So, I've got a bunch of houserules stuff over at DnDOG, and I figured I'd migrate over. For today, we'll start with the Deckmaster: an incomplete specialist class that needs suggestions as to passive mid-level abilities.
The Deckmaster
"Here, let me give you my card..."
The deckmaster is an oddity, channeling large amounts of energy into flimsy conjured bits of cardstock, then using them as focuses for a strange brand of arcane magic. Known to many as thrown weapons experts, they are far more than that, using their powers over chance and perception to shape the battlefield as they see fit. Or just cheat at poker, that works too.
Hit Die: d8
Skill Points: 4+INT
Class Skills: Appraise(INT), Bluff(CHA), Craft(INT), Diplomacy(CHA), Disguise(CHA), Escape Artist(DEX), Knowledge Arcana/Local(INT), Perception(WIS), Perform(CHA), Profession(WIS), Sense Motive(WIS), Sleight of Hand(DEX), Stealth(DEX), Use Magic Device(CHA).
[TABLE]Level|BAB|Fort|Ref|Will|Special
1|+0|+0|+2|+0|Deck 5, Shuffle, Canny Defense
2|+1|+0|+3|+0|Sleight
3|+2|+1|+3|+1|Deck 9, Card +1
4|+3|+1|+4|+1|Sleight
5|+3|+1|+4|+1|Deck 13, Throw Card 1d8
6|+4|+2|+5|+2|Sleight
7|+5|+2|+5|+2|Card +2
8|+6/+1|+2|+6|+2|Deck 26, Sleight
9|+6/+1|+3|+6|+3|Throw Card 1d10
10|+7/+2|+3|+7|+3|Sleight
11|+8/+3|+3|+7|+3|Card +3
12|+9/+4|+4|+8|+4|Sleight
13|+9/+4|+4|+8|+4|Deck 52, Throw Card 1d12
14|+10/+5|+4|+9|+4|Sleight
15|+11/+6/+1|+5|+9|+5|Card +4
16|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+5|Sleight
17|+12/+7/+2|+5|+10|+5|Throw Card 2d6
18|+13/+8/+3|+6|+11|+6|Sleight
19|+14/+9/+4|+6|+11|+6|Card +5
20|+15/+10/+5|+6|+12|+6|Endless Deck, Sleight[/TABLE]
Proficiencies: A deckmaster has proficiency with Simple Weapons and Light Armor(no shields). Note that his Canny Defense ability works partially when lightly armored, and not at all when moderately/heavily armored.
Deck: A deckmaster's powers come from a magically generated Deck of cards. He has a maximum of 5 cards at 1st level, expanding to 9, 13, 26, and 52 cards as he levels up. He can do a number of things with them at 1st level:
- Throw Card: By spending 1 card, he can treat it as a thrown weapon with 1d6 X2 PRC damage, 30 ft range increment, using Dexterity for attack and damage rolls. At higher levels, he can throw multiple cards as per multiple attacks if his BAB allows him to. At 3rd level, and every 4 levels afterwords, the Deckmaster gains a +1 cumulative enhancement bonus to his Throw Card attacks.
- Flash of Fate: By spending 1 card as a Move action, he can gain a +1 Insight bonus to AC and Reflex saves against one target of his choice, within 60 feet. This lasts for 5 rounds, but can only be in effect on one person at any given time. If he uses the ability again, the first effect ends.
- Luck of the Draw: By spending 3 cards as an Immediate action, he can gain +2 to CMD versus a combat maneuver, or +2 on a save before learning the result of his/the attacker's roll. This has a cooldown of 1 minute.
Shuffle: As a Full Round Action that provokes Attacks of Opportunity, the Deckmaster refills his Deck. Alternatively, as a Move Action which also provokes Attacks of Opportunity, the Deckmaster can restock 5 cards.
Canny Defense: A deckmaster adds his INT to AC when unarmored. He gains half this bonus if wearing Light Armor(not shields). This does not stack with similar abilities, such as WIS>AC from being a Monk.
Sleights: At 2nd level, and every even level thereafter, the Deckmaster can learn Sleights: minor abilities that improve his deck powers. Some sleights require him to be a 10th or 16th level Deckmaster before taking them. If a Sleight calls for a saving throw, it is equal to 10 + 1/2 Deckmaster Level + INT.
