College of Games

Every battlefield is an arena. Every encounter is another match. And every great player knows that the right move can change everything.

Game Magic is one of Gaia’s most extraordinary magical traditions. Through structured play, game pieces and imagined events can acquire physical substance. A painted miniature might rise from its base and charge into battle. A trading card might manifest a living dragon. A racing game’s impossible vehicles might roar into existence, while the pieces of an elaborate strategy game become a miniature army.

The College of Games teaches Bards to transform this versatile tradition into an adventuring art. Its practitioners include competitive card duelists, miniature wargamers, robot battlers, enchanted-toy enthusiasts, and countless other specialists. Their equipment and presentation differ enormously, but they share an understanding of the relationship between rules, performance, strategy, and magic.

Members of the College prepare collections of magical game effects, represented by a deck, roster, set of command tokens, or similar equipment. They draw upon their available options, gather resources, summon temporary allies, prepare spectacular reversals, and occasionally discover that the perfect answer was waiting at the top of their deck.

Duskharbor is the spiritual home of the College of Games, although its graduates are found throughout Gaia and the wider Euphoria.

Level 3: Bonus Proficiencies

You gain proficiency with three skills of your choice.

Level 3: Game Magic

You gain proficiency with one Gaming Set of your choice and can use that set as a Spellcasting Focus for your Bard spells and College of Games features.

You also learn the Minor Illusion cantrip. It counts as a Bard cantrip for you but doesn’t count against the number of cantrips you know.

Your Gaming Set might consist of an enchanted card deck, a collection of miniatures, a compact game board, a set of miniature robots, or any other equipment suitable for your chosen game. During adventuring encounters, you can produce and manipulate your game pieces as readily as another spellcaster handles a wand or staff. Your game need not ordinarily be playable with cards.

You have mastered a specialized form of Game Magic called Cardcasting, described below. Despite its name, Cardcasting is simply the common rules framework used to represent the College’s abilities; it doesn’t restrict the equipment or magical manifestations available to you.

Game Magic and Ordinary Spells

You retain your normal Bard spellcasting abilities. Your game can serve as the focus for those spells, and their appearance may reflect your chosen game.

Alternatively, you can expend Bard spell slots to power your Cardcasting abilities. This allows you to rely almost entirely on Game Magic without giving up the spell slots granted by your Bard class.

When you expend a spell slot to play a card, that play counts as casting a Bard spell of the expended slot’s level. It has Verbal, Somatic, and Material components, with your Gaming Set serving as the Material component. It can be interrupted by effects such as Counterspell and follows the normal restrictions on casting spells using spell slots.

Card effects paid for with Arcane Charge or Bardic Inspiration are magical class features, not spells. They can’t be interrupted with Counterspell.

All attacks and saving throws produced by your Cardcasting use your Bard spell attack modifier and spell save DC unless a feature states otherwise.

Arcane Deck

You organize your Game Magic into a collection of twenty-four prepared game effects, collectively called your Arcane Deck.

These may be actual cards or any equivalent game pieces that can be randomly selected and tracked. A miniature wargamer might use command cards corresponding to particular figures. A robot battler might use activation programs. A player who doesn’t wish to carry physical equipment can use numbered index cards or a digital deck.

Every entry in your Arcane Deck belongs to one of six archetypes:

• Resource. Generates Arcane Charge and supports subsequent plays.
• Creature. Summons temporary combatants or living game pieces.
• Spell. Produces direct magical effects.
• Trap. Responds to enemy actions or prepared triggers.
• Enchantment. Provides ongoing enhancements or hindrances.
• Artifact. Creates magical structures, devices, and installations.

Constructing Your Deck

When you gain this feature, construct an Arcane Deck containing twenty-four entries. It must contain at least four Resource entries and at least two entries of each other archetype. The remaining ten entries can belong to whichever archetypes you prefer.

You can include up to four copies of an identical entry. Two entries are identical if they have the same archetype and the same choices from that archetype’s available effects and traits.

