"It's all there in front of you," Jared said,
scowling as he pulled on his beard. "It took
hours to collect my notes and write down
all my observations."

"And I appreciate the work you?ve done,?
Basil replied, shuffling the sheets between
his open hands as the fighter looked on.
?But these are merely words on vellum;
they lack feeling and conviction.? The old
mage let the papers fall from his hands.
They drifted slowly to the hardwood table
below, each suspended by some magical
dweomer. The magician then leaned over
the table, his hands supporting him. His
milky, sinister eyes bored deeply into
Jared?s hazel ones. ?These ?reports? are
merely that-sound effects from a magic
wand, not the tangible experience."

Jared watched the papers spin like lazy
pinwheels until they landed, leaf upon
leaf, on the table?s surface. The old guy is
such a dramatist, he thought. He?s difficult
to work for. Still, you had to admire his
flair....

Basil settled into his high-backed chair.
"Words are of little importance to me. I
read them by the thousands every day,
and still I know little until I feel the experience
for myself. That is why I called you
here; it is your experience I require, not
your words."

Jared smiled and pulled a small, ornate
box from the pouch on his belt. ?If it?s
experience you need," he said, sliding the
box across the table, "I suggest you go
through the deck yourself, one card at a
time."

The wizened mage stared stupidly at the
box before him. The box's wooden trim
curled repeatedly upon itself like a nest of
carved snakes connected mouth to tail.
Pearly streams of inlaid ivory twinkled in
the candlelight like so many trickles of
spilled milk. Basil found himself mesmerized
by the box's intricate beauty and the
strength of its allure. With a sudden effort,
he turned away from the box and
looked up at the man across the table. ?Do
not be sarcastic with me. I do not require
your information enough to bear the
barbs of your derisive wit."

There was silence, punctuated only by
the occasional "caw" of the spell-caster's
familiar. Jared squirmed in his seat, roasting
uncomfortably under Basil?s reprimanding
glare. Another moment passed in
silence before the mage sat back in his
chair and crossed his hands. "But I do
require your information,? he said. ?Do we
understand each other?"

Jared searched the mage?s eyes for his
motives. Unable to pierce the milky globes,
he nodded anyway.

"Good. Let?s begin. You will describe the
experiences of you and your party with
the deck of many things.*2* As usual, I intend
to ?read? you. You know what that
means, of course?"

Jared nodded again. "Sure. It means you
don?t trust me."

"Perhaps. One cannot be too trusting in
these matters; you know that from our
past associations. I would not rely on you
if there were someone else more capable
and available. But as for trusting you, that
I cannot do. Thus, I must warn you: Do
not attempt to block my spell. You and
your friends have been well paid for your
services; I intend to get my money?s worth.
Likewise, do not withhold any information
from me; I will know in an instant if you
are hiding something."

Jared nodded blankly. The wizards
tirades grew less bearable with every
meeting. Besides, he knew the spell merely
copied words; it did not check for truth.
He would be truthful enough, though. If
only there were easier ways to earn gold.

Basil shuffled Jared?s report into one pile
and set it to the side of the table. Pulling a
leather-bound tome from a rack, he muttered
a brief, unintelligible phrase and
placed the open book before him. He then
drew a black quill from the inkwell and
laid it point first at the top of the page. He
muttered another clandestine phrase and
clapped his hands sharply together. Instantly,
the quill sprang to life, floating
perpendicular to the open book, point to
page. "Let us begin!" The quill scratched
across the page.

Jared watched in silence. He had seen
THE WIZARD's tricks a hundred times and
was no longer impressed by parlor magic.

Basil stroked his mustache momentarily,
then extended his crooked, bony hands
toward the ornate box. Withered fingers
wavered above the wooden container,
then descended. Reverently, the mage
wrapped his fingers around the container
and lifted it level to his eyes. With one eye
closed, he examined the box, turning it
over and around in his hands several
times. Basil focused his thoughts as he
scrutinized the treasure. Dimensions: six
inches long by four inches wide by three
inches deep. Composition: mahogany,
perhaps, or possibly cedar.³ Weight: about
two pounds. Distinguishing features: ornate
scrollwork, carvings of humanoid
faces—six in all—one on each box face.
Three smiling, three frowning. Smiles and
frowns appear opposite each other. The
faces appear to be those of pixies or even
leprechauns.

