The Time Corps

TIMEMASTER™ takes place in the Continuum.  In fact, the Timemaster equivalent of a Game Master is the Continuum Master – otherwise called “CM.”  We learn that the Continuum is...

     ...something far greater than any planet, any galaxy, any place.  The Continuum is every place at all times.  Earth and her history are no more than a tiny strand, barely discernable amidst its greatness.
     A universe includes planets, stars, and galaxies – all that we can reach without time-travel.  But that universe also has a history, and when we add this fourth dimension, the universe becomes a Parallel.  A Parallel is only one universe and its history.  There are many Parallels, and all Parallels make up the Continuum.

Parallels are identified by a letter and number code. The Parallel to which the Time Corps belongs, for instance, is called T-0.  (Actually, there are at least two other Parallels with their own Time Corps, but the player characters are part of the T-0 Time Corps.)  There are four categories of Parallels (T = Twin Parallel to T-0; M = Moderately different from T-0; R = Radically different from T-0; A = Alien to T-0).

Some Parallels are closely related to one another; if a historical event is altered on one Parallel, the other Parallels may be affected.  We learn, “Parallels M-1 and M-6 have a close relationship to T-0, and must be protected to maintain the integrity of T-0.”  In Parallel M-1, “many of T-0 Earth’s favorite historical fictions (such as The Three Musketeers, The Last of the Mohicans, Ivanhoe) are in fact reality.”  In Parallel M-6, “the poetry of Homer is the basis of reality.” Does that mean the Greek gods are real in Parallel M-6?  Yes, it does.

In T-0, the first time-travel machine was successfully tested on May 11, 7051.  Thereafter,

     Each of the major galactic powers obtained these machines.  Unfortunately, the governments began to see time travel as a weapon.  With these new devices, they could attempt to “erase” important events in the past in order to destroy or dominate their neighbors.  In 7054, the Time Wars broke out, beginning almost 100 years of chaos.  Whole cultures were destroyed, and many of man's worlds were reduced to Stone Age technology.  Several alien allies suffered the same fate.  Finally, all those involved realized that the wars were intolerable.

The Time Wars concluded in 7154 when the three major powers (i.e., “the Empire, the Federated Alliance, and the Confederation of Non-Aligned Worlds”) signed the Temporal Treaty.  An addendum to the treaty established the Time Corps for the purpose of restoring the history of T-0 to how it was before the effects of the Time Wars.  However, the activities of renegades – veterans of the Time Wars – and aliens provide the Time Corps with an ongoing mission of preserving the Parallels.

     The governing body of the Time Corps, the Time Corps Council, consists of 100 members, 33 from each of the major galactic powers, plus a Chairman elected by the other 99 members.  The Council has complete authority over all Time Corps activities: it establishes all top level policies, it hires and fires, it promotes, orders or cancels missions, and generally disposes of the resources of the Corps.

There are various “advisory bodies” that support the Council.  These bodies employ about five thousand personnel.  Most of the day-to-day authority over the Time Corps is entrusted to the Committee of Seven; consisting of the Council Chairman and two Council members from each of the three major power delegations.

The Operations Branch of the Time Corps contains about three hundred thousand agents.  The exact number at any given point “may fluctuate by more than 10,000 . . . given deaths, retirement, and variable success at recruiting.”  For each agent, there are seven “active workers” in support roles.  As such,

     The total size of the Time Corps at any given moment is about 8 × 300,000, or 2,400,000 active personnel.  When you add a few miscellaneous political activities (and the agents to perform them) onto the periphery of the Corps’ concerns, the total grows to about 2.5 million.

The Operations branch includes several divisions.  Player Characters belong to the Earth Specialty Division, the largest division in the Operations Branch.  Other divisions include:  the Emniyet and Shamba Specialty Divisions (the homeworlds of two alien races from Star Ace ), the Minor Planetary Specialty Divisions (responsible “for the history of the 18,000 known worlds and their native races in the three partially explored galaxies”), the Magical Parallel Specialty Division (“These agents tend to devote most of their recreational or leave time to arcane, esoteric studies, and their conversation is often so bizarre that it would be severely disturbing to most other agents”), Offensive Operations Specialty Divisions, and the InterParallel Tactical Command for Temporal Realignment (“the most exclusive, elite force in the Time Corps”).  Other branches in the Time Corps include:  Intelligence, Historical Research, Research and Development, Quartermaster, and Administration.

