I'm obviously not the first person to say this but, there's no reason your spellcasting focus couldn't already be a deck of cards, this is the most useless feat I've ever seen, which is saying something.
Is there any justification for this at all? There's nothing that says a spellcasting focus can't be a deck of cards already is there? It sets an odd precedent imo.
there's no reason your spellcasting focus couldn't already be a deck of cards
There exists specific rules for what spellcasting foci any given character can use, and this feat builds on those rules. Yes, this feat is useless if your DM ignores or changes these rules, but that's true of literally any game option.
There's nothing that says a spellcasting focus can't be a deck of cards already is there
Artificersmust use thieves tools or some other artisans tools as a focus when casting artificer spells
Bards can use a musical instrument as their focus, and College of Spirits bards can also use the following items; a candle, crystal ball, skull, spirit board, or tarokka deck.
Just to play a bit of Asmodeus' advocate here, but did this feat change from the UA version?
The UA version was only available to Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard and had:
1) Deck of cards can be a spell focus.
2) When using the deck as a spell focus if a spell deals damage you can deal an extra d4 damage to one target of the spell and you can do it a number of times equal to prof bonus per long rest.
3) Gain prestidigitation as a free cantrip and you can ignore V & S components as long as you use the deck of cards during its casting.
4) You effectively imbue a spell into one of the cards to get one free Quicken spell per long rest.
5) You have to be 4th level to get the feat.
So while nothing ground breaking or earth shatteringly amazing, they are all nice little flourishes and make the Deck of Cards a better spell focus than those published in the equipment section and class descriptions.
EDIT: there are a few threads in the Wizard section about using Decks of Cards as spell books so I think the Cartomancer feat might work rather nicely when combined with that side of things.
Okay but aren't Arcane Foci already so vague a deck of cards could fill that role?
An arcane focus is a special item designed to channel the power of arcane spells. A sorcerer, warlock, or wizard can use such an item as a spellcasting focus, as described in the Spellcasting section.
I'm not seeing this feat actually changing anything. It's also the only feat I'm aware of that has no mechanical impact on the game? I mean correct me if I'm wrong, and there's nothing wrong with the option existing, but this doesn't feel like a feat to me.
(I'm realising this might come off a bit aggressive, I don't mean to say this with any malice)
Okay but aren't Arcane Foci already so vague a deck of cards could fill that role?
An arcane focus is a special item designed to channel the power of arcane spells. A sorcerer, warlock, or wizard can use such an item as a spellcasting focus, as described in the Spellcasting section.
I'm not seeing this feat actually changing anything. It's also the only feat I'm aware of that has no mechanical impact on the game? I mean correct me if I'm wrong, and there's nothing wrong with the option existing, but this doesn't feel like a feat to me.
(I'm realising this might come off a bit aggressive, I don't mean to say this with any malice)
Are we talking about the same feat? The UA one from Wonders of the Multiverse UA? Because Rob76 listed a bunch of mechanical effects that come with the feat. Some pretty nice ones, actually.
I agree that allowing someone to use one thing as a focus instead of another is largely flavour and therefore a feat is an incredibly steep price to pay (although a deck of cards specifically starts blurring that boundary if a DM permits it - you could play a game of cards and then cast a spell using it which could give advantages you could t otherwise obtain), but the feat doesn't grant just that. I'm not going to repeat the list, you can go back and read it yourself, but it does do quite a bit.
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there's no reason your spellcasting focus couldn't already be a deck of cards
There exists specific rules for what spellcasting foci any given character can use, and this feat builds on those rules. Yes, this feat is useless if your DM ignores or changes these rules, but that's true of literally any game option.
There's nothing that says a spellcasting focus can't be a deck of cards already is there
Artificersmust use thieves tools or some other artisans tools as a focus when casting artificer spells
Bards can use a musical instrument as their focus, and College of Spirits bards can also use the following items; a candle, crystal ball, skull, spirit board, or tarokka deck.
As you can see, there are specific rules for what focus a character can use, hence the reason for this feat existing.
Artificers can also use one of their infused items as a focus.
Order of scribes wizards can also use their spellbook itself as a spellcasting focus. There are various magic books that can be used as a wizard’s focus. There are some unconventional spellbooks such as the Crystalline Chronicle and Astromancy Archive, and a deck of cards would be a lot more conventional, each card could give a description of one or more spells, an Arcane Deck. If I were DMing and one of my wizards wanted his/her spellbook and focus to be a deck of cards, I would let it be so.
