School Of Puppetry

Craftsmage
Starting when you take this school at 2nd level you become proficient in woodcarver’s tools.

Puppeteer
Starting when you chose this school at 2nd level you gain the ability to make and operate magical puppets. The first puppet is finished at no cost when you take this school, the product of years of work. You can create as many puppets as you have the materials, but you can only ever control one puppet at a time. The puppet is controlled by silver threads in the ethereal plane that connect the wizard’s fingertips, these threads can only be broken by anything that can break the thread of an astral projection spell.

The puppet is a medium sized construct that is immune to poison and psychic damage, and is immune to the charmed, frightened, petrified, and poisoned conditions. The puppet’s dexterity, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma are equal to those of its controller, while its strength and constitution are equal to its creator’s intelligence when it was made. The puppet’s maximum hit points are equal to half the creator’s hit points at the time of creation (rounded down) and its speed is 30 feet. It is proficient in any weapons and armour the controller is proficient in.

Creating a puppet takes 10 days of labor from the wizard, who needs 100gp of quality wood and a set of wood carver’s tools. Normal puppets weigh 300 pounds and can not be healed except by magic. By expending a spell slot the creator of a puppet can perform a ritual that takes 10 minutes to have it regain 2d6 hit points per level of the spell. If a puppet is reduced to 0 hit points it is destroyed and can not be restored.

As an action you can take control of a puppet you are touching, connecting to it through astral threads. If the puppet moves more than 60 feet from its controller the connection is severed and control is lost. While you are controlling the puppet you can use your bonus action to move it up to its speed, and use an action to make it perform an action.

When you cast a spell that targets “self” you can select a puppet under your control to be the target instead. When you cast a spell with the range “touch” your puppet can deliver the spell as if a puppet you are controlling had cast it.

As an action while controlling a puppet you can see through your puppet’s eyes and hear what it hears until you use an action to end this effect. During this time, you are deaf and blind with regard to your own senses. If your connection to a puppet is severed or a puppet is destroyed this effect ends.

Advanced puppets
Starting at 6th level when creating your puppet you can choose to give it additional special properties beyond what a normal puppet has. When you create a puppet you can choose one of the following options:
Exploding Puppet. As an action the puppet’s controller expends a spell slot to make the puppet explode, reducing its hit points to 0. All creatures within 20 feet of the puppet and not behind total cover must make dexterity saving throws against the controller’s spell save DC. A target takes 2d6 piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This damage is magical.
Assault Puppet. This puppet’s 4 limbs all contain hidden blades that it can extend as part of a move action and deal 1d6+STR piercing damage. When this puppet takes the attack action it can make 1 attack for each remaining limb. The limbs of the puppet can be removed and used as shortswords, these weapons persist even when the puppet is destroyed. To make one of these puppets you need 4 short swords or the limbs of a previous assault puppet.
Double Puppet. This puppet looks like its creator. Close inspection does not reveal that it is a puppet, and because puppet isn’t magic spells like detect magic will not detect the falsehood. When they are looking through its eyes the controller of this puppet can also speak through its mouth.
Spy Puppet. This puppet has eyes all around its head, giving it advantage on perception checks that rely on sight and allowing it to look in every direction at once. Stealth checks made by the puppet add twice the controller’s proficiency bonus.
Ogre Puppet. This puppet is a large creature and adds its controller’s proficiency bonus to athletics checks and melee attack damage. The chest of this puppet is a cavity built to accommodate a single medium or smaller creature, and can only be opened or closed by its controller. This puppet requires 300gp worth of wood to build and weighs 1500 pounds. Weapons sized for a large creature deal twice the number of damage dice as normal, but must be especially made or taken from other large creatures.
Redcap Puppet. This puppet is a small creature and its speed is 45 feet. Because of its small size it weighs only 100 pounds. The puppet is always considered proficient in the use of farming scythes as weapons, and treats them as greataxes without the “heavy” property.
Taxidermied Puppet. This puppet is made from the corpse of a medium or smaller humanoid and requires 50gp worth of embalming fluids in addition to other material costs. If the puppet is seen by someone who knew it in life they must make a wisdom saving throw against the creator’s spell save DC at the time of creation or become frightened. They can reroll this saving throw at the end of their turn to end the effect. Once a creature succeeds their saving throw against the effect of a taxidermied puppet they are immune to the fear effects of taxidermied puppets for 24 hours. Once a taxidermied puppet is destroyed the body used to make it can not be made into another puppet.

