Player ate an Artifact

[Sith_Happens]

I'm of the opinion that...erm...passing each card would count as "drawing" it, personally.

Alternatively, the next time a party members says "I want to draw a card" the Deck will be triggered as usual and get quite uncomfortable for her as the card finds its way out.

[Jay R]

I see two ways to resolve it:

1. The effects suddenly take place. Which is to say, four cards are drawn, and then it disappears.

2. Everyone in the area knows that there is a priceless artifact to be found in his stomach.

The first is what the DM intended when the Deck was given in the first place. The second is how to keep it from activating while guaranteeing that actions have consequences.

[Kislath]

Well, there are several good options.

1-- Every time the character is hit with magic, it activates the deck and causes one card to react as id it had been drawn, up until the time it would have vanished normally from having cards drawn.
2-- Every time the character goes to the bathroom, one card is "drawn."
3-- Getting hit with certain powerful magics might make the magic in the cards react with each other in bizarre unforeseen ways, having bizarre effects.
4-- Drinking potions should now be an exceptionally bad idea. In fact, it might actually cause damage to the cards resulting in catastrophe.

[OracleofWuffing]

If classic children's television cartoons have taught me anything, the most direct way to resolve this conundrum is to require the rest of the party be shrunk down to near-microscopic size, and have to retrieve the deck from the playing character's digestive system before the blockage causes cataclysmic trouble.

One two three not it.

Yes I know you could just cut him open and resurrect but then it's not as much fun.

[Raimun]

Uh... what? I mean, I don't even... [Does not compute!]

Okay, better.

Artifacts can usually be destroyed in a certain way. I don't remember/know how Deck of Many Things was supposed to be destroyed but I'm pretty sure gastric acid is not the way.

I say the deck remains in the belly of the PC. You know, until they realize they need to get it out to complete the quest to destroy it. Remember, it's not your problem to come up with how it's done... it's their problem.

[Eldan]

Actually, now I have this fun idea of an ulcer starting around the deck, that grows into a gigantic, supernatural tumour that radiates chaos magic in all direction and slowly eats up the PCs body.

[Jay R]

Currently gming a game with the focus of destroying some artifacts. One of the PC's recently ate one of them: The Deck. I have absolutely no clue what I should do for this. Up to know, players have been having to make saves when drawing from the deck due to some things that happened. I'm thinking of adding that in to her. Occasionally random draws? I have no clue. Any help is appreciated.

This should have been solved when it occurred.

How did she eat it? A deck is wider than a throat, so it would have to be chewed. At that point, the first card penetrated by teeth is drawn, and go from there.

[infinitetech]

This should have been solved when it occurred.

How did she eat it? A deck is wider than a throat, so it would have to be chewed. At that point, the first card penetrated by teeth is drawn, and go from there.

actually with the character in question from whats been explained it would be perfectly reasonable, and also even for a human like me its not that hard, you just need to know how to relax your throat, common tarot cards from that era are MUCH smaller than modern day fakes or even modern playing cards, think of them as one of those slightly larger than normal business cards and printed on hand pressed papyrus which melts easily in any acid really, even the nice ones were only about 10% bigger and on very thin hand pressed paper or carefully sliced slivers of inner bark from a tree, which both still dissolve easy enough, only better for than that would be on leather which is digestible or stone tablets which would be less than 1/2 the size (width/height) due to the double sided etching and the smaller size to save weight, remember the time frames folks, metal cards may exist in some settings and could corrode/dissolve but would be even smaller yet

also there are actual rules on consuming magic items based on some of the old AD&D rules, cant remember where though, doing research on it

[Jay R]

actually with the character in question from whats been explained it would be perfectly reasonable, and also even for a human like me its not that hard, you just need to know how to relax your throat, common tarot cards from that era are MUCH smaller than modern day fakes or even modern playing cards, think of them as one of those slightly larger than normal business cards and printed on hand pressed papyrus which melts easily in any acid really, even the nice ones were only about 10% bigger and on very thin hand pressed paper or carefully sliced slivers of inner bark from a tree, which both still dissolve easy enough, only better for than that would be on leather which is digestible or stone tablets which would be less than 1/2 the size (width/height) due to the double sided etching and the smaller size to save weight, remember the time frames folks, metal cards may exist in some settings and could corrode/dissolve but would be even smaller yet

also there are actual rules on consuming magic items based on some of the old AD&D rules, cant remember where though, doing research on it

She's eating an undrawn deck, not a series of cards. If the individual cards are being eaten, then the first four are drawn, and then the deck disappears.