College of swords bards can use their weapon as a focus, though this wouldn’t come into the cards debate unless you wanted to dive into the paper cut rabbit hole
There are various “shards” that allow sorcerers to use a weapon or piece of jewelry as their focus, there is also the bloodwell vial. If you wanted to play a Wild Magic sorcerer who’s focus was a deck of cards, I would let you, there could even be some flavoring for your surge table in the form of randomly drawn cards that fly out and transform into the effect! Imagine getting a 100 and cards are just flying everywhere, wreaking havok! It would also be good flavoring for a Wand of Wonders.
Druids and Rangers can use a Moon Sickle as their focus.
The ability to do this requiring a feat just doesn’t make any sense, especially for wizards. It is less that WotC want it to be an option and more that they want to discourage this. The card thing is just an example of spellcasting flavoring, such as that listed in Tasha’s, though in this instance focusing mostly on the focus itself, though the is an infinite array of potential spell flavoring possibilities from this, and thus has no mechanical significance. In fact, some spells (most if not all divination I believe) actually require a deck of some sort as a material component, which hints at a certain something (magic decks). Luba’s Tarokka of Souls is an example of this, once again from the lovely Tasha. A literal deck of cards you can cast spells from.
If WotC is going to lock it down, though I don’t think they should, might as well make it a magic item instead of a feat, perhaps with a randomized table for extra minor effects, though i’m worried if they do so it would be somewhere in the Very Rare tier or higher.
The UA version was bonkers overpowered RAW since it did not have an expiration for the imbued cards, or a limit of how many cards could be imbued (beyond physically how many cards were in the deck, presumably). So before a long rest on any day, you could add another spell to the deck for a rainy day. That includes downtime days and travel days or social pillar days etc.
I hardly ever use every spell slot even in a heavy combat day. So it was pretty trivial to keep 7-20 cards loaded in the deck. Then in the BBEG fight of each story arc, it was easily possible to nova 2 level 4-5-6 spells every turn, for the entire combat. So halfway into your second turn legendary resistances are toast. The card spells can't be counterspelled either, as you cannot detect magic being used per Xanathar's.
Additionally there is no component cost for "imbuing" a spell, nor for casting by drawing from the deck in either the new or old version. So you can see where that might lead with a free resurrection, heroes feast etc every single day, or easily casting a spell who's components would normally be difficult or impossible to obtain. Similarly, it is not clear in either version if imbuing or subsequently casting from the deck actually consumes a spell slot. Which is odd because every other spell storing mechanic specifically states that. Two wishes a day anyone?
After one session of my eloquence bard casting 10+ leveled spells in EVERY encounter we toned it down to embuing a maximum of 4 spells that had to be used within 2 days. It was still extremely powerful and led to having to cram many more encounters in all days just to keep the deck from nuking a critical encounter trivially.
Also the ribbon effect is not to be underestimated. High stakes gambling is a very effective way to make money and secure magic items. We found my eloquence bard with cartomancer (so minimum 23 on deception, +5 and advantage and expertise in sleight of hand) was mechanically impossible to beat at gambling, especially since they could subtly cast prestigitation to change card values and subtle bonus cast detect thoughts to read everyone else's hands. The only way for DMs to really counter that is to have it so your reputation gets around and you can't really bilk a place more than once.
I think it would have been better to break the feat into 2 things, a feat and magic item. The card handling and prestigitation etc goes into the feat, and get half an asi or something else similar. The deck itself should be a very rare or legendary magic item, requiring attunement, that is basically a subtle quickened 3 slot ring of spell storing with no level cap but an additive 5% chance every use that summons one of the monsters from the deck of many things to attack you. The probability resets to zero after that occurs.
It's true that casters can only use specific items, but for my Firbolg Circle of Spores Druid, for his "Totem" Focus, he uses a Petrified Mushroom as his totem.
There are always different ways to interpret how the rules are written, and I see AsteralSea's point, but like Davvd stated, a Card Deck is not specifically called out prior, and your DM would have to accept a fairly flexible rule, to use it as one prior.
I see that there is a niche for this Feat, and I know many people will be interested in it.
Cheers!