[TABLE]Name|Level|Type|Prerequisites|Description
Empowered Cards|2|Passive|None|The critical damage of Throw Card increases to X3.
Pick 3|2|Attack|None|Spend 3 cards when using Throw Card instead of 1; you add +1 to your attack roll and damage rolls.
Canny Strike|2|Passive|None|You add INT to your Throw Card attack rolls, instead of DEX, if higher.
Poker Face|2|Passive|CHA 13|As long as you have 5 cards in your deck, you gain +3 to Bluff. At 6th level, your lies can escape magical detection while you have this ability active.
Card Whip|4|Attack|DEX 13|As long as you have 5 cards in your deck, you can make a melee attack with your cards, dealing 1d8+STR SLA 19X2 damage. This attack has the enhancement bonus of your Throw Card attack. If your Card Whip would take damage from a reactive sunder ability, discard 1 card for every 2 damage it takes(maximum 5 discarded).
Explosive Deck|4|Passive|None|Your Throw Card attacks can deal FIR damage instead of PRC. You must declare this before making the attack.
Quick Fate|4|Passive|None|Your Flash of Fate ability now works as a Swift action, rather than a Move action.
Shredding Deck|4|Passive|None|Your Throw Card attacks can deal SLA damage instead of PRC. You must declare this before making the attack.
Card Protector|6|Evoked|INT 13|Spend X cards, where X is some number up to your Deckmaster level; decrease your Maximum deck size by X as well. You gain +1 Shield AC and +X temporary HP. This effect ends if you run out of temporary HP, 5-card shuffle your deck, fully shuffle your deck, or 1 minute passes.
Discard|6|Attack|DEX 13|Spend 5 cards as a standard action; you deal 1 Throw Card attack at your highest BAB to all targets in a 15 foot cone.
Canny Strike, Improved|6|Passive|Canny Strike|You add INT to your Throw Card damage rolls, instead of DEX, if higher.
Con Artist|6|Passive|None|You deal +1d6 precision damage when using Card Throw or Card Whip against an enemy that has any degree of Fear status, is Poisoned, Confused, Entangled, Immobilized, or Disabled. You can only deal this damage once per round, regardless of how many enemies you hit that qualify for this ability. This stacks with other sources of precision damage, such as from Sneak Attack.
Take the Pot|6|Passive|None|If you knock an enemy unconscious or kill an enemy with one of your Deckmaster abilities, restock 5 cards instantly(cannot increase your deck above its maximum).
Arcane Deck|6|Passive|None|When fully shuffling your deck(not restocking 5 cards), you can spend an additional Minute charging your deck with arcane power. This swaps out +1 of your Throw Card enhancement bonus for a single Weapon Trait from the following list: Corrosive, Flaming, Frost, Ghost Touch, Seeking, Shock, Thundering. At level 12, you can instead swap out +2 for one of the following: Corrosive Burst, Flaming Burst, Icy Burst, Shocking Burst. At 18th level, you can swap out +3 for the Speed ability. Regardless of your level, you can only have one Weapon Trait used at any one time.
Flush|6|Attack|INT 13|Spend 5 cards as a standard action; you deal 1 Throw Card attack at your highest BAB to all targets in a 30 foot line.
Heart of the Cards|6|Evoked|CHA 15|Spend 5 cards as a move action; your chosen target within 30 feet must make a Will save to take hostile action against you for the next 3 rounds. You cannot use this ability on any one target more than 1/day.
Quickstep|6|Movement|INT 15|Spend 5 cards as a move action; you teleport up to your base land speed in any direction that you have line of sight to. If the square in question is occupied(say, from an invisible creature), your action is still spent, but you do not move. You provoke Attacks of Opportunity at your ending location.
Trap Card|6|Evoked|Explosive Deck|Spend 1 card as a standard action, and decrease your maximum deck size by this amount. Designate a square that you have line-of-effect to within 30 feet; you throw a card at that square. If a target enters that square, they take 2d6+INT FIR damage, Reflex halves. You may have a number of Trap Cards active up to 1/2 your Deckmaster level. If a target would take damage from more than one Trap Card in a single round, resolve all of them as a single attack, adding +1d6 damage for each card detonated past the first. This effect ends after 1 hour, or when you fully shuffle your deck. Note: Throwing a card at a square with an enemy already in it does not detonate the trap card: it only activates when someone enters a square.