Player characters are recruited from various points in history.  They may have “a date of birth in the  range from 3500 B.C. to 7171 A.D.” and “should be between the ages of 21 and 50.”  (“Younger characters have more flexibility in adventures, since agents cannot go on missions during their exact 'native time' – the time in which they lived before joining the Corps.”)  We are told, “If you really want to play a sword-swallowing dwarf or a florist from the Saharan desert, go right ahead.”  Yet the best characters “are interesting – but not bizarre – and typical of their time period.”

There are ten ranks that Time Corps agents can have.  In ascending order, they are:  Trainee, Probationer, Agent, Operative, Veteran, Lifer, Sentry, Time Guard, Protector, and Timemaster.  Each rank has ten grades, 0 - 9.  Player characters begin at Trainee/0.  With each successful mission, an agent's grade increases by one; after ten successful missions, an agent is promoted to the next rank.  However, “The highest standing in the Time Corps is Timemaster, grade 10,” suggesting that there are eleven grades in the Timemaster rank.  “Usually, agents retire from the field at that point, and become leaders . . . at headquarters.”  We learn that, “at Lifer rank and beyond, the Corps begins to offer a virtual Fountain of Youth.”

Finding appropriate recruits for the Time Corps can be difficult.  First,

     The potential recruit should possess either an outstanding attribute, or a combination of higher than average attributes, which would make him or her a valuable member of a mission team. Ideally, a recruit should be highly skilled at interpersonal relations and have the physical capability for intensive combat training; however, it is unusual to find such people.

Even so, “The potential recruit must be relatively insignificant to the history of his or her Parallel of origin.”  Player characters begin the game with two paranormal talents:  Paranormal Memory (“allows characters to remember what 'should' have happened”) and one other of their choice.  As a result, “Persons with no capacity for paranormal talents cannot be recruited.”  Also, “The potential recruit must be trustworthy.”

Beyond the factors listed above,

     The identity of the potential recruit must be established beyond any reasonable doubt. In practice, this means the potential recruit should be stunned and searched carefully for marks or scars, preferably by an agent with Disguise skill . . . In addition, the potential recruit should be probed telepathically at least twice.

During the recruitment pitch, “Any indication . . . that the potential recruit has strong emotional ties to people or places in his own time should result in immediate termination of recruitment, unless the potential recruit is about to die anyway.”  (emphasis in original)  Upon recruitment, the enlistee is taken to 7192 (the year player characters begin to work for the Corps) without any opportunity to inform friends and loved ones of his or her choice.  Once in 7192, the character travels in time only as a part of a mission.  “Trainees always get three days' leave after every mission,” but such leave may only be spent on Earth in 7192.

In this far-flung era, we learn that “the planetary population has been stabilized at only 2 billion.”  Aside from population control, there is “weather and climate control, world-wide police control, and uniform health and safety standards for resort areas; it's all about the same anywhere on the planet.”

Adventures in the 4th Dimension

Art by Jim Holloway

TRAVEL to any place, any time, in this universe and beyond!

FIGHT in the midst of any battle, and change the outcome yourself!

SEE the greatest people in history. . . Caesar, Cleopatra, Leonardo — whomever you desire to meet!

JOIN THE RANKS OF THE TIME CORPS,

AND YOU CAN BE THE MASTER OF TIME!

So reads some of the copy on the bottom of the TIMEMASTER Role Playing Game boxed set.  Other copy includes a listing of contents:  “64-page TIMEMASTER™ Travelers’ Manual, 32-page Guide to the Continuum, 16-page exciting adventure, 140 colorful counters printed on both sides, 3 durable ten-sided dice, and 1 large, full-color map.”

Looking at the components in reverse order, the map is 20.5" × 27" and displays one-inch hexes.  One side is colored and the hexes are numbered.  This side is rather versatile; the scale is variable as are the features.  There are three keys that can be used:  an elevation key where the different colors indicate various elevations, a terrain key where colors indicate terrain features, and a second terrain key where the same colors indicate a different set of terrain features.  The other side is black and white and represents a location from the introductory adventure.  On this side, each hex represents five feet.

