Card (Pathfinder Class)

Psionic Gambler

Psionic Gamblers are intelligent and quick. They rely more on their self-confidence and ability than pure luck. A player will need a deck of cards, a coin, and a pair of dice to play this class.

Special thanks to Mason Dawe. This class is based off of his Gambler class. Special thanks to Daniel for help with balancing, as well as the creator of the original Card class.

Making a Psionic Gambler

The Psionic Gambler has the capability for a high damage output, but poses a risk to both himself and his comrades.

Abilities: A Psionic Gambler needs a high Dexterity for their shooting abilities, and to improve their Armor Class. They need Charisma for their casting abilities and need absolutely no strength as all of their attacks are spells or ranged.

Races: Any humanoid.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 4d8 gp (16 gp)

Table: The Psionic Gambler

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells in Deck
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+0	+2	+0	Draw Cards, Play Card, Roulette, Flashy Shuffle, Peek (3 cards)	4	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+0	Weapon Focus: Revolver, Swap, Card Swirl	5	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+1	+1	+3	+1	Augmented Play Card, Toss the Dice	5	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	+1	+4	+1	Doubles Gives Another Turn	5	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+2	+1	+4	+1	Advanced Play Card, Bonus Luck Feat, Improved Flashy Shuffle	5	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+3	+2	+5	+1	Joker Swap, Peek (4 cards)	5	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+3	+2	+5	+2	Weapon Specialization: Revolver, Crap Shoot	6	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+4	+2	+6	+2	Improved Roulette, Dice Bomb	6	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+4	+3	+6	+3		6	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—
10th	+5	+3	+7	+3	Joker Swap bonus, Bonus Luck Feat, Up the Sleeve	6	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—
11th	+5	+3	+7	+3		6	5	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—
12th	+6/+1	+4	+8	+4	Peek (5 cards)	6	5	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—
13th	+6/+1	+4	+8	+4	Exploding Dice	6	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	—	—
14th	+7/+2	+4	+9	+4	Hot Streak	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	—	—
15th	+7/+2	+5	+9	+5	Joker Swap bonus, Bonus Luck Feat	6	5	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	—
16th	+8/+3	+5	+10	+5	Bonus Luck Feat	6	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+8/+3	+5	+10	+5	Hot Shot	6	6	5	5	5	4	4	3	2	1
18th	+9/+4	+6	+11	+6	Ace in the Hole, Peek (6 cards)	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	3	3	2
19th	+9/+4	+6	+11	+6		6	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	3	3
20th	+10/+5	+6	+12	+6	Joker Swap bonus, Bonus Luck Feat	6	6	6	6	6	5	5	4	4	4
Class Skills (8 + Int modifier per level) Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Knowlege (Local) (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Psionic Gambler.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psionic Gamblers are proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and with all firearms. They are proficient with all light armor.

Limited Equipment Slots The Psionic Gambler may never equip anything to their [Hands] magical item slot, nor can they ever wear gloves if they wish to utilize their card-using class features.

Spells: The Psionic Gambler may not directly cast spells gained from progression in the Psionic Gambler class and must cast them only in a combat encounter, as he psionically pulls power from his foes to empower his deck to come alive. The Psionic Gambler must choose a number of spells equal to their daily spell allotment at the start of each day and imbue those spells onto cards in their deck (on a one-to-one basis). Any spell from the Druid, Cleric, Psion, or Wizard spell lists may be imprinted onto these cards. This means that the Psionic Gambler will not imbue every card in his deck with spells until level 20 (52 spells + 2 Jokers). This also means that at times, the Psionic Gambler may pull a series of cards with some or even no spells available.

Once the Psionic Gambler has used a card during combat, that card is removed from the deck until the Psionic Gambler has rested for eight hours and taken the time to prepare spells (as a Psion would). The Psionic Gambler automatically knows all spells in a given spell level when he gains access to it. While preparing spells, the Psionic Gambler may reset all imbued cards and reassign spells to different cards. The Psionic Gambler also cannot leave blank slots for spells to later be filled in the day.

