Performer

a half-elf woman dances in front of a huge crowd, mostly comprised of men. When her target enters he is stunned by her other-worldly beauty. She uses this to her advantage as she strikes with deadly focus. The audience can hardly act before she is in the middle of them, slashing with hidden daggers.

A clocked half-orc mutters the incantations needed to turn his deck of cards into fireworks and find pleasure in the laughter of the children in the audience as he throws firebolt after firebolt into the air. All the while he pickpockets the parents with his magical servant.

The sweat runs down the forehead of the tiefling circus freak as he throws axe after axe at the giant who is threatening his caravan. When the giant is dead he'll have quite the work gathering his hand axes.

One assassin, another a thief and the third a warrior. What combines them is their unprecedented focus on the task at hand.

Stage presence

Wherever a performer goes, they take the show with them. Their art can be anything from divining the future, throwing daggers with bullseye precision or dazzling an audience with an ancient form of magic, the magic of movement.

Many are performers but few master their art form. Those who do gains a stage presence that none other can rival. In battle a performer can enter the role of a heroic adventurer, braving even the most horrific monsters lair.

A life on the road

No matter how amazing a performance is seeing it more than a couple of times will remove the magic. The life of a performer is therefore spent on the road. Constantly moving from town to town. Life on the road can be filled with dangers, but a tight knit group of performers will deter most raiders and monster. Opting instead for easier pray.

Creating a Performer

As you build your performer, ask yourself two important questions about you background: Who trained you and why did you join the life of a performer. What drove you from the simple life of a civilian to join the ranks of vagabonds? Where you an urchin that a circus magician took pity on? Was it always your dream to dance? Whatever the case may be on how you joined the life, why are you not with whoever trained you?

Quick Build

You can quickly make a performer by following these suggestions. First, make Dexterity your highest ability score, unless you plan to be a Arcanist, then make Intelligence your highest. Your next-highest score should be Charisma or Constitution. Second, choose the Entertainer background.

Credit: MaraAum @Deviantart

Class Features

As a performer, you gain the following class features

Hit Points

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• Hit Dice: 1d8 per performer level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per performer level after 1st

Proficiencies

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• Armor: None
• Weapons: Daggers, Handaxes, Light hammers and whips.
• Tools: Disguise kit

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• Saving Throws: Charisma, Dexterity
• Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Athletics, Perception, Performance and Slight of Hand

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) Four daggers or (b) Two Handaxes
• (a) One martial weapon you are proficient with or (b) Any two simple weapons or (c) A set of playing cards
• Disguise kit
• Entertainers pack

Persona

You can spend one hour during a long rest to create a stage persona with the help of you disguise kit. This persona often talks, walks and acts in a specific way and is often almost indistinguishable from your usual way to act. When you enter your persona and for 2 hours after that you have advantage on performance(cha) checks. If at any time, before the 2 hours is over, you act like yourself the persona is broken and the bonus is lost.

Quick Hands

Immediately after you make an attack you can draw a weapon you are proficient in that has either the thrown or finesse properties. As long as you have a hand free to hold the weapon in.

focus

Starting at 2nd level you have an extraordinary focus in battle, on the stage and while investigating a dungeon. You can enter this state of total focus as a bonus action on your turn. Focus lasts for 1 minute.

While focusing you gain the following benefits:

• When you make an attack with a weapon you are proficient with you gain a bonus to the damage roll that increases as you gain levels as a performer, as shown in the focus damage column of the Performer table.
• Your attacks made with a thrown weapon does not suffer any penalties from attacking at long range and ignore half cover. Three-quarters cover counts as half cover for these attacks.

You can end the focus as a free action whenever you want and you have two uses of focus that recharge after a long rest.

Focus ends if you enter a rage or your physical form changes with spells or features such as wildshape.

Whenever you take damage while focusing you must make a Charisma saving throw. The DC equals 10 or half the damage you took, whichever is higher. If you take damage from multiple sources, such as an arrow and a dragons breath, you make a separate check for each source of damage. If you fail you lose your focus. You must be conscious to focus.

Art form

At 3rd level you choose what art form to commit yourself to: Art of Arcana, Art of Fey-Dancing or Art of Juggling each described at the end of this chapter. You gain features from you chosen art at 3rd, 7th, 10th, 13th and 18th level.

Extra Attack

Beginning at 5th level, you can attack twice, instead of once, whenever you take the attack action on your turn.

Play Dead

At 5th level you can use your reaction after taking damage to use your superior acting skills to seem dead. Roll a performance(cha) check and record the number rolled. You become prone. Any hostile creature that wants to attack you needs to succeed on an Insight(wis) check vs the number you rolled. On a fail they think you are dead. This effect lasts until you do any action or move. This feature have no effect on undead.