The dice are indeed durable and come in a patriotic assortment of red, white, and blue.

The counter sheet contains sixteen 'colorful' counters.  These are shown below.  The remaining 124 counters are colorful only in the sense that blue is a color.  The reverse side is printed in black and white.

With regard to the adventure, “exciting” is open to interpretation.  While the booklet is sixteen pages, four of them are devoted to describing the eight pre-generated characters.  Also, the last page is meant to be cut apart to represent trenches on the color map.  (The adventure, “Red Ace High,” takes place during World War I.)

Among other topics, the Guide to the Continuum devotes 3 – 4 pages to each of six settings:

• Athens:  5th Century B.C.
• Rome:  61 B.C. – 37 A.D.
• Angevin England:  1154 – 1216
• Tudor England:  1509 – 1603
• Napoleonic France:  1804 – 1815
• France, 1940 – 1944

The Travelers’ Manual contains ten chapters:

• The Game (4 pages)
• Welcome to the Corps (4 pages)
• Characters (7 pages)
• Basic Action (14 pages)
• Heavy Weapons (6 pages)
• Battles (4 pages)
• Skills (10 pages)
• Paranormal Talents (4 pages)
• Tools of the Trade (2 pages)
• The People You Meet (4 pages)

Pacesetter was established by TSR veterans in January 1984.  By the end of that year, Pacesetter had published Chill, Star Ace, and Timemaster ; three role-playing games that share a common system.  While the 'Original Design Concept' is credited to Gali Sanchez and Garry Spiegle, the 'Design' of Timemaster is attributed to Mark Acres; 'Additional Design and Development' is ascribed to Andria Hayday and Carl Smith.  In Space Gamer #75 (July/August 1985), Smith discussed some of the design philosophy behind Pacesetter's role-playing games:

     Our games are aimed at a wide audience.  Many roleplaying games either consciously or unconsciously parallel the demographics of D&D.  In addition to expanding our demographics, we wanted to include greater use of investigation and interaction in roleplaying, positive ethnic role models, and emphasize plot-oriented adventures.  We chose game themes which were fun and which filled market positions that were largely empty or at worst, inadequately filled.
     Pacesetter games emphasize using wits and not just brawn.  In fact, player characters who act rashly without thinking often run afoul of the law.  Too many games ignore skills and devices which prove useful in a gamer's hands such as impersonation, modelling, acting, and forgery.  Often games dwell on skills which are strictly male and combat-oriented.

Although aiming “at a wide audience” and having a professed desire to provide “positive ethnic role models,” all of the settings described in the Guide to the Continuum are nonetheless European.

Smith continued:

     Some Pacesetter systems appear too clean to the casual observer.  A game should have simple and elegant mechanics.  After all, more complex is not necessarily better.  Some gamers equate massive charts and tables with a detailed game system.  We achieve detail through multiple use of some charts and tables.  It is more difficult to design an economical game system which allows the referee to handle many situations with one set of mechanics than it is to design a score of different tables which handle as many different actions.  Games with too many tables often reflect that the designer did not work on the problem long enough to boil it down.

The fundamental mechanic for the Pacesetter system is a check.  “Checks are percent rolls that determine how an action turns out,” according to Chapter One of the Travelers’ Manual, “when the outcome is in doubt.”  A general check offers a binary outcome, either success or failure.  If the result of the roll is equal to or less than an established score, the character succeeds.  A specific check offers a range of success outcomes.  If the result of the roll is equal to or less than a target value, the amount of the difference is referenced on the Action Table is consulted.  There are five possible grades of success for combat checks and four possible levels with regard to skill or ability checks.  These 'grades' or 'levels' are identified by letter codes as shown below.

With regard to Timemaster, Smith stated:

     Timemaster is a different kind of roleplaying game appealing to the gamer who likes more reality with his particular fantasy.  In general, the player who enjoys historical fiction or wargames also enjoys Timemaster.  It is a game of historical as well as speculative fiction aimed at a different segment of the science-fiction audience than Star Ace...
     In addition to the investigative parts of a Timemaster adventure, many scenarios include a mass combat where a player character can affect the outcome of a battle.  To facilitate mass battles, Timemaster counters [that do not represent individual characters] have movement and identification factors printed on them...

