Personifier (5e Class)
From D&D Wiki
Personifier
A woman sits perplexed by the puzzle confounding her and her companions. She draws a card and as a shining light burns a 1 into her forehead the answer is made clear.
A man is beaten and bruised as the battle rages but he quickly shuffles some cards pulls out a card and as the number 4 appears on his cheek he rejoins the fight with new found vigor
Demons close in on a group of adventurers but as a man pulls out a bright golden card and exclaims to the heavens, a large number 8 engulfs his face and the demons cower and flee from him.
The Power Within
A personifier is a master of the ancient eldritch magic of the tarot deck. The tarot decks represents aspects of the soul and with training one can learn to personify these ancient powers using the cards that symbolize them. These powers can be used in a variety of ways but are also very dangerous and tend to have nasty side effects that can only be overcome with extensive training and a fair amount of luck.
Personifiers cannot pinpoint their powers exactly at any one moment for the soul is something that is always changing and flowing. Therefore this is represented as a card deck that is drawn from randomly so that your soul may choose which card best represents you at this time. This means that a personifiers power requires a lot of luck, however as personifiers become stronger in their craft they begin to learn how to bend these energies to more appropriately fit whatever situation they find themselves in.
Uncommon and Unruly
Personifiers are uncommon in the world of magic as many magic users prefer more stable forms of magic. Since their magic functions off of impulse and the fluctuations of their souls, many magic users see personifiers as unruly and chaotic at best and as dangerous and uncontrollable at worst. The only spell casters that generally understand them are sorcerers who can have similar problems with their unruly magic accidentally causing havoc.
Creating a Personifier
The soul being as ever changing as the world itself is represented by a solid deck of 22 tarot cards which a personifier calls an unwashed deck. When a personifier "washes" a deck, they take the World Arcana and the Fool Arcana with them for 24 hours to let the deck gain access to their soul. After this process they shuffle the deck and draw 5 cards and these combined with the World and the Fool make their washed deck, from which the majority of their powers derive. They still keep the unwashed cards but their effects on them are far less than their washed cards. Many personifiers become personifiers because of a tragedy that they cannot explain or were powerless to stop. Searching for enlightenment about either the events or themselves some turn to the tarot, and for some lucky-or unlucky-fellows the tarot turns to them as well.
There are some questions you should consider when making a personifier. How did you come to know the tarot and who showed its power to you? Was there a tragedy that drew you to it or was it purely curiosity? Do you regret investing in such chaotic power or do you revel in the randomness of your abilities? What do your close friends or your family think of this new change? Are you excited to tell others about the arcana and the power its brought you?
- Quick Build
You can make a personifier quickly by following these suggestions. First, charisma should be your highest ability score, followed by wisdom. Second, choose the mystic background. Third, choose the cantrips True Strike and Acid Splash and choose the 1st level spells Expeditious Retreat, Charm Person and Chromatic Orb. These spell will give you a good leg up for if your powers don't work as planned
Class Features
As a Personifier you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per Personifier level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + Constitution modifier per Personifier level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: All light armor, No shields
Weapons: All simple weapons
Tools: Tarot Cards
Saving Throws: Charisma and Wisdom
Skills: Choose two of the following: Acrobatics, Arcana, Insight, Performance, Persuasion and Religion,
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- Leather Armor
- (a) 2 Daggers or (b) Any simple melee weapon
- (a) Explorer's Pack or (b) Entertainer's Pack
- Tarot Deck
| Level | Proficiency Bonus |
Cantrips Known | Features | —Spell Slots per Spell Level— | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | ||||
| 1st | +2 | 2 | Spellcasting, Deck Building, The Fool | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | +2 | 2 | Mask of the Arcana, Personification | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | +2 | 2 | Fortune Telling | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | +2 | 2 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | +3 | 2 | Card Break | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th | +3 | 2 | Share Soul, Personification Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th | +3 | 2 | Clean Card | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th | +3 | 3 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th | +4 | 3 | — | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| 10th | +4 | 3 | Shuffle, Fortune Telling Improvement, Personification Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 11th | +4 | 3 | Arcana Mastery | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 12th | +4 | 3 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 13th | +5 | 3 | Card Break Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 14th | +5 | 4 | Overcharge Arcana, Personification Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 15th | +5 | 4 | Clean Card | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 16th | +5 | 4 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 17th | +6 | 4 | — | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18th | +6 | 4 | Fortune Telling Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19th | +6 | 4 | Ability Score Improvement, Arcana Mastery Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 20th | +6 | 4 | The World | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Spellcasting
Opening your soul to the ancient magic forces has granted you the ability to wield this energy as spells. You can learn any spell that appears on the sorcerer spell list.
