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The GameMaster's Apprentice: Fantasy DeckClick to magnify

The GameMaster's Apprentice: Fantasy Deck

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Adventure Awaits!

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The GameMaster's Apprentice: Fantasy is a system-neutral (compatible with any edition of any game!) deck of cards that can be used as either a supplement for traditional tabletop RPGs or as a complete game engine for GM-free solo or group RPGs.

You can view the cards' complete instructions for free by clicking the preview link beneath the thumbnail above, or view the Quickstart Guide and a set of quick-reference PnP/PoD Instruction Cards here on DriveThru if you prefer (if you wish to purchase the Print on Demand instruction cards to keep with your deck, be sure to combine the order with the deck itself! They are only six cards, and DriveThru will not print orders that small). You can also scroll down to view the card overview image and watch a video of the cards in use! 

On each card is a set of fifteen individual randomizers; with 60 double-sided cards, you can generate literally millions of possible adventures, all without having to hunt through a book or PDF for a single table!

With these cards, you can:

  • Instantly generate NPCs with randomized names, motivations, and backgrounds.

  • Create random events or story seeds.

  • Provide sensory details or random loot for characters searching or stealing.

  • Run games without a human GameMaster!

And more--they even work brilliantly as creative writing prompt generators, and have been playtested by 9th-12th grade students of both English and Game Design.

For more ideas and helpful videos, you can check out our website, www.LarcenousDesigns.com, and follow the links under Publications!

Card Overview

These cards exist thanks to the backers of both the original and the fantasy-deck Kickstarters! Thank you!

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Reviews (16)
Discussions (24)
Customer avatar
Matthew H December 31, 2023 2:16 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I posted this on the other page but whenever you have a chance to update the fantasy deck,.I'll be first in line to buy another copy.
Customer avatar
mike S July 31, 2023 11:40 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Why aren’t the instructions cards a given and not included with the decks….ridiculous.
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R August 01, 2023 12:25 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hello!
Sorry if you wanted but missed adding them to your order. They aren’t included standard because the decks were all made first, and the instruction cards came later—and also because they would increase the printing cost of every deck by about 20% (60 cards becoming 72 cards). Because most people who order multiple decks won’t want to have many copies that they’ll just be paying for to recycle, it is most economical and resource-efficient to make them a separate product that you can choose to order 0, 1, or as many times as you like, at exactly their printing cost (no profit is made from them, for me or DriveThru).
If you are in the position of having ordered a GMA deck and want to get the instruction cards, let me know if you want a discount code for anything else I offer that would offset that cost, or if you want me to arrange shipping a set to you directly, email me at LarcenousDesigns@gmail.com and I can see what I can do.
-Nathan
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Customer avatar
Nathan R August 01, 2023 12:48 am UTC
PUBLISHER
*Oops, I meant 10% increase. 12 card faces = 6 cards. My apologies; I'm tired and can't count, apparently.
Customer avatar
Christophe T May 28, 2023 6:43 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Do you have a bundle offer for this deck ?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R May 28, 2023 11:19 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
I don’t believe I currently do, but if you want to purchase a number of decks and would like a bundle discount, email me at LarcenousDesigns@gmail.com! I’m happy to work something out for you.
Customer avatar
Vincent "The Evil DM" F March 31, 2023 4:45 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Do the cards not have a back? I seem to be missing those in my images. I don't see instructions on printing them.
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Customer avatar
Nathan R March 31, 2023 6:06 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
The deck is designed to have the cards printed back-to-back, since that makes it a 60 card deck (easier to shuffle), and as there is no competitive component or hand of cards, the exposed info doesn’t interfere with use. I either print on paper and put the images back to back in transparent sleeves, or print double sided on card stock. In either case, the images are full bleed size, so you can cut them down to card size and remove any blank edges (which facilitates the back to back printing).
However, since a few people have asked, we have mocked up a card-back image you can have if you like! Just email me at LarcenousDesigns@gmail.com and I’ll send it (I can’t link directly here due to DriveThru link policies).
Reply
Customer avatar
Vincent "The Evil DM" F March 31, 2023 6:52 pm UTC
PURCHASER
done, sent.
Customer avatar
Vincent "The Evil DM" F March 30, 2023 11:34 am UTC
PURCHASER
individual card image files provided along with this purchase or just sheets of PDF?
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Customer avatar
Nathan R March 30, 2023 11:38 am UTC
PUBLISHER
All the GMA decks include a zip of individual card files so they can be easily imported into a VTT!
Reply
Customer avatar
Vincent "The Evil DM" F March 30, 2023 12:18 pm UTC
PURCHASER
you my friend, just earned a customer, and I will be using them in videos on my channel. thank you, so much. Rock on! Keep it original, keep it old school!
Customer avatar
Chad H February 26, 2023 6:05 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi, I recently purchased the Fantasy deck, both the physical cards and the PDF. And while I did receive the PDF files, I have neither been charged for them or the physical deck, nor have I seen any indication that the cards have been mailed away. Just wondering, does the charge only show up once the physical cards are shipped?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R February 26, 2023 7:36 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Hmmm; they do take about a week to print and ship, but I think I’m usually charged right away. While I don’t have any further information or access to find it about your specific order, that is a something DriveThru support staff can hopefully do! I’d recommend submitting a request here: https://support.drivethrurpg.com/hc/en-us/requests/new or emailing their customer service address.
Reply
Customer avatar
Chad H February 26, 2023 8:53 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Okay, I will do that. Just a heads up, I was never even charged for the PDFs. And so, I just tested it by purchasing the Steampunk physical deck ONLY (not the PDFs) and it accepted that purchase and the charge immediately showed up on my bank statement. So it seems purchasing the PDF/physical combo is glitched? I went ahead and submitted to DriveThru to see what they think. Thanks for your reply.
Customer avatar
Lesley N October 31, 2022 11:23 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Seeing is indeed believing.
See my brief and very positive review.
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R October 31, 2022 11:42 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks very much; I’m really glad both the cards and deck box arrived safely, and I appreciate the review! I hope the cards serve you well for many years :-)
Customer avatar
Lesley N October 13, 2022 10:04 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Talk is cheap, these cards ain't :)
But, I studied and studied and studied some more the pdf bundle I scored for a 5er.
Very convincing.