Each of the settings included in the Guide to the Continuum has a 'military summary' of mass combat rules.

Timemaster is currently a property of Goblinoid Games.  Hardcopy rules are available as a print-on-demand product and most of the original assortment of Timemaster publications are available in digital format.

The (A)D&D Adventure That Michael Moorcock Wrote (Spoilers)

Map by Paul Ruiz

Published from 1983 to 1985, Imagine was TSR's official organ in the UK.  Issue #22 was a Michael Moorcock Special Feature including:  an interview with him, a short story by him (“1st UK magazine publication”), an AD&D adventure by him, and a three page publication history of the Eternal Champion by someone other than him.  In the interview, Moorcock tells us what he thinks about people who partake in role-playing games:

...I know a lot of people who are actively involved.  It's certainly very popular.  If you look back to the 20s and 30s, the people then were enjoying the popular magazines, they contained the same types of fantasies but they weren't so formalized.  It's also linked to the times we live in.  Large numbers of people feel disenfranchised, and if people haven't got any effect, or feel that they haven't got any effect in the real world, they go into religion – or perhaps role-playing games.  Both are substitutes for the person who feels that he has no effect on anything.

Perhaps writing Sword & Sorcery stories about an albino also counts as a substitute.

Anyway, the eight page adventure is written by Michael Moorcock and Michael Brunton.  So, it's a collaboration.  How much did Moorcock contribute?  In the interview, when Moorcock is asked if he will write for role-playing games, he replies, “I'll write the odd scenario, such as the outline I did for IMAGINE.”  So, Moorcock's contribution was limited to an outline.  The credits at the end of the adventure attribute “Inspiration” to Moorcock and “Perspiration” to Brunton.  Using the Edison criteria, I suppose Moorcock was responsible for ten percent of the adventure.

In the Table of Contents, the “mini-module” is called “The Iron Galleon.”  When the adventure is presented on page 25, it has the title “Earl Aubec and The Iron Galleon.”  The scenario turns out to be a “one-on-one adventure” where the player assumes the role of a Moorcock creation, Earl Aubec of Malador, previously appearing in a 1964 short story.  In AD&D terms, Aubec is a twelfth level fighter with a +3 two-handed sword.  Actually, there is provision for a second player character – Jhary-a-Conel, an incarnation of the Eternal Sidekick.  Jhary is a seventh level fighter who “can use magic items and scrolls as though a magic-user.”  He also has a flying cat, Whiskers, that “should be treated as a magic user's familiar.”  In the absence of a second player, Jhary can be used as a non-player character.

A half-page section, The World of the Young Kingdoms, is intended to be read by both the DM and player.  While the section briefly describes Moorcock's setting, mostly it reveals Aubec's history.  We learn:

At Kaneloon he fought and defeated creatures from his own imagination.  In rising above the darkness of his own mind Aubec won the right to go beyond the world's boundary and carve new lands from the Chaos-stuff that existed beyond.  Here too, he first encounters Myshella, the Dark Lady, and refuses the 'rights' that she offers him....

This is an impressive accomplishment for someone with a Wisdom of 9.  There is also a section of Dungeon Master's Notes.  The section begins with six paragraphs of background information.  There is also a sub-section about alignment in Moorcock's setting; mainly, “the classifications of 'Good' and 'Evil' have no real relevance.”  (Perhaps the adventure should have been presented in terms of BECMI rules instead of AD&D.)  Also, some Dungeon Master advice is presented regarding one-on-one play:

In a one player module it is always possible to 'kill off' the one and only character with ease.  The DM must resist the temptation to see the adventure as a personal confrontation, and his or her duty in that confrontation as 'getting' the player.  This doesn't mean that the player character should be given an easy ride, but the DM should remember that the character is supposed to be a hero and win through.... most of the time.