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The ability to use cards as a focus is what's known colloquially as a ribbon feature. It isn't where the actual power of the feat comes from, it's just there to make it look pretty.
The main thing is that ability to cast a spell as a bonus action. And the Prestidigitation cantrip, though that's not hugely powerful.
Apologies, this might be a longer response than I thought...
Just for anyone not aware of the UA this feat is in I'll pop it in a spoiler below so you can peruse it:
CARTOMANCER Prerequisite: 4th Level; Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard Class You have learned to channel your magic through a deck of playing cards, granting you these benefits: Card Focus. You can use a deck of cards as your spellcasting focus. When you use the deck as a focus to cast a spell that deals damage, roll a d4. You gain a bonus to one damage roll of the spell equal to the number rolled. This bonus applies to one creature of your choice that you can see damaged by the spell; you can use this benefit a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest. Card Tricks. You learn the prestidigitation cantrip and can use it to create illusions that duplicate the effects of stage magic. When you use prestidigitation in this way, you can conceal the verbal and somatic components of the spell as mundane conversation and card-handling. Hidden Ace. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one spell you know and imbue it into a card; the chosen spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and its level must be less than or equal to your proficiency bonus. While the card is imbued with the spell, you can use your bonus action to flourish the card and cast the spell within. The card then immediately loses its magic.
I think it is more of a flavour thing for people who may want to play a Gambit, or hush my mouth to say...Yugioh...style caster, as they cast a spell they fan the deck then close it up and pull a spectral card that flies out to form the spell they are casting. If you combined it with the idea of using a deck of cards as a form of spell memorisation/alternative spell book then you could have a really nice way to set yourself apart from other casters. It might be more use for Divination specialists or any ritual caster. There are ways and means to use it but, again, it is a flavour thing, something to flourish and use even if a spell may not require you to do so.
Becasue this was a UA idea it does need some tweaking and rewording and could also be why it never made it out of the UA stage. For instance the "Hidden Ace" feature probably should say the imbued card loses its magic at the start of your next long rest so you cannot stock pile them and the bonus d4 damage might be better as a flat bonus equal to your proficiency bonus.
Otherwise, is a deck of cards harder to manipulate than other types of spell foci? probably yes, but is it any harder than manipulating a series of pouches containing all manner of spell components? probably not, I've participated in a LARP group that used spell components and I think a deck of cards would have been a lot easier to find. you could even assume that each card comes to represent a spell you know and as you cast it the card mystically appears at the top of the deck for you to pull and form the spell.
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If you were playing with a strict attention to foci and free components (which I agree, would be an unusual group) , one minor advantage of the cards as a focus is most NPCs would likely not recognize them as such, being used to the holy symbols or branches and wands or rods or weapons which almost all other casters use as foci.
That ties into the prestigitation ability, allowing you to cast a spell which can change the face appearance of a card, subtly. It makes a PC impossible to beat in card games with non magical NPCs and very difficult to beat even for casting NPCs. How useful that is depends on the campaign but "I always win games of chance" has a very high power ceiling with a creative PC.
Hidden Aces is still pretty vaguely written in BOMT. Nothing says you use a spell slot anywhere in the description, at either stage of it. Which all other spell storing features do. You also don't, RAW, have to know or be able to cast the spell normally, it just has to be "in your class spell list". I think the second part is an oversight, not sure about the first. Gaining an extra cast of your highest level spell every day (2 wishes, to use an extreme example) and be able to do one of those a subtle quickened spell is extremely powerful.
Just an FYI.....but he UA feat does stipulate that you need to know the spell you are intending to imbue into a card and it has to be a level that is equal to or less than you proficiency bonus, so the spell will max out at level 6, that said a free quicken cast of Disintergrate or heal is very good.
my own re-worded version of Cartomancer is in the spoiler below if anyone would like to look a it:
CARTOMANCER Prerequisite: 4th Level; Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard Class You have learned to channel your magic through a deck of playing cards, During a Long Rest you may conduct a hour long ritual to bind a deck of cards to your magic, you can have one deck of cards boud to you at a time but doing so grants you these benefits: Card Focus. You can use a deck of cards as your spellcasting focus. When you use the deck as a focus to cast a spell that deals damage you gain a bonus to one damage roll of the spell equal to your proficiency bonus. This bonus applies to one creature of your choice that you can see damaged by the spell; you can use this benefit a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest. This bonus damage can only be applied once per turn. Card Tricks. You learn the prestidigitation cantrip. When you cast Prestidigitation you may opt to use the deck of cards you use as a spell focus as an additioanl material component, if you do you may ignore the verbal and somatic components of casting Prestidigitaion. Hidden Ace. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one spell you know; the chosen spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and its level must be less than or equal to your proficiency bonus. Once before your next Long Rest, you can apply the Quicken Spell meta-magic when you cast the chosen spell as long as you use your deck of cards as an additional material component during the casting.
