughly $80. You might still think that is high but the quality is actually quite good and reasonable for the packaging, two books and the deck as well.
Why should I buy this? I could use it once per campaign, if at all. And the players would probably don’t use them anyway.
It is used in far more ways than for a deck of many things. You can use single cards as individually magic items, you can use them to randomize inspiration effects, you can use them for fortune telling, to name a few options in the book.
Taken in the context of everything WoTC / Hasbro has done lately, their newest Deck of Many Things screams cash grab-y to me. It feels like a rushed product that isn't providing a lot of new innovative value, esp when compared against some 3rd party materials of similar or cheaper cost. It feels like tax for buying something that's officially D&D branded.
As beatufiul as the WoTC version is, and having 66 cards instead of 22, I just would not be able to justify that price for a prop youll use maybe once a year... maybe. Most likely once per campaign, and my campaigns run 2-3 years.
I've been using it nearly every session. I have a fortune teller NPC in my game who uses this deck in her fortune telling. It's nice.
You are so adorable! I want to be your boyfriend!
Just grab a cool tarot card deck, much better value than the overpriced "deck of many things."