The adventure presents a couple of house rules:

Yielding to tradition, the scenario begins in a tavern.  While enjoying a repast, time seems to stand still except for Aubec and his cat.  “From the shadows” appears Myshella, the Sorceress of Kaneloon.  Aubec's nameless cats purrs, so we know the sorceress intends no harm towards Aubec.  (“Aubec's cat is not a familiar, but it is sensitive to danger.  The DM should make a point of mentioning (subtly) what the cat's reaction is to the various characters and situations in this module.”)  She reveals the premise of the adventure.  There's an Iron Galleon which “sails not only the seas of the Young Kingdoms, but the waters of other worlds as well.”  Somewhere, the Captain of the Iron Galleon acquired the Horn of Fate, “a treasure of incomparable power” capable of “bringing about the ruin of everything.”  Myshella wants Aubec to obtain the Horn and deliver it to her so she can send it “out of Aubec's world...”  Myshella provides some money so that Aubec can hire a ship to travel to a given location.  If Aubec does so, “Within five days [he] will meet the Iron Galleon.”  Myshella departs and time resumes.

“If Aubec decides not to obey Myshella's instructions” within two days, he is attacked by hirelings of an old enemy.  Such attacks will continue daily until Aubec (literally and figuratively) gets on board.  Before encountering the Iron Galleon, “The DM should use at least one” preceding encounter.  One such encounter is attack upon the ship by an ildriss (air grue).  The other possible encounter is an attack by “a Pan Tang slave raider looking for fresh victims.”  Regardless of which preceding encounters are employed, eventually the Iron Galleon collides with the ship Aubec is on and destroys it.  Aubec is supposed “to grab the anchor chain of the Iron Galleon as it passes, and climb up it to 'safety'.”

The captain of the Iron Galleon is Dyvim Ka'aand, “a Melnibonéan outcast, doomed to wander the seas between the worlds...”  In true Melnibonéan fashion,  “He maintains a pretense of bored, tolerant amusement towards the world, beneath which he is haughty, noble, sophisticated, and amoral.”  Dyvim Ka'aand is not given a character class; however...

Dyvim is the equivalent of a 12th level spell caster when casting his memorised spells.  Unlike normal magic users or illusionists, Dyvim does not have to 'memorise' other spells.  His spell grimoires and tomes contain details of spells that are functionally identical to all the magic user and illusionist spells of 6th level and below.  After studying these spells for a period of (4d4 ⨯ spell level) minutes, Dyvim Ka'aand is able to cast them.  There is also a 17% chance that Dyvim Ka'aand will be able to cast any spell from memory.  In this case, there is a 5% chance he will do so incorrectly and the casting will prove to be a waste of time.  However, there is a limit to Dyvim Ka'aand's spell casting capability.  He cannot cast more than 35 levels of spell in a single day – for example he can cast up to 2 ⨯ 1st, 1 ⨯ 2nd, 4 ⨯ 4th, and 3 ⨯ 5th levels.

The Iron Galleon is mapped out and each numbered location is described like a proper dungeon.  One location is the hold, containing “the Iron Galleon's collection of trinkets” from a plethora of worlds.  Such trinkets include:  “lengths of ship's timbers; oil barrels (for the lamps); mold-covered grain sacks; chests full of tea, raw cotton, white marble, pottery, and black powder (which is so damp as to be useless); wine amphorae; five life preservers marked HMS Graf Spee and perched on top of one heap is a what appears to be a giant, misshapen arrow – a Phoenix AIM 54A air-to-air missile, which is armed and ready for firing.”  (Elsewhere on the vessel is “the ejector seat from a Mig-31 Foxhound.”)  There are a few locations with 'monsters' (e.g., stirges and rust rats) but, mainly, the Iron Galleon serves as a venue for interacting with non-player characters.  Aside from Dyvim, other intelligent denizens of the ship include:

          Jeroaz :  A Dwarven jester with a +1 slapstick that causes extra damage because it “is tainted with unclean Chaos-stuff.”  (6th level assassin)
          Master Smiles :  “He is simply a dissolute sybarite who actively enjoys the life of contemplative cruelty and barbarity that he indulges in aboard the Iron Galleon.”  (5th level fighter)
          Kateriona van Hjeok :  Last survivor of a group of pirates who assaulted the Iron Galleon.  She has an “eye patch and steel prosthetic hand.”  (7th level fighter)
          Miriame :  A refugee from a slave galley, “Dyvim has amused himself by feeding her a powerful hallucinogenic drug which makes her totally compliant to his will – the withdrawal symptoms are extremely painful.” (non-classed)
          Windlos of Heuliss :  A “flying man” trapped on board the Iron Galleon.  (non-classed, but 7+1 Hit Dice)

