Arcane Card Master (3.5e Class)
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Arcane Card Master[edit]
Making an Arcane Card Master[edit]
Abilities: He must defeat monsters and survive so strength, dexterity, and constitution are important. Spell Dcs are based on Wisdom so a Spellcasting Arcane Card Master Might want to increase that..
Races: Almost every common race has people that don't mind the actions, just the results.
Alignment: Non-lawful.
Starting Package: Spirit Deck (with 5 creatures, 70 blank cards. Initial Creatures must be chosen from this list; Locust Swarm, Ogre, Large Spider, Dire wolf, Giant Eagle, Gelatinous Cube, Fire Mephit. Others may be added at DM discretion. An Arcane Card Master that starts at a higher level can choose to start with 5 creatures that have a maximum CR equal to the Arcane Card Master's level), Spell Deck (50 cards),Card Holster, Plus 4d6×10 gp (140 gp).
Starting Age: Moderate
| Level | Base Attack Bonus |
Saving Throws | Special | Spells per Day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort | Ref | Will | 0 | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | Card master, Soul Capture 40%, Soul Form | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | Soul Extension, Sense Ability | 5 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +1 | +1 | Card Storage, Soul Capture 45% | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +1 | +1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5th | +3 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Soul Capture 50% | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6th | +4 | +2 | +2 | +2 | Card Creation 1, Favoured Card 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7th | +5 | +3 | +3 | +3 | Capture Outer Soul, Soul Capture 55% | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8th | +6/+1 | +3 | +3 | +3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9th | +6/+1 | +4 | +4 | +4 | Create Magical Item, Soul Capture 60% | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10th | +7+2 | +4 | +4 | +4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11th | +8/+3 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Soul Capture 65% | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12th | +9/+4 | +5 | +5 | +5 | Favoured Card 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13th | +9/+4 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Card Purification, Soul Capture 70% | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14th | +10/+5 | +6 | +6 | +6 | Soul Devour, Card Creation 2 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15th | +11/+6/+1 | +7 | +7 | +7 | Soul Capture 75% | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16th | +12/+7/+2 | +7 | +7 | +7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17th | +12/+7/+2 | +8 | +8 | +8 | Soul Capture 80% | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18th | +13/+8/+3 | +8 | +8 | +8 | Favoured Card 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19th | +14/+9/+4 | +9 | +9 | +9 | Soul Capture 85% | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20th | +15/+10/+5 | +9 | +9 | +9 | Card Creation 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Class Skills (8 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Class Features[edit]
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Arcane Card Masters are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor. They cannot use a shield.
Arcane Card Mastery: (Ex): When you become an Arcane Card Master, you gain two magical decks of cards. The first deck of cards is called a Spirit Deck. It is used to hold the souls of creatures that the Arcane Card Master defeats and captures. There are 75 cards in this deck, making the Arcane Card Master a very versatile player in the field. Each creature captured has the equipment it had upon death. The second deck is called a spell deck and consists of 50 cards that can store any spell the Arcane Card Master is capable of casting. When a card is used, it is lost and will reappear in the Arcane Card Master's possession the next morning. The decks are physical objects the Arcane Card Master must carry with him.
Soul Capture: Starting at first level, an Arcane Card Master gains the ability to take the soul of any opponent that he has bested in combat and store it on a card. The base chance is only 40%, and increases 5% every 2 levels. All captured souls earn an amount of experience equal to half what the Arcane Card Master gains everytime he earns experience points of any kind. The Arcane Card Master may modify his cards using these experience points in any way he wants. As for determining the current "level" of a captured souls, always use it's Hit Dice, and not CR.
Soul Form: The Arcane Card Master uses his captured soul to take on the form of it. At first level, the Arcane Card Master gains the ability to transform into any creature of their choice whose soul is trapped within their cards. When you transform you gain the Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution ability scores of the chosen Form, or retain your own, whichever score is higher for each ability. For example if you transform into a Brown Bear, you could take it's Strength and Constitution scores, but keep your own Dexterity. You also gain the Movement Methods, Natural armor, Deflection bonuses, Speeds, Natural Attacks, Extraordinary Abilities, Supernatural Abilities, Spell-Like Abilities, Racial Skill Modifiers, Reach and all other Special Qualities of the chosen Form. Using the Soul Form is a Standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. Soul Form lasts for 1 hour. You can freely return to your normal form at any time and change to any other form you have the card for as a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. While transformed you are restricted in speech to what is available to a normal creature of it's kind. For example, a dog cannot speak, but can bark. Any equipment worn and weapons held when transformed is absorbed into your new body, thus becoming effectively nonfunctional (save for passive effects from the likes of a Ring of Protection). When transformed, you lose all racial Special Attacks, Special Qualities, and your racial spell-like abilities. You also lose the ability to cast any spells the creature you have transformed into would not normally have, such as all the spells and spell slots provided to you by the Arcane Card Master class. You do however retain all other class features normally usable by your character, and the benefit of all of your character's feats.
Spells: The Card master may not directly cast spells gained from progression in the class. The Card master must instead choose a number of spells equal to his daily spell allotment (e.g at lv.1 6 cards, lv.2 8 cards so at lv.20 they have 50) and imbue the spells onto cards in his deck (on a one to one basis). Any spell from any class list can be imprinted (Save Dc if the spell has one is 10+spell level+wis). Once the Card master has used a card during combat, the card is removed from the deck until the Card master has rested for eight hours and taken the time to prepare spells (as a Wizard would). The Card Master automatically knows all spells in a spell level when he gains access to it. While preparing spells, the Card master may reset all imbued cards and reassign spells to different cards. An Arcane Card Master's spells are not so much a result of training and study, but more the power of his imagination brought to life as spells and magical effects, and thus may not identify any spell as a result of technically "knowing" it (as stated above). He may only identify a spell he has seen before, actively studied in-game, or by succeeding a Spellcraft check if he has ranks in the skill.
