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I'm using the deck of many things in my campaign, it's a way to let the chaotic characters create chaos and to let the lawful characters fight against drawing cards.

Anyway, I'm trying to be prepared for some of the cards in advance.

One of the cards states that the character retains its race but changes type, since all of the characters are humanoid, how does this affect them if they change to...let's say Aberration since its the first on the list...

  1. Does the character suffer changes to their stats?
  2. What about their hit dice, saves, etc.?
  3. If the character gains a level do they get hit dice and saves from their class or their type?
  4. Are the character's class levels replaced by monster levels?
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They lose the Humanoid traits, which aren’t much

Literally the only thing that they lose, since they presumably have class levels, is the need to eat, breathe, and sleep. Which they will probably get back by whatever type they gain.

They gain the traits of their new type, whatever they are

For example, if they gain the Elemental type, they get the Elemental traits, to wit:

  • 60-ft. Darkvision

  • Immunity to poison, sleep, paralysis, and stunning

  • Not subject to critical hits or flanking

  • Inability to be raised with the usual magic

  • Proficiency with simple weapons

  • No need to eat, sleep, or breathe

  1. Does the character suffer changes to their stats?

No, their stats do not change. Those are features of their base scores, their race (which they keep), their levels, and their items.

  1. What about their hit dice, saves, etc.?

If they have Racial HD (which basically no Humanoids do), then yes, but if they only have class levels, then no.

  1. If the character gains a level do they get hit dice and saves from their class or their type?

Their class, always. Only monsters can advance with Racial HD (i.e. the ones defined by type).

  1. Are the character's class levels replaced by monster levels?

Not from that card, no. Those are aspects of your race, not type.

With all that said...

The deck of many things is notorious for destroying campaigns. Most games don’t last long after the first card has been drawn. The effects warp things massively, derail whatever was going on, and are often just too absurd to maintain a serious game. For a silly, off-the-wall game, particularly one that’s intended as a one-shot or quick campaign, the deck of many things can be awesome. But if you want to maintain a game for an extended period of time, or want it to be any kind of serious, I advise against it.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ "Every humanoid creature also has a subtype." - are subtypes also lost? Also, for elf subtype is listed simply "elf" - what parts of being an elf are racial, and what belongs to elf type? You got my upvote... and my curiosity. \$\endgroup\$
    – Mołot
    Dec 10, 2014 at 8:58
  • \$\begingroup\$ Elf subtype mostly just buys you Favored Enemy and Bane effectiveness. I.e., negative. The rest is racial, since drow, wood elves, fire elves, etc etc etc get various modifiers. \$\endgroup\$
    – user17995
    Dec 10, 2014 at 20:21
  • \$\begingroup\$ @Mołot The effect doesn’t say you change subtypes, so you don’t. Not that unusual. Most subtypes don’t do much more than just classify you, anyway. \$\endgroup\$
    – KRyan
    Dec 11, 2014 at 3:16

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