For each entry, choose its specific effect from the Cardcasting rules and assign an appropriate card, piece, illustration, or other representation to it.

You can rebuild your deck whenever you finish a Long Rest. This allows you to change its composition, replace individual effects, or adopt an entirely different gaming strategy.

Drawing Your Hand

When you roll Initiative and your Arcane Deck isn’t already active, shuffle it and draw five entries. This is your starting hand.

At the start of each of your turns, draw one entry from your deck. You can hold a maximum of seven entries in your hand. If you have more than seven at the end of your turn, discard enough to reach seven.

When you play an entry, move it to your discard pile once its immediate effect is resolved. An entry placed on the battlefield as a set Trap instead remains set until triggered or otherwise removed.

If you must draw while your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile into a new deck before drawing. Entries currently set aside as Traps aren’t included in that shuffle.

Mulligan

Immediately after drawing your starting hand, you can choose any number of entries in it and shuffle them back into your deck. Draw an equal number of replacements.

You can mulligan once each time you begin a new game.

Cycling Your Hand

As a Bonus Action, you can discard one entry from your hand and draw a replacement.

You can’t use this Bonus Action on the same turn that you play a Resource entry, since both activities require your Bonus Action.

Games Outside Combat

You can begin an Arcane Deck game outside Initiative by spending 1 minute preparing your Gaming Set, shuffling your deck, and drawing five entries. You then follow the normal drawing and action rules, treating every six seconds as one turn.

If 1 minute passes without you playing an entry or maintaining an effect created by your Arcane Deck, your game ends. Shuffle your hand and discard pile back into your deck, return your set entries to the deck, and lose any remaining Arcane Charge.

Beginning a new game doesn’t restore expended spell slots or Bardic Inspiration.

CardCasting

Cardcasting — Full Description

Your Arcane Deck lets you spend magical resources to manifest the effects represented by the entries in your hand.

Most archetypes have two modes of play: a modest effect fueled by Arcane Charge and a more powerful effect fueled by a spell slot.

Your available spell slots determine how much power you can invest in a play. You don’t need to know or prepare a corresponding Bard spell to use an Arcane Deck effect.

Arcane Charge

Arcane Charge represents the resources generated by your game: mana, elemental energy, command points, batteries, ammunition, reserve dice, or whatever equivalent your chosen game employs.

You can hold a maximum amount of Arcane Charge equal to your Proficiency Bonus.

You generate Arcane Charge primarily by playing Resource entries. Whenever you play a Resource, you gain 1 Arcane Charge, up to your maximum.

Unspent Arcane Charge disappears when your Arcane Deck game ends. It can’t be converted into spell slots, Bardic Inspiration, money, permanent materials, or other resources.

Playing Entries

You must be able to manipulate your Gaming Set to play an entry.

Each archetype specifies its action and available effects. If an effect requires a spell slot, you expend that slot when you play the entry. If it requires Arcane Charge, you spend the specified amount when you play it.

An entry that you can’t afford remains in your hand until you play or discard it.

Unless an effect states otherwise, you can maintain only one persistent Creature, one persistent Enchantment, and one Artifact created through Cardcasting at a time. Playing a new entry of one of those archetypes ends your previous effect of the same archetype.

Normal Concentration rules also apply. In particular, you ordinarily can’t maintain a persistent Creature and a persistent Enchantment simultaneously because both require Concentration.

Resource

Bonus Action

Resource entries represent the energy, materials, tactical reserves, or other resources necessary to play your game.

When you play a Resource entry, gain 1 Arcane Charge, up to your maximum, and apply the secondary effect assigned to that entry when you constructed your deck.

A Resource entry goes to your discard pile after its effects resolve.

Your Resource effects can reflect the imagery of your game. An elemental energy card might generate Spark, a supply depot might provide Shelter, and a tactical command token might produce Insight.