Improved Flash of Fate|8|Passive|None|The bonuses from Flash of Fate increase to +2. They give a bonus to Will saves against your chosen target as well.
Jokers|8|Passive|None|Your maximum deck size permanently increases by +2. When 5-card shuffling, gain an additional 2 cards back.
Over Here|8|Evoked|None|Spend 5 cards; a target within 30 feet must make a Will save. If they fail, you swap locations with them. This provokes Attacks of Opportunity from your starting location, but not at your ending location, and it does not provoke AoO on your enemy at either point.
Improved Card Whip|8|Passive|Card Whip|Increase the base damage of your Card Whip to 1d10.
Your Card|8|Passive|CHA 13|When you score a critical hit on an enemy with one of your Card attacks, you can spend 1 card to gain a +1 morale bonus to attack, AC, and saves against that target until the end of your next round.
Card Trick|8|Passive|DEX 13|Increase the range increment of your Throw Card ability to 60 feet.
Mulligan|10|Evoked|None|As an immediate action, spend 13 cards to reroll a roll you have just made. You must take the result of the second roll, even if worse. You cannot use this ability more than once per hour.
Improved Discard|10|Attack|Discard, DEX 15|As Discard, except you spend 13 cards, and deal the attack to all within a 30 foot cone.
Improved Flush|10|Attack|Flush, INT 15|As Flush, except you spend 13 cards, and deal the attack to all within a 60 foot line.
Guessed It|10|Counter|INT 15|Spend 3 cards per level of the enemy spell, you can attempt to counterspell a target's magic substituting 1d20 + (Deckmaster Level -4) + INT for the Spellcraft check. The target must be within 30 feet of you.
Over There|12|Evoked|Over Here|As Over Here, except the range increases to 60 feet, and you don't provoke AoO for using the ability.
Improved Quickstep|12|Movement|INT 17|As Quickstep, except you spend 13 cards to teleport up to twice your base movement speed, and take penalties/bonuses as per Charging. You don't provoke Attacks of Opportunity like with Quickstep.
Safety|12|Passive|Trap Card|When someone enters a Trap Card square, you can spend 3 cards as an immediate action to prevent the card from detonating(such as if to prevent an ally from being damaged). You must be aware that the card is about to detonate to use this ability.
Improved Trap Card|12|Passive|Trap Card|Your Trap Card ability now deals a base of 4d6+INT FIR damage, and can be used from up to 60 feet away.
Deal|14|Attack|Discard|Spend 3 cards per enemy targeted as a full round action; you deal 1 attack at your highest BAB to all enemies within 15 feet that you have line of sight to.
All-In|16|Evoked|None|Swift action, usable 1/day. You stock 13 cards per round(including this one) for 5 rounds. At the end of your 5th turn, discard your entire deck.
Up Your Sleeve|16|Passive|INT 17|You can use Shuffle to restock 5 cards as a swift action, instead of a move action.
52 Card Pickup|16|Evoked|INT 19|Spend all your cards. You deal xd4+INT damage to a single target within 60 feet, where X is equal to every 4 cards you discard through this ability; Reflex save halves the damage. Enemies within 10 feet of the target take X damage instead; Reflex save negates. Abilities that modify your Throw Card attacks modify this ability, and you add your Enhancement Bonus to Throw Card to the attack.[/TABLE]
Endless Deck: Once per day, you can reshuffle your entire deck as a Swift action without provoking Attacks of Opportunity.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Harsh criticisms? Throw them at my face, that I might eat them and grow fat.
Woah! I like the flavour of this class! I got no time right now to parse the mechanics, but I lime the different abilities and the card cost system. Ok, so it's a bit like a certain card-throwing gambitian, but there's a lot more going on here too.
Nice work SuperTaster...
My thought was to have it be open in that regard. Negates the need to actually play with a deck, as well as expanding the class to other sorts of characters: Tengu that conjure up spectral feathers, accountants that throw invoices at people...
Dotted.