Trickblade

While most eldritch knights focus on abjuration and evocation magic, some adopt a more subtle approach.  These so-called trickblades instead prefer wielding enchantment and illusion magic.  They can swing as a sword as well as any fighter, but believe that a battle avoided is a battle won.

Trickblades can be found among any race, but are particularly common among smaller races like gnomes and halflings that tend to shy away from brute force.

Spellcasting

                                                                                                                                                              Spell Slots Per Spell Level

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

 

When you reach 3rd level, you augment your martial prowess with the ability to cast spells.

Cantrips

You learn the Friends and Minor Illusion cantrips as well as a third cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.

Spell Slots

The Trickblade 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 spell's level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

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

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You know three 1st-level wizard spells of your choice, two of which you must choose from the enchantment and illusion spells on the wizard spell list.

The Spells Known column of the Trickblade Spellcasting table shows when you learn more wizard spells of 1st level or higher. Each of these spells must be an enchantment or illusion spell of your choice, and must be of a level for which 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 wizard spells you know with another spell of your choice from the wizard spell list. The new spell must be of a level for which you have spell slots, and it must be an enchantment or illusion spell, unless you're replacing the spell you gained at 3rd, 8th, 14th, or 20th level from any school of magic.

Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for your 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 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

Subtle Knight

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in two of the following skills of your choice: Deception, Insight, Persuasion, or Stealth. You can choose to gain proficiency with thieves’ tools in place of one skill choice.

Jack of All Tricks

At 7th level, you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon with the heavy quality or two weapons that don't have the heavy quality, as long as at least one weapon has the light quality. You perform the ritual over the course of 1 hour, which can be done during a short rest. The weapon(s) must be within your reach throughout the ritual, at the conclusion of which you touch the weapon(s) and forge the bond.

Once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can spend a bonus action to send it to a demiplane for safekeeping and to conceal it.  You can spend a bonus action to return it to your grasp.  If you have two bonded weapons, you can send away or retrieve both with a single bonus action.  Furthermore, once you have bonded a weapon to yourself, you can't be disarmed of that weapon unless you are incapacitated.

If you attempt to bond with a third weapon, you must break the bond with one of the other two.

When you attack, you can make one or both of your bonded weapons or any ammunition they fire momentarily blink out of existence to catch your enemies off guard.  You gain advantage with a single attack with each bonded weapon.  Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

You can push enchantment or illusion spells to new heights.  Choose one of the abilities below:

Skillful Enchanter:

When you cast Friends, the duration is concentration, up to 5 minutes.  Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Skillful Illusionist:

When you cast Minor Illusion, you can create both a sound and an image with a single casting of the spell.  Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Battle Charmer

Starting at 10th level, creatures that you target with Charm Person no longer have advantage on their saving throw if you or your companions are fighting them. 

When a creature makes an attack roll against you or targets with you a spell or feature, you can use your reaction to cast Charm Person on it.  If the creature fails its saving throw, it can decide to choose a different target for the attack, spell, or feature. 

At 19th level, the same benefits apply to Charm Monster.

In addition, your skill with mind-affecting magic helps you resist mental influence. You add half of your proficiency bonus to your Wisdom saving throws.

Illusory Step

At 15th level, you have the ability to slip away from your foes, leaving a convincing illusion in your wake.  Immediately after you are hit by an attack, you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 30 feet to a spot you can see.  You remain invisible until the beginning of your next turn.

In your place you leave an illusion of yourself.  The illusion acts like it was just hit by the attack, for example, by giving grunts of pain or being burned.  The illusion acts like it was created with Major Image.  It appears to twist and turn to avoid being hit by attacks.  Creatures that attack it can make an Intelligence (Investigation) check against your spell save DC to realize that it's an illusion. 

The illusion disappears at the beginning of your next turn.  Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.

Trickblade Extraordinaire

By 18th level, you have become especially potent at using either enchantment or illusion magic.  If you chose the Skilled Enchanter ability at 7th level, you gain the Enchantment Master feature.  If you instead chose the Skilled Illusionist ability, you gain the Illusion Master feature.

In addition, you can cast a spell without any somatic or verbal components.  Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Enchantment Master:

You gain the ability to make a creature unaware of your magical influence on it. When you cast an enchantment spell to charm one or more creatures, you can alter one creature's understanding so that it remains unaware of being charmed.

Additionally, once before the spell expires, you can use your action to try to make the chosen creature forget some of the time it spent charmed. The creature must succeed on an Intelligence saving throw against your trickblade spell save DC or lose a number of hours of its memories equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You can make the creature forget less time, and the amount of time can't exceed the duration of your enchantment spell. 

Illusion Master:

When you cast an illusion spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, you can use your action to change the nature of that illusion (using the spell's normal parameters for the illusion), provided that you can see the illusion.

Additionally, you have learned the secret of weaving shadow magic into your illusions to give them a semi-reality. When you cast an illusion spell of 1st level or higher, you can choose one inanimate, nonmagical object that is part of the illusion and make that object real. You can do this on your turn as a bonus action while the spell is ongoing. The object remains real for 1 minute. For example, you can create an illusion of a bridge over a chasm and then make it real long enough for your allies to cross.

The object can't deal damage or otherwise directly harm anyone. You can use this feature three times.  You regain any expended uses when you finish a long rest.