- Spell Slots
The personifier 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 spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest. For example, if you cast the first level spell detect magic and have a 1st-level and a 2nd-level spell slot available, you can cast detect magic using either slot.
- Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher
You can prepare a list of personifier spells for you to cast. To do this choose a number of spells from the sorcerer spell list that equals your charisma modifier+your personifier level. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown in the table.
You can choose new spells during a long rest by taking one hour to meditate with your tarot cards.
Spellcasting Ability Charisma is your spellcasting ability for your personifier spells. Your spells are direct outbursts from your soul channeled through your cards. You use your Charisma whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Charisma modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a personifier spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
•Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier.
•Spell attack modifier = your proficiency modifier + your Charisma modifier.
•Spell Focus. You use your tarot deck as your arcane focus.
Deck Building
Upon becoming a personifier you cleaned a tarot deck and claimed 5 cards to be a personification of your soul in addition to the Fool Arcana and the World Arcana. You must select 5 cards from the table below. These cards grant you abilities but just like souls themselves even with their great power they have weaknesses just as we do.
1. The Magician The magician represents intelligence and magic prowess. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
A light gust of wind can be felt around you and increases your armor class by 1 and the DC for all personifier spells you cast increases by 1
However, your maximum hit points is lowered by a number equal to your personifier level for the duration of this arcana (your hit points return to normal when this arcana is inactive) and you receive a -1 penalty to all melee attack rolls
2. The High Priestess The high priestess represents peace and passiveness. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You gain the Spare the Dying cantrip and whenever you cast a spell of 1st level or higher that does not inflict damage you recover 1d4 hit points
However, all weapon attacks receive a -1 penalty to damage and you have disadvantage on initiative rolls
3. The Empress The empress represents calmness and understanding. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You gain resistance to cold damage and any friendly creature within 5ft of you cannot be frightened (this does not include you)
However, you are vulnerable to fire damage and any magic you cast that does damage now does 1 less damage
4. The Emperor The emperor represents power and control. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You gain temporary hit points equal to half your personifier level (rounded down minimum of 1) and you cannot be frightened
However, you take a -1 penalty to your spell DC for personifier spells and you take a -1 penalty to ranged attack rolls
5. The Hierophant The hierophant represents good godly standing and authority. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
As an action, you gain a pool of hit points equal to half your personifier level+ your charisma modifier to disperse between any amount of creatures within 20ft of you which includes yourself and you cannot be charmed
However, you are vulnerable to necrotic damage and undeads and demons within 30ft of you can sense your presence
6. The Lovers The lovers arcana represents reasoning and romanticism. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
Any creature within 10ft of you has advantage on wisdom saves against being charmed or frightened and you can use your action to encourage one friendly creature within 30ft and that can hear you granting them 2d4 temporary hit points
However, you are vulnerable to cold damage and you take a -1 penalty to all spell attack rolls
7. The Chariot The chariot represents self-assuredness and conquest. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You have advantage on initiative and your speed is increased by 10ft
However, you take 1 more damage from all instances magic damage and recovering from being prone requires your entire turn
8. Justice The justice arcana represents valor and rationalism. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You can use Turn the Unholy as a paladin of equivalent level would once using the card as your holy symbol and you become resistant to necrotic damage
However, you have disadvantage on passive perception checks and all ranged attacks take a -1 penalty to damage
9. The Hermit The hermit is associated with solitude and philosophy. You gain the following traits while this arcana n is active
You gain the Darkvision feature (if you already have darkvision its range is increased by 30ft) and you can cast Identify at will without expending a spell slot
However, you are vulnerable to radiant damage and you have disadvantage on perception checks made in bright light
10. Wheel of Fortune The wheel of fortune arcana represents luck and fate. you gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You roll again through your cleaned tarot cards for your benefits and then roll for another cleaned card that represents your negatives
