The Deck30

The Deck 30

What is it?

A way of generating events and encounters on the fly using a standard 52 card deck and a joker, inspired by blog posts made by Necropraxis and Prismatic Wasteland.

Here's a Deck30 for reference.

What is it for?

Helping the GM fill out the nooks and crannies of the world either on the fly or as part of prep.

How does it work?

Each in game day/week/month (whichever makes the most sense), draw 3 cards from the deck and sum any cards with matching suits (Aces are 1's, Faces are 10's), generating 1-3 events. Then reference the suits drawn and the total of each to figure out what happens.

An Example Drawing

K♠️: A fresh corpse

J♥️: An encounter rolled with a D8 and another adventuring party involved (I rolled 2d6 Robber Flies hunting Killer Bees on my encounter table. Here is a link to Necrotic Gnomes adventuring party generator)

3♣️: A Burial mound

So, there are a few ways this can shake out, but I think that this is all one encounter.

Killer bees have turned an ancient burial mound some distance off the path into a hive, it isn't visible, though humming may be heard (2in6 chance).

The mound was a burial place for ancient warriors, it is long forgotten and swallowed by the forest. The bees have used the corpses there as building materials, rendering their honey strange (acts as a potion of heroism, eating it imparts the memories of a battle, and an ancient warlord with a bearskin cloak and a burning sword)

An adventuring party found the hive, but were fought off by the bees which killed their magic user. Now they are on a nearby trail stripping the magic users swollen corpse of valuables, the fighter and thief are arguing over who gets to keep the spell book.

The robber flies are hunting the bees in the area and are on their way to the hive, they look just like bees from a distance so there is a chance of mistaken identity or, party members who know about nature might know about their connection to killer bees.

Now to be fair, I wasn't running a game when I drew this encounter, but the basic shape of it didn't take long for me to come up with, and I think I probably could have done something similar in game (though probably with a few less details).

In Conclusion

So that's the Deck30. It's an idea I came up with it a while ago that I'm excited about an thought it would be good to share it. I think the basic structure could be used for a variety of purposes (it is just a handful of tables after all), and I have been working on a version for use in town. Thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts on the structure or the execution of the Deck30 I would love to hear them.

Comments

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i am going through the old school primer for a book club at the cauldron , it talks about using skills it has me thinking about skills. i thought he had a beard i think skills are, primarily, for the player, they are the handholds on a rockwall, something to give you grip when coming up with solutions. they are player tables, it can just be a list: heres one for one d six too many and they become a wall, a little dab will do ya, different flavors of action and styles of motion this adds tactility, it becomes something the player did when they ask the gm if their climb skill helps them. its another way to interact with the world, which can do wonders for creativity. equipment is setting is advice i heard a long time ago and have gotten so much use out of i love building equipment tables, they do so much work as far as vibes. and very specific equipment is no different than a skill, you just gotta carry it. skills are players mind equipment, they are gummy and recyclabl...

i started my dungeon for the dungeon jam

starting over, but not from scratch heres what i have so far, see what you can make of it, find the png here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lkEckeoP4gvIQ6YAn8TeX9fwk3MRy1zR/view?usp=sharing the dungeon jam is here https://itch.io/jam/puzzle-dungeon-jam oh no, my layers are poorly organized and i already spotted a problem. . . and so it goes, forever. . . if you end up making something, and you're feeling generous, i'd like to see it. heres after another expedition *Mv#. . . the key is coming together and the image is clearer, that is enough for tonight i have made great strides today just finished running the dungeon for my group, it still needs work, but it is pruning not growth. ... i completed the dungeon, and i have decided to start again. the dungeon i made was big and weird and not much of a puzzle, more of a weird place to explore. there is a lot i like about it, and there is more i'd like to add, the adventure, i think, is bigger than four page and i'd like ...

!a second ||puzzle dungeon|| pass a!

it is finished player map: you can find my first dungeon here i went too big like i always do, but it came with the granite blocks i am currently chiseling. never a waste of time. i hope your winter approaches you gently, and never lose sight of spring my new dungeons got ice i will paint my new dungeon, then add what the map dossen't offer, 3 floors in mind, 2 for the jam . . . and the dungeon scabs the histories but time was colder still spreading ice like butter, melt into its memory the songs of the paste are at your fingers, but productivity creates friction the ice is always melting, it heralds grave reality. the sand is worth its weight in platinum. and so it grows, and i have arrived again at a familiar mountain the player map done on 11/18/25 . . . . probably. . .

Badfreednd

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