So my players are going to meet (and probably murder) a gambling-based magic user soon, and I want him to have some sort of cool combat mechanic centered around a physical deck of cards at the table.
I was thinking of doing something where when he is attacked, a random card is drawn, which then has an effect based on the suit and the rank of the card.
I'm thinking hearts heals a random creature - not sure how much would be balanced considering it could heal both players or enemies
Spades would be the opposite and do a random amount of damage
Clubs might do something with moving the players around? Like they get pushed back a certain number of tiles
Diamonds I have no clue - maybe inflicting a certain condition?
I'd also like the jokers to have some sort of special effect.
Not exactly what you asked, but you might check out the book of many things. It’s got a feat for Cartomancy, and some other card-based spells and effects.
And while you’re at it, there’s a powered-down version of the deck of many things in that book, which seems like a really on-brand item for this wizard to have.
More to your question, rather than inventing a mechanic, you could always just use the wild magic surge table for a random effect that pops off. Or the mythal feat from the new FR book has some random effects. Still flavor them with cards, or maybe match some cards to the table or something.
If you want clubs to be a positioning effect, you can shuffle certain creatures positions, always a fun time when you're clubbing a goblin and suddenly the party cleric is standing there instead. Diamonds I feel like could inflict the blinded condition, because diamonds are dazzling. as for the determination of who gets hit with the random effect, hear me out. make it so there are a total of 13 creatures on the map between the players and the boss and his goons. that way when a card is drawn you can assign it's affect to whichever player shares the cards number in initiative order. for example, if the two of spades is drawn, whatever creature is dead last in initiative takes the damage. for the jokers, I personally would temporarily inflict the affects of the fool or jester card from the deck of many things on the creature that drew the card.
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Having fun? I would hope so. Lets see how much fun you're having after the lich starts dipping into it's 1/day spell slots.
Yes I'm aware my username is completely awful, just do your best to ignore it.
Maybe start by taking a look at the Cartomancer Feat from the Book of Many Things
Then look at the Deck of Many Things itself as well as the Deck of Illusions from the DMG.
Both will inspire you based on rules as written. Take that and twist it to suit your idea more and it can work out. Cards always make me think of Sleight of Handas well.
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So my players are going to meet (and probably murder) a gambling-based magic user soon, and I want him to have some sort of cool combat mechanic centered around a physical deck of cards at the table.
I was thinking of doing something where when he is attacked, a random card is drawn, which then has an effect based on the suit and the rank of the card.
I'm thinking hearts heals a random creature - not sure how much would be balanced considering it could heal both players or enemies
Spades would be the opposite and do a random amount of damage
Clubs might do something with moving the players around? Like they get pushed back a certain number of tiles
Diamonds I have no clue - maybe inflicting a certain condition?
I'd also like the jokers to have some sort of special effect.
I'd appreciate any ideas
Not exactly what you asked, but you might check out the book of many things. It’s got a feat for Cartomancy, and some other card-based spells and effects.
And while you’re at it, there’s a powered-down version of the deck of many things in that book, which seems like a really on-brand item for this wizard to have.
More to your question, rather than inventing a mechanic, you could always just use the wild magic surge table for a random effect that pops off. Or the mythal feat from the new FR book has some random effects. Still flavor them with cards, or maybe match some cards to the table or something.
If you want clubs to be a positioning effect, you can shuffle certain creatures positions, always a fun time when you're clubbing a goblin and suddenly the party cleric is standing there instead. Diamonds I feel like could inflict the blinded condition, because diamonds are dazzling. as for the determination of who gets hit with the random effect, hear me out. make it so there are a total of 13 creatures on the map between the players and the boss and his goons. that way when a card is drawn you can assign it's affect to whichever player shares the cards number in initiative order. for example, if the two of spades is drawn, whatever creature is dead last in initiative takes the damage. for the jokers, I personally would temporarily inflict the affects of the fool or jester card from the deck of many things on the creature that drew the card.
Having fun? I would hope so. Lets see how much fun you're having after the lich starts dipping into it's 1/day spell slots.
Yes I'm aware my username is completely awful, just do your best to ignore it.
Maybe start by taking a look at the Cartomancer Feat from the Book of Many Things
Then look at the Deck of Many Things itself as well as the Deck of Illusions from the DMG.
Both will inspire you based on rules as written. Take that and twist it to suit your idea more and it can work out. Cards always make me think of Sleight of Hand as well.