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Hidden Aces is still pretty vaguely written in BOMT. Nothing says you use a spell slot anywhere in the description, at either stage of it. Which all other spell storing features do. You also don't, RAW, have to know or be able to cast the spell normally, it just has to be "in your class spell list". I think the second part is an oversight, not sure about the first. Gaining an extra cast of your highest level spell every day (2 wishes, to use an extreme example) and be able to do one of those a subtle quickened spell is extremely powerful.
Based on the current wording, I'd rule that you are using the slot when you cast the spell, which happens when you "flourish the card", not when you imbue it. It's not a spell-storing ring or the like
[EDIT] The advantages to Hidden Ace are the ability to cast a spell as a bonus action within the next 8 hours, and access spells you don't otherwise typically have on hand
Hidden Ace. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one spell from your class’s spell list and imbue that spell into a card. The chosen spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and it must be a level for which you have spell slots. The card remains imbued with this spell for 8 hours. While the card is imbued with the spell, you can use a bonus action to flourish the card and cast the spell within. The card then immediately loses its magic.
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
You cast the spell, so you use a spell slot to cast it. Any time you're allowed to cast a spell without using a spell slot, it specifically says so.
So this is a sort of extra prepared spell coupled with a Quickened Spell (not a Subtle Spell, though, I'm not sure where LordSleep is getting that idea). More limited in use than either of those, but a reasonable package for a level 4+ feat, I think.
You cast the spell, so you use a spell slot to cast it. Any time you're allowed to cast a spell without using a spell slot, it specifically says so.
So this is a sort of extra prepared spell coupled with a Quickened Spell (not a Subtle Spell, though, I'm not sure where LordSleep is getting that idea). More limited in use than either of those, but a reasonable package for a level 4+ feat, I think.
A spell with no components (cast solely by flourishing a card) cannot be detected as being cast per my reading of Xanathar's ergo it is functionally a subtle spell. The feat seems to emphasize that but there are a lot of other edge cases like a ring of spell storing (components were used during loading but not during unloading) or even most wands and staves (arguably this is using an item, not casting, and again generally no components, a wand of lightning bolts will work normally in an area under the silence spell, but normal casting of lighting bolt would be impossible). I generally think most intelligent creatures or NPCs with even a vague understanding of magic will know what a magic wand does, so that can be kind of ignored. Cartomancer not so much.
You cast the spell, so you use a spell slot to cast it. Any time you're allowed to cast a spell without using a spell slot, it specifically says so.
So this is a sort of extra prepared spell coupled with a Quickened Spell (not a Subtle Spell, though, I'm not sure where LordSleep is getting that idea). More limited in use than either of those, but a reasonable package for a level 4+ feat, I think.
A spell with no components (cast solely by flourishing a card) cannot be detected as being cast per my reading of Xanathar's ergo it is functionally a subtle spell.
It says something about me, that I'm this excited to dissect your comment.
Where are you getting the word "solely"? It says "use a bonus action to flourish the card and cast the spell." That's two things you're doing. Flourishing the card, and casting the spell.
The feat seems to emphasize that but there are a lot of other edge cases like a ring of spell storing (components were used during loading but not during unloading)
Yes, but that's not how this one works. You cast it when you flourish the card, not when you imbue it, because it literally says you flourish the card and cast it.
or even most wands and staves (arguably this is using an item, not casting, and again generally no components,
Those use the "Activate a Magic Item" action if I recall correctly, which is some nonsense they invented to nerf the Thief subclass I think, but nevertheless, you absolutely do cast the spell. (There are some times when you cast a spell and you're not using the Cast A Spell action. Here's another one: Counterspell.) Here's the text, emphasis mine:
Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item, often by expending charges from it. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell and caster level, doesn’t expend any of the user’s spell slots, and requires no components unless the item’s description says otherwise. The spell uses its normal casting time, range, and duration, and the user of the item must concentrate if the spell requires concentration. Many items, such as potions, bypass the casting of a spell and confer the spell’s effects with their usual duration. Certain items make exceptions to these rules, changing the casting time, duration, or other parts of a spell.