11. Strength The strength arcana represents fortitude and resilience, You gain these traits while this arcana is active
You gain a bonus 1 damage to all weapon attacks as long as the target is within 30ft and you can now critical on a 19 or a 20 but after you score a critical hit by rolling a 19 you lose the use of this feature
However, You lose one of your lowest level spell slots for the duration that this arcana is active and one cantrip of your choice becomes unusable while this arcana is active
12. The Hanged Man The hanged man arcana represents self-sacrifice and paradoxes. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
As an action, you can sacrifice up to your charisma modifier worth of hit points to give a creature (excluding yourself) within 20ft temporary hit points equaling double what you sacrificed and you can also use a bonus action to sacrifice an amount of hit points equal to a spells level to increases that spells save DC by 2
However, your armor class is reduced by 1 and your walking speed is reduce by 5ft
13. Death The death arcana represents rebirth and decay. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active:
When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright you may choose to drop to 1 hit point instead and(*), if you are ever hit by a critical, you can as a Reaction(**) vanish into mist and appear up to 35 feet away in an unoccupied space of your choice. You still take the damage of the critical hit.
However, you take 1 more damage under any instance of taking damage and instantly fail one death saving throw when your hit points are brought to 0.
14. Temperance The temperance arcana represents harmony and synthesis. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
As an action you can end any one effect that is causing you to be frightened or charmed and whenever you recover hit points you can choose one friendly creature within 30ft of you and that creatures splits the hit point recovery with you
However, all creatures within 20 feet of you are aware of your presence and you cannot take opportunity attacks
15. The Devil The devil represents impulsiveness and commitment. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
You can cast Bane at its lowest level at will and you become resistant to fire damage
However, you become vulnerable to radiant damage and for all negative effects of spells and abilities you are treated as a fiend
16. The Tower The tower arcana symbolizes doom and disaster. You gain the following traits while this arcana is active
The tower arcana gives one great grief but can yield great rewards. You gain the negatives of both The Death arcana and The Hanged Man arcana but may choose three separate benefits from any combination of the clean and unclean cards
17. The Star The star arcana represents joy and hope. You gain the following features while this arcana is active
As a bonus action on your turn you can expend a spell slot to heal any friendly creatures within 30ft of you 1d4 hit points per the level of the spell slot you expended and you become resistant to radiant damage
However, you are now vulnerable to force damage and if you are surprised your armor class is reduced by 3 points for the surprise round
18. The Moon The moon arcana represents dreams and creativity. You gain the following traits while this arcana in active
You can cast Moonbeam once at its lowest level without expending a spell slot and when outdoors at night you have temporary hit points equal to your charisma modifier (if you go inside while it is still night and then go back outside these temporary hit points do not recover and are simply suspended while you are inside)
However, you are vulnerable to psychic damage and when in the direct sunlight you have disadvantage on saves against being frightened
19. The Sun The sun arcana represents optimism and accomplishment. You gain the following traits when this arcana is active
You cannot become lost except by magical means and when outside during the day your movement speed increases by 15ft
However, your darkvision if you have it is reduced to 30ft (and if you don't have darkvision you take an additional penalty of -2 to your perception to see things in darkness) and when outside at night all of your skills have a -1 penalty
20. Judgment The judgment arcana represents acceptance and absolution. You gain the following traits when this arcana is active
You cannot be surprised and you gain 10ft of blindsight as long as you can hear
However, you are vulnerable to thunder damage and whenever you cast a spell you take 1 damage
Ability Score Increase
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
The Fool
At any time you may fall back to the most basic and most potential of all arcana, The Fool. While The Fool is equipped you may choose another arcana and gain only one of its benefits but receive both of its weaknesses. The arcana you choose with the Fool does not have to be one of your clean cards and can be any tarot in the deck.
After you have the Mask of the Arcana ability, even after you have chosen your arcana for this long rest. You may choose to revert to The Fool at anytime as a bonus action and you do not have to choose the arcana you just lost as the arcana you take the bonus from. Once you do this you must wait until the end of your next long rest to vest another arcana.