Basil?s eyes widened. The pen came to a
halt. The mage pulled the box closer to the
flickering candle, pulling himself closer as
well. Reaching into his cloak, he produced
a single, metal-rimmed lens and placed it
over one pale eye. Now all but forgotten,
Jared yawned.

Distinguishing features, Basil continued.
The scrollwork appears to form an elaborate
maze, the paths of which connect to
each smiling and frowning head. Odd, but
there doesn't appear to be an entrance or
an exit to the maze. The mage traced a
yellow fingernail around the edges and
sides of the box. Likewise, there appears
no obvious means for opening the box.

"How do you open it?" Basil asked his
fidgeting guest.

Jared sat forward in his chair, elbows on
knees, ?hands mimicking the action of a
opening container. ?You kind of pull at the
top and bottom with both hands.? Basil
stared skeptically through the flickering
flame. ?Trust me on this one,? Jared assured.
?It?s simple, and it?s the only way."

Nodding, Basil wrapped his crooked
fingers around the box and pulled. The
box remained closed. Basil shot a quick
glance at Jared.

"Pull a little harder," the young fighter
suggested.

Basil pulled again, harder this time. Lid
and bottom came quickly and equally
apart, dumping ivory plaques all over the
table in clattering piles. A mask of uncertainty,
then gradual horror, passed across
the wizards wrinkled face. The lens fell
from his eye. Speechless, he looked to
Jared for help. Jared blinked. THE WIZARD
blinked. Each man remained transfixed by
the other?s ludicrous stare.

"Styx in the Hells!" Jared shouted. ?Hit
the floor!? He dove face down under the
table. Basil stammered unintelligibly, unable
to find his tongue. "Just do it!" Jared
shouted.

Basil pushed his chair back quickly. Two
of its legs caught in a crack between the
floorboards, sending both chair and occupant
tumbling backward with a thud and a
yelp. Dizzy-eyed, Basil scrambled for
cover, bumping his head solidly against the
leg of the chair. He crawled beneath the
table, cowering.

Minutes passed in silence. Whispering,
THE WIZARD ventured a question. "What
happens next?" he asked.

Jared remained silent, his face hidden
beneath his arms, his body convulsing.
Basil waited for another moment to pass.
"What happens next?" he repeated. Jared
continued to shake in silence. Slowly,
muffled sobs seeped from the fighter?s
hidden head; gradually, they were revealed
to be muffled snorts.  Within seconds,
the fighter rolled onto 
his back, wracked with 
gales of 
laughter.

Basil caught on quickly. Once again,
Jared had played him for a fool. Fear
turned quickly to anger as the mage slid
from beneath the table and jumped to his
feet. "Boisterous ass!" he shouted, his face
livid.

Unable to contain himself, Jared hooted
loudly, exploding in a fit of laughter. Tears
streamed from his eyes as he cradled his
stomach and pounded his feet against the
floor.

Basil slammed his fist against the table,
sending the pen bouncing into the air. "You
irreverent toad! By the gods, I?ll send you
to the Ninth Circle of the Hells for this!"
Basil grabbed a book from his shelf, tore
open its pages, and began chanting loudly.
Jared saw that?and stopped laughing.

"Wait a minute!" the fighter shouted. ?I
was only joking. I didn?t mean anything by
it! Where?s your sense of humor?? Basil
continued his incantations and gesticulations.
He ignored the prone and pleading
fighter, only glancing at? him briefly to
chastise with his eyes.

Jared scrambled to his feet. Suddenly,
inspiration came to him. "There's a point!"
he shouted. ?I was making a point!"

The mage?s words trailed off into nothingness.
He stared at the fighter for a long,
uncomfortable moment. ?Well:? he said,
"I?m waiting. Don?t waste my time or I?ll
pick up reading where I left off!"

"Uh, the point is that the cards have no
effect unless you announce how many
cards you'd like to draw, then pull them
from the deck one at a time."

Basil slammed his spell book shut with
an echoing thud. Jared smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry:" he offered.

Basil maintained his scowl. "I grow tired
of your sophomoric pranks." He made no
motion to sit again. "Continue."

"Right. As I was saying, the cards in a
deck of many things are enchanted to act
independently of one another, never in
concert. This makes it possible to flip the
deck over, look at the cards all at the same
time, and suffer no penalty. Of course, in
that case, all the cards appear blank. We
discovered this early on. In the course of
hunting for information on the deck, we
were fantastically lucky and found several
decks of many things. Most of these were
13-card vellum decks, although we did
find two 22-card ivory decks, one of which
you have now. In any event, the standing
joke in our party was to pull a card without
announcing the pull, then show it to
an unknowing friend or party member. Of
course, the card was always blank, though
the victim of the prank seldom realized it
immediately. It was always good for a few
chuckles."