It is true that these items bypass components for the most part. (I actually didn't know that. That's weird. Feels like an unintended side effect of trying to not require costly components and trying not to tie up two hands with a one-hand item. I digress.)
However, an imbued card is not a magic item, and therefore does not follow those rules. Only the cartomancer who imbued it can use it, first of all, which is not how magic items typically work, and second of all, you don't "cast the spell from the item," you "cast the spell within." Those are different phrases! The final nail in the coffin: It simply isn't referred to as a magic item.
I generally think most intelligent creatures or NPCs with even a vague understanding of magic will know what a magic wand does, so that can be kind of ignored. Cartomancer not so much.
What about the feat is giving you the impression that cartomancy is supposed to be rare, strange, or relatively unknown?
---
Do I think this feat is worded poorly? Yes, absolutely. It would've been so easy to clean it up and make it super clear instead of relying on players to do some kind of deep dive to make sure their existing understanding of the edge cases of the rules are applying properly here. Still, an accurate close reading doesn't yield free casts or Subtle casts. The flaw in the design is that it's too easy to read it inaccurately / too difficult to read it accurately, whichever you prefer.
To be honest for wizard's, sorcerer and many more this feat Will be overpowered... A free spell from your entire Class list not spell list Class list as a bonus action.
Oh I now see what the fuss is about, the Book of Many Things early release was available from 31st October and the released version of Cartomancer is worded differently to the UA! The "official" version looks rather broken.
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I'm obviously not the first person to say this but, there's no reason your spellcasting focus couldn't already be a deck of cards, this is the most useless feat I've ever seen, which is saying something.
Is there any justification for this at all? There's nothing that says a spellcasting focus can't be a deck of cards already is there? It sets an odd precedent imo.
There exists specific rules for what spellcasting foci any given character can use, and this feat builds on those rules. Yes, this feat is useless if your DM ignores or changes these rules, but that's true of literally any game option.
As you can see, there are specific rules for what focus a character can use, hence the reason for this feat existing.
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Just to play a bit of Asmodeus' advocate here, but did this feat change from the UA version?
The UA version was only available to Sorcerer, Warlock or Wizard and had:
1) Deck of cards can be a spell focus.
2) When using the deck as a spell focus if a spell deals damage you can deal an extra d4 damage to one target of the spell and you can do it a number of times equal to prof bonus per long rest.
3) Gain prestidigitation as a free cantrip and you can ignore V & S components as long as you use the deck of cards during its casting.
4) You effectively imbue a spell into one of the cards to get one free Quicken spell per long rest.
5) You have to be 4th level to get the feat.
So while nothing ground breaking or earth shatteringly amazing, they are all nice little flourishes and make the Deck of Cards a better spell focus than those published in the equipment section and class descriptions.
EDIT: there are a few threads in the Wizard section about using Decks of Cards as spell books so I think the Cartomancer feat might work rather nicely when combined with that side of things.
Okay but aren't Arcane Foci already so vague a deck of cards could fill that role?
I'm not seeing this feat actually changing anything. It's also the only feat I'm aware of that has no mechanical impact on the game? I mean correct me if I'm wrong, and there's nothing wrong with the option existing, but this doesn't feel like a feat to me.
(I'm realising this might come off a bit aggressive, I don't mean to say this with any malice)
I linked to the list of items that per the rules are allowed as foci. For example, arcane foci are orbs, wands, rods, crystals, and staffs
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Are we talking about the same feat? The UA one from Wonders of the Multiverse UA? Because Rob76 listed a bunch of mechanical effects that come with the feat. Some pretty nice ones, actually.
I agree that allowing someone to use one thing as a focus instead of another is largely flavour and therefore a feat is an incredibly steep price to pay (although a deck of cards specifically starts blurring that boundary if a DM permits it - you could play a game of cards and then cast a spell using it which could give advantages you could t otherwise obtain), but the feat doesn't grant just that. I'm not going to repeat the list, you can go back and read it yourself, but it does do quite a bit.
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Artificers can also use one of their infused items as a focus.
