In D&D there is a Deck Of Many Things. It was one of my favorite magic items, and I would always pull it out whenever I was DMing. The idea is simple: it hands you a random fate based on the cards you draw. I would usually pull it at the start of a campaign, and whatever came up would shape how we played the rest of the game.

I recently watched a video about Jerry's Map, an art project where a man spent 50 years making a map of an imaginary place (YouTube). It is a charming little documentary, and one I would recommend. In it he describes his creative process and how he decides what to add to the map next. He uses a hand made deck of cards to choose (see the 1:32 mark). Over time he has added to, modified, and grown the deck to help inspire whatever comes next.

I love this idea of using a deck of cards as part of your creative process.

And so the Deck of Creative Things project is born.

The deck starts with only one card, "#1 Add a new Card". When this card is drawn I create a new card and add it to the bottom of the deck, then move the drawn card to a discard pile. When the draw pile is out of cards, I reshuffle the discard pile back into the draw pile.

Rules

  • When a card is drawn its placed into the discard pile.
  • If the deck is empty, '#1 - Add a new Card'' to the discards, then shuffle the discards into the deck for tomorrow.
    • Note: The '#1 - Add a new Card' use to be its own card, but the rules were updated (2026-June-25) to remove this card, and change it so that a new card is added when ever you exaust the deck.

List of Cards (So far)

  • #1 - Add a new Card - Helps build the deck (Seed card)
  • #2 - Documentation - I wanted this card near the start so it happens frequently. If you don't document your work, did it actually happen?
  • #3 - Photo Artwork - This give me motivation to photo public artworks and contribute to Public Art Registry project.

Timeline

Version 1 of the ceck of cards

  • June 21 - "#1 Add a new Card". It was the only card in the deck. I added card "#2 Documentation", and put the "#1 Add a new card" into the discard pile.
  • June 22 - "#2 Documentation". It was the only card in the deck. I updated my website personal website ABlueStar. Since there is no more cards in the deck. I shuffled the two cards in the deck for tomorrow
  • June 23 - "#2 Documentation", and I made this project page (this page) for the *Deck of Creative Things to record the progress.
  • June 24 - "#1 Add a new Card", it was the only card in the deck. I added "#3 - Photo Artwork" to the bottom of the deck.
  • June 25 - "#3 Photo Artwork" it was the only card in the deck. I photographed Gather by Rebecca Bayer and added it to Public Art Registry project. Since there is no more cards in the deck, I shuffled the three cards in the deck for tomorrow.
    • (June 25) Note: The rules were changed. The "#1 Add a new Card" card was removed, and instead when you exaust the deck you add a new card before shuffling.