College of the Royale

Gorn stares down the players left at the table. He’s kept them entertained all night with card tricks and funny stories but now is the time to end this game. As he moves to call the last bet a hand grabs his. The guard at the table lifts up his sleeve to find a hidden ace in Gorn’s sleeve. In a flash Gorn begins pelting the guards and players alike with enchanted cards sending them hurling back in an ice covered heap. 

Gorn makes a dash for the door. The Bouncer steps in the way, but Gorn smiles as he pulls a card from an ethereal deck that has manifested in his hand. In a flash 5 pixies appear all around the room and begin tearing up any books and money they can find. The smiles fades as Gorn draws another card. This time as Gorn draws the card the Bouncer starts shrinking until he resembles a 13 year old boy. In a fit of laughter Gorn pushes aside the now boy Bouncer and disappears into the night air.

 

  The Bard College of the Royale is based on the power fantasy of being able to augment the world around you, in ways like the deck of many things allows, as well as turning ordinary playing cards into mystical bolts of pure energy capable of dishing out incredible damage. Using this subclass you will be able to take a Royal Suit based on your alignment and use the features you gain to turn yourself into any Casino’s nightmare. You may want to pick up the Card Throw cantrip as it is integral to many of the perks and abilities of this subclass.

At further levels in this class you will gain access to the Deck of 52 Fates. A feature which allows you to bend the laws of nature in helpful (and sometimes unhelpful) ways by drawing a card from a deck of ethereal cards and using the class’ table to determine the card’s effects. You will want to keep a well shuffled deck of cards at the table to use as a prop for this feature. Now pull up a chair and let’s deal you in.

Royal Suit

   Beginning 3rd level, you gain access to a Royal Suit. Upon choosing this subclass at level 3 you must roll a d4 die and use the table below to determine your Suit. You may attempt to change your Royal Suit by trying this roll again after a long rest. Your Royal Suit will determine the damage type you use for the Card Throw cantrip and will give you resistance to the same type. Additionally, when you use your Deck of 52 Fates and draw a card whose suit matches your own, you may draw a second card and choose which card you use. Both of the cards you draw must be discarded when you draw any cards in this way.

Roll	Suit	Suit Damage
1	Hearts	Radiant
2	Diamonds	Fire
3	Spades	Cold
4	Clubs	Necrotic

Clubs • Necrotic

You now have the Royal Suit of Clubs. You are resistant to Necrotic damage and can choose to use Necrotic damage as your damage type when using the Card Throw cantrip. Additionally, when you use your Deck of 52 Fates and draw a card whose suit matches your own, you may draw a second card and choose which card you use. Both cards must be discarded when you draw a card in this way.

Diamonds • Fire

You now have the Royal Suit of Diamonds. You are resistant to Fire damage and can choose to use Fire damage as your damage type when using the Card Throw cantrip. Additionally, when you use your Deck of 52 Fates and draw a card whose suit matches your own, you may draw a second card and choose which card you use. Both cards must be discarded when you draw a card in this way.

Hearts • Radiant

You now have the Hearts Royal Suit. You are resistant to Radiant damage and can choose to use Radiant damage as your damage type when using the Card Throw cantrip. Additionally, when you use your Deck of 52 Fates and draw a card whose suit matches your own, you may draw a second card and choose which card you use. Both cards must be discarded when you draw a card in this way.

Spades • Cold

You now have the Royal Suit of Spades. You are resistant to Cold damage and can choose to use Cold damage as your damage type when using the Card Throw cantrip. Additionally, when you use your Deck of 52 Fates and draw a card whose suit matches your own, you may draw a second card and choose which card you use. Both cards must be discarded when you draw a card in this way.

Arcane Dealer

Upon choosing this College at 3rd level, you become proficent in the Sleight of Hand and Deception skills. Additionally, you gain special use of the Card Throw cantrip. When using this cantrip as a College of the Royale Bard, you may change the damage type of the spell to match that of your Royal Suit. 

 

*In the absence of the Card Throw cantrip, use the Eldritch Blast cantrip for this subclass’ features and effects. Simply lower the range to 90ft. Be sure to convert the damage type to match your Royal Suit*

Deck of 52 Fates

   Starting at 6th level, you gain access to the Deck of 52 Fates, a world bending font of magical power which your Bard College provides you.

    The Deck of 52 Fates requires the use of a standard deck of cards minus both of the “Joker” cards. You may pull from the deck once per turn as a bonus action and can use this feature an amount equal to half your Bard level rounded down. You regain all charges after a long rest.

    Many of the cards will cast spells, these spells will not count against your spell slots or spells known. When a spell you cast with this feature require a saving throw, use your Bard Spell Save DC in these cases. Charisma is your spellcasting modifier for all of these spells and effects. If a spell normally requires concentration, it doesn’t require concentration in this case; the spell lasts for its full duration.

    At the start of each game you should hand your DM your deck of cards, (your DM may choose to keep these behind his/her screen until use) your DM can look over and shuffle the cards as needed. When you draw a card from the deck, the card must be put aside until a long rest is completed, you may not ever draw the same card twice without DM permission. If you draw a card whose suit matches your Royal Suit, you may draw a second card and can choose which card you use. Both of the cards you draw must be discarded when you draw any cards in this way. Once you have finished a long rest, reshuffle the used cards back into the deck.