The Horn of Fate – appearing to be a drinking horn – is in Dyvim's study.  Dyvim knows the Horn is special, but evidently does not realize its true nature.  What Aubec does to get the Horn is up to the player.  Aubec can attempt to recruit non-player characters as allies against Dyvim.  “Aubec need only obtain a positive reaction (DMG p63) to apparently enlist the aid of any of the NPCs.”  Aubec's cat is useful in determining which non-player characters are trustworthy.  Aubec and his allies can make use of “a small wooden sailing boat” on the Iron Galleon.  There is also a way to destroy to Iron Galleon.  If Aubec gets away without killing Dyvim, the Melnibonéan will send an invisible stalker against Aubec.  If Aubec does not repair to Kaneloon with alacrity, the DM may have Aubec attacked by his old enemy's hirelings “as an extra incentive to Kaneloon and safety with minimal delay.”

Deck of Many Things

Art by Oswald Wirth

Nowadays you can just buy them but circa 1981, if you wanted a Deck of Many Things, you either had to cannibalize a standard poker deck (yawn) or make it from scratch.  One of your humble host's gaming buddies crafted an original deck, although I don't think we ever found an in-game use for it.  Still, such was the allure of this magic item, it captivated our imagination.

I never much cared for the name.  Deck of Many Things?  If Viking parliamentarians had cards similar to baseball players and you had a comprehensive set of those cards, you would have a Deck of Many Things.  Sure, I guess the full name is the Deck of Many Things Beneficial and Baneful, but no one ever uses the full name.  Why not the Deck of Benefit and Bane?  The Deck of Danger and Delight?  The Deck of Precipitous Fate?  “Many Things” implies a paucity of creativity.

The Deck of Many Things is first described in Greyhawk.  This version consists of eighteen cards, “One-half bring beneficial things, and one-half cause hurtful things.”  Actually, eight cards are beneficial and eight are hurtful, but there are also two jokers.  Each joker offers the choice of 25,000 experience points or the selection of two additional cards.  Arguably, the jokers are beneficial which would mean slightly less than half of the cards are hurtful.  Regardless, the (roughly) half-good / half-bad mix of cards is reflected in future iterations of the deck.  Aside from the jokers, the deck includes the face cards and aces of the standard suites; the red suites containing the beneficial cards and the black, hurtful.  The cards are not given fancy names like 'Comet' or 'Euryale', they are referenced only by their pedestrian poker designations.  Greyhawk informs us that a character “possessing such a deck may select cards from it four times (or more if jokers are drawn), and whatever is revealed by the card selected takes place.”  No announcement of intent is required – a card is drawn and the outcome occurs.

Once Greyhawk describes the effects of the individual cards, the book continues:

After each draw the card is returned to the pack and it is shuffled again before another draw is made. All four draws need not be made, but the moment the possessor of the deck states he has no intention of ever drawing further cards, or after the maximum number of draws in any event, it disappears.

Clearly, a deck has an individual possessor and – once the possessor concludes his draws – the deck goes away.  ('Disappear' does not mean that the deck becomes invisible.)  It seems wasteful that only one character can benefit/suffer from the deck before it leaves to wherever these decks go.  Since there is no stipulation that jokers aren't shuffled back into the deck, more and more cards can be drawn (at least until the possessor dies or is turned to stone).  Lastly, we are informed, “The referee may make up his own deck using the guidelines above.”  Said guidelines seemingly ensure a mix of beneficial and hurtful cards balanced in number and intensity.

The first edition Dungeon Masters Guide describes two varieties of decks, both of which are distinct from the Greyhawk deck.  One is a thirteen plaque economy deck (being 75% of all decks), the other is a deluxe deck (being the remaining 25% of all decks) with nine additional plaques.  Each plaque has a poker deck analog, but they also have individual names like 'Vizier' and 'Talons'.

Unlike the Greyhawk deck, for a drawn card to have an effect in the DMG versions, a character must announce beforehand the number of cards he or she intends to draw (up to a maximum of four).  Exactly how is a character supposed to know this condition?  Here's my take:  Decks are “usually...contained within a box or leather pouch.”  I would think that characters are incapable of withdrawing any plaques from their container unless and until they announce the number they intend to draw.  Instructions about this requirement can be inscribed on the container.

