Random and Less Than Random Chance (Further Thoughts on the Luck Deck from Nord Games)
I’m still really fascinated with how to utilize the Luck Deck that I picked up from Nord Games, but my sticking point is that “I” don’t want to be the one forcing the bad luck on the characters. I think everyone tends to have a lot more fun when you “own” your own misfortune.
Opinions are going to vary. I tend to be more of a “let’s build a collective narrative” GM, even in a game like Dungeons and Dragons. I know a lot of GMs that are much more comfortable with “as long as everyone knows the rules going in, let chance decide.” But even with my natural tendencies, I want to come up with a fun way to use this deck.
Alternate Luck Deck Rules
Here is my idea for alternate Luck Deck rules. As they currently stand, when a character rolls a 20, they get a good card, and when they roll a 1, they get a bad card, and they can only ever have one of each. The player gets to decide when to use the good luck cards, and the GM gets to determine when to trigger the bad luck card.
My alternate takes would be these:
Option 1–Substitution Rolls
• You can only ever have 1 card
• If the GM agrees that a roll is important enough for it, you may choose to automatically fail a roll you are about to make to get a good Luck card; you may only do this if you do not have a Luck card of any kind
• If you do not currently have any Luck cards, you may accept a bad luck card to treat a potential roll as a natural 20
• The player may trigger their own Luck cards whenever they desire, but they cannot receive another Luck card until they have used the current card that they have
Option 2—Critical Buffers (Can Also Be Used With Critical Decks)
• You Can only ever have 1 card
• Whenever an attack scores a critical hit on your character, you may accept a bad luck card to turn that hit into a regular hit, if you do not have a Luck card
• Whenever you roll a critical hit, you may accept a good luck card instead of triggering the usual effects of a critical hit, if you do not have a Luck card
• If you are using critical fails, you may accept a bad luck card to ignore the effects of the critical fail, if you do not have a Luck card
• The player may trigger their own Luck cards whenever they desire, but they cannot receive another Luck card until they have used the current card that they have
Option 3—Fate, Prophesy, and Fortune Telling
• You Can only ever have 1 card
• At character creation, the character can choose to have prophesy related to their character, at which time, they can draw a card
• Whenever a player goes to an oracle, visits a seer, or has their fortune read by an NPC with actual abilities, shuffled the Luck deck, good and bad, together; they can only receive this reading if they do not already have a Luck card
• The player may trigger their own Luck cards whenever they desire, but they cannot receive another Luck card until they have used the current card that they have
I may think of some other uses eventually. I just really like having tools around like the Luck Deck, but I also like to tinker with them so that they fit the way I run my own game. I wish I had this for fortune telling at the beginning of my Midgard Campaign, so I could have used it for the Doomcroaker’s runic readings on the party.
What Do I Know? 
I really like these takes on the idea and think they do a great job of putting the ownership of the luck in the playersp hands while still having an element of surprise and chaos.I still wouldn't let that stuffy Doomcroaker a-hole give me a reading, though.
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