Mask of the Arcana
Starting at 2nd level you can bind the powers of the tarot to your soul. At the end of each long rest you roll 1d6 (since you have 5 clean cards a 6 is a reroll) the number you rolled correlates to the order in which the tarot cards are in the list (so if you have magician, judgment, death, justice and sun whose numbers are 1,20,13,11,19 then when you roll your 1d6 the numbers align themselves in chronological order becoming 1,11,13,19,20 or 1,2,3,4,5 on your dice roll). A roman numeral appears on your face, shoulders or neck depicting the arcana's number and you gain the benefits and negatives described in the Deck Building ability above for the arcana you currently have selected (you do not gain the benefits of any other clean card unless another ability states differently). You keep this arcana until the end of your next long rest or until you fall back to the Fool arcana which makes a 0 appear on you when you take it.
Personification
Whether you use the cards or the cards use you, you have entered into a trust with these cards and through that trust they will show you who you are and reveal how your power will grow. At 2nd level you must choose a personification from the list below becoming either a Fata Vinctum whose soul is assisted by the cards or becoming an Aleo who puts every ounce of their soul into the cards and lets them make the decisions.
Fortune Telling
After 3rd level during a long rest you can use your soul infused tarot to help guide another. You must spend 1 hour doing tarot spreads with this person and at the end of your long rest when you select your arcana they gain one of the bonuses from that arcana of their choice for 1 hour. Any effects that refer to your personifier level still rely on your personifier level to use them (i.e. If your companion who is a level 4 fighter uses the emperors temporary health ability and you are a level 6 personifier he gets 3 temporary hit points not 2)
At 10th level you can give this ability to as many creatures as you have charisma modifier and at 18th level the friendly creatures that gain this bonus can now keep it until the end of their next long rest
Card Break
At 5th level You can now expend the major arcana you have as a devastating area attack. As an action you can pull the energy from your soul out of your major arcana card, this does 3 necrotic damage to you (this damage ignores resistance and vulnerability) but pushes all other creatures within a 10ft sphere of you back 10ft and does 1d4+charisma modifier force damage. You can expend more hit points to do more damage "buying" 1d4 of damage for each 3 hit points you spend. When you do this you immediately gain the Fool arcana as your active arcana. You cannot Card Break the Fool.
After 13th level card breaks damage increases to 1d6 per 3 hit points
At 6th level, your arcana's influence can now extend to others in the heat of combat. You can wrap someone in a cloak of your arcana's energy. When a friendly creature within 30ft of you is subject to a critical hit you can use your reaction to split the damage between the two of you. You cannot divide this damage in any other way than halving it (the intended target takes the higher damage if the result is odd) and you cannot use this ability if the damage would reduce you to 0 hit points.
Clean Card
Your soul has grown comfortable enough with the tarot that you can begin gaining more cards from it to your clean deck. At 7th level and again at 15th level you may roll a D20 to add one more card to your deck of clean cards. If you roll a card you already possess you reroll until you receive a new card.
Shuffle
Starting at 10th level you can now begin to infuse more than one arcana's abilities into your soul. Now as a bonus action you can shuffle your deck and draw a second clean card of your choice which you gain one benefit and one negative from and add it to your current Mask of the Arcana benefits and deficits. Also if you break your arcana to revert to the fool for any reason you do not have to break your Shuffle card and can keep its benefit and deficit, but you cannot use your shuffle card for any abilities that require a major arcana card.
Arcana Mastery
You are beginning to more deeply understand the tarot and the power it gives you. After 11th level, you now only have to choose one of the two deficits granted to you by your major arcana at the end of your long rest. This effect also applies to the Fool arcana.
At 19th level, you have a near perfect grasp on the knowledge of the tarot. You no longer have a deficit while using the Fool arcana
Overcharge Arcana
You can now push your soul to new limits through the arcana. At 14th level, you can enter an overcharged form that last for 1 minute and grants the following benefits
- You ignore all deficits on all active arcana cards including shuffle cards
- You are immune to being stunned, blinded or deafened
- You emit bright blue light for 30ft and dim light for 20ft beyond that
- You have advantage on saves against spells and creatures you choose within the bright light have disadvantage against your spells
After this form ends your arcana immediately returns to the fool. You cannot use this ability if you currently have the fool arcana equipped.