Instead of two jokers with an option of experience points or additional draws, there is one 'Jester' where the experience option is 10,000 points (as opposed to 25,000).  The second joker – called 'Fool' – appears in the deluxe deck; it causes a loss of ten thousand experience points and necessitates an additional draw beyond the number announced.  The Greyhawk version has a card (A♥) that grants 50,000 experience points and another (K♥) that provides a miscellaneous magic item.  In the DMG version, both effects are combined into the 'Sun' plaque.  The DMG 'Moon' gives the character 1 - 4 wishes while the Greyhawk version (Q♥) gives 1 – 3 wishes.  A Greyhawk drawer can receive a “map to richest treasure on any dungeon level” (A♦) while the DMG 'Key' offers “a treasure map plus 1 magic weapon.”  With the DMG 'Knight', a character gains “the service of a 4th level fighter” until death; the Greyhawk version (J♥) supplies a Superhero (i.e., 8th level fighter) with +3 armor, shield, and sword, but this service only lasts an hour.  A Greyhawk card (K♦) supplies a character with “5 – 30 pieces of jewelry immediately,” but the DMG 'Gem' offers a “choice of 20 jewelry or 50 gems.”  While the DMG 'Star' increases a character's “major ability” by two points, the Greyhawk card (J♦) adds one point to an ability of the character's choice.  While a Greyhawk card (K♣) takes away a character's most prized magic item, the DMG 'Talons' causes the loss of all magic items.  A Greyhawk card (Q♣) causes a character to be turned to stone (“no saving throw”), but the DMG 'Euryale' causes a “Minus 3 on all saving throws vs. petrification.”  Greyhawk cards without a direct DMG equivalent include one (Q♦) that provides a “Scroll of 7 Spells, no 1st-level spells on it” and another (J♠) where a “Monster from 5th-level Underworld Monster Table attacks by surprise.”

With regard to the staying power of the DMG decks we learn, “Upon drawing the last plaque possible, or immediately upon drawing the plaques in bold face (The Void, Donjon), the deck disappears.”  (bold and italics in original)  This is less explicit than the Greyhawk explanation.  Apparently, the same conditions apply, but there is no specific statement that only one character can use a given deck.  Dragon #148 (August 1989) includes a feature with the title “Luck of the Draw.”  In the guise of fiction, Robin Jenkins provides some information about how a Deck of Many Things works.  According to Jenkins' logic...

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.

The third edition rules tend to dispel this notion. We read:

Cards must be drawn within 1 hour of each other, and a character can never again draw from this deck any more cards than she has announced. If the character does not willingly draw her allotted number (or if she is somehow prevented from doing so), the cards flip out of the deck on their own.

Yet nothing indicates that the deck “disappears” once a character finishes his or her draws.

When 'The Void' card from the DMG is drawn, “The character's body functions, and he or she speaks like an automaton, but the psyche is trapped in a prison somewhere – in an object on a far planet or plane, possibly in the possession of a demon.”  In Jenkins' paradigm, this means the victim's body can be led about to “check for pits, traps, that sort of thing!”  Third edition clarifies that the body functions “as though comatose.”  The 'Donjon' card from DMG “signifies imprisonment – either by spell or by some being/creature at your option.”  Jenkins presents an example where a character drawing 'Donjon' is imprisoned in Hades.  Whereas the DMG decks disappear upon 'Donjon' or 'The Void' being drawn, third edition includes the instruction “Draw no more cards” in the explanation for both cards

Other differences between first edition and third edition cards are as follows:

• Euryale :   Instead of -3 on petrification saving throws, 3E inflicts -1 on all saving throws.
• Gem :  Third edition specifies 25 items of jewelry instead of 20.  Also, each item of jewelry is worth 2,000 gp and each gem is worth 1,000 gp.
• Idiot :  In first edition, 1d4 points of Intelligence are lost; in third edition, the loss is 1d4+1.
• Key :  In third edition, the character gains “a major magic weapon” but no map.
• Skull :  In first edition, “A minor Death appears.”  In third edition, “A dread wraith appears.”
• Star :  First edition specifies the points go to the character's “major ability” (or, if such an addition would bring the score to 19, one or both points are applied to other abilities).  In third edition, any ability can be selected for the bonus.
• Throne :  In first edition, the character gains a Charisma score of 18 and the “castle gained will be near to any stronghold already possessed.”  No Charisma is gained in third edition; the character receives “+6 bonus to Diplomacy checks.”  Additionally, “The castle gained appears in any open area she wishes.”
• Vizier :  In third edition, the effect must be employed “within one year.” 

