Artificer Speciality - Cartomancer

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Though many artificers utilise careful and practiced application of magic to create their infused items, cartomancers are a little more...wild about this. By utilising the inherent luck of a deck of cards, artificers tap into the magic of chance itself, and whether a blessing of trickster gods or simply by the whims of the weave, these artificers learn to leave more of their lives to the flip of a card.

Many cartomancers are gamblers - and occasionally cheaters - at heart, and so their more 'reliable' spells are focused on either being better at gambling or better at getting away when you lose a hand and owe the house more than you own.

Card Caster

In order to properly play this subclass, it is recommended the player have a standard deck of cards (52), though it is not required; it can be replicated with a random number generator (1-52) and assigning a number to each card beforehand.

Variant: Wildcard Jokers

A cartomancer may utilise Jokers in their deck if they so wish and with DM approval. If they do so, then drawing a Joker immediately triggers a Wild Surge (as the Sorcerer feature). It is then shuffled and you draw another card instead of it.

Variant: Deck of Many Things

As an additional 20th level feature, the Artificer learns how to infuse a deck of cards to become the Deck of Many Things. This variant requires DM approval.

Tool Proficiency

When you adopt this specialization at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with painting supplies and card games.

Cartomancer Spells

Starting at 3rd level, you always have certain spells prepared after you reach particular levels in this class, as shown in the Cartomancer spells table. These spells count as artificer spells for you, but they don't count against the number of artificer spells you prepare.

Cartomancer Spells

Level	Spells
3rd	Disguise Self, Illusory Script
5th	Detect Thoughts, Enhance Ability
9th	Nondetection, Phantom Steed
13th	Arcane Eye, Dimension Door
17th	Legend Lore, Telepathic Bond

Draw from Deck

At 3rd level you gain access to an enchanted deck of cards customised for your use alone. Simply by creating it, it becomes infused with a portion of magic that stretches far beyond your own knowledgeable limitations as you tap into the inherent magic of Luck.

You can draw one card from your deck as a bonus action on your turn and cast the spell associated with that card. If the card casts a cantrip, the damage does not scale with your character level. Each card has a different spell based on its face and suit, as per the table at the end of this class.

Once drawn, you may move before invoking its effects, but must invoke it before the end of the turn or lose it. If a card is invoked, it is discarded and placed to one side until you complete a long rest. You may choose not to use the effect of the card drawn, and instead place it to the bottom of the deck. If you do so this does not count as a use of your Draw from Deck, but it does still cost your bonus action.

Cantrips cast by Draw from Deck do not scale their damage based on your character level.

You may draw from your deck a number of times equal to your intelligence modifier. You regain one use on completion of a short rest and all uses on a long rest. Once your uses have been expended, you can expend a spell slot as a bonus action to gain a number of draws equal to the level of spell slot expended.

Predictive Draw

From 5th level you gain a burst of magical ability whenever you draw a card. If you predict a card's suit correctly when you draw for your Draw from Deck, you immediately regain the expended use.

Shuffle

Also from 5th level whenever you draw a card from your deck, you may use your reaction to immediately return it to the deck, shuffle, and redraw, using the second card drawn's effect instead.

Trade Card

From 9th level when you draw a card with Draw from Deck, you may immediately pass it to another friendly creature within 30ft. They may use their Reaction to invoke the card's magic. It still uses your spell attack roll/spell save DC, but the effect originates from the friendly creature, and they concentrate on the spell (if it requires Concentration).

If they do not use their reaction, the card's magic is lost.

Full Hand

From 9th level as an action you can draw five cards from your deck, and gain a benefit based on the cards drawn, as below. For the purposes of damage/healing value, a Jack, Queen, and King are 10, while Aces are 11. Damage dealth by Full Hand is always force.

Hand Name	Cards Drawn	Effect
High Card	A card that doesn't otherwise match the others	Deal 1 damage to a creature you can see within 60ft
One Pair	A pair of cards with the same face	A creature of your choice within 60ft takes damage equal to the pair's total value added together. Eg. a pair of Twos would deal 4 damage.
Two Pair	Two pairs of cards with the same face	As one pair, but you deal the value totals to two creatures - one for each pair. You then gain temporary hit points equal to the highest damage dealt. These last for 1 hour.
Three of a Kind	Three cards with the same face	As One Pair, except you add all three cards together and you deal that damage to up to three creatures of your choice.
Straight	Five cards all in order, eg. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.	You may immediately take another action, and at the end of the round you add the highest card's value to your initiative score.
Flush	All cards are of the same suit	You immediately gain the benefits of a short rest and may take another action.
Full House	Three of a kind and one pair at the same time	You add all cards value together and deal that much damage to up to three creatures within 60ft. You then gain temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt to one creature.
Four of a Kind	Four cards of the same number	You add the four cards together and deal that much damage to up to four creatures within 60ft. You also reduce their AC and saving throws by -4 until the end of your next turn.
Straight Flush	All cards of the same suit, in order	You may immediately take another action and at the end of the round you can rearrange Initiative in any order you wish.
Royal Flush	Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 of the same suit.	You immediately gain the benefits of a long rest and may take another action.

You may only Shuffle one card drawn by Full Hand with your reaction. Cards invoked by Full Hand are also discarded, until you complete a long rest. Full Hand can be used once, refeshing on a long rest. It is not refreshed by a Royal Flush.

Double Draw

From 15th level when you use your Draw from Deck feature, you can choose to draw two cards instead of one. This still only counts as one use of the feature. You can invoke both of them simultaneously, or at different times during your turn.

Predicting either of the card's suits correctly counts for regaining a use via the Predictive Draw feature.

If you use the Shuffle feature, you can choose to Shuffle either or both of the cards you drew. You may now Shuffle up to two cards of your choice for Full Hand, but must Shuffle both from your initial draw if you choose to do so.

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If you use the Trade Card feature, you can choose to throw one or both cards to different friendly creatures to invoke the magic on your behalf.