Improved Focus

Starting at 6th level, you regain all uses of focus when you finish a short or long rest. At 11th level you gain one more use of the focus feature for a total of three uses. Starting at 15th level you no longer loses focus when taking damage and focus now lasts 10 minutes.

Evasion

At 9th level, your instinctive agility lets you dodge out of the way of certain area effects, such as a blue dragon’s lightning breath or a Fireball spell. When you are subjected to an effect that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on the saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Play Dead - Notes

Some creatures might still attack if they think you’re dead, a predator, for example, might just take a bite once you’re down. Use the Play Dead feature with caution.

Skilled Actor

At level 17, hostile creatures have disadvantage when they roll insight to see if you are dead. In addition your persona lasts an additional 6 hours.

Master of Arts

Starting at 20th level, you add half of your focus damage to any skill check you make.

Art of Arcana

While a skilled performer makes the audience believe in the magic of the stage those who study the Art of Arcana actually do magic. Using a special deck of cards called a Tarot these performers can cast spells, see the future and call on allies from the void.

Spellcasting

When you reach 3rd level, you learn the ability to cast spells. See chapter 10 in the PHB for the general rules of spellcasting.

Cantrips. You learn two cantrips from the following: Dancing Lights, Friends, Mage Hand, Mending, Message, Minor Illusion or Prestidigitation. You learn one more of these cantrips at level 10.

Spell Slots. The Arcanist Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spells level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

For example if you know the spell Arms of Hadar and have a 1st-level and a 2nd level spell slot available, you can cast Arms of Hadar using either slot.

Foto: Twisted Fate from League of Legends, Unknown artist.

Spells known of 1st-level and Higher. You know three 1st-level spells from either the Warlock or Wizard lists. Two must be from the Conjuration or/and Divination schools of magic.

The Arcanist spells known column shows when you learn new spells of 1st-level or higher. Each of these spells need to be a Conjuration or Divination spell of your choice from the warlock or wizard spell list for witch you have spell slots. For instance, when you reach 7th level in this class, you can learn one new spell of 1st or 2nd level.

The spells you learn at 8th, 14th and 20th level can come from any school of magic.

Whenever you gain a level in this class, you can replace one of the warlock or wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the warlock or wizard spell list. The new spell must be of a level for witch you have spell slots, and it must be a Conjuration or Divination spell, unless you're replacing the spell you gained at 8th, 14th or 20th level.

Spellcasting Ability. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your warlock or wizard spells, since you learn your spells through study and memorization. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a warlock or wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Your intelligence modifier

Spell attack modifier= Your proficiency bonus + Your intelligence modifier.

Tarot deck

At 3rd level, you learn a ritual that enchants a deck of cards and turns it into a tarot deck.

The ritual takes 10 minutes and you need to have a mundane deck of cards to cast it.

The tarot deck contains 56 cards divided between four colours. Power, Wealth, Love and Faith

Power is depicted as a red sword on a white background.

Wealth is characterized as three golden coins surrounded by grey.

Love shows a red heart and green slime seemingly creeping up from the bottom of the card.

Faith is a blue background and in the middle of the card you can see a silhouette of an angel.

Whenever you use a feature to draw from the deck roll a d4. A roll of 1 = Power, 2 = Wealth, 3 = Love and 4 = Faith

While the deck is in your hand it works as a spellcasting focus for you. In addition you can draw a card as a free action and use it as a magical melee weapon that you are proficient with.

It deals 1d4 slashing damage and has the thrown(30/60) and finesse properties.

If you have at least 1 card left in the deck when you finish a short or long rest it replenishes itself to a full deck.

You can only create one deck using this feature and if you cast the ritual on a second deck the first is set ablaze and burns to ash. When you die the magic of the deck dissolves after 1d4+1 days.

Arcane mysteries

At 3rd level, when you choose this Art form. Gain proficiency in the Arcana skill or one other skill if you are already proficient in it.

The Arcanist

-spell slots per level-

Performer Level	Cantrips Known	Spells Known	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
3rd	2	3	2	-	-	-
4th	2	4	3	-	-	-
5th	2	4	3	-	-	-
6th	2	4	3	-	-	-
7th	2	5	4	2	-	-
8th	2	6	4	2	-	-
9th	2	6	4	2	-	-
10th	3	7	4	3	-	-
11th	3	8	4	3	-	-
12th	3	8	4	3	-	-
13th	3	9	4	3	2	-
14th	3	10	4	3	2	-
15th	3	10	4	3	2	-
16th	3	11	4	3	3	-
17th	3	11	4	3	3	-
18th	3	11	4	3	3	1
19th	3	12	4	3	3	1
20th	3	13	4	3	3	2

Card Trick

At 3rd level, while focusing you can use your action to draw from the deck to cast a cantrip. Casting a cantrip this way destroys the card after casting.

