The Dealer

Your pact is sealed with the magic of an enchanted deck of cards, each one a fragment of your patron’s will. You are The Dealer — the one who shapes the game, sets the stakes, and decides how fate will fall. To you, combat is not chaos, but a contest, where every turn is a hand to be played and every card has a purpose.

The rank and suit of each card dictate its power. Number cards unleash quick tactical effects — a burst of speed, a surge of strength, a momentary shield, or a healing touch. Face cards bring forth members of the Royal Court, fey champions whose abilities shift with their suit. Hearts endure and restore, Diamonds defend, Clubs strike hard, and Spades move with speed. Jokers are the wild unknown — able to become anything in your deck at a moment’s notice.

As The Dealer, you control the field with strategy, adaptability, and a touch of risk. You may reshuffle fate when the odds turn against you, build the Royal Court to overwhelm your foes, or hold back until you’re ready to play your winning hand. In your presence, every battle becomes a game — and you are the one who deals the cards.

Level 3: Playing your Hand

You gain a magical poker deck that serves as your arcane focus, bound to your pact. The deck contains Number Cards (1–10), Face Cards (Jack, Queen, King), and two Jokers. You can play cards as magical effects or to summon entities to the field. 

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Drawing & Playing Cards

• At the start of combat, draw 4 cards.

• At the start of each of your turns, draw 1 card.

• You may play 1 card per turn as a bonus action.

• Unless otherwise noted, cards played are discarded for the rest of the day and are not returned to your deck until after a long rest.

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Number Cards (1–10)

When you play a Number Card, choose a creature within 30 ft. (ally or enemy) and apply the suit’s effect for 1 round:

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Face Cards – Royal Court Summoning

 

• Play two Face Cards (any mix of Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Jokers) to summon one face card of your choice.

• If both cards match in rank, the summoned creature gains both suits’ bonuses (see “Suit Bonuses” below).

• You may control only 1 face card at a time unless stated otherwise.

 

 

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Suit Bonuses for Summons

When you summon a face card, its suit grants it an ongoing bonus:

• ♥ Hearts – +10 hit points.

• ♦ Diamonds – +2 AC.

• ♣ Clubs – +1 damage die to all attacks (1d8 → 2d8).

• ♠ Spades – +10 ft. movement speed.

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Joker – Wild Card

Joker – Wild Card

• A Joker can stand in for any single card.

• Alternate Play: Instead of using it as a normal card, roll on the Joker Table (below).

  • Roll d20 if a single Joker is played (1–10 = bad effect, 11–20 = good effect).

  • Roll d10 if both Jokers are played together (all results are positive).
    
    

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Joker Wild Table

When you play a Joker for its chaotic effect, roll a d20.

• 1–10: Negative (bad) outcomes

• 11–20: Positive (good) outcomes

• If you play both Jokers together, roll a d10 and use only the positive half of the table (11–20 results).

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Negative Effects (1–10)

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Positive Effects (11–20)

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face card

Medium Humanoid, unaligned

Armor Class 13 + PB (♦ 15 + PB)

Hit Points 15 + 5 × your warlock level (♥ 25 + 5 × your warlock level) (Face Card has has a number of Hit Dice [d8s] equal to your warlock level)

Speed 30 ft. (♠ 40 ft.)

Saving Throws Dex +2 + PB, Con +2 + PB

Skills Athletics +2 + PB, Perception +1 + PB

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages understands the languages you speak

Proficiency Bonus (PB) equals your proficiency bonus

Challenge — Proficiency Bonus (PB) equals your bonus

Bound to the Duelist. The Face Card acts immediately after your turn and obeys your verbal commands (no action required).

Face Card Effect. Apply this effect when summoned. 

• Jacks: The Jack reduces the damage dealt to an allied creature within 10 ft. of it by your PB.

• Queens: The Queen can make an additional attack when taking the attack action. 

• Kings: The King gives Allies within 30 ft. score a critical hit on 19–20.

Actions

Weapon Strike. Melee Weapon Attack: your spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 1d8 + PB slashing damage. (♣ 2d8 + PB slashing damage instead.)

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Level 3: Card Sharp

Once per turn at the start of your turn, you may discard any number of cards from your hand and draw the same number of cards.
Discarded cards are not returned to your deck until after a long rest (unless a Joker effect says otherwise).

Level 6: Double Down

When you play a number card, you may instead play two number cards at the same time.

• Choose one suit effect from the two cards played.

• Add their values together before applying any suit-based modifiers.

• For ♦ Diamonds and ♣ Clubs, divide the total value by 2 before applying the effect (minimum +1).

Level 10: Split the Pot

When you play more than one number card of different suits on the same turn, you can apply both suit effects to the same target or split them between two targets.

• The value for each effect is the card’s normal value (apply suit modifiers as usual).

• You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You regain all uses after a long rest.

• You may only apply this feature once per turn.

Level 14: Royal Flush

Once per long rest, you may use an action to summon a Jack, a Queen, and a King simultaneously.

• You must discard your entire hand to use this feature.

• You choose the suit for each face card upon summoning.

• These face cards do not require you to meet the normal summoning conditions.

• They appear in unoccupied spaces you can see within 30 feet of you and act immediately after your turn.

• They ignore the control limit of face cards when summoned this way, however, any previous face card you control is dismissed.