The pen, forgotten until now, came to a
halt. Basil grunted to himself and looked
down at the scattered cards. ?Something is
amiss:? he said. "These cards are blank."

"True enough. As I said, the cards remain
blank until the possessor announces
the number of cards he intends to pull:
one, two, three, or four. He can even announce
that he wishes to pull them all."

"All? Is that wise?" Basil righted his chair,
slid it to the table, and seated himself.
Jared took the hint that it was time to get
down to business, and he sat down, too.

"No, but it is possible. You see, the purpose
of the deck is to allure?its ability to
entice greed. The deck is one of the most
perfectly random magical items known to
this world; it doles out good as well as bad,
equally and unequivocally. The more you
pull from the deck, the better your chance
of being burned. But the beauty of the
deck is in its balance. One pull and you?re
wallowing in wealth; the next sees you
roasting in the Inferno.? The thought triggered
a memory. Vanel, you little weasel.
Jared's smile broadened to a grin. I told
you not to be too greedy. You should have
listened to me for once.

Basil broke the fighter's amused reverie.
"You lost a party member, I assume.

Jared's smile melted like a halfling in
Hades. "Yes, we did?our dear friend
Vanel. I'll miss the little wea?, uh, fellow.

"The keys, of course, are in the luck of
the draw and in knowing when your luck
is about to run out. Vanel, the halfling who
was our scout, lacked both. We warned
him of the inevitable consequences of
drawing too many cards from his deck. He
refused to listen. The fool was caught up
in the lure of easy success, but fate paid
him back in spades."

"What happened to him?"

"All told, Vanel drew from his own deck
about six or seven times, and he was obscenely
lucky. It was staggering. While
watching him, we discovered that once a
card is pulled from the deck and its effects
have occurred, often instantaneously, the
card goes blank. The card must then be
returned to the deck in order for the pack
to continue working its enchantment. If
the card is not returned to the pack, the
deck is useless; any cards pulled from that
point on are blank and nonmagical.

"We feared for Vanel's life, and in a
moment of stupidity, we hid his deck. In
turn, that night, he broke into our mage?s
backpack and stole another deck, one of
the two complete ivory sets. We found
later that he then pulled the Donjon card.
According to records found by Tomas, our
mage, the Donjon card signifies imprisonment
by some spell or creature."

"And is this not the case?"

"Well, it depends on the kind of deck
found. I'll explain the difference between
the decks in a moment. Anyway, when we
arose the next morning, we found Vanel
gone. At first we assumed that some creature
had attacked him during the night.
Later, however, we, discovered the ivory
deck was missing. We then assumed that
his card-pulling greed was to blame, but
we had no way of checking?that is, until
later. We had usually limited ourselves to
drawing only one card from any deck per
day; this we did with greater rigor follow,
ing Vanel?s disappearance. Then, on the
following day, Granick, our cleric, pulled a
card from his own deck. The result was
enlightening."

"How so?"
"Granick drew the Knight. This card
grants the holder the services of a minor
but experienced fighter?in this case, our
very own Vanel, fresh from the confines of
Hades."

Basil frowned. "Wait. I'm confused."

"So were we, at first. After talking with
Vanel, however, everything became quite
clear. According to the halfling, he had
indeed pulled the Donjon card and had
been transported instantly to Hades,
where he found himself the target of
much abuse." Jared barely kept from smiling.
"There were others there as well?all
suffering the same torments for the same
bad draws. According to Vanel, these
people would remain in Hades until someone
wished them back to the Prime Material
plane or until some other card pull
resulted in a need for their person or
services. In this case, the Knight card
called for the services of a minor fighter.
Vanel, being a warrior as well as a thief, fit
the bill and was transported back to our
party to serve our needs. Needless to say,
Granick found many uses for Vanel. . .
more than the little fellow served our
party in his initial membership."

"It would be of great assistance if I could
talk to this Vanel. He may have learned
more about the deck?and about the Outer
planes?than he told you."

"Would that it were possible. As I said,
Vanel is no longer with us. He suffered an
unfortunate mishap in combat and is
probably once again roasting on a spit in
Hades even as we speak. His curse seems
quite intact."