Creature

Magic Action · Summoning

Creature entries summon temporary allies based on monsters, characters, machines, soldiers, or other figures represented in your game.

A Creature entry has a role and a signature trait, chosen when you construct your deck.

Charged Play: Flash Summon

Spend 1 Arcane Charge to summon a brief manifestation in an unoccupied space you can see within 60 feet.

The manifestation immediately makes one melee spell attack against a creature within 5 feet of it. On a hit, the target takes Force damage equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Charisma modifier.

The manifestation then disappears.

Flash Summon doesn’t benefit from the Creature entry’s role or signature trait. Playing it doesn’t require Concentration.

Spell-Slot Play: Persistent Summon

Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher to summon a manifestation in an unoccupied space on a surface you can see within 60 feet.

The manifestation uses the Game Piece statistics below. Its Hit Points and damage depend partly on the level of the spell slot expended.

It lasts for up to 1 minute while you maintain Concentration, or until it drops to 0 Hit Points. Summoning another persistent Game Piece ends the previous one.

The manifestation can make one attack as part of the Magic action used to summon it.

On subsequent turns, you can move it up to its Speed during your turn without using an action. As a Bonus Action, you can command it to make one attack or take the Dash, Disengage, or Help action. Otherwise, it takes the Dodge action.

It acts on your Initiative and obeys your commands. It has no independent spell slots, equipment, or abilities beyond those provided by its Game Piece statistics, role, and signature trait.

Game Piece

Small or Medium creature; type appropriate to its depiction

• Armor Class: 12 + your Proficiency Bonus
• Hit Points: 5 + three times your Bard level + five times the expended spell slot’s level
• Speed: 30 feet
• Ability Checks and Saving Throws: +0, unless another feature provides a modifier

Game Piece Attack. Melee Spell Attack: Your Bard spell attack modifier to hit, reach 5 feet, one target. Hit: 1d8 + your Charisma modifier + the expended spell slot’s level Force damage, or another damage type permitted by its signature trait.

The Game Piece can’t cast spells, use magic items, or manipulate complex equipment. It understands your instructions and can communicate in whatever limited manner suits its manifestation.

It disappears when its summoning ends, leaving behind no usable equipment, treasure, or remains.

Creature Roles

Choose one role for each Creature entry when constructing your deck.

Signature Traits

Choose one signature trait for each Creature entry when constructing your deck.

The Creature’s artwork and identity determine its appearance, while its role and signature trait determine its mechanical capabilities.

A player might use Formation to manifest a regiment of painted knights, Flying to summon a winged monster, or Elemental to deploy an experimental combat robot armed with a lightning weapon.

Even a visually enormous or legendary creature uses only the statistics granted by the card. A Game Piece resembling an Eidolon isn’t an actual Eidolon.

Spell

Magic Action

Spell entries represent direct magical effects, including attacks, restorative abilities, battlefield alterations, and extraordinary maneuvers.

Each Spell entry has one of the following four designs, chosen when you construct your deck. If its design deals damage, choose a damage type appropriate to its appearance from Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Necrotic, Poison, Psychic, Radiant, or Thunder.

Strike

A concentrated magical attack against a single target.

Charged Play. Spend 1 Arcane Charge and make a ranged spell attack against one creature within 60 feet. On a hit, it takes damage equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Charisma modifier.

Spell-Slot Play. Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher and make a ranged spell attack against one creature within 60 feet. On a hit, it takes 3d8 damage, plus 1d8 for each slot level above 1.

Burst

An explosion, sweeping attack, magical storm, or other effect that strikes multiple targets.

Charged Play. Spend 1 Arcane Charge and choose a point you can see within 60 feet. Creatures of your choice within a 5-foot-radius Sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Bard spell save DC. Each takes damage equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.

Spell-Slot Play. Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher and choose a point you can see within 60 feet. Creatures of your choice within a 10-foot-radius Sphere centered on that point must make a Dexterity saving throw. Each takes 2d6 damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one. The damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1.

