Cartomancer

Fate is an integral component of most universes. In some, it is deterministic, spelling out? in excruciating detail, mind you? the life events of each creature under its jurisdiction. These universes aren’t interesting. In others, fate is a state function, meaning that it only cares about the beginning and the end. Everything that goes on in the middle really isn’t any of its business, and what goes on in the middle does nothing to influence the endpoints. This makes fate somewhat malleable in these universes, and that just so happens to be very interesting indeed.

In universes where fate is malleable, a number of magical professions crop up that claim to have fate wrapped about their collective fingers. Some claim to have defeated death. Others claim to be able to take a being “off the grid” entirely. In the end, these claims are nothing but hot air, for the fate of all things is to die, and delaying that endpoint for a few millennia is nothing in the face of the state function of the universe. Rather than claim to manipulate the endpoints of fate, a particular brand of divine spellcaster known as cartomancers play around in the delightfully squishy center of the lifeline. Here, fate really doesn’t care what happens, and its power can be leveraged readily.

Role: Cartomancers fill a fairly unique role in a party. Using seals, portents, and fortunetelling, a cartomancer forces luck to proceed in the way she directs, blanketing her immediate surroundings with layer after layer of divinations and necromantic curses. With a cartomancer in tow, if becomes when and threats are effectively disabled long before they stop moving.

Alignment: Any. Fate is a totally amoral entity. As such, those who practice its manipulation are just as likely to be seedy con artists as they are to be snooty lawyers.

Hit Die: d6

Starting Wealth: 2d6 x 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.

Class Skills: The cartomancer’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (local) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier

Table: The Cartomancer
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Active Deck Composition (Least/Lesser/Greater) Maximum Hand Size
1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Cartomancy, Tell Fortune 4/1/0 2
2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Fatespinning, seal 5/1/0 2
3rd +1 +1 +1 +3 Self fortune 6/2/0 2
4th +2 +1 +1 +4 7/2/1 2
5th +2 +1 +1 +4 8/3/1 3
6th +3 +2 +2 +5 Seal 9/3/1 3
7th +3 +2 +2 +5 Complex fortune 10/4/1 3
8th +4 +2 +2 +6 11/4/2 3
9th +4 +3 +3 +6 Manipulate fortune 12/5/2 3
10th +5 +3 +3 +7 Seal 13/5/2 4
11th +5 +3 +3 +7 Cartomancy – duplicate least 14/6/2 4
12th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 15/6/3 4
13th +6/+1 +4 +4 +8 Heightened fortune 16/7/3 4
14th +7/+2 +4 +4 +9 Seal 17/7/3 4
15th +7/+2 +5 +5 +9 18/8/3 5
16th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 19/8/4 5
17th +8/+3 +5 +5 +10 Instant fortune 20/9/4 5
18th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Seal 21/9/4 5
19th +9/+4 +6 +6 +11 Manipulate fortune – reroll ‘1’, ’13’, ’20’ 22/10/4 5
20th +10/+5 +6 +6 +12 Cyclical fate 23/10/5 6

Class Features

Weapon Proficiency

Cartomancers are proficient with simple weapons.

Armor and Shield Proficiency

Cartomancers are proficient with light armor. If a cartomancer uses armor or a shield with which she is not proficient, her portents have a percent chance to fail equal to the arcane spell failure chance of that equipment.

Cartomancy (Sp)

A cartomancer’s primary source of power stems from her ability to manipulate fate through the use of cards. It matters not whether or not the cards are meant to be divinatory in nature, or even if she is divining with a whole deck, for it is the meaning that she gives her cards and the story that she weaves while using them that gives the cards their power. To this end, any old deck will do, so long as the cartomancer is consistent with her storytelling.

The stories of the future told by a cartomancer’s cards are called portents. Portents are spell-like abilities with associated schools of magic that come in three varieties, least, lesser, and greater, reflecting the increasing power level of the fate associated with that particular card.

Treat portents as divine spells, and, by extension, a cartomancer as a divine spellcaster. This means feats like Spell Focus (enchantment) properly increases the DCs of portents with that school, an antimagic field blocks portents, and so on. A cartomancer’s portents can be counterspelled by any spell of sufficient level with the same school as the portent being cast. A spell must be at least 1st level to counterspell a least portent, 2nd level to counterspell a lesser portent, and 4th level to counterspell a greater portent. Similarly, when the cartomancer is forced to make concentration checks, calculate concentration DCs as though least portents were 1st-level spells, lesser portents were 2nd-level spells, and greater portents were 4th-level spells.

