Heart of the Cards (5e Class)
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This page is incomplete and/or lacking flavor. Reason: Missing subclasses.
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Heart of the Cards
The Heart of the Cards Wizard can tap into an infinite number of spells from the five different color classes each with their own powerful abilities. However, just because they usually follow a certain pattern doesn't mean there aren't one or two cards that break the norm. And those are the cards enemies really need to be careful to avoid.
Tapping into the Heart of the Cards
The white cards often deal with organization. These cards are usually along the lines of morality and law. They provide the caster the chance to aid their party with the ability to heal, the power of flight, barriers from attacks. These spells could even detain an enemy rendering them practically useless. White spells work well to help a party gain the advantage over an enemy. White wizards are often associated with paladins, monks, and clerics.
Black cards are known to be about self-concern. They can be found to deal with parasitism and amorality. Black wizards have be known to look out only for themselves. This is not to say they are evil, just often lack the sense of morality to help others. Even the good ones will often hurt innocent people, "if the ends justifies the means". These spells often weaken foes, bring the dead back to life, and out right destroy living creatures. Black wizards are often associated with necromancers, rogues, and warlocks.
Green cards are the color of wildlife, nature, spiritualism, and traditionalism. Green casters and spells do not want to change the world. They believe it to be perfect as it is and want to find ways to coexist with everything around them. Green can give you the ability to summons beasts from all different lands or create immense amounts of flora in an instant. These spells are tied with interdependence and instinct. Survival of the fittest where the fittest is sometimes a group or community working together. Green wizards are often associated with druids, rangers, and nature clerics.
Red cards are the spells of impulse, destruction, chaos, and freedom. Red spells can be used to deal large amounts of damage to both single targets and large groups of enemies. Red wizards are often guided by raw emotion and impulsive decisions. Red wizards are often associated with sorcerers, fighters, and barbarians.
Blue cards are specialized in knowledge and control. With blue spells you would have the ability to make enemies fight for you, scry into the near future to see what lies around the corner, or ascertain additional spells on a whim to improve your chances of success. Blue deals heavily with intellectual theory and application making it the focus of many scholars. Blue wizards are often associated with other wizards and bards.
Over time you can choose to continue your specialization of one color or branch out into different colors for more adept and versatile spell casting. Though choosing new colors sacrifices the potency you would have with just one.
Creating a Heart of the Cards
- Quick Build
You can make a Heart of the Cards quickly by following these suggestions. First, intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by constitution. Second, choose the scholar background. Third, choose a quarterstaff, deck of magic cards, and a scholar's pack as your starting equipment.
Class Features
As a Heart of the Cards you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d6 per Heart of the Cards level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + Constitution modifier per Heart of the Cards level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbow
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Constitution
Skills: Choose two from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, and Religion
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger
- four magic cards of common rarity (you get an additional common card for each level beyond 1st, and an additional uncommon card for each level beyond 10th)
- (a) a scholar's pack or (b) an explorer's pack
- If you are using starting wealth, you have 4d4x10 gp in funds.
| Level | Proficiency Bonus | Connected Lands | Features | —Spell Slots per Spell Level— | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | ||||
| 1st | +2 | 1 | Card Color, Card Color | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2nd | +2 | 2 | The Deck Decides, Planeswalker | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 3rd | +2 | 3 | Avid Collector | 4 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4th | +2 | 4 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 5th | +3 | 5 | Card Color | 4 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 6th | +3 | 6 | Permanent Artifacts | 4 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 7th | +3 | 7 | Spell Swapping | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 8th | +3 | 8 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 9th | +4 | 9 | Avid Collector | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | — |
| 10th | +4 | 10 | Card Color | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 11th | +4 | 11 | Permanent Artifacts | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 12th | +4 | 12 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | — | — |
| 13th | +5 | 13 | Land Drain | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 14th | +5 | 14 | Shifting Spells | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 15th | +5 | 15 | Card Color | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 16th | +5 | 16 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 17th | +6 | 17 | Permanent Artifacts | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 18th | +6 | 18 | Avid Collector | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 19th | +6 | 19 | Ability Score Improvement | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 20th | +6 | 20 | Card Color | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Land Tapping
Heart of the Cards use mana drawn from the land to cast spells. Starting at 1st level you can tap into certain basic lands to generate mana of the appropriate color. Islands produce blue mana, plains produce white mana, swamps produce black mana, mountains produce red mana, and forests produce green mana. This mana can then be used to cast spells of the chose generated mana color. The number of lands you are connected to is equal to your class level as shown in the chart above. Once you tap a land for mana you cannot tap it again until you have finished a short or long rest.