Soul Extension:At second level the Arcane Card Master gains Soul Extension, which increases the time he can use the effects of Soul Form to 2 hours per form. It is further increased by 2 hours every three levels after 2nd, to a total of 12 hours at seventeenth level.
Sense Ability: Arcane Card Masters gain a supernatural insight to the beings around them. Starting at 2nd level, if a card masters gets within close range (30 feet + 5 feet/2 levels) of a creature or person that possesses spells or special abilities, he feels a tingling sensation (this does not include party members and other creatures he has become familiar with). He can then focus for a number of rounds to gain more insight. -One round: The card masters learns how many beings within close range possess abilities and where they are. At this point, the card masters "locks on" to one person with an ability and can continue focusing on them as long as they remain within Medium range (100 feet + 10 feet/level). -Two rounds: The card masters learns what sort of supernatural abilities the creature has, and what vague type these are (Spells or special abilities, or both, and whether it's Arcane or Divine). -Three rounds: The card masters learns how many spells and how many special abilities the creature possesses. In addition to this, if the creature is using spell or special ability is used within close range of the card masters, the card masters instantly knows what kind of ability it was.
Card Storage (Ex): At level 3, The Arcane Card Master gains the ability to keep items in his cards like a Bag of Holding (bag type 1). Additionally, the Arcane card masters gains the ability to store their decks in an Extra-Dimensional pocket dimension and draw a deck at will.
Favored Card: At 6th, 12th, and 18th level the card master is allowed to pick one favored form. this form progresses in level faster than the other forms. Instead of half xp, they would gain 3/4 xp. The bonus must be used on 3 separate cards.
Card Creation: (Ex): At level 6, 14, and 20 the card master gains the ability to make 3 cards. To use this ability they must have a blank card, ink and a quill. The card master draws the creature, concentrating on what he wants its abilities to be. The CR of the creatures created is the characters level.
Capture Outer Soul: (Ex): At level 7, the card master gains the ability to capture souls of enemies that have been dead for up to 1 day for every 3 levels. The Arcane Card Master is not required to personally defeat creatures that are already dead when he encounters them.
Create Magical Item: (Ex): At level 9, After designing so many magical cards you have discovered the secrets to making a certain kind of magical item. You gain one of the following as a bonus feat: Scribe Scroll, Craft Wondrous Item or Forge Ring.
Card Purification: (Ex): At level 13 the Card master learns to purify cards of their souls, allowing the card master to store a new soul in the purified card.
Soul Devour: (Ex): At level 14, the card master gains the ability to devour the souls of it's captured souls and of the recently dead. When he devours the creature’s soul and adds it to their own, he gains some of their own abilities permanently. They get one random special ability, racial bonus, or HP bonus for each recently fallen soul they devour, as determined by the GM. Special Ability: Any of the creature's Extraordinary, Supernatural, Spell-Like Abilities. Racial Abilities: Add the creature's Natural Armor bonus to your own, or add their Base Attack Bonus or Saving Throw Bonus to your own. HP: An additional HD of the type the devoured soul had. This HD is maxed. An Arcane Card Master can never chose more than one of the above options, with the exception special abilities. A arcane card master can obtain as many Ex, Su or Sp abilities as he wishes, though he can not have more than one special ability per card devoured. Additionally, he cannot devour the souls of two creatures of the same species. He cannot, for example, obtain the breath weapon and add the natural armor bonus of a red dragon to his own. But he can gain the breath weapon of a red dragon and the base attack bonus of a white dragon, should the DM allow it. Additionally, a devoured card does not disappear. So long as the Arcane Card Master retains the ability gained by devouring a soul, the soul's former card will become inert and unusable until the Arcane Card Master releases the soul he has absorbed. Destroying the card of which the devoured soul is tied too will release the soul from the Arcane Card Master's body, forcing him to lose the obtained ability.
Epic Arcane Card Master[edit]
| Level | Special | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21st | Bonus Feat, Soul Capture 90% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22nd | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23rd | Soul Capture 95% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24th | Bonus Feat, Favored Card 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25th | Soul Capture 100% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27th | Bonus Feat | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28th | Card Creation 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30th | Bonus Feat, Favored Card 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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8 + Int modifier skill points per level. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bonus Feats: The epic Arcane Card Master gains a bonus feat every three levels after 20th.
Campaign Information[edit]
Playing an Arcane Card Master[edit]
Religion: Due to the nature of their Abilities, Arcane Card Master, if religious at all, tend to worship gods of Druids. This is due to their form changing.
Other Classes: Most Arcane Card Masters do not get along well with the lawfull aligned (Like monks and Paladins) due to them capturing souls. The Arcane Card Master harbors them no ill will based purely on their lifestyles.
Combat: Arcane Card Master can be a front line combatant or long range Spell caster. They can only wear light armor but their Soul form helps mitigate that.
Arcane Card Masters in the World[edit]
Daily Life: Trap souls, use souls, repeat.
Organizations: Tthere are no official, worldwide Arcane Card Master groups. They tend to compete for the best souls.
NPC Reactions: Reactions Vary. Some tend to avoid them based on the negativity of capturing souls, others will use their abilities for their own good, others will ignore them and hope to not run afoul of their abilities. NPCs with small children tend to have strong negitive reactions.
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