The deck's magical nature makes it a strange deck of cards. It is near impossible to destroy. The Psionic Gambler can recognize when a fake card is mixed within their deck. This deck can be used to play a normal game of cards, but when anyone other than the Psionic Gambler uses the deck for its psionic power, it appears to be all blank cards. In fact, when used psionically for the purpose of the Spells Ability, the Psionic Gambler cannot cheat and stack the order of their deck to pull a specific card.

The Psionic Gambler gains no bonus spells based on attributes but their deck does get two bonus Joker cards. The Psionic Gambler may imbue their cards with spells that have a metamagic feats applied to them.

Draw Cards(Ex): As a move action, the Psionic Gambler may draw 5 cards from his deck. If he still has cards from his last draw, the Psionic Gambler must put those cards on the bottom of his deck in a random order before drawing his new cards. The Psionic Gambler must do this at the beginning of an encounter, as he travels with his deck on hand, but not at the ready.

Play Card(Sp): The Psionic Gambler may choose any one card in his hand and play it (it is removed from the deck, see “Spells”). The type of action associated with the card is the type of action for Play Card (ex. standard action). The Psionic Gambler must designate a target for the spell before he plays the card. The spell is then cast by the Psionic Gambler at the chosen target. The Psionic Gambler’s caster level is treated as his Psionic Gambler class level plus any Wizard/Sorceress class levels minus 2 plus his Intelligence modifier/Charisma modifier, whichever is higher. (Clvl + Wlvl + Slvl - 2 + Int mod/Cha mod).

The Psionic Gambler ignores all component requirements for spells, but must pay the proper amount of gp for material components (if any) at the time of playing the card.

Any limitations (range, target type, etc) apply to spells cast by Play Psionic Gambler. If the Psionic Gambler plays a card with a designated target outside of the imbued spell’s specifications, the card is removed from the deck just as if it was played, but there is no effect.

If the Psionic Gambler draws a Joker from his deck, he may choose any level spell within his normal Spells in Deck levels and treat the Joker as a standard card imbued with that spell.

Peek (Su): As a swift action, the gambler can look at the top three cards of his deck and can choose to place any or all of those seen cards on the bottom of their deck. At 6th, 12th, and 18th level, the gambler can look at and rearrange one extra card with this ability. The cards last in this order for 1 minute and then the order is randomized again.

Flashy Shuffle (Sp): The gambler can shuffle his deck as a standard action to replicate the effects of one of the following spells: Daze, Charm Person, Hypnotism, and Sleep. The save DC for these spells is 10 + 1/2 gambler's HD + gambler's cha modifier.

Roulette(Sp): The Psionic Gambler’s other weapon besides his deck of cards is his revolver. The Psionic Gambler may attack with the revolver as a standard action, as with any other weapon, but the weapon’s true strength is shown when the Psionic Gambler uses his Roulette power.

Choose a target and roll 2d6. Take the following actions based on the result:

Table: Roulette

Result	Action
2, 12	Roll again, but you must choose an additional target (if possible).
3	1d4 sonic damage/2 levels in the Psionic Gambler class
4	Heal Minor Wounds effect on target (cleric level = Psionic Gambler class level -2)
5	1d4 electric damage /2 levels in the Psionic Gambler class
6	1d4 fire damage /2 levels in the Psionic Gambler class
7	Remove all remaining bullets from the revolver
8	1d4 frost damage/2 levels in the Psionic Gambler class
9	1d4 acid damage /2 levels in the Psionic Gambler class
10	Heal Moderate Wounds effect on target (cleric level = Psionic Gambler class level -2)
11	1d4 negative energy damage/2 levels in the Psionic Gambler class

If the card rolls a 2 or 12 after choosing six targets, or if the Psionic Gambler cannot target a member of the opposing side after a roll of 2 or 12, all remaining bullets are removed from the revolver.

Reloading the revolver is a full-round action, and must be done every six shots (whenever there are no remaining bullets).