 

Use the following table to determine the effects of the card you draw:

Card	Effect
Ace of Hearts	Instantly restore HP equal to half of your health point maximum.
Two of Hearts	A creature of your choice within 30 feet has hair grow uncontrollably all over their body.
Three of Hearts	You cast Mirror Image.
Four of Hearts	You have advantage on all Charisma based checks and Saving Throws for 1 minute.
Five of Hearts	You regain all expended 1st level spell slots.
Six of Hearts	You cast Mass Healing Word.
Seven of Hearts	1d6+1 rabbits controlled by the DM begin hopping out of you clothes. The rabbits disappear after 1 minute.
Eight of Hearts	The next creature you damage with an attack or spell gains the effects of the Shield spell.
Nine of Hearts	You instantly swap the time of day. If it was night it is now day, if it was day it is now night although time has not moved forward at all.
Ten of Hearts	You regain 2d10 hit points.
Jack of Hearts	You cast Death Ward on the next creature you hit with an attack or spell.
Queen of Hearts	You inspire all allies within 30ft of you without using any bardic inspiration, however these die will expire at the start of your next turn.
King of Hearts	Maximize the healing of the next healing spell you cast within the next minute.
Ace of Diamonds	You regain expended charges of bardic inspiration.
Two of Diamonds	Roll a d10. A creature of your choice within 30 feet has their age change by a number of years equal to the roll. If the roll is odd, they get younger. If the roll is even, they get older.
Three of Diamonds	1d6 pixies, which are controlled by the DM, appear all around you and begin destroying any books they can find.
Four of Diamonds	Loud Jazz music begins playing from inside you for the next minute, whenever you speak all that is heard is loud music.
Five of Diamonds	You cast Arcane Hand, however you may only command the Hand to dance or move.
Six of Diamonds	You cast Prestidigitation over an area covering 60 feet. Any grime on items, clothes, terrain, or creatures is cleaned. All torches and sconces are lit.
Seven of Diamonds	You cast Crown of Stars.
Eight of Diamonds	Any Copper items you are holding turn to gold. Magic items which are not artifacts are also effected by this spell and lose their power when turning to gold.
Nine of Diamonds	You begin to glow bright with light for 1 minute. Creatures within 15ft of you are blinded until they move out of range.
Ten of Diamonds	You cast Alter Self on yourself to change your race to be that of the last humanoid you spoke to. If the race is the same as yours, your gender changes instead. This effect lasts until a Remove Curse spell reverses this change.
Jack of Diamonds	An amount of Platinum coins equal to your maximum hit points showers you.
Queen of Diamonds	You cast Mass Suggestion.
King of Diamonds	Your allies gain the maximum bonus from your bardic inspiration dies for the next minute.
Ace of Spades	You can take one additional action immediately.
Two of Spades	You cast See Invisibility.
Three of Spades	You teleport to a shaded area within 60ft that you can see. You leave a silent image of yourself shivering like you are cold where you once were.
Four of Spades	You may use your reaction twice per turn for the next minute.
Five of Spades	You begin crying profusely for the next minute however your tears give the effects of a Greater Restoration spell.
Six of Spades	The range of spells you cast is doubled for the next minute. For the duration, touch range spells may be cast as if they were ranged spells to a distance of 15ft.
Seven of Spades	You cast Invisibility on the next allied creature you affect with your spells or features.
Eight of Spades	Creatures have disadvantage on saving throws against the next spell you cast in the next minute that involves a saving throw.
Nine of Spades	You may use the Help action as a free action to a range of 30ft for the next minute.
Ten of Spades	You cast Protection from Evil and Good on yourself.
Jack of Spades	The next enemy you hit with your Card Throw feature will be forced to teleport and trade places with you.
Queen of Spades	All undead creatures within 60ft of you are frightened of you for 1 minute.
King of Spades	For the next minute, all your spells with a casting time of 1 action have a casting time of 1 bonus action.
Ace of Clubs	Each creature within 30 feet of you takes 1d10 necrotic damage. You regain hit points equal to the sum of the necrotic damage dealt.
Two of Clubs	The next time any creature within 60ft of you regains hit points, they instead take necrotic damage equal to half of the healing they would have received.
Three of Clubs	The next creature you hit with an attack or spell within 1 minute will be poisoned for 1d4 hours.
Four of Clubs	You cast Cloud of Daggers centered on yourself, however the daggers are replaced with clubs which deal bludgeoning damage.
Five of Clubs	The next time you cast your Card Throw feature, you cast it twice.
Six of Clubs	The ground in a 30ft radius around you is set on fire. Until the start of your next turn, all creatures take 2d6 fire damage when starting their turn in this radius.
Seven of Clubs	For the next minute, when you move on your turn you do not prove opportunity attacks.
Eight of Clubs	The next time an ally which you can see takes damage, you damage equal to your ally however you are both resistant to the damage.
Nine of Clubs	You are frightened of all other creatures until a lesser restoration or equivalent spell is cast on you.
Ten of Clubs	All creatures within 60ft of you become resistant to all damage until the start of your next turn.
Jack of Clubs	You cast Silence centered on yourself and are immune to it’s effects.
Queen of Clubs	Draw two more cards.
King of Clubs	Maximize the damage of the next damaging spell you cast within the next minute.

 

Hidden Hand

At 14th level, you may choose exactly which card you would like to pull from the deck the next time you use your Deck of 52 Fates feature, so long as the card you choose has not been played since your last long rest you will pull that card. You can use this feature once and regain use of it after a long rest.