Order of scribes wizards can also use their spellbook itself as a spellcasting focus. There are various magic books that can be used as a wizard’s focus. There are some unconventional spellbooks such as the Crystalline Chronicle and Astromancy Archive, and a deck of cards would be a lot more conventional, each card could give a description of one or more spells, an Arcane Deck. If I were DMing and one of my wizards wanted his/her spellbook and focus to be a deck of cards, I would let it be so.
College of swords bards can use their weapon as a focus, though this wouldn’t come into the cards debate unless you wanted to dive into the paper cut rabbit hole
There are various “shards” that allow sorcerers to use a weapon or piece of jewelry as their focus, there is also the bloodwell vial. If you wanted to play a Wild Magic sorcerer who’s focus was a deck of cards, I would let you, there could even be some flavoring for your surge table in the form of randomly drawn cards that fly out and transform into the effect! Imagine getting a 100 and cards are just flying everywhere, wreaking havok! It would also be good flavoring for a Wand of Wonders.
Druids and Rangers can use a Moon Sickle as their focus.
The ability to do this requiring a feat just doesn’t make any sense, especially for wizards. It is less that WotC want it to be an option and more that they want to discourage this. The card thing is just an example of spellcasting flavoring, such as that listed in Tasha’s, though in this instance focusing mostly on the focus itself, though the is an infinite array of potential spell flavoring possibilities from this, and thus has no mechanical significance. In fact, some spells (most if not all divination I believe) actually require a deck of some sort as a material component, which hints at a certain something (magic decks). Luba’s Tarokka of Souls is an example of this, once again from the lovely Tasha. A literal deck of cards you can cast spells from.
If WotC is going to lock it down, though I don’t think they should, might as well make it a magic item instead of a feat, perhaps with a randomized table for extra minor effects, though i’m worried if they do so it would be somewhere in the Very Rare tier or higher.
The UA version was bonkers overpowered RAW since it did not have an expiration for the imbued cards, or a limit of how many cards could be imbued (beyond physically how many cards were in the deck, presumably). So before a long rest on any day, you could add another spell to the deck for a rainy day. That includes downtime days and travel days or social pillar days etc.
I hardly ever use every spell slot even in a heavy combat day. So it was pretty trivial to keep 7-20 cards loaded in the deck. Then in the BBEG fight of each story arc, it was easily possible to nova 2 level 4-5-6 spells every turn, for the entire combat. So halfway into your second turn legendary resistances are toast. The card spells can't be counterspelled either, as you cannot detect magic being used per Xanathar's.
Additionally there is no component cost for "imbuing" a spell, nor for casting by drawing from the deck in either the new or old version. So you can see where that might lead with a free resurrection, heroes feast etc every single day, or easily casting a spell who's components would normally be difficult or impossible to obtain. Similarly, it is not clear in either version if imbuing or subsequently casting from the deck actually consumes a spell slot. Which is odd because every other spell storing mechanic specifically states that. Two wishes a day anyone?
After one session of my eloquence bard casting 10+ leveled spells in EVERY encounter we toned it down to embuing a maximum of 4 spells that had to be used within 2 days. It was still extremely powerful and led to having to cram many more encounters in all days just to keep the deck from nuking a critical encounter trivially.
Also the ribbon effect is not to be underestimated. High stakes gambling is a very effective way to make money and secure magic items. We found my eloquence bard with cartomancer (so minimum 23 on deception, +5 and advantage and expertise in sleight of hand) was mechanically impossible to beat at gambling, especially since they could subtly cast prestigitation to change card values and subtle bonus cast detect thoughts to read everyone else's hands. The only way for DMs to really counter that is to have it so your reputation gets around and you can't really bilk a place more than once.
I think it would have been better to break the feat into 2 things, a feat and magic item. The card handling and prestigitation etc goes into the feat, and get half an asi or something else similar. The deck itself should be a very rare or legendary magic item, requiring attunement, that is basically a subtle quickened 3 slot ring of spell storing with no level cap but an additive 5% chance every use that summons one of the monsters from the deck of many things to attack you. The probability resets to zero after that occurs.
It's true that casters can only use specific items, but for my Firbolg Circle of Spores Druid, for his "Totem" Focus, he uses a Petrified Mushroom as his totem.
There are always different ways to interpret how the rules are written, and I see AsteralSea's point, but like Davvd stated, a Card Deck is not specifically called out prior, and your DM would have to accept a fairly flexible rule, to use it as one prior.