If the revolver is fired normally, treat the attack normally. If Roulette is used, make an attack roll as if it is a standard attack, but instead of applying the revolver’s damage, use the effect listed on the table.

When using the Roulette attack the Revolvers Critical is lowered to x3 rather than x4

Weapon Focus: Revolver: At class level 2, the Psionic Gambler gains this feat automatically.

Swap(Su): At class level 2, the Psionic Gambler gains the ability to count cards, and thus pull intended cards out of the middle of the deck instead of off the top. The Psionic Gambler may use Swap as a free action any time he uses Draw Cards. When using swap, the card may choose to swap a card or cards at any point while drawing his 5 cards. The Psionic Gambler must then make a check of 1d20 + hard points in Sleight of Hand + his Dexterity modifier versus a DC 20 + double the spell level imbued upon the card. The Psionic Gambler must make this check for every card he tries to pull from the deck into his hand. Add a +5 to the DC of each cjkiheck for each card above one used with Swap, regardless of whether or not previous swap attempts during that Draw Card succeeded.

If the Psionic Gambler fails to swap a card, he instead draws a card normally. This does not affect other swaps in any way.

This ability may not be used to increase the size of the Psionic Gambler's hand above 5. If you use Swap with 3 cards already drawn, you must choose two or fewer cards to attempt to Swap.

Card Swirl (Sp): At second level, as a standard action, the gambler can throw 1d4 cards from his deck to replicate the effects of Color Spray. The DC to save against this effect is 10 + 1/2 gambler's HD + gambler's cha modifier.

Augmented Play Card(Sp): At class level 3, the Psionic Gambler may make a coin flip while playing a single card. The Psionic Gambler calls the coin in the air. If the Psionic Gambler is correct, the spell is treated as if it was maximized. Otherwise, the card is removed from the deck with no effect. All limitations of Play Card are applied.

Toss the Dice (Su): At third level, as a swift action, the Psionic Gambler can toss his special pair of dice to have a random beneficial spell affect him with a caster level equal to his HD. The Psionic Gambler cannot use this ability again until the spell duration has expired (or it is dispelled).

Dice Result	Spell Cast on the Psionic Gambler
2	Heroism
3	Invisibility
4	Fox's Cunning
5	Bear's Endurance
6	Cat's Grace
7	Blur
8	Owl's Wisdom
9	Bull's Strength
10	Eagle's Splendor
11	Mirror Image
12	Protection from Energy

Doubles Gives Another Turn (Su): At fourth level, whenever the Psionic Gambler rolls doubles with Toss the Dice, he may make another roll on the table and also benefit from that spell. If he rolls the same number again, he may choose a different spell from the table.

Advanced Play Card(Sp): At class level 5, the Psionic Gambler gains the ability to play more than one card simultaneously once per day. This is subject to two main limitations:

Limitations – All spell limitations must be regarded, just as if the Psionic Gambler was playing each card in a set consecutively. Standard procedure applies for spells with invalid targets, as with Play Card.

Combinations – Only certain cards may be played together. This applies to the value and/or suit of the cards (ex. 4 of hearts), not to the spells imbued on the cards. The following are the allowable combinations, from worst to best:

Table: Advanced Play Card

Name	Description
One Pair	any two cards with the same face value (ex. a pair of 3s or a pair of Jacks).
Two Pairs	any two One Pairs (see above).
Three of a Kind	any three cards with the same face value.
Straight	a combination of all 5 cards if they are in progressive order (ex. 4-5-6-7-8 or 10-J-Q-K-A). Ace low straights are not allowed.
Flush	a combination of all 5 cards if they are all the same suit (ex. all clubs or all hearts).
Full House	a combination of a One Pair and a Three of a Kind.
Four of a Kind	any four cards with the same face value.
Straight Flush	a combination of all 5 cards that has both the properties of a Straight and a Flush
Royal Flush	a Straight Flush with an Ace.