[infinitetech]

i know that, a deck of cards is still dependent on the cards inside and also need to be considered as far as digestibility, card decks aren't usually air tight and with the adjusted real size they are quite swallowable

[Jay R]

i know that, a deck of cards is still dependent on the cards inside and also need to be considered as far as digestibility, card decks aren't usually air tight and with the adjusted real size they are quite swallowable

I'm not convinced a rectangular box is that easy to swallow anyway.

But even if it is, stomach juices are slowly eating through the box. The first card released is "drawn" - call it twelve hours later. Three more cards will come loose in the next few minutes.

[infinitetech]

ive swallowed worse as birthday parlor tricks for friends, and actually the deck cases are usually weather proofed to a point, so things inside would be hit worse, i cant seem to find the old rules, but i believe it is basically that the items take swallowed whole type acid damage with a chance to save since they are magical (each time they have to make a save they gain an additional -1 for each damage they have taken) if they fail to save then they take acid damage to themself as if acidic sundering, or somethinbg like that, im trying to find the actual info, but i do know that the cards are each individual objects as well as the case, the case would probably have a +5 due to weather proofing (maybe even +10), and would probably have 3x hardness and 5x durability of the cards, atleast that is a base for rules, ill find the real info im sure

[Lord Torath]

ive swallowed worse as birthday parlor tricks for friends, and actually the deck cases are usually weather proofed to a point, so things inside would be hit worse, i cant seem to find the old rules, but i believe it is basically that the items take swallowed whole type acid damage with a chance to save since they are magical (each time they have to make a save they gain an additional -1 for each damage they have taken) if they fail to save then they take acid damage to themself as if acidic sundering, or somethinbg like that, im trying to find the actual info, but i do know that the cards are each individual objects as well as the case, the case would probably have a +5 due to weather proofing (maybe even +10), and would probably have 3x hardness and 5x durability of the cards, at least that is a base for rules, ill find the real info im sure

In the OP's campaign, the is an Artifact with a capital "A". A little stomach acid is not going to affect it. The case is probably just as durable.

[infinitetech]

In the OP's campaign, the is an Artifact with a capital "A". A little stomach acid is not going to affect it. The case is probably just as durable.

Artifacts can still be dissolved, they just have huge base bonuses to saves meaning they will last a long time until they start to dissolve unless they nat 1 or something... and please oh please have them nat 1, the other factors i said are just things that get the bonuses added to them

[Forum Explorer]

1d4 days later she gives birth to Gambit from X-men.

The player is now considered the Deck of Many Things, and thus cannot be healed, or have many if any spells cast on her. She slowly begins to transform into it, over a period of time.

[smuchmuch]

(Y'know peoples I'd like to remind that there's more than way food can get out of the body, if the artefact is still in the level of the stomach, she could just vomit the thing out. As it would happen anyway, weither she likes it or not, after a while once the undestructable (therefore indigestible) deck ends up blocking the pylore.

Or she's end up being very sick and having a big risk of dying of intestinal oclusion and need to have it removed.

And getting the deck removed by opening the belly doesn't have to mean her her death, assuming there's a good enough healer in her group. If healing spells can mend fledh and bones, i don't see why they couldn't repair sliced internal organs as long as they are casted before she bleed to death (although admitedly when your guts are hanging out, you probaly a need a pretty high level spell

Now putting madical facts aside and imagining the artifact just float in the stomach without causing any obstruction somehow, I'd turn her into a 'vesel' which functions as minor version of the artifact. Half regulary i'd have her burp an effect silar to one of the cards (but much lowered down).
After a while of semi randomly vomiting monsters, magical and spells at the worst moments I think she'll ask for the thing removed one way or another. Lesson learned

if she eats another artifact the choice is yours, you cna have them reacting to each others or even cohabiting. (hey why not)

At long term, tho, I would agree with the solution proposed by Scowling Dragon though.
Make a little tabble of periodical saves: The longer she keeps a high end magical item in her body (weihter it's one of multiple though of course the more, the quicker it goes), the more she has a chance of mutating into a mahiccal abberation. If she gets far enough, she get NPCed.

[Jay R]

Interesting ideas. In the case that the player lives, and decides to continue to eat artifacts, as I'm not going to stop her, what other suggestions do you all have?

Introduce the Throne of the Gods. Next. She can't eat that one.

[Alaris]

Introduce the Throne of the Gods. Next. She can't eat that one.

You doubt her capability after she braved eating a Deck of Many Things?

I have confidence that she would find a way... somehow... of eating a Throne of the Gods.

[daremetoidareyo]

So this player has an ancient artifact just sitting in her stomach. You have so many options here. Here's my two favorites that i could think of.

1.) Do nothing. That's right. The deck doesn't exist until the character dies or someone carves them up to take it out. It's not destroyed, it is just...biologically suspended.