- Ignore the spell slots chart for this caster class.
Card Color
Starting at 1st level, at the end of a long rest you may choose a type of connected land. You can then use the Land Tapping ability to gain mana from this land. At 5th, 10th, and 15th levels you can choose additional types of connected land. Whenever you tap a connected land at higher levels it will produce one each available mana. So a 10th level Heart of the Cards who has attuned to an Island, a Swamp, and a Mountain will produce one blue mana, one black mana, and one red mana. At 20th level a Heart of the Cards will tap their lands for five mana (one of each color).
The caster can however choose to take a duplicate color. For every time you choose a color again it will produce an extra mana of the chosen color. For example, a 5th level Heart of the Cards who chooses Island and Island as his connected lands would normally produce two blue mana, but will instead produce three when tapping a connected land. A 10th level Heart of the Cards that chooses Mountain, Mountain, and Mountain would produce five red mana instead of just three. And a 20th level caster that chooses Plains, Forest, Forest, Swamp, and Swamp would produce one white, three green, and three black everytime he tapped a land for mana.
The cards have designated mana costs at the top of them and are sometimes a combination of multiple colors or colorless mana. Colorless mana can be paid for using any type of mana produced from any land. Sometimes the card has an X in its mana cost and can be paid for with whatever amount of mana you see fit to match the description in the cards text.
The cards are broken down into four levels of power: common, uncommon, rare, and mythic rare. Common cards can be used an infinite number of times where as uncommon, rare, and mythic rare cards are destroyed upon casting.
Creature cards can summon powerful creatures to fight for you, however they will return to their plane of existence after a number of minutes equal to your caster level. A creatures attack bonus is equal to its power and damage is a number of d6s equal to its power. Its AC is 8 + toughness and hit points are toughness times you caster level. You can only have one creature cast at a time. Upon caster another creature spell the first one will return to the place from which it was summoned.
The Deck Decides
The core fundamentals of a Heart of the Cards is believing in your deck to help you deal with any situation. Shuffle your deck and then reveal the top card of your library, you may cast this spell without paying its mana cost. Also, you may copy the spell and choose new targets for the copy. Once you use this feature it can't be used again until you finish a long rest.
Planeswalker
Once per long rest, you can use your cards to summon a more powerful being known as a planeswalker. You will have to spend mana and cast it same as any other spell, but they persist until they die, you take another long rest, or command them to leave. Planeswalkers life is equal to your caster level times their starting loyalty counter and their AC is equal to 10 + their starting loyalty counter. As a bonus action on your turn you can command your planeswalker to tap into one of their abilities. This can only be activated during combat.
Permanent Artifacts
In the world exist artifact cards that are items to aid you in battle. Normally they would only last one minute for each caster level, however if you take an hour to focus on a single artifact card you can bring it to reality. You can only have one artifact at a time and must attune to it like any other magic item. At 11th and 17th levels you can produce two and three artifacts instead.
Spell Swapping
Once per long rest you can use this ability to either change the target of a spell or switch out one of your own spells for the targeted spell.
Land Drain
At a short rest you can untap a number of lands equal to half you Heart of the Cards level rounded down. Once you use this feature you can not use it again until you finish a long rest.
Shifting Spells
Once per short rest you can choose to use mana of any color to pay for spells for one round.
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.
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