The Psionic Gambler must choose only one target for Advanced Play Card. If any of the spells have a range of Personal, they affect the Psionic Gambler as if he was the target, and other cards are played normally. All cards in a combination must be imbued with a spell.

In the case of a Straight or a better combination on the list, the Psionic Gambler may choose to negate the spell imbued on one of the cards in the combination in order to either add +5 to his caster level for another imbued spell in the combination or to treat another imbued spell as a touch attack.

In the case of a Four of a Kind or better combination on the list, the Psionic Gambler may choose to negate the spell imbued on two of the cards in the combination in order to either add +10 to his caster level for another imbued spell in the combination or to treat two other imbued spells as touch attacks. Choosing either of these options negates the ability to choose an option from the “Straight or higher” case.

In the case of a Royal Flush, the Psionic Gambler may treat every imbued spell as a touch attack.

The Psionic Gambler gains the ability to use Advanced Play Card +1 time/day for every level until level 20 at which the Psionic Gambler has no limit to the number of times she can use Advanced Play Card each day

Bonus Luck Feat: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, the gambler gets a bonus feat with the luck descriptor.

Improved Flashy Shuffle (Su): At 5th level, when the Psionic Gambler uses the shuffle ability, he may also use Deep Slumber, and Suggestion.

Joker Swap(Ex): At class level 6, the Psionic Gambler gains the ability to swap a Joker in his hand with any card currently in the deck. This can be done as a free action, but the Psionic Gambler must first make a Sleight of Hand check against all enemies’ Spot checks. If the Psionic Gambler fails, the Joker is removed from the deck. At class level 10, the Psionic Gambler gains a +5 bonus to his Sleight of Hand check for Joker Swap. This bonus increases to +10 at class level 15 and +15 at class level 20.

Weapon Specialization: Revolver: At class level 7, the Psionic Gambler gains this feat automatically.

Crap Shoot (Su): At 7th level, as a standard action, the Psionic Gambler can toss his dice to curse an enemy. The Psionic Gambler can use Crap Shoot against any target within 100ft. The caster level for these spells is equal to the gambler's HD and the save DC is 10 + 1/2 gambler's HD + gambler's cha modifier. The spell only hits the target (even if it would normally have an area of effect). Once he has used Crap Shoot, he cannot use it again for 1d4+1 rounds.

Dice Result	Spell Cast on the Target
2	Dominate Person
3	Phantasmal Killer
4	Black Tentacles
5	Shout
6	Enervation
7	Lightning Bolt
8	Waves of Fatigue
9	Confusion
10	Resilient Sphere
11	Bestow Curse
12	Roll twice on this table instead. If you get this result again, choose a spell on this table.

Improved Roulette(Sp): At class level 8, once per day the Psionic Gambler may choose a value for one of the 1d6 die used for Roulette. This must be done before the other die is rolled. The Psionic Gambler gains an extra use of Improved Roulette every 4 character levels, to a maximum of 4 uses/day (class level 20).

Dice Bomb (Su): At 8th level, as a full-round action action, the Psionic Gambler can create a massive explosion. He points his finger at a target area within 100 ft. + 10 ft. per HD and rolls his pair of dice. A 10 ft. radius burst deals 1d6 fire damage per gambler HD to each target in the area. Creatures are entitled to a reflex save DC 10 + 1/2 gambler's HD + gambler's cha modifier for half damage.

Up the Sleeve (Su): At 10th level, when a Psionic Gambler uses Peek, he can take one of the cards and hold it up his sleeve instead of putting it back on top of his deck. Whenever he would draw a card for any other Psionic Gambler ability, he can instead use the card up his sleeve. The card returns to the deck if it isn't used in 1 minute. He can only have 1 card up his sleeve at a time.

Exploding Dice: At 13th level, whenever the Psionic Gambler rolls the maximum result on a die for damage, she rolls the die again and adds the result. If the rerolled die comes up as the maximum result continue rerolling adding the damage each time.