I see that there is a niche for this Feat, and I know many people will be interested in it.
Cheers!
Breathe, dragons; sing of the First World, forged out of chaos and painted with beauty.
Sing of Bahamut, the Platinum, molding the shape of the mountains and rivers;
Sing too of Chromatic Tiamat, painting all over the infinite canvas.
Partnered, they woke in the darkness; partnered, they labored in acts of creation.
The ability to use cards as a focus is what's known colloquially as a ribbon feature. It isn't where the actual power of the feat comes from, it's just there to make it look pretty.
The main thing is that ability to cast a spell as a bonus action. And the Prestidigitation cantrip, though that's not hugely powerful.
Apologies, this might be a longer response than I thought...
Just for anyone not aware of the UA this feat is in I'll pop it in a spoiler below so you can peruse it:
CARTOMANCER
Prerequisite: 4th Level; Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard Class
You have learned to channel your magic through a deck of playing cards, granting you these benefits:
Card Focus. You can use a deck of cards as your spellcasting focus. When you use the deck as a focus to cast a spell that deals damage, roll a d4. You gain a bonus to one damage roll of the spell equal to the number rolled. This bonus applies to one creature of your choice that you can see damaged by the spell; you can use this benefit a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Card Tricks. You learn the prestidigitation cantrip and can use it to create illusions that duplicate the effects of stage magic. When you use prestidigitation in this way, you can conceal the verbal and somatic components of the spell as mundane conversation and card-handling.
Hidden Ace. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one spell you know and imbue it into a card; the chosen spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and its level must be less than or equal to your proficiency bonus. While the card is imbued with the spell, you can use your bonus action to flourish the card and cast the spell within. The card then immediately loses its magic.
I think it is more of a flavour thing for people who may want to play a Gambit, or hush my mouth to say...Yugioh...style caster, as they cast a spell they fan the deck then close it up and pull a spectral card that flies out to form the spell they are casting. If you combined it with the idea of using a deck of cards as a form of spell memorisation/alternative spell book then you could have a really nice way to set yourself apart from other casters. It might be more use for Divination specialists or any ritual caster. There are ways and means to use it but, again, it is a flavour thing, something to flourish and use even if a spell may not require you to do so.
Becasue this was a UA idea it does need some tweaking and rewording and could also be why it never made it out of the UA stage. For instance the "Hidden Ace" feature probably should say the imbued card loses its magic at the start of your next long rest so you cannot stock pile them and the bonus d4 damage might be better as a flat bonus equal to your proficiency bonus.
Otherwise, is a deck of cards harder to manipulate than other types of spell foci? probably yes, but is it any harder than manipulating a series of pouches containing all manner of spell components? probably not, I've participated in a LARP group that used spell components and I think a deck of cards would have been a lot easier to find. you could even assume that each card comes to represent a spell you know and as you cast it the card mystically appears at the top of the deck for you to pull and form the spell.
If you were playing with a strict attention to foci and free components (which I agree, would be an unusual group) , one minor advantage of the cards as a focus is most NPCs would likely not recognize them as such, being used to the holy symbols or branches and wands or rods or weapons which almost all other casters use as foci.
That ties into the prestigitation ability, allowing you to cast a spell which can change the face appearance of a card, subtly. It makes a PC impossible to beat in card games with non magical NPCs and very difficult to beat even for casting NPCs. How useful that is depends on the campaign but "I always win games of chance" has a very high power ceiling with a creative PC.
Hidden Aces is still pretty vaguely written in BOMT. Nothing says you use a spell slot anywhere in the description, at either stage of it. Which all other spell storing features do. You also don't, RAW, have to know or be able to cast the spell normally, it just has to be "in your class spell list". I think the second part is an oversight, not sure about the first. Gaining an extra cast of your highest level spell every day (2 wishes, to use an extreme example) and be able to do one of those a subtle quickened spell is extremely powerful.