Power Casts Firebolt

Wealth Casts Booming Blade

Love Casts Vicious Mockery

Faith Casts Sacret Flame

A cantrip cast this way has a range of 60ft and if the spell requires a melee attack it instead require a ranged or melee attack made with the card used to cast the spell. Add the focus damage to a cantrip cast this way once.

Heart of the Cards

Starting at 7th level, you can foresee what cards you are going to draw. Whenever you finish a long rest roll two d4s and record the numbers rolled. You can replace any roll to draw from the deck with the numbers rolled. Each foretelling roll can only be used once. When you finish a long rest you lose any unused foretelling dice before rolling the new dice.

Major Arcana

At 10th level, you deck increases in size to a size of 78. The damage dice of the deck increase to 1d6.

Once per long rest you can draw from your deck to cast a spell.

Power Casts Fireball

Wealth Casts Hypnotic Pattern

Love Casts Fear

Faith Casts Spirit Guardians

Casting a spell this way destroys the card drawn and does not require the use of a spell slot.

Master Arcanist

Starting at 13th you have mastered the deck. You can cast a spell using the Major Arcana feature one additional time and whenever you roll to determine what card you draw you roll one more d4, use either result. You decks damage dice increase to 1d8.

Card Casting

At 18th level you can prepare one spell by drawing from your deck. After a long rest, after rolling your foretelling dice, draw a card from your deck to see what spell is prepared for you. You can cast this spell once without using a spell slot.

Power Prepares Arcane hand

Wealth Prepares Mislead

Love Prepares Dominate Person

Faith Prepares Flame strike

Art of Fey-Dancing

Dancing is more than art, it’s a way to tell every emotion with you whole being. A few among the elven practitioners reach a level of skill where they tap into the magic of the feywilds when they dance. Some do not even know that they are doing it. Such is their focus on the dance that they themselves cannot see the changes to the natural word that they summon.

Restriction: Elves only

Only elves and half-elves can choose the Art of Fey-Dancing. As its only elves who have such a close tie to the feywilds.

Your DM can lift this restriction to better suit the campaign. The restriction reflects the story of Fey-Dancing Performers in my setting, but it might not apply to your DM's setting.

Limited Spellcasting

Whenever a feature from this art form lets you cast a spell Charisma is your spellcasting modifier and you use the following if any feature require a creature to make a saving throw unless specified otherwise.

Spell save DC = 8 + Your proficiency bonus + Charisma modifier

Spell attack modifier = Your proficiency bonus + Your Charisma modifier.

Story Teller

At 3rd level. During your search for the ballet-set and music, you uncover much lore from the feywilds. Gain proficiency in History or Religion.

The Fey-dance

Starting at 3rd level when you choose this art form, your focus lets you tap into the feywilds. Choose one of the following famous ballet dances that you emulate when you enter focus:

• After the Dryad. You can use your bonus action to disengage or dash.
• A Midsummer Satyr's dream. You can cast sleep once as an action on your turn. Casting the spell in this manner does not require any material components or the use of a spell slot. The spell ends when your focus does.
• A Treants Tale. You cast Barkskin as a free action on yourself and it does not require any material components. You do not need to keep up concentration on the spell either. When your focus ends, so does the spell.
• Impressing the Hag. Your fingernails grows to become the massive claws of a Green Hag, turning them into natural melee weapons. They deal 2d6 slashing damage.

Any of these effects ends if you do not move at least 5ft on your turn or when your focus ends.

Method Acting

At 7th level, you can craft a mask out of simple wood. The mask has two eye-holes and a grinning mouth. When you enter your persona you can don this mask to change your appearance to one of the many character archetypes in fey stories. If you do you gain a bonus depending on what character you choose. The bonus last as long as your persona does.

• The Hafling Hero. Your alignment changes to CG. You gain the hafling racial feats Brave and Lucky. You can cast Heroism as a 1nd-level spell once. Your size is small.
• The Satyr Mentor. Your alignment changes to NG. You grow a set of horns and you gain the Minotaur racial feats Horns and Goring Rush. You can cast Healing word as a 2nd-level spell twice.
• The Evil Hag. You alignment changes to CE. Your skin turns green and it appears like you have lost one eye. You can cast Arcane Eye once. The damage form Impressing the Hag is increased to 2d8
• The Dryad Narrator. Your alignment changes to LN. Your skin takes on a bark-like texture. You can speak to any animal or plant as if you shared a language. You have advantage on Saving Throws against Spells and other magical Effects.
• The Elf Love-Interest. Your alignment changes to any Good alignment. Choose one willing humanoid. You are in love with that humanoid. You have advantage against any creature they attack. You also gain Temporary hit points equal to your performer level the first time you see them take damage.
• The Just Archfey. Your alignment changes to any Lawful alignment. Your skin turns a bright color. You can cast Command, Compelled Duel, and Zone of Truth once each.
• The Bloodthirsty Orc Henchman. Your alignment changes to any Evil alignment. You turn into a bad caricature of an orc, with a constant dumb expression. You gain the Orc racial trait Aggressive and the Half-orc trait Savage Attacks.