If you are a fantasy gamer mainly, I say go with the Fantasy deck first.
The base deck has elements that don't belong in a specifically low tech cliche fantasy genre setting (like tech items as simple as a train).
The cards sure are colourful. The full on black background seemed a bit strong. Might have preferred a different colour. But they will beat black and white printouts.

I have been gradually aiming for solo design concepts. At 60, I'm often lucky if my old local mob is still alive :) Haven't seen most of them in a LOOOONG time too.
Not sure I can relate with the young of today. So solo is a blessing.
And I think these cards will be quite the bonus for me. Hard to be spontaneous with one's self some times.

Seeing is believing of course, so I'll report on the physical item quality when they arrive...See more
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R October 13, 2022 11:30 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I’m glad you like them so far, and I do hope the physical cards also prove useful!
Customer avatar
Dave C September 26, 2022 8:59 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I bought this deck back in the spring and broke it out to use and there were no instruction cards at all, disappointed as i think this would be crucial to make sure one uses the correctly.
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R September 26, 2022 9:26 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Sorry about that! The instruction cards were a more-lately-developed add-on, and since many of the backers/customers purchase multiple decks, they asked I make the instruction cards optional and separate, since they would increase costs and mostly be extra. If you ever order another deck, before you do, email me at LarcenousDesigns@gmail.com and I can send you a coupon for a discount to reduce the cost and compensate you for the inconvenience.
Customer avatar
Craig W September 23, 2022 2:41 am UTC
Any news on an updated version of the Fantasy Deck? Something had been mentioned a little while ago about releasing new versions of the decks.
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R September 23, 2022 3:11 am UTC
PUBLISHER
We are currently starting up the Beta of the Cyberpunk Deck, which is how we’ll be making decisions about what to change; once that is wrapped up next spring or summer, we’ll be moving on to upgrading the Fantasy, Base, etc decks! The timeline on that is, however, far enough out that I can’t commit to specifics for other releases.
Reply
Customer avatar
Craig W September 23, 2022 5:00 pm UTC
Bah! I am too impatient for that!
Guess I have to get the original and then get the update down the road. Ha ha ha
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R September 25, 2022 2:11 am UTC
PUBLISHER
I really appreciate the support, and I hope you have fun with them!
Customer avatar
Sean H September 21, 2022 7:28 am UTC
PURCHASER
Is this deck different than this one: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/125685/The-GameMasters-Apprentice-Base-Deck ?