Multi-Puppet Technique
At 10th level you become a master of the multi-puppet technique, a way of controlling puppets that requires only 2 strings each. With this skill you can have multiple puppets under your control at once. Your control can extend to a number of puppets equal to your intelligence modifier (min 2). When you use a bonus action to move one you can move all of them in the same direction.

Eye of Vigilance
Starting at level 14 you can mark a single puppet with the Eye of Vigilance, a rune that allows you to control it from any distance as long as it is on the same plane. You can only have one puppet with the eye of vigilance, and if you inscribe one on another puppet the first eye of vigilance vanishes. The puppet master can control puppets as long as they are within 60 feet of themselves or their puppet with the eye of vigilance.

Advanced puppets

Starting at 6th level when creating your puppet you can choose to give it additional special properties beyond what a normal puppet has. When you create a puppet you can choose one of the following options:

Exploding Puppet. As an action the puppet’s controller expends a spell slot to make the puppet explode, reducing its hit points to 0. All creatures within 20 feet of the puppet and not behind total cover must make dexterity saving throws against the controller’s spell save DC. A target takes 2d6 piercing damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This damage is magical.

Assault Puppet. This puppet’s 4 limbs all contain hidden blades that it can extend as part of a move action and deal 1d6+STR piercing damage. When this puppet takes the attack action it can make 1 attack for each remaining limb. The limbs of the puppet can be removed and used as shortswords, these weapons persist even when the puppet is destroyed. To make one of these puppets you need 4 short swords or the limbs of a previous assault puppet.

Double Puppet. This puppet looks like its creator. Close inspection does not reveal that it is a puppet, and because puppet isn’t magic spells like detect magic will not detect the falsehood. When they are looking through its eyes the controller of this puppet can also speak through its mouth.

Spy Puppet. This puppet has eyes all around its head, giving it advantage on perception checks that rely on sight and allowing it to look in every direction at once. Stealth checks made by the puppet add twice the controller’s proficiency bonus.

Ogre Puppet. This puppet is a large creature and adds its controller’s proficiency bonus to athletics checks and melee attack damage. The chest of this puppet is a cavity built to accommodate a single medium or smaller creature, and can only be opened or closed by its controller. This puppet requires 300gp worth of wood to build and weighs 1500 pounds. Weapons sized for a large creature deal twice the number of damage dice as normal, but must be especially made or taken from other large creatures.

Redcap Puppet. This puppet is a small creature and its speed is 45 feet. Because of its small size it weighs only 100 pounds. The puppet is always considered proficient in the use of farming scythes as weapons, and treats them as greataxes without the “heavy” property.

Taxidermied Puppet. This puppet is made from the corpse of a medium or smaller humanoid and requires 50gp worth of embalming fluids in addition to other material costs. If the puppet is seen by someone who knew it in life they must make a wisdom saving throw against the creator’s spell save DC at the time of creation or become frightened. They can reroll this saving throw at the end of their turn to end the effect. Once a creature succeeds their saving throw against the effect of a taxidermied puppet they are immune to the fear effects of taxidermied puppets for 24 hours. Once a taxidermied puppet is destroyed the body used to make it can not be made into another puppet.

Multi-Puppet Technique

At 10th level you become a master of the multi-puppet technique, a way of controlling puppets that requires only 2 strings each. With this skill you can have multiple puppets under your control at once. Your control can extend to a number of puppets equal to your intelligence modifier (min 2). When you use a bonus action to move one you can move all of them in the same direction.