"Of course. Your party has a high turnover
rate, if I recall correctly."

"True enough. It?s our payment for high
adventure.? Jared did smile this time, and
Basil rolled his eyes. ?In any case, Vanel
did prove to be of some use before his
untimely departure, and he even contributed
a few answers to our quest for
knowledge. For example, although he was
transported to Hades, Vanel informed us
that the true power for the deck of many
things comes from the plane of Concordant
Opposition; this he learned from a
knowledgeable sage who had suffered a
similar fate of imprisonment.

"According to this sage, the powers of
Neutrality are at the core of the deck?s
power, and the enchantments of such
decks come from the plane of Concordant
Opposition. As Vanel discovered, any magical
items, treasures, and the like that are
lost or gained as a result of the deck go to
or come from that plane. Items that are
lost are stored there, where they are used
by the gods of luck," depending upon their 
needs or desires. Items gained by pulls
from the deck come from this point of
storage?a realm so full of wealth and
magic that it would make even the richest
of adventurers drool with envy and.
greed." Jared unconsciously licked his lips.

Basil toyed with a blank card. "And these
gods of luck--they are the powers responsible
for the deck of many things?"

"It would appear so. As forces of true
Neutrality, such beings seem likely to
benefit from the dissemination of such
items in this world."

"To what end? Why introduce something
as random and potentially dangerous as a
deck of many things? Surely there must be
a motive?

Jared smiled broadly, knowing he had
the mage?s curiosity piqued. "There is. The
purpose behind the deck of many things is
to encourage risk. The god Vergadain, for
example, is a gambler. His followers are
dwarven rogues who wish for luck. What
better opportunity for luck--albeit both
good and bad--than from the deck of
many things?"

Basil stroked his beard as he digested
this bit of information. "And these gods
are responsible for distributing these
magical items in our world?"

"Not entirely. They create and supply the
decks, but a worldly force actually distributes
these items. It?s simple. Look at the
box in which the deck is protected. See the
faces on the sides of the box? They?re
leprechauns. The entire concept of the
deck--rrisk, fate, the punishment of greed,
and the reward of extreme luck?fits in
perfectly with the nature of those mischievous
imps. We took two of our decks from
leprechaun lairs. Some elven or faerie god
must have supplied those particular ones."

Lesser 13-Card Deck Results Table

Card	Result
Sun	Gain one beneficial magical item worth up to 2,000 xp.
Moon	One limited wish is granted but must be used within one day.
Star	Gain 1 POINT to prime requisite ability.
Throne	Charisma increases by 1 POINT.
Key	Gain access to a genuine treasure map.
Knight	Gain the service of a 2nd-level fighter. <Cavalier?>
The Void	The drawer's soul is captured by the card (as per the trap the soul spell), and the card instantly teleports itself to the most dangerous monster?s lair or NPC?s home within 100 miles. A wish can recover the card; a limited wish only reveals the card?s current location. The drawer?s material body vanishes as well; burning the card frees the captured drawer (but causes the deck and broken card to vanish).
Flames	Enmity arises between the card holder and a character of similar class but opposite alignment. A monster may also be chosen. The being will have levels or hit dice equal to twice that of the drawer's level.*
Skull	Card holder is attacked by a wraith with 43 hp. If anyone besides the card-drawer attacks the wraith, another wraith (with 43 hp) is summoned to attack the helper, and so on.
Ruin	Lose half of all real wealth immediately.**
Euryale	- 1 penalty to all saving throws vs. petrification for five years.
Rogue	A random henchman or hireling will turn against the drawer, as per the usual version of this card. However, this effect may be broken with a remove curse spell cast upon the affected NPC.
Jester	Gain 5,000 xp or one additional draw.

    * For a multiclassed player, use the highest-level class.
    ** This does not include magical items or possessions other than currency.
 

"I see. You said something earlier about
there being two types of decks?"

"Correct. Actually, there are three types
of decks, though one is merely an
abridged version of another. The simplest
form is a low-power 13-card deck. These
decks are made of vellum and have fairly
weak rewards and punishments. The
lesser 13-card deck is found in a leather
pouch rather than a carved box. Aside
from these differences, this lesser deck is
identical to the others.⁶

"As for the more powerful decks, there
are two sorts of them: another 13-card
deck and the full 22-card deck. I have
listed the inventory of these decks in the
notes before you; it would be easier if you
look at them after I leave?which should
be soon, I fear"

"Good enough. I have two final questions,
however. My notes indicate unique
properties for several cards. We have
already discussed the Donjon card. Tell me
about the Void, the Jester, the Fool, and
the Idiot cards."

