[RPG] Why is the Deck of Many Things called the Eater of Campaigns

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I hear this term tossed around a lot. Where does it come from and what does it mean?

Best Answer

The term itself is made up and merely descriptive, and was probably derived from a recent (2010) Penny Arcade strip.

"The Sound Of A Klaxon" - Penny Arcade: Gabe is intrigued by the Deck of Many Things, but Tycho cuts Gabe off. He warns that the Deck eats campaigns, then demonstrates a hypothetical means: wishing away the key antagonist of Gabe's campaign and thereby ending it. The last panel extrapolates into comic absurdity, asserting that this will result in Gabe being helplessly forced to play in a new disturbing campaign run by the wisher.

Its reputation as a campaign-ender predates this specific name (and definitely predates 2010), having been recognised as a source of chaos that strains a campaign at the seams as far back as AD&D.

I say the name is merely descriptive: when the Deck appears in a campaign, its effects are often disruptive to a degree that the campaign cannot continue as it was. Since D&D campaigns today are often more story-based than when the Deck was first published, its reputation as a campaign-ender has only grown since then. The Penny Arcade comic emphasises the story as the Deck's potential point of disruption. (Non-story-based campaigns are less vulnerable to disruptions in general, even TPKs. Such a campaign will certainly change direction significantly due a disruption such as a TPK or the effects of the Deck, but won't necessarily end due to it. In practice, even non-story-based campaigns have the potential to be disrupted though, as emerging event lines that the group have invested in may crash and burn — campaign vulnerability to the Deck is a spectrum.)

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