Just an FYI.....but he UA feat does stipulate that you need to know the spell you are intending to imbue into a card and it has to be a level that is equal to or less than you proficiency bonus, so the spell will max out at level 6, that said a free quicken cast of Disintergrate or heal is very good.
my own re-worded version of Cartomancer is in the spoiler below if anyone would like to look a it:
CARTOMANCER
Prerequisite: 4th Level; Sorcerer, Warlock, or Wizard Class
You have learned to channel your magic through a deck of playing cards, During a Long Rest you may conduct a hour long ritual to bind a deck of cards to your magic, you can have one deck of cards boud to you at a time but doing so grants you these benefits:
Card Focus. You can use a deck of cards as your spellcasting focus. When you use the deck as a focus to cast a spell that deals damage you gain a bonus to one damage roll of the spell equal to your proficiency bonus. This bonus applies to one creature of your choice that you can see damaged by the spell; you can use this benefit a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest. This bonus damage can only be applied once per turn.
Card Tricks. You learn the prestidigitation cantrip. When you cast Prestidigitation you may opt to use the deck of cards you use as a spell focus as an additioanl material component, if you do you may ignore the verbal and somatic components of casting Prestidigitaion.
Hidden Ace. When you finish a long rest, you can choose one spell you know; the chosen spell must have a casting time of 1 action, and its level must be less than or equal to your proficiency bonus. Once before your next Long Rest, you can apply the Quicken Spell meta-magic when you cast the chosen spell as long as you use your deck of cards as an additional material component during the casting.
Based on the current wording, I'd rule that you are using the slot when you cast the spell, which happens when you "flourish the card", not when you imbue it. It's not a spell-storing ring or the like
[EDIT] The advantages to Hidden Ace are the ability to cast a spell as a bonus action within the next 8 hours, and access spells you don't otherwise typically have on hand
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
You cast the spell, so you use a spell slot to cast it. Any time you're allowed to cast a spell without using a spell slot, it specifically says so.
So this is a sort of extra prepared spell coupled with a Quickened Spell (not a Subtle Spell, though, I'm not sure where LordSleep is getting that idea). More limited in use than either of those, but a reasonable package for a level 4+ feat, I think.
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A spell with no components (cast solely by flourishing a card) cannot be detected as being cast per my reading of Xanathar's ergo it is functionally a subtle spell. The feat seems to emphasize that but there are a lot of other edge cases like a ring of spell storing (components were used during loading but not during unloading) or even most wands and staves (arguably this is using an item, not casting, and again generally no components, a wand of lightning bolts will work normally in an area under the silence spell, but normal casting of lighting bolt would be impossible). I generally think most intelligent creatures or NPCs with even a vague understanding of magic will know what a magic wand does, so that can be kind of ignored. Cartomancer not so much.
It says something about me, that I'm this excited to dissect your comment.
Where are you getting the word "solely"? It says "use a bonus action to flourish the card and cast the spell." That's two things you're doing. Flourishing the card, and casting the spell.
Yes, but that's not how this one works. You cast it when you flourish the card, not when you imbue it, because it literally says you flourish the card and cast it.
Those use the "Activate a Magic Item" action if I recall correctly, which is some nonsense they invented to nerf the Thief subclass I think, but nevertheless, you absolutely do cast the spell. (There are some times when you cast a spell and you're not using the Cast A Spell action. Here's another one: Counterspell.) Here's the text, emphasis mine:
It is true that these items bypass components for the most part. (I actually didn't know that. That's weird. Feels like an unintended side effect of trying to not require costly components and trying not to tie up two hands with a one-hand item. I digress.)
However, an imbued card is not a magic item, and therefore does not follow those rules. Only the cartomancer who imbued it can use it, first of all, which is not how magic items typically work, and second of all, you don't "cast the spell from the item," you "cast the spell within." Those are different phrases! The final nail in the coffin: It simply isn't referred to as a magic item.
What about the feat is giving you the impression that cartomancy is supposed to be rare, strange, or relatively unknown?
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Do I think this feat is worded poorly? Yes, absolutely. It would've been so easy to clean it up and make it super clear instead of relying on players to do some kind of deep dive to make sure their existing understanding of the edge cases of the rules are applying properly here. Still, an accurate close reading doesn't yield free casts or Subtle casts. The flaw in the design is that it's too easy to read it inaccurately / too difficult to read it accurately, whichever you prefer.
To be honest for wizard's, sorcerer and many more this feat Will be overpowered... A free spell from your entire Class list not spell list Class list as a bonus action.
At lvl
17 you have 2 wishes a day
Oh I now see what the fuss is about, the Book of Many Things early release was available from 31st October and the released version of Cartomancer is worded differently to the UA! The "official" version looks rather broken.