Restoration

A healing ability, regenerative technique, or protective effect.

Charged Play. Spend 1 Arcane Charge and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet. It gains Temporary Hit Points equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Charisma modifier. These Temporary Hit Points last for 1 minute.

Spell-Slot Play. Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet. It regains Hit Points equal to 2d6 + your Charisma modifier. The healing increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1. This healing has no effect on Undead or Constructs.

Transposition

A spectacular repositioning technique, teleportation effect, or sudden tactical maneuver.

Charged Play. Spend 1 Arcane Charge and choose one willing creature you can see within 60 feet. It can use its Reaction to move up to 10 feet without provoking Opportunity Attacks. This movement must use a movement mode the creature possesses.

Spell-Slot Play. Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher and choose two willing creatures you can see within 60 feet. If they’re within 30 feet of one another, they can immediately exchange positions, teleporting into one another’s spaces. Both creatures must be able to fit in their destination spaces.

Trap

Reaction or Bonus Action, as specified

Trap entries represent prepared counterattacks, hidden hazards, ambushes, and defensive tricks.

Unlike the other archetypes, Traps are powered primarily by Bardic Inspiration. When you activate a Trap, expend one use of Bardic Inspiration or spend 2 Arcane Charge. Roll your Bardic Inspiration die to determine the Trap’s effects, regardless of which resource you spent.

Each Trap entry has one of the three designs below, chosen when you construct your deck.

Playing and Setting Traps

A Trap’s description specifies its triggering event.

You can activate a Negation or Reversal entry directly from your hand as a Reaction when its trigger occurs.

Alternatively, you can use a Bonus Action to set any Trap entry from your hand. A set Trap remains prepared for 1 minute, until you activate it, or until you set another Trap.

When you set a Trap, you choose its location or protective assignment, as appropriate to its design. A set Trap activates when its trigger occurs, without requiring your Reaction. You must still expend Bardic Inspiration or Arcane Charge to activate it, and you must be conscious and not Incapacitated.

You may decline to activate a set Trap when its trigger occurs. If you do, it remains set until a subsequent qualifying trigger or until its duration expires.

You can normally have only one Trap set at a time.

Negation

Trigger: A creature you can see within 30 feet takes damage from an attack.

A defensive creature, countermeasure, barrier, or equivalent effect intercepts the attack.

Reduce the triggering damage by one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Charisma modifier, to a minimum of 0.

If you set Negation in advance, choose one creature within 30 feet when you set it. The Trap remains assigned to that creature. It can activate when the assigned creature takes damage from an attack, provided it remains within 30 feet of you.

Snare

Trigger: A creature hostile to you enters a designated space or starts its turn there.

Snare must be set in advance.

When you set it, choose an unoccupied 5-foot square on a surface you can see within 60 feet. A magical hazard appears there, visible as an effect appropriate to your game.

The first hostile creature that enters the square or starts its turn there must make a Dexterity saving throw against your Bard spell save DC when you activate the Trap.

On a failed save, it takes Force damage equal to two rolls of your Bardic Inspiration die, and its Speed becomes 0 until the end of its current turn.

On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and suffers no movement restriction.

Snare disappears after it activates.

Reversal

Trigger: An enemy you can see within 30 feet misses you or an ally with an attack.

Your game produces a spectacular counterattack, unexpected reinforcement, or sudden reversal of fortune.

The attacking creature must make a Strength saving throw against your Bard spell save DC.

On a failed save, it takes Force damage equal to one roll of your Bardic Inspiration die plus your Charisma modifier, and you can push it up to 10 feet horizontally.

On a successful save, the creature suffers neither effect.

If you set Reversal in advance, choose one creature within 30 feet when you set it. The Trap remains assigned to that creature and can activate when an enemy misses that creature with an attack, provided the creature remains within 30 feet of you.

Enchantment

Magic Action

Enchantment entries apply ongoing magical effects to allies or enemies.

