Today I'm going to write a little bit about a new 5e product - the Deck of Many. They are D&D 5e reference cards, designed to help you have everything you will be using right there when you need it. The company running this kickstarter sent me some prototype cards in the mail a week or two ago.
They are putting out condition cards, and cards with monster stats. They also might do a deck of many things, which would be very cool.
In 4th edition, nothing was handier than the condition cards that were given out at organized play events. I think they're needed for 5e, too. I always forget what restrained does and doesn't do. Same with poisoned.
The cards that were the most popular ever in any of my D&D games was the Paizo critical hit deck. Man, did people love that thing. Interestingly, they hated the critical miss deck just as much. I actually had people refuse to play if that deck was involved!
Anyway, the Deck of Many cards are very sturdy and well-made. It seems like they can survive the RIGORS OF PLAY for a fair amount of time.
One thing that I am noticing is that these cards are bigger than a baseball card, so they won't fit in sleeves. I know a lot of people use those sleeves, so that might be a hurdle.
Scimitar/Greataxe: One weapon on either side, and a list of their cost, damage, traits, etc.
Cultist: Cultist stats.
Paralyzed/Deafened: The paralyzed condition on one side, deafened on the other. It seems like making them double-sided will make it harder to find the one you need during a chaotic encounter. I guess if you have just the condition card in a small stack it wouldn't be too hard.
The Tarrasque: D&D's uber-monster! The art on this one is incredible. Better than the art in the Monster Manual? I think so!
The Tarrasque actually gets two cards. What's really smart is that they put its main stats (AC, HP, speed, etc) on every side of every card. That is extremely handy.
Archmage: Archmage stats.
Mimic: Mimic stats. The cartoon-y art on this one amuses me.
Hobgoblin: Hobgoblin stats.
Goblin: Goblin stats.
Then there's a really weird one. A "behind flayer." It's a mindflayer with a butt for a face. I turned the corner on this when I saw that it can stun you with a head butt.
I'm a guy who likes to have everything handy. Usually I write the stats of all monsters I plan to use on one sheet of paper, so this set would save me quite a bit of time.
The condition cards are a very good idea. The conditions are in such a weird spot way in the back of the PH, these cards would see a lot of use at most tables, I think.
I'm surprised they are not doing magic item cards. Maybe there's too many? Maybe that's something they might do down the line.
Their kickstarter is exploding already, so these will definitely get made.
I am seeing that they actually got Baxa to do a piece of art, which is pretty awesome. They put the pencils up on the site, and it looks like he's doing a pit fiend. That's really great! I always loved his pit fiend from 2e.
Overall, the Deck of Many is a great idea and a genuinely useful product.