My Deck of Many Things and Vial of Barbed Skin

Beedo over at Dreams in the Lich House (which is  a really kick ass blog by the way) posted some thoughts on the Deck of Many Things and it got me thinking how I would handle the Magical Artifact.

I like to put weird spins on magical items (see Barbed Skin below).  I took the Deck of Many things from Castles and Crusades and changed it around to suit my tastes.

Here it is:

Deck of Many Things-

The son of a God attempted to over throw his father, but failed.  His punishment was to be flayed alive then imprisoned in his own flesh and cut up into small card shaped pieces.  The son, who was selfish and never thought beyond his own desire was then further tortured by his father.  The God carved symbols into his flesh that when pulled from the deck would grant a boon or place a curse upon the drawer.

The son is only free to the peace of the afterlife when all the cards have been pulled.  When a card is pulled a faint scream is heard as greenish smoke wafts upward and the skin shrivels and falls apart.

A player states how many cards they intend to pull and then begin.  If a player attempts to stop they become weak each day that they do not pull.  After the fifth day they begin to take 1 point of Con damage a day and begin to exhibit signs of hysteria hearing an ambitions, but tortured voice in their head.  When their Con reaches Zero they are sucked into the cards as well (which is then restored to a full deck

Deck of Many Things
Playing Card	Effect
Two of Spades	Character now has a voice(s) in their head that talks only to them and tries to guide/persuade them of various deeds.
Two of Diamonds	A duplicate of the character appears.  If defeated gain one level.  If character is defeated lose one level.
Ace of Spades	Your skin becomes flayed and red, manifesting the physical wounds of the Son.  You suffer -6 to all Charisma checks.
Queen of Spades	-1 penalty to all saving throws permanently.
Ace of Hearts	Avoid any situation you choose one time.
Queen of Clubs	Incur the wrath of an extraplanar who is loyal to the Son.
Joker (w/ Trademark)	Lose 1 level and draw again.
Two of Hearts	Boon of the Gods- 10,000g comes raining down from the sky.
Two of Clubs	Decrease Intelligence by d4 (permanent).  You can choose to draw again.
Joker (w/o Trademark)	Gain 1 level or two additional draws from deck.
Queen of Hearts	The Gods whisper your favor and elate those to your presence.  +6 to Charisma Checks.
Jack of Hearts	The Gods send you a loyal champion to aid you, a 4th level fighter.
Queen of Diamonds	Boon from the Gods- 1d4 wishes.
Jack of Spades	One of your closest friends turns against you and wishes your downfall.
King of Spades	Everything you own turns to dust, including what you are wearing (magical items included).
Jack of Clubs	A loved one or close friend is resurrected, (but they are more than they appear to be.)
Jack of Diamonds	Immediately gain +2 to one Ability score.
King of Diamonds	A weapon from the Gods to fit characters needs.  Player creates item.  GM approval.
Ace of Clubs	You are granted 1d3 wishes (but each comes with a twist/catch).
King of Hearts	You gain a portable shelter that can fit in your pocket.  Once per day you can ask it for something and when you open the door it will be there (mundane or exceptional, but not magical).
Ace of Diamonds	You can call on the aid of the Gods 3 times in one of two forms- 1) get an answer to a situation. 2) Automatically score a critical hit.
King of Clubs	Your Soul is ripped away.  You suffer from terrible nightmares every night.  You stop aging, cannot be healed by magical means, but no longer suffer or fall unconscious when your hit points go into the negative.  Once you hit -10 you still die.

 

Also here is an item I created using my Vial Of Chart.  Vial of Barbed Skin:

Vial of Barbed Skin– The drinker experiences intense stabbing pain as thick bone barbs grow off their skeleton and protrude out of the skin.  This grants +4 AC and anyone attacking the person in melee takes 1d4 damage from the melee.  The imbiber suffers however from constant wracking pain and must make a Constitution Save or be unable to move for the round.  It is impossible to get a full nights rest while under these effects.  The only way to be rid of the effects is to concentrate and force the barbs to burst from your skin.  The person takes 3d6 damage from this and has large open pock marks visible on their body that a clear ooze trickles from for several days.  Any target within 10 ft of the explosion takes ½ damage.