Jared sighed audibly. He was tired and
wanted only to get his payment and leave.
"The Jester is an interesting but deceptive
card. Not only does it offer a gain of experience,
it offers two more draws from the
deck. The deception is that most people
drawing this card opt to draw the other
two. Tomas proved this point. His first
draw after the Jester was the Gem card;
this only encouraged his next draw all the
more. Unfortunately, his luck was fleeting.
The next card out of the deck was the
Idiot. It is a brief step from jester to idiot,
both in our world and in the deck of many
things.

Upon drawing the Idiot card, Tomas
immediately lost a substantial portion of
his intellect. As with the Jester, Tomas
received two additional draws if he so
chose. Tomas failed to learn his lesson,
though, and proved himself the greater
fool by drawing once more from the deck."

"I thought you said he had two draws,"
Basil interrupted.'

"He did, and he opted to take both. Unfortunately,
the first card he drew was the
Void. He wasn't the same after that."

"What happened?"

"The Void card, much like the Donjon,
severely punishes the card holder. In this
case, the possessor's body functions, but
his soul is imprisoned on the plane of
Concordant Opposition. As when the
Donjon card is drawn, the deck disappears,
presumably returning to the plane
of Concordant Opposition!"

"And what of Tomas?" It was more a
professional curiosity than anything, as
Tomas was a fellow mage. ?What did you
do with his body?"

"Of what use is a mage who can't cast
spells?" Jared grinned openly at Basil's
dawning horror.

"Surely you didn't just let him wander
mindlessly. Not even you could be so callous
as that."

Jared shrugged and laughed. "Oh, we
found a number of uses for him--probably
more than he offered in his former incarnation.
He now helps us check for pits,
traps, that sort of thing!"

Basil was appalled. "Damned inconsiderate,
if you ask me." Basil turned to the stillscrawling
pen and reread his notes. "And
what of the Fool? What can you tell me of
that?"

"If there is any single card that best
personifies the deck, it is the Fool. Not
only is the holder punished by a loss of
experience, he is forced to draw twice
more from the deck. I was the victim of
the Fool. Fortune, however, made up for it
in my next two draws."

Basil nodded, then turned to scan his
notes. Jared leaned forward, hopeful of
leaving. The mage ignored him for a moment,
setting the pen to the side and flipping
back through his notes. Jared cleared
his throat. "Are we finished?"

Basil looked up from his work. "Hmm?
Finished? I suppose so.? He returned to his
reading. Jared rose from his seat, fidgeted,
and stood by the desk, waiting. Basil
looked up from his notes once more, disgruntled
by the interruption. ?Is there
something you need?" he asked.

"Payment would be nice," Jared responded.
The mage nodded slowly. It was
a routine they went through with every
service. Basil turned to the shelf behind
him, whispered a couple of words, and
pulled open a drawer. From it, he produced
a small pouch of deceiving weight
and tossed it on the table.

"You can count it if you like," the mage
suggested.

Jared grinned. "Unlike you, I'll take your
word for it." The mage ignored the remark.
Jared pocketed the pouch and
reached over to scoop up the scattered
plaques. Basil's bony hand stopped him.

"If you don't mind, I'll keep these cards."
Jared glared at the wizened mage and
saw greed glittering in his old, milky eyes.
"But this is my personal deck," Jared
pleaded. "It's never been used!"

"Nevertheless, I would like to keep it.
Consider it an expense, a part of our arrangement!
-- Basil pushed the fighter's
hand away from the table.'

For a moment, Jared considered striking
the mage, scooping up the cards, and
bolting for the door. But striking any wizard,
especially an old and slightly paranoid
one, was not wise. Then, too, his arrangement
with Basil was difficult and tenuous
enough without the addition of battery to
worsen it. The decks had taught a few
lessons, some of which Jared had learned.
The foremost lesson was that no magical
item was worth dying for. Life was far
more precious.

Jared stared down at the plaques and
flipped a few over one last time. Then,
with a snarl, he swept his cloak around
him as he headed for the door.

"Again," Basil jibed as the fighter
slammed the door, "I thank you for your
services." With a smile of intense selfsatisfaction,
the mage returned to his
reading.
 