Hot Streak (Ex): At 14th level, a Psionic Gambler learns to make the best of a good luck streak. Each time he succeeds at an attack roll or saving throw he gains 1 luck point. If he fails at an attack roll or saving throw, he loses all of his current luck points. He can trade 5 luck points to reroll a failed attack roll or saving throw after he knows the results. After 1 minute without gaining luck points, the Psionic Gambler loses all his current luck points.

Skip Town (Su): At 16th level, a Psionic Gambler can teleport away from a bad situation. As a full-round action, the Psionic Gambler must shuffle his deck and draw a card. He then is affected by a Greater Teleport spell with a caster level equal to his HD. Unlike a regular greater teleport spell, he cannot bring creatures he touches. The card disappears from his deck for 1 hour and cannot be retrieved with Restock or rest.

Hot Shot (Ex): At 17th level, a Psionic Gambler can spend 5 luck points gained from Hot Streak to add 1d6 to an attack roll or saving throw before he knows the results.

Ace in the Hole (Ex): At 18th level, a Psionic Gambler can spend a swift action to search his deck and put an ace up his sleeve. Shuffle the deck afterward. He now can have two cards up his sleeve at a time.

Ex-Cards

A Psionic Gambler who becomes Lawful at any time may no longer advance in the Psionic Gambler class until he is either Neutral or Chaotic.

Epic Card

Table: The Epic Card

Hit Die: d8

Level	Special
21st	—
22nd	Improved Roulette 5/day
23rd	—
24th	—
25th	Improved Roulette 6/day
26th	—
27th	—
28th	Improved Roulette 7/day
29th	—
30th	—
1d8 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Bonus Feats: The epic Card gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic Gambler bonus feats) every three levels after 20th.

Epic Card Bonus Feat List: Any for which the Card meets the prerequisites.

<-Sample race of your choice-> <-class name-> Starting Package

Weapons: <-Weapon selection for starting at 1st level with this class.->.

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 4 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
<-Skill name->	<-4 for class skills and 2 for cross-class skills->	<-Abbrieviated key ability->	<-armor check penalty based on starting armor. If innapplicable put "—"->
<-Skill name->	<-4 for class skills and 2 for cross-class skills->	<-Abbrieviated key ability->	<-armor check penalty based on starting armor. If innapplicable put "—"-> <-copy and paste the rows as necessary.->

Feat: <-1st-level feat selection->.

Bonus Feats: <-1st-level feat bonus feats due to class or sample race. remove this section if this sample doesn't get any bonus feats at 1st level. ->.

Gear: <-Starting armor and other equipment outside of weapons.->.

Gold: <-Starting gold using this package.->.

Campaign Information

Playing a Card

Religion: Cards may follow any alignment appropriate Deity, although a Card’s belief in himself normally surpasses that of his belief in his chosen religion.

Combat: Cards rarely fight on the front line, although their dexterity bonus gives them a moderate amount of survivability.

Advancement: It is not advisable for Cards to multiclass, as their decks will never be able to be fully imbued.

Cards in the World

“	It’s all in the luck of the draw...	”
—Wesley Gavin, Human Card

Daily Life: Cards can be found in Taverns playing games of chance

Notables: While Cards might gain fame at some point in their lives, they are apt to lose it quickly, as is the nature of chance.

NPC Reactions: NPCs behave toward a Card similarly to the way they would behave towards a Rogue.

Card Lore

Characters with ranks in Gather Information can research Cards to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Gather Information

DC	Result
5	Cards love to take chances.
10	Cards know how to work the odds.
15	Cards are able to tailor some seemingly random results in their favor.
20	Cards never turn down a challenge to a card game.

Cards in the Game

<-How characters of this class fit in the game (PC and NPC) and what roles they play.->

Adaptation: <-Possible variant conceptions of this class.->.

Sample Encounter: <-DM placement for NPCs of this class.->.

EL : <-Encounter scenario and character info on sample NPC including stat block. The CR of the NPC is typically the same as the EL for the encounter.->.

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