Tricks of the Trade

When you join the College of Trickery at 3rd level, you gain the skills needed to deceive and trick without the use of magic. You gain proficiency in either the Deception or Sleight of Hand skill. If you already have proficiency in the chosen skill, you instead double your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make that uses the chosen skill.

In addition, you also gain proficiency in one gaming set of your choice, which you can use as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

 

Arcane Strike

 

At 6th level, you have mastered integrating weapon attacks with magic casting. When you use your action to cast a spell, you can make one weapon attack as a bonus action.

Illusory Decoy

 

Beginning at 14th level, you can use a Bardic inspiration to create an illusory duplicate of yourself and disappear as an instant, almost instinctual reaction to danger. 

Trickster Makes This World

By 14th level, your mastery of the art of trickery has granted you the ability to prepare the casting of a spell as you use your Deck of Tricks. When you use your action to cast a spell, expend a Bardic inspiration you can use a bonus action to pull a card from the deck and bestow its effects as a bonus action. 

Tricks of the Trade

When you join the College of Trickery at 3rd level, you gain the skills needed to deceive and trick without the use of magic. You gain proficiency in either the Deception or Sleight of Hand skill. If you already have proficiency in the chosen skill, you instead double your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make that uses the chosen skill.

In addition, you also gain proficiency in one gaming set of your choice, which you can use as a spellcasting focus for your bard spells.

 

Deck of Tricks

Starting at 3rd level, you learn the esoteric incantations of your college that are required to create an enchanted deck of cards known as The Deck of Tricks, which serves as your primary instrument of mischief. The deck consists of cards corresponding to an effect on the Deck of Tricks Cards table (as detailed below), as well as a holster for the cards. The number of card effects available to you increases as your Bardic Inspiration die changes and as you gain certain features in this subclass.

You can expend one use of your Bardic Inspiration as an action to draw a card at random from the holster (you must have a free hand available in order to do this). When you do so, roll on the Deck of Tricks Cards table using your Bardic Inspiration die to determine the card you draw. You can draw a card without being noticed by a creature if you succeed on a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check contested by the creature's Wisdom (Perception) check.

When you draw a card, you choose one creature you can see within 60 feet of you (this can be you). The card's magic then takes effect on that creature, after which the card disappears from your hand and returns to the holster. You can only have one of these card effects active at a time, and rolling on the Deck of Tricks Cards table immediately ends the effect of the previous card. If a card's effects require a saving throw, the DC equals your spell save DC.

You determine the appearance of the holster, as well as the number of cards in the deck (minimum equal to your Bardic Inspiration die). Some decks are ornate and contain 12 cards, while others are an inconspicuous leather box that contain the standard set of 52 cards. Most are worn at the hip, though some are designed to be hidden within one's attire. As part of the deck's enchantments, the faces of the cards are ever-changing while inside the holster, and the backs of the cards cannot be marked, thus prevening you from ever knowing which card you will draw next. In addition, the cards can only be drawn or removed from the deck by you, and will disappear and return to the holster if moved more than 5 feet from it. Should the holster ever not be on your person, you can instantly summon it to your hand as an action.

You can create a new Deck of Tricks by performing a 1-hour ceremony that transforms a set of playing cards and a card holster into a new Deck of Tricks. This ceremony can be performed during a short or long rest, and it destroys the previous deck.

Fortuitous Mayhem

 

By 6th level, your improved proficiency in creating disorder grants you more control when drawing from the Deck of Tricks, as well as a new card. When you roll on the Deck of Tricks table, you can roll the die twice and choose which of the effects to bestow. 

In addition, if you roll the same number on both dice, you draw a special card from your Deck of Tricks: The Trickster. You choose whether to bestow the effects of the number rolled on the table, or the effects of The Trickster card (as detailed in the Deck of Tricks table). The effects of The Trickster card do not end when you roll on the Deck of Tricks table to bestow the effects of another card.