The inside of the Belching Balrog Bar
was dark and dusty. Nevertheless, Jared
knew where to look; the party always sat
in the back. He saw Tomas first; his red
locks of hair and vacuous gaze made him
an unmistakeable landmark in any setting.
Jared shuffled through the crowd, took a
seat at the table, and ordered mead from
the barmaid. The others in his group were
already well into their third and fourth
drinks.

"So," Renick asked, "did you get the
gold?" It was his traditional first question
after such sessions. Jared nodded. "How
did it go?"

The barmaid set the mead before Jared,
who quickly took a gulp and coated his
beard with foam. "Quite well, except I lost
my new deck."

"Lost it? How?"

"The old geezer decided to keep it for
himself. Said he needed it for research."

"Research!" Renick laughed. "No doubt
he's pulling cards right now."
Jared smiled. "Perhaps."

Renick looked at Jared curiously. "Maybe
he'll draw the Donjon. That'd serve him
right, eh?"

Jared's smile grew. "It's doubtful he?ll
find it."

Renick leaned forward, his tilted gaze
and twisted smile digging for facts.
"There?s something you?re not letting on
about,? he said. "What?s so amusing?"

Jared reached into his cloak as foam
dripped from his beard. Grinning toothsomely,
he tossed a single ivory plaque
onto the center of the table. It clattered
momentarily before landing face up,
blank.

"You see," Jared said, "he isn?t playing
with a full deck."

Footnotes

<missing number>
1. It is believed by some that the most
powerful deck of many things (the 22-card
ivory deck) has a special, magical allure. A
character looking for the first time at a
deck of this nature must make a wisdom
check on 1d20 or be entranced by the
deck for 1-4 rounds. In addition, characters
so affected are more likely to draw
from the deck. (DMs should use discretion;
it is never advisable to force a character to
do something his player would rather not
have him do.)

2. The deck of many things is known to
many races by many names. For example,
the leprechauns (the distributors of many
decks) refer to it as the ?Deck of Fools.?
Dwarves, who generally avoid such random
magicks (in spite of Vergadain?s involvement),
refer to it as the ?Deck of
Curses.? To many lawful religious orders, it
is known as the ?Deck of Chaos??a misnomer,
since the deck is the product of
true Neutrality. Nevertheless, clerics,
paladins, and other devotees of these
religious orders avoid these items unless
allured by the deck (see note 1). But not all
names for the deck of many things are
disparaging. Gnomes, who are noted for
their LOVE of gambling, refer to it as the
?Deck of Fate? or the ?Deck of Luck.?

3 
<missing number>
Either type of wood might be used to
make a case for a deck of many things;
both hold magical dweomers quite well.
Cases made of other unusual woods are
possible.

4
<missing number>
If an attempt is made to pull cards
without first announcing a number, the
cards turn up blank and powerless. Once
the number of cards to be drawn is announced,
other characters may pull from
the deck in place of the initial character,
thereby assuming the number of pulls
initially announced. Any character who
announces his intention to pull a new
number of cards from a deck "erases" any
previous number announced, so long as
that previous number of draws was not
completed; this makes it possible for one
deck to pass through many hands. As
stated on page 167 of the AD&D® 2nd
Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide, the deck
disappears once a number of pulls equal to
the currently announced number is
reached. Note that elective and mandatory
draws (as with the Jester, Fool, or Idiot
cards) may not be transferred to other
characters. Any attempt by another character
to draw during this elective or mandatory
period turns up blank, powerless
cards. The deck remains in this state until
the previous card holder makes his mandatory
draws or relinquishes his right to
his elective draws.

When a deck disappears, it goes back to
the god who made it, who then places the
deck into circulation again by distributing
it to an appropriate agent (leprechaun,
thief, gambler, monster, etc.) If a Balance
card is drawn, the deck does not disappear,
although the deck must be forfeited
?either given to another character, sold,
or left behind. Until the deck is given up,
any card drawn from the deck is blank
and powerless.

If someone announces that he will draw
all of the cards from a deck, he is immediately
compelled to do exactly that. Nothing
will break this compulsion, and the character
is obviously doomed. No wish will
ever reverse the effects of the deck in this
event.

5
<missing number>
The gods of luck need not be entirely 
Neutral themselves; but they all encourage
risk-taking. See the deities in DEITIES & DEMIGODS for details.

6
This lesser deck offers results that
differ from those listed on page 166 of the
AD&D® 2nd Edition DMG for the deck of
many things. See the Lesser 13-Card Deck
Results Table for details.
 

AUGUST 1989