If a character archetype lets you cast spells you can do so without using a spell slot or needing any material components.

Any changes to alignment is only temporary and a way to show you characters change while method acting. You character acts like they have changed alignment but if push comes to shove they are not forced to act according to their new alignment, choosing instead to end their persona. Any Item that require you to be a certain alignment works in accordance to your original alignment, not the alignment given by this feature.

A Captive Audience

Starting at 10th level, you can use your action once while fey-dancing to charm any not undead creatures. Choose a number of creatures up to half your Performer level(rounded down), that you can see and that can see you within 30ft. They must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw versus your Limited spellcasting DC or be charmed. A creature that isn't surprised can avert its eyes to avoid the saving throw. If it does so, it can't see you until the start of its next turn. If it looks at you in the meantime, it must immediately make the save. A creature who succeeds the save is immune to this feature for 24 hours.

A charmed creature is stunned until the end of your next turn. You can use this feature again after finishing a long rest.

Fey Tricks

At 13th level your connection to the fey grows and with it you learn a few of the feywilds most common tricks. You learn the Druid cantrip Druidcraft. In addition, you can use 10ft of your Movement to step magically into one living tree within 5ft and emerge from a second living tree within 60 ft of the first tree, appearing in an unoccupied space within 5ft of the second tree. Both trees must be of one size bigger than you or larger.

You can use the druid feature wildshape to turn into any beast with a CR of 0 two times, recharging after finishing a long rest.

Fey Music

At 18th level, fey music begin to play whenever you start to fey-dance. Giving an effect dependent on the volume.

• Whispered Lyrics. The music can only be heard within 5ft of you. Any creature who hears it for the first time get disadvantage on attacks made against you until their next turn.
• Soft Ballad. All creatures within 30ft of you hear the music. Anyone who can hear the music can no longer turn their head to avoid the saving throw caused by your Captive Audience feature.
• Loud Performance. All creatures within 300ft can hear the music. In addition to the bonus from soft ballad you can force all creatures within 5ft to you to make a constitution saving throw or suffer 4d10 thunder damage. Taking half on a successful save. After you’ve done this the music stops.

The music stops whenever your focus does. You can also stop the music whenever you want to on your turn.

The art of Juggling

Juggling is often seen as cheap entertainment. Only few knows that it can give great prowess on the battlefield. Just as Dancing and Singing, the elves were the first to do it use in battle, but other races quickly learned.

Skilled Thrower

At 3rd level, your hours of exercise give results. Gain proficiency in slight of hand. In addition, When you engage in two-weapon fighting, you can add your ability modifier to the damage of the second attack.

Battle Juggling

Starting at 7th level, while focusing you can use your action to start juggling up to five melee weapons. You can use them as if they had the thrown property with a range of 60ft. You are proficient with weapon you are juggling.

When you use your Attack action on a later turn, you can use any weapon you juggle to make ranged attacks. The attacks gains different effects dependent on the weapons properties and have a damage dice of 1d8. You may not juggle weapons with the Special or Reach traits.

• Finesse. Score criticals on a roll of 19 or 20.
• Heavy. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw vs 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Strength or fall prone.
• Light. If the attack hits the weapon bounces of the target and lands 15ft away from the target towards you.
• Thrown. The damage dice changes to 2d4.
• Two-Handed. You have disadvantage on the attack, but if it hits it crits.
• Improvised Weapon. The damage dice is 1d6.

If a weapon has several different traits choose one that you use for the attack unless one of them is Improvised Weapon. Then use the Improvised Weapon trait. Immediately after making an attack with juggling you can start juggling another weapon as a free action as long as one is within your reach. A weapon on the ground is considered within reach as you use your feet (or tail if you have one) to make it airborne.

If you have weapons in the air when your focus ends or you use the Play Dead feature the weapons fall harmlessly on the ground around you.

Fast hands

At 10th level, you may use your bonus action to make a single ranged attack with a weapon you juggle if it has the light or Improvised Weapon properties. The attack follows the rules stated in Battle Juggling.

Unprecedented Nerve

Starting at 13th level, when you focus your range attacks does not get disadvantage for attacking creatures within 5ft.

Impeccable Accuracy

At 18th level, you add half (rounded down) your focus damage to the to hit on ranged attacks.