Also, the third edition Deck of Many Things is a minor artifact and the thirteen card economy version is not mentioned.

The number of cards in the deluxe deck suggests a correlation with the Major Arcana of the tarot; even some of the card names are the same – 'Sun', 'Moon', 'Star', and 'Fool'.  In fact, Dragon #77 (September 1983) contains an article describing a Tarot of Many Things.  Each of the seventy-eight cards has two effects, one if the card is drawn upright and another if drawn inverted.  Unlike the more prosaic Deck of Many Things, “No card can be received more than once by the same drawer.”  Also,

A person who wishes or is compelled to draw from the deck will be allowed to announce an intention of drawing one, two, three, or four cards; when the last member of the party who wishes to do so has drawn, or if one hour elapses without any draw, the deck will disappear – unless the party is on the plane of the Tarot's master deity, which is not the party's own home plane.

So, use of the Tarot is not limited to one character.  Third edition lists tarot equivalents for the twenty-two cards in the deck; however, only half of the Major Arcana are represented.  To be fair, the imagery of the Minor Arcana used is appropriate to the card effects.

The Pathfinder version of the Deck of Many Things naturally conforms to 3.5E; however, we are given information about destroying the artifact:

The item can be destroyed by losing it in a wager with a deity of law.  The deity must be unaware of the nature of the deck.

One might think that the deity would become suspicious (and thus 'aware' of the nature of the deck) after the first time this occurs.  Also, one might think a god could become quite upset if something just won in a wager ceases to exist.

In fifth edition, the Deck of Many Things is no longer an artifact, the thirteen card economy deck is reintroduced, and any correlation with the tarot is abandoned.  Card effects are generally the same as third edition, with differences indicated as follows:

• Donjon :  It is specified that the character disappears and becomes “entombed in a state of suspended animation in an extradimensional sphere.”
• Euryale :  A –2 penalty on saving throws is inflicted.
• Key :  “The item is selected by the GM.”
• Moon :  The character is “granted the ability to cast the wish spell 1d3 times.”
• Skull :  Instead of a dread wraith, there is an Avatar of Death, which is similar to the first edition's minor Death.
• Star :  “The score can exceed 20 but can’t exceed 24.”
• Throne :  The character gains “proficiency in the Persuasion skill” and the proficiency bonus is doubled “on checks made with that skill.”  Also, “the keep is currently in the hands of monsters,” which must be cleared out before the character claims the keep.
• Vizier :  In fifth edition, “the knowledge comes with the wisdom on how to apply it.”  (This is in contrast to first edition which says, “Whether the information gained can be successfully acted upon is another question entirely.”)

Another issue I have with the Deck of Many Things is how knowledge is imparted to the character in various circumstances.  For instance, with 'The Fates' card, “Reality’s fabric unravels and spins anew, allowing you to avoid or erase one event as if it never happened.” (5E)  How does the character know this?  When the character selects an event, what does he or she do to apply the effect of the card?  Instead of a deck being contained in a box or pouch, why not have it be part of a device with an animatronic fortune teller?  If you don't like an animatronic fortune teller you could have an imp, a talking magpie, or whatever suits your fancy.  The device could dispense physical objects like weapons and gems in the manner of a vending machine (or a slot machine).  Entities like fighters and death avatars can climb out of a small door in the side of the machine.  Cards that require an explanation (like 'The Fates') can be explained by the fortune teller (or whatever).

The next question is, who (or what) would bother to create a Deck of Many Things?  Jenkins postulates that “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...the gods of luck...seem likely to benefit from the dissemination of such items in this world.”  Well, if a wizard didn't do it, you might as well have gods do it.  But why would gods (of luck or otherwise) want to create and disseminate such items?  Jenkins writes, “The purpose behind the deck of many things is to encourage risk.”  I don't think the motives of gods would be known to mortals (or necessarily comprehensible by mortals).  I think that – to the gods – it's just a game.