2.) The deck begins to take over the personality of the player. Why was the deck created in the first place and by whom? Ask the PC if they are cooling adding these traits to their role-play. Maybe use taint/corruption rules from supplements.

[Templarkommando]

As a general rule, artifacts are extremely powerful items. If a powerful individual/big bad/deity discovered that all they had to do was gut someone to get it... Things could become unpleasant for the person with a deck of many things in their stomach. Maybe the maker of the artifact built in a fail-safe to keep people from swallowing the deck - in the same way that rubbing alcohol will make a drinker blind.

[Lord Torath]

Artifacts can still be dissolved, they just have huge base bonuses to saves meaning they will last a long time until they start to dissolve unless they nat 1 or something... and please oh please have them nat 1, the other factors i said are just things that get the bonuses added to them

Depends on the system, I suppose. It sounds like the OP's capital "A" Artifacts have one and only one method of destruction. If Submerging In Acid isn't the decreed method, it will take absolutely no damage from it at all.

[Narren]

My players mostly just eat cheetos and pretzels

[Coventry]

Currently gming a game with the focus of destroying some artifacts. One of the PC's recently ate one of them: The Deck. I have absolutely no clue what I should do for this. Up to know, players have been having to make saves when drawing from the deck due to some things that happened. I'm thinking of adding that in to her. Occasionally random draws? I have no clue. Any help is appreciated.

I am late to this party, but after reading the original post, I had an idea.

The Deck was not destroyed by its official means, so it will want to get back out.

At night, the character sleep-walks and starts buying art supplies. Then starts drawing doodles, then pictures, then starts creating new cards!

After a bit of that, shift things so that the next time the character writes something down while awake, the deck interferes by having the written text have a random card effect. Sign a name? One random card effect. Write a Scroll of seven spells? Seven draws from the deck. Cast Explosive runes? Well, it's now supercharged.

When that stops working, have the deck escalate. The next book the character picks up? The pages become random card draws. Touch a flat surface (i.e. tabletop), a card image appears. Tattoos appear on the character's skin. Hair style changes take on effects.

Then have it stop for no reason at all. Let the panic of "not knowing what is up" grip the player for a session or two. Then they find it, back in deck form, like it had just teleported away. Or, is this a second deck? Bwah-hah-hah!

[Jay R]

I am late to this party, but after reading the original post, I had an idea.

The Deck was not destroyed by its official means, so it will want to get back out.

Love it. Now go back and re-read the first two Discworld books and focus on how the Spell keeps trying to get said by Rincewind.

[infinitetech]

I am late to this party, but after reading the original post, I had an idea.

The Deck was not destroyed by its official means, so it will want to get back out.

At night, the character sleep-walks and starts buying art supplies. Then starts drawing doodles, then pictures, then starts creating new cards!

After a bit of that, shift things so that the next time the character writes something down while awake, the deck interferes by having the written text have a random card effect. Sign a name? One random card effect. Write a Scroll of seven spells? Seven draws from the deck. Cast Explosive runes? Well, it's now supercharged.

When that stops working, have the deck escalate. The next book the character picks up? The pages become random card draws. Touch a flat surface (i.e. tabletop), a card image appears. Tattoos appear on the character's skin. Hair style changes take on effects.

Then have it stop for no reason at all. Let the panic of "not knowing what is up" grip the player for a session or two. Then they find it, back in deck form, like it had just teleported away. Or, is this a second deck? Bwah-hah-hah!

wait wait! i bet its the deck's angry brother the deck of... *muffled yells and sounds of pain* IM SORRY BUT THE PLOT LEAKER HAS BECOME PREDISPOSED TO SILENCE, THAT IS ALL...

[Psykenthrope]

i am late to this party, but after reading the original post, i had an idea.

The deck was not destroyed by its official means, so it will want to get back out.

At night, the character sleep-walks and starts buying art supplies. Then starts drawing doodles, then pictures, then starts creating new cards!

After a bit of that, shift things so that the next time the character writes something down while awake, the deck interferes by having the written text have a random card effect. Sign a name? One random card effect. Write a scroll of seven spells? Seven draws from the deck. Cast explosive runes? Well, it's now supercharged.

When that stops working, have the deck escalate. The next book the character picks up? The pages become random card draws. Touch a flat surface (i.e. Tabletop), a card image appears. Tattoos appear on the character's skin. Hair style changes take on effects.

Then have it stop for no reason at all. Let the panic of "not knowing what is up" grip the player for a session or two. Then they find it, back in deck form, like it had just teleported away. Or, is this a second deck? Bwah-hah-hah!

brilliant!!!