“Deck of Many Things” fails at the wrong time for D&D

The deck of many things is unlike anything that has come before in Dungeons & Dragons history – an elaborate boxed set with multiple components, all designed to bring a beloved magical item to life. It’s a unique project pushed into a yawning portal in the groundbreaking RPG’s release calendar. The next version of the 5th edition will be released later this year. But it’s the wrong product, delivered at the wrong time, thrown into hostile waters already roiled by corporate controversies hanging over the entire franchise.

It’s a shame, because the end product is actually pretty cool.

In the center of The deck of many things is the deck itself, consisting of 66 gold-plated tarot cards. A total of 22 of these cards represent powerful spells that were first introduced to the game in 1975, many of which have game- and campaign-changing effects. Drawing a card from the deck is a surefire way to cause absolute chaos in almost any D&D game by leveling up, losing levels, killing characters, or having wishes granted by a djinn. Having a beautiful, physical representation of these world-shattering spells is a joy.

Together, a full or even a smaller, more curated version of the deck can be used to guess things at the table – just like a traditional tarot deck. Of course, players can receive a reading from a character in the game, but there are also ways to use the cards to plan encounters, traps, or small adventures. By dealing a simple three-card or five-card spread, you can add variety to any situation. With a full nine-card spread, you can even create an entire campaign that flashes from the DM’s hand straight to the table thanks to its elegant gold-edged design. And it seems that this gold-plated edge is the cause of most of this product’s problems.

At the beginning of the 5th edition life cycle of D&D, the team at Wizards of the Coast was proud to print all of its books in the United States. But the economic realities of publishing on this scale, and undoubtedly the needs of Hasbro’s corporate owners, led to changes in the production process. What followed was a series of three-volume, higher quality slipcased publications that Wizards began printing, at least in part, in China – often with mixed results.

At the same time, Hasbro brought one onto the market Environmental initiative is intended to reduce the company’s carbon footprint. Changes in packaging were evident across all numerous product lines, from Plant fiber binders to action figures to plastic-free packaging on decks Magic the Gatheringis the most popular Commander cards. The greening initiative directly led to production problems that delayed the release The deck of many thingswhose paper banding was partly the cause of a recall at the end of 2023 that stopped shipping products to customers already in the distribution channel.

“This is all for a good cause,” executive producer Kyle Brink told Polygon in October. “Of course we want to reduce plastic waste and therefore use paper packaging. We have carefully checked everything throughout the production process to make sure everything is OK, and yet some of the issues we are seeing here are specific to the paper packaging we use.”

The revised Deck of Many Things uses plastic to protect each of its three 22-card decks during shipping, and I’m happy to report that the cards are now all a consistent size – just like they were the first time around. The result is an elegant and powerful deck that sits elegantly on the table and shines brightly when dealt to players. Still, it arrived well after its original release date.

Next to this pretty deck of cards is this Map Reference Guide, which remains unchanged from the batch delivered to reviewers last fall. The 80-page volume in scrapbook format is the textbook. It contains everything you need to know to use the deck, including all of the above layouts. The large and easy-to-read text sections ensure a clear and nimble presentation of the cards at the table.

However, unlike other props Wizards has released in the past, the deck itself lacks a strong theme. It’s basically a generic article and many other reviewers have pointed out that there is a major flaw in this. I, on the other hand, see this as positive. As a collector of TTRPG props, including miniatures and terrain, I consider the deck to be a treasure in the truest sense, because it is something I can draw from no matter what part of the vast D&D multiverse my players are in are currently located. If I had wanted a themed tarot deck, I would have bought one. Instead, The deck of many things Seeds retail shelves are equipped with a solid tool that is immediately available to players at any point in their journey through 5th Edition, and for that the team at Wizards deserve praise.

Of course, the point is not to produce content that has mainstream appeal The deck of many things an experiment. It is the second, larger companion book, a 192-page volume entitled The Book of Many Things, where the magicians actually rolled the dice. Compared to literally everything else in the 5th edition catalog, it’s an absolute mess.

The Book of Many Things is divided into 22 chapters, one for each of the original Deck of Many Things. The content of these chapters falls into five different categories: a five-chapter toolkit for DMs, a four-chapter collection of character creation options, four chapters “inspired by astrological phenomena,” five chapters describing potential adventure locations, and four chapters , the “New” describe monsters and two people responsible for creating the deck.” It’s a laundry list that’s as stressful to type out here as it is to navigate in the real world.

Packed alongside the concise and effective deck and its practical handling Map Reference Guide, The Book of Many Things Might have been a rough collection of shavings left over from a decade of paring down rough ideas in search of more targeted products. Instead, everything feels tailored, tailored to the themes of the deck and supporting them in different ways. But the shotgun blast of new content is delivered with far less grace and readability than something like this Xanathar’s Guide to Everything or Tasha’s cauldron of everything.

I love the deck for what it is – an elegant prop and tool that encourages shared storytelling around the table. His gold profile will be a permanent fixture on my shelf for years to come. In the end it is like that The Book of Many Things This feels most like an unnecessary glossy effect on an otherwise solid product.

Its presence in this product begs the question: why? The Book of Many Things even exist? I think the answer lies in Hasbro’s great desire to digitize a traditionally very tactile game. You can’t turn a physical prop into a microtransaction, but you can sell digital books on D&D Beyond. For the overlords at Wizards, the deck itself—the very best part of this package—seems to have been almost an afterthought. It was even more punishing The Book of Many Things, The deck of many things‘ least likable installment, which first appeared during the now perfunctory two-week digital pre-release window, a window that stretched for months due to an unexpected recall.

The deck of many things and be Map Reference Guide are a must-have, especially if you enjoy short, action-packed adventures or letting fate decide where your campaign ultimately leads. Unfortunately, to enjoy this great object you have to pay The Book of Many Things as well as.

The deck of many things is currently available online and at friendly local game stores for a suggested retail price of $99.99, as well as digital content on D&D Beyond. The product was reviewed with a physical pre-release version provided by the publisher. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These have no influence on the editorial content, although Vox Media may earn commissions for products purchased through affiliate links. You can find More information about Polygon’s ethics policy can be found here.