The World
At 20th level, your soul and the tarot become one and you power soars beyond what was thought to be possible. The World arcana absorbs into your chest and plants a roman numeral 21 on your chest or stomach. Immediately after you hit level 20 your charisma increases by 2 and the maximum for your charisma is now 22. As an added bonus, when you break an arcana for any reason (with exception only to you Overcharge Arcana ability) you can roll a d10 and if you roll an 8 or higher you can roll for a new arcana instead of using the Fool.
Fata Vinctum
Some are chosen by the cards to carry them but others already had the power inside them. Fata Vinctum or "destiny bound" personifiers use their cards to amplify their soul instead of using their soul to amplify the cards. These particularly strong willed personifiers are usually the ones to help guide others through tragedies using the cards as a means of explaining the complexities that lie within them.
- Born Natural
Your soul is already strong before the cards even truly begin to influence it. At 2nd level when you choose this archtype, you may choose one cantrip of your choice from any classes spell list and this spell counts as a personifier spell for you.
- Soul Infusion
Your soul now recycles expended energy from your arcana casting. At 6th level, whenever you use an ability that has you break an arcana and revert to the Fool (this does not count if you willing choose to revert to the Fool without having to) you regain a 1st level spell slot.
- Magical Persistence
Your souls magic thrives even where it should be dampened or destroyed. After 10th level, anyone who attempts to use Counterspell or Dispel Magic against your magic must make the ability check with disadvantage.
- Aria of the Soul
Your soul expands around you as it awakens to its fullest power. At 14th level you may choose one 1st level spell and one 2nd level spell. As long as you keep these spells prepared they do not require spell slots to cast at their lowest levels.
Aleo
This form of personifier focuses all their soul power into their tarot deck. The aleo or "gambler" will bolster the abilities of others with the tarot and can use the tarot to meld and shape the magic they create. These personifiers are more often than not gamblers or mystics who dive deeper into the tarot than others have before them.
- Luck of the Draw
The tarot deck is the master in this relationship but following its guidance can lead to great power. When you take this archetype at 2nd level, you gain the ability to eliminate one clean tarot card from your Mask of the Arcana roll and you can assign another card to this cards number in the draw. Thus eliminating one card that would be the most unfavorable and doubling the chance of getting a card you would prefer. You may do this each time you roll to draw a card.
- Calamity Ensues
The chaos of the tarot can now slip onto other creatures who wish to harm you. After 6th level, when you successfully hit a creature with a spell that does damage you can have them make a wisdom save against your spell save DC. If they fail you may roll to draw either a clean or unclean card and grant them one of the negatives of the card you drew for 1 minute. You can use this ability as many times per long rest as you have charisma modifier.
- The Cards Know
Your faith in the tarot is unyielding and your loyalty to the cards is reciprocated. After level 10, as an action once per long rest you may do a spread for yourself and cast Commune without expending a spell slot. You also automatically gain the Augury spell and can cast it once per long rest without expending a spell slot. You cannot cast Commune without the use of this ability (such as having high enough leveled spell slots) but you can cast Augury with spell slots of the appropriate level after your free casting of the spell.
- The Heart of the Cards
The tarot now reveals to you secrets of how the universe works and your knowledge of its powers is greatly expanded upon. At 14th level, you can now have 2 major arcana active at a time and can switch between the two as a bonus action. You cannot gain any bonuses from the second major arcana, but it can be used to fuel any abilities that require the use of a major arcana without having to revert to the Fool
Personifier Spell List
You can learn all of the spells on the basic sorcerer and Wizard spell list.
Multiclassing
Many characters already established into a class become personifiers. Maybe you are a warlock and are using the tarot to better understand your patron, or a sorcerer who is using it to attempt to understand their own wild magic within. Even paladins and clerics sometimes become personifiers in an attempt to form a deeper connection with their deity.
Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the personifier class, you must meet these prerequisites: You must have a charisma score of 13
Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the personifier class, you gain the following proficiencies: All simple weapons, all light armor and proficiency in tarot reading
Back to Main Page → 5e Homebrew → Classes