I bought the base deck hoping it would be black like this because that's what I saw in all the videos but it wasn't :(

How does the Fantasy Deck differ from the Base Deck other than color?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R September 21, 2022 9:46 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hello!
I’m sorry for any confusion. We use the Fantasy deck for the demo video because it was the most recent deck, with the best quality video.
The differences between the decks are many, but you can certainly use the Base Deck for any genre and have it function well. When writing the Base Deck, I made sure every card had at least a few details that fit Fantasy, Modern, and SciFi settings. Then, to make the genre decks like Fantasy, I go through the text and replace everything that doesn’t work in the new genre (so removing references to cars and most other technology, for example, and adding in more magic). Some fields remain the same, like Virtues and Vices, while others get completely replaced, like Names. I’d say it’s about 30-40% by volume of text that is different.
The Fantasy Deck also has one new field of 120 random icons, which is something we’re probably adding to all new decks going forward; we just wrapped up the Kickstarter for the Cyberpunk deck, and if you want to see...See more
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Customer avatar
Sean H September 21, 2022 9:21 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Looks like I made a mistake then! Thank you for the clarification - it seems I need to get the Fantasy Deck as well, when finances permit ...
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R September 21, 2022 10:13 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
If you meant to buy the Fantasy Deck, I’m happy to help out! Email me at the address in the previous comment and include the order number from your purchase of the Base Deck, and I’ll send you a complimentary copy of the Fantasy Deck.
Reply
Customer avatar
Sean H September 22, 2022 3:07 am UTC
PURCHASER
Email sent; thank you so much!
Customer avatar
Charles B September 09, 2022 7:00 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Where are the GMA Adventure Guides mentioned in the instructions?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R September 09, 2022 7:31 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
If you look either in your library or here on the product page below the thumbnail image (if logged in, you’ll see “You have purchased this product” and a number of file links), it should be called “GMA Fantasy Adventure Guide.PDF.”

Let me know if you have any further issues locating it!
Customer avatar
William C January 01, 2022 2:25 am UTC
PURCHASER
Is there a GMA Fantasy Adventure Guide like the one that came with the Sci-Fi deck? I found that to be really useful to creating a background campaign world with plot seeds. It would be really great to have one for this deck which I just purchased.
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R January 01, 2022 2:58 am UTC
PUBLISHER
There is! It should be in your downloads already; if you scroll up to look at the listing, it should appear as '(GMA Fantasy Adventure Guide).' If you don't see it there, email me at LarcenousDesigns@gmail.com!

Happy new year!
Customer avatar
Ernest C December 06, 2021 7:39 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi! are there any Virtual Card Shuffler Programs that don't have to use Roll20 or Tabletop Simulator? Amazing product btw!! Keeps my imagination going :)
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R December 06, 2021 9:27 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks!
The best solution I’ve seen uses an Android app called Custom Image Dice, which lets you upload card or images of any kind to ‘roll.’ Personally, I don’t have a phone that works for it, so I just open a pdf in a reader app and scroll through it randomly (this is NOT a method I can strongly recommend; it’s a bit tedious and very far from truly random, it just happens to be the most convenient way I’ve found for myself).
Customer avatar
Craig W October 03, 2021 5:18 pm UTC
Question: if I pick up multiple decks, can they fit in one deckbox, or does each deck need a box of its own?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R October 03, 2021 5:31 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
The plastic deck boxes you can have automatically included only fit one deck of about 60 cards (I find up to about 72 fit, actually), but if you want, you can search DriveThru for their separate, stand-alone deck boxes and order the 120-card box size! If two decks isn’t enough, I would say check out your local or online gaming retailer for magic-card deck boxes designed for multiples, since the cards are the same size. I hope that all helps!
Customer avatar
Mike M February 11, 2021 6:10 pm UTC
PURCHASER
I'm trying to understand if there's a reason the cards have the dice values that they do. Specifically the D%. I understand that with 120 cards it's not possible to have an even spread of the numbers from 1 to 100, but I was looking to see which ones were duplicated and I discovered that some cards were duplicated more than once, and some weren't present at all. For instance, in the cards with D% values between 00 and 09 there were two 02s, two 04s, three 06s, two 07s, and no 01s or 08s. Is there a particular methodology behind this, or is it just an oversight?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R February 11, 2021 6:37 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Heya!
All the dice are randomized individually--so the d00 and 10 next to it are essentially both just d10s, and you need to draw one card for each. This keeps the maximum randomness for the d100, and also lets each card technically have 3d10 on it if you want to use the cards for Storyteller/d10 dice pool games (with suboptimal randomness, though).
Reply
Customer avatar
Mike M February 12, 2021 12:22 pm UTC
PURCHASER
That's actually a pretty elegant solution to the problem of how to get an even distribution for D100 on 120 cards. And now that you point it out, I feel like I read it somewhere I had just forgotten. Thanks for the reply and the great product.
Reply
Customer avatar
Nathan R February 12, 2021 12:48 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
Thanks! I really appreciate the kind words, and I hope the cards serve you well!
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Product Information
Mithral seller
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60
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34.54 MB
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File Last Updated:
May 29, 2023
This title was added to our catalog on September 21, 2017.