Pact of the Duelist (2024)

Warlocks who form the Pact of the Duelist do not channel their power through tomes, blades, or familiars—instead, they manifest their bond through a magical deck of cards. Each card contains the essence of a spell or a summoned creature, captured and sealed by pact-bound magic. These warlocks battle with strategic foresight and theatrical flair, drawing cards into their hand and playing them to devastating effect.

Duelist warlocks often serve enigmatic powers tied to fate, death, or forgotten legacies. Some seek out lost artifacts or ancient relics that deepen their connection to their deck. Others view combat as a sacred rite or a performance—one in which they always plan to deal the final blow.

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Pact of the Duelist Features

Level 3: Duelist's Deck

 

3rd-level Pact of the Duelist feature

Your patron has gifted you a magical deck of cards, each holding the essence of a spell or a creature. You gain a Dueling Deck and a Duel Disk, an arcane focus shaped like a magical device used to activate your cards.

• Duel Disk: While wearing your Duel Disk, you may ignore material components of spells that are consumed or have a gold cost.

• Dueling Deck: At the end of a long rest, you prepare a Dueling Deck of 20 cards:

  • Spell Cards: Choose 10 warlock cantrips and spells you know from either your Pact Magic feature or Invocations Each appears once in the deck.

  • Monster Cards: Choose 10 unique creatures from a DM-approved Duelist Summon List or monster manual. Each must have a CR ≤ your proficiency bonus.

At the start of each combat, you draw 3 cards. At the start of each of your turns, you draw 1 additional card. You cannot use a card unless it is in your hand. After combat ends, discard your hand and reshuffle all expended cards into the deck.

• Spell Cards: You may cast a spell card in your hand without expending a Pact Magic slot. You must expend a slot to upcast it.

• Monster Cards: As an action, summon a creature in an unoccupied space within 30 feet. It acts on your initiative and skips it's turn unless you command it to act with a bonus action. You may command all summoned monsters you control with a single bonus action. A summoned monster:

  • Has 1 hit point

  • Loses Legendary Actions, Lair Actions, Legendary Resistances, other similar features, and can cast only one leveled spell if it knows any

  • Acts until dismissed or destroyed

  • You may only control two summoned monster at a time (see Tactical Reinforcements at 6th level)

You may replace your Dueling Deck's cards when you finish a long rest. You are not required to follow the 10:10 Spell/Monster card ratio if your DM allows flexibility.

Level 3: Negate Attack

 

3rd-level Pact of the Duelist feature

Your connection to your cards allows you to shield them from ruin. A number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest, you may do one of the following:

• Prevent a summoned monster from being destroyed.

• Prevent a Spell Card from being countered or dispelled.

Level 6: Tactical Reinforcements

 

6th-level Pact of the Duelist feature

Your mastery of the battlefield allows you to coordinate multiple creatures in perfect harmony.

• You may control up to 3 summoned monsters at once.

• When you control two or more summoned monsters of the same creature type, they gain a bonus to attack rolls, saving throws, and damage rolls equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum +1).

Level 10: Heart of the Cards

 

10th-level Pact of the Duelist feature

Once per combat, before drawing at the start of your turn, you may instead choose any card from your Dueling Deck and add it to your hand.

You must declare this choice before seeing your normal draw. At your DM’s discretion, this ability may also work with other magical decks (e.g., Deck of Many Things) if you are aware of the deck’s contents.

Level 14: Fusion Summon

 

14th-level Pact of the Duelist feature

You have unlocked the secret to merging the arcane essence of your summoned monsters into a single, powerful entity.

You gain an Extra Deck containing 4 Fusion Monsters (chosen from the Duelist Summon List or designed with DM approval). These do not count against your normal deck. Each must have a CR 7 or higher (Maximum 12.)

• As an action, you may sacrifice 2 or more summoned monsters to summon a Fusion Monster into one of their spaces.

• The Fusion Monster:

  • Has its normal hit points.

  • Retains all of its actions, traits, and spellcasting.

  • Lasts for 1 minute or until destroyed.

  • You may only control 1 Fusion Monster at a time

You can use this feature once per combat. Expended Fusion Monsters return to the Extra Deck after a long rest.