Gambit

An elderly gnome, an eloquent elf, a hulking half-orc and a suave gentleman all sit at table. A crowd gathers around it and gaze at the large pile of copper, silver and gold pieces that form a pile in the middle. The four people all take another look at each of their five cards, and begin eyeing off each other. The gnome throws down his cards and decrees "Kings! Top that!". "If you insist." retorts the elf, as she displays here three 9s to the gnome. The half-orc chortles to himself, "Heh, not this time m'lady. Three 10s!". The crowd murmurs in anticipation, as the elven woman stares daggers at the half-orc man, who is still basking in his own pride. The crowd and the three players all turn to the final player, who hasn't looked at them in some time. "Well? Show us then." demands the half-orc, as the gnome tries to slyly reach for a loose gold piece on the table. The man looks up with a smug grin on his face. "A'right then. Tens are pretty hard to beat, but I think my Kings and Queens might have something to say about that." The half-orc grabs the mans cards and flips them over. Three Kings and Two Queens: A full house. "You...you cheating dirty little. C'mere!". The half-orc explodes out of his seat, catapulting it several feet away. The man, as quick as a flash, grabs his winning cards and arranges them in his right hand. The crowd start boxing them in together, half expecting a fight (or at least a good show). But suddenly, a dazzling array of lights started to flicker from the cards in the man's hand. The half-orc charges him, and is about to get a hold of him until the man rolls out of the way and, in quick succession, throws all five cards square into the back of the half-orc's head. The half-orc groans as the loud impacts of the quick moving cards send him crashing to the ground, and out like a light. The man composes himself, moves back over to the table and starts sweeping the pot into his bag. "Well, that w's interesting, hey? Listen don't be strangers, 'kay? I'm free to clean you lot out any night of the week." The man shoots the gnome and elf a wink, pushes his way over the half-orc and the crowd, flicks a gold to the annoyed bartender, and strolls off into the night.

Poker Face

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Deception and Insight skills if you don’t already have it. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses either of those proficiencies.

Cardistry

When you choose this archetype at 3rd level, regular old playing cards become a weapon of death to you. You gain proficiency with playing cards if you didn't have it already. Playing cards are light, ranged weapons, and can be thrown up to 30 feet, or up to 100 feet with disadvantage. If they hit, they deal 1d4 + dexterity slashing damage. The damage die for a playing card increases to 1d6 at 7th level, 1d8 at 13th level, and 1d10 at 17th level.

You also gain the ability to empower your cards with additional power. Before you make an attack with your playing cards, you can declare that you are making a "Gambit attack". These attacks are considered to be magical. If the attack hits, roll a d6 and consult the chart below:

1. The card bursts into flames, and deals an additional 1d12 fire damage
2. The card zooms even faster through the air, and deals an additional 1d12 slashing damage.
3. The card makes an almighty bang as it hits the target, and deals an additional 1d12 thunder damage.
4. The card strikes with a reverberating thump, and deals an additional 1d12 force damage.
5. The card erupts in a cloud a green gas in the target's face, and deals an additional 1d12 poison damage.
6. The card freezes over with ice, and deals an additional 1d12 cold damage.

If you roll a natural 20 on a Gambit attack, the card deals its critical hit damage and rebounds off the target. You immediately make one more Gambit attack against the same target. This Gambit attack does not count against your quota of Gambit attacks. You may only use this trait once per turn.

You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier per short rest.

 

Top Deck

At 7th level, you can stack the deck in your favour before combat arises. After a long rest, you can roll on the Gambit Attack table a number of times up to your Charisma modifier and store the outcomes for later use. Before your next long rest, whenever you make a Gambit attack you can choose one of your previous outcomes instead of rolling on the table. Each individual outcome may only be used once, and each outcome is expended regardless of whether your Gambit attack hits or not.

Cut the Deck

At 13th level, your cards become so sharp they start causing profuse bleeding on your more violent attacks.Whenever you score a critical hit on one of your playing card attacks, the target takes half of the total damage of that attack as necrotic damage at the start of their next turn.

Ace in the Hole

At 17th level, when you enter combat with no uses of your Gambit attacks left, you regain one use. Additionally, you learn to be able to throw a handful of cards at once. Once per day as an action, you can make four playing card attacks at a target, all of which are Gambit attacks and do not count against your uses of Gambit attacks.