A beneficial Enchantment might represent upgraded equipment, increased statistics, a magical attachment, or a special power granted to one of your game pieces. A harmful Enchantment might represent a curse, weakened defenses, or another debilitating condition.

Each Enchantment entry is either a Blessing or a Hex, chosen when you construct your deck.

Blessing

Charged Play. Spend 1 Arcane Charge and choose one willing creature you can see within 60 feet. Before the start of your next turn, that creature can add 1d4 to one attack roll or saving throw it makes.

Spell-Slot Play. Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher and choose one willing creature you can see within 60 feet. For up to 1 minute while you maintain Concentration, the creature gains the following benefits: its Speed increases by 10 feet, and once on each of its turns, it can add 1d4 to one attack roll or saving throw it makes.

When you expend a spell slot of level 3 or higher, you can affect one additional creature for every two slot levels above 1, to a maximum of three creatures.

Hex

Charged Play. Spend 1 Arcane Charge and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet. It must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your Bard spell save DC or subtract 1d4 from the next attack roll it makes before the start of your next turn.

Spell-Slot Play. Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher and choose one creature you can see within 60 feet. It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your Bard spell save DC.

On a failed save, its Speed is reduced by 10 feet, and it must subtract 1d4 from the first attack roll it makes on each of its turns.

The effect lasts for up to 1 minute while you maintain Concentration. The affected creature repeats the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

When you expend a spell slot of level 3 or higher, you can target one additional creature for every two slot levels above 1, to a maximum of three creatures.

Each target makes its own saving throws.

Artifact

Magic Action

Artifact entries create persistent magical structures, equipment, machines, or environmental installations.

An Artifact might appear as a defensive tower from a miniature wargame, a battlefield generator, an enormous magical card, a repair station, or a device based on one of your game’s most recognizable pieces.

Artifacts are objects, not creatures. They can be attacked, damaged, and destroyed.

Charged Play: Temporary Barrier

Spend 1 Arcane Charge to create a magical barrier in an unoccupied 5-foot space on a surface you can see within 60 feet.

The barrier is a Medium object with AC equal to 12 + your Proficiency Bonus and Hit Points equal to 5 + your Bard level.

It provides Half Cover to creatures appropriately positioned behind it and remains until the start of your next turn or until reduced to 0 Hit Points.

You can have only one Temporary Barrier or persistent Artifact created through Cardcasting at a time.

Spell-Slot Play: Persistent Artifact

Expend a spell slot of level 1 or higher to manifest a magical structure in an unoccupied 5-foot space on a surface you can see within 60 feet.

The Artifact is a Medium magical object with the following statistics:

Persistent Artifact

• Armor Class: 13 + your Proficiency Bonus
• Hit Points: 10 + twice your Bard level + five times the expended spell slot’s level
• Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
• Duration: 1 minute, or until reduced to 0 Hit Points

A Persistent Artifact occupies its space and provides Half Cover to creatures appropriately positioned behind it. It can’t move unless another feature explicitly allows it to do so.

Each Artifact entry has one of the following three designs, chosen when you construct your deck.

Bastion

A defensive structure that protects nearby allies.

When you summon Bastion and at the start of each of your subsequent turns, you can choose one willing creature within 10 feet of it. That creature gains Temporary Hit Points equal to your Charisma modifier plus the expended spell slot’s level.

These Temporary Hit Points last for 1 minute.

Turret

An automated weapon that fires upon your enemies.

When you summon Turret, you can immediately make one ranged spell attack originating from its space against a creature within 60 feet of it.

On a hit, the target takes 1d8 + your Charisma modifier + the expended spell slot’s level Force damage.

On subsequent turns, you can use a Bonus Action to command the Turret to make this attack again.

The Turret can’t make Opportunity Attacks or independently select targets.

Relay

A magical installation that supports your game’s resource economy.

While you are within 30 feet of Relay, whenever you play a Resource entry, you generate 1 additional Arcane Charge, up to your normal maximum.

