College of Gambling

Some bards prefer the thrill of games of skill and chance to the polished art of entertainment. These bards have often forged their own fortunes, and are referred to by many names: Hucksters, Gentlemen of Chance, Card Sharks, High-Rollers, and Ladies of Fortune.

      Many dismiss gamblers as fly-by-night flim-flam’s or swindlers, relying on the foolishness of marks to gain and lose fortunes. But a true Gambler learns the workaday skills necessary to excel in the cutthroat world of gaming, and to read the psyche of their opponents that allows them to manipulate fortune itself into a somewhat more favourable direction.

Bonus Proficiency

When you join the College of Gambling at 3rd level, you gain proficiency with the Insight and Deception skills and with two gaming sets of your choice. If you are already proficient in any of these, you may instead choose to gain expertise in them.

Play the Odds

      At 3rd level, you learn to use some of your natural charming talents to manipulate fortune itself. When a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you makes an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can use your reaction to expend one of your uses of Inspiration, allowing you to change the creature's roll to either a 5 or a 15. You can use this ability after seeing the result of the roll.

You may also expend a use of Inspiration while playing any game of chance and add it to your skill check to greatly increase your odds of success.

Read the Room

At 6th level, you gain advantage on any Insight (Wisdom) checks meant to assess a creature's personality, whether they are lying, spot changes in its mood, or predict its next course of action.

      A well, provided you are not surprised, you may add your Charisma bonus to any Initiative checks.

Its A Mind Game

At 6th level, you can begin mastering the mental disciplines essential to any successful gambler.

You may choose one of the following two options:

 

Call Their Bluff

By this point in your career, you have seen it all. Your experience from spotting cheaters and scammers allows you to more easily pierce magic effects used to fool lesser players of the game.

You gain advantage on spells saves against spells of the Illusion and Enchantment schools of magic. 

Poker Face

While your mind may be racing at a thousand miles per hour, calculating odds and reading faces, your outward appearance is always cool, calm, and collected. You are a hard person to read...

You gain advantage on all Charisma (Deception) checks.

As well, you have the ability to foil mind-reading effects, spells, or abilities as you begin reciting gambling odds in your head granting you immunity to those who would know your inner most thoughts.

Know When to Fold 'Em

At 14th level, your natural ability to assess risk works in conjunction with your ability to assess the odds. As a reaction, you may choose to withdraw one Inspiration die you have dispensed. If you do so, you immediately regain one Inspiration die. 

You may use this abilty a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus. You regain all uses after a Long Rest.