Once on each of your turns when you play a Resource entry within 30 feet of Relay, you can also choose one willing creature within 10 feet of it. That creature can immediately move up to 5 feet without provoking Opportunity Attacks.

The Relay doesn’t independently generate Arcane Charge and can’t increase your normal maximum.

Level 6: Heart of the Cards

You’ve learned that victory sometimes depends upon recognizing exactly what your game needs—and trusting yourself to find it.

Once per Short or Long Rest, at the start of your turn, you can declare one of the six Cardcasting archetypes and reveal the top five entries of your Arcane Deck. If at least one revealed entry belongs to your declared archetype, choose one of them and add it to your hand. Otherwise, choose any one of the revealed entries and add it to your hand.

Shuffle the remaining revealed entries back into your deck.

You can then discard up to two entries from your hand and draw an equal number of replacements.

Using Heart of the Cards requires no action. It doesn’t expend Bardic Inspiration, and the normal seven-entry hand limit still applies at the end of your turn.

If fewer than five entries remain in your deck, reveal as many as are available. You can reshuffle your discard pile into your deck beforehand if your deck is empty.

Tactical Hand

Your understanding of combinations and counterplay allows you to make more efficient use of your Game Magic.

Whenever you expend a spell slot to play a Creature, Spell, Enchantment, or Artifact entry, you can draw one entry and then discard one entry from your hand. You can do so once on each of your turns.

Additionally, when a creature succeeds on a saving throw against your Snare or Reversal, it takes Force damage equal to your Charisma modifier, to a minimum of 1, or the damage it would normally take on a successful save, whichever is greater. It suffers no additional effect from the failed-save result.

Grand Game

You can transform the battlefield into an extraordinary magical arena drawn from the game you have spent years mastering.

As a Bonus Action, choose a point on a surface you can see within 60 feet. A magical game board manifests in a 20-foot-radius area centered on that point, extending 20 feet above the surface.

The board’s appearance reflects your chosen game. It might become a luminous card-dueling arena, a miniature battlefield expanded to enormous scale, a mechanical combat stadium, a spectral chessboard, or an impossible landscape assembled from your favorite game pieces.

The Grand Game lasts for 1 minute, until you become Incapacitated, or until you create another Grand Game. While it remains active, you gain the following benefits:

Perfect Draw. At the start of each of your turns, draw two entries instead of one. You can replace either draw by taking one entry of your choice from your discard pile and adding it to your hand.

Free Play. Once on each of your turns, when you play a Creature, Spell, Enchantment, or Artifact entry in its Charged Play mode, you can ignore its Arcane Charge cost, provided its target or the space where its effect manifests is inside your Grand Game. This benefit doesn’t grant an additional action or waive the spell-slot cost of a Spell-Slot Play.

Resource Advantage. When you play a Resource entry while inside your Grand Game, you generate 1 additional Arcane Charge, up to your normal maximum.

Expanded Traps. You can maintain two set Traps simultaneously instead of one. Each must have its designated space or assigned creature inside your Grand Game when set. A Trap benefiting from Expanded Traps can activate only while its designated space or assigned creature remains inside the board. Only one of your set Traps can activate in response to a single triggering event.

Moving the Board. On a subsequent turn, you can use a Bonus Action to move your Grand Game’s center up to 10 feet along a surface you can see. Stationary Trap glyphs and Artifacts remain where they were originally placed.

You can create a Grand Game once without expending a spell slot and regain that use when you finish a Long Rest. You can create another Grand Game by expending a spell slot of level 5 or higher.

When your Grand Game ends, choose one of your set Traps to remain, if its normal duration hasn’t expired. Any additional set Trap is discarded. Other Cardcasting effects continue for their normal durations.

The Grand Game is visible to creatures within and around it. Its appearance doesn’t obstruct vision, impede movement, or compel unwilling creatures to participate in a formal contest.