Regardless of level, a cartomancer’s collection contains all of her deck’s portents. There is never any need to go hunting for portents like a wizard goes hunting for spells. Like other divine spellcasters, a cartomancer simply knows all of her magic innately. She may simply be unable to place more powerful portents into her “active deck”, explained below, until she reaches sufficient level.

Every portent has a somantic component (presenting the card), as well as a verbal component (telling the story). A cartomancer must have a Charisma score equal to at least 11 or higher to play least portents, at least 12 to play lesser portents, and at least 14 to play greater portents. The Difficulty Class (DC) for a saving throw against a cartomancer’s portent is 10 + 1/2 the cartomancer’s class level + the cartomancer’s Charisma modifier.

Deck Selection At 1st level, a cartomancer chooses a cartomancy deck to act as her collection. Once this choice has been made, it cannot be changed. The available cartomancy decks are as follows, but nothing is stopping you from making your own!

  • Classic – Dealing with the themes of fate and the stars aligning, the classic cartomancy deck features a number of portents that manipulate rolls for good or ill. Many of its portents are extremely situational, but become quite powerful when that situation comes along. Finally, the classic deck loves big portents going down, and many least and lesser portents become more powerful if preceded by a more powerful portent, thus making it fairly easy to weave together power turns.
  • Deathdealer – In a world where gods don’t pay taxes, the one universal fate for all beings, be it man or god, is to die. The deathdealer cartomancy deck focuses on debilitation by curse, poison, and disease? raw damage? negative emotions? and vampiric effects. In order to keep the deathdealer on the offensive, many portents are more powerful the turn they are drawn, while death’s patience is represented by portents that immediately leave the hand and slowly gain counters as specific criteria are met. Fully-charged portents are, of course, a terror to behold.
  • Multitudes of Fate – While not a cartomancy deck in its own right, the Multitudes of Fate feat offers up a selection of eight portents that can be added to a cartomancer’s collection. These tools expand a collection’s functionality beyond that of the flavor of each of the main decks, but, in doing so, the player is basically forced into using the print-and-play cards provided with Ultimate Cartomancy, for the poker equivalence tables do not take the possibility of these new cards into account.

Note: Be courteous! If your gaming group plays for absent players, leave an official printandplay deck with your DM just in case you get sick and can’t attend. None of the alternate methods of card tracking will work with Multitudes of Fate in play.

Deckbuilding A cartomancer does not use her entire card collection at once. Instead, she constructs an “active deck” that is a subset of this collection. When setting the composition of her active deck, a cartomancer must fulfill the following criteria. If a character has two or more classes that grant active decks, each class maintains separate active decks and separate effective cartomancer levels.

  • No duplicate portents are allowed in an active deck. Starting at 11th level, a cartomancer may include up to two copies of least portents in her active deck.
  • The active deck must include a number of least portents equal to 3 + the cartomancer’s class level.
  • The active deck must include 1 lesser portent, plus an additional lesser portent for every two cartomancer levels beyond 1st.
  • Starting at 4th level, the active deck must include 1 greater portent, plus an additional greater portent for every four cartomancer levels beyond 4th.

A cartomancer has a maximum hand size of 2. This increases by +1 at 5th level and every five levels beyond 5th, to a maximum hand size of 6 at 20th level.

Playing Cards/Portents All portents have an activation time, detailing what kind of action must be expended in order to play it. If the portent can be played as a swift or immediate action, playing that portent does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If the portent can be played as a move or standard action, playing it provokes attacks of opportunity.

Playing a portent simultaneously casts it. The two events, the playing of the portent and the casting of the portent, are separate triggers. If the portent is counterspelled, fails to penetrate spell resistance, fizzles due to a failed concentration check, or otherwise finds a way to fail, then all effects that trigger off of the portent casting fail? however, since it was successfully played even though the casting was a failure, all effects that trigger from the playing of the portent still function. A portent cannot be played if it be incapable of working, such as in an antimagic field.

Unless otherwise noted, a portent targets the caster if its range is personal and a single creature within range if its range is greater than personal

Whenever a cartomancer plays a greater portent, she shuffles all lesser portents in her discard pile into her active deck.

Whenever a cartomancer plays a lesser portent, she shuffles all least portents in her discard pile into her active deck.

A cartomancer may draw a card once per round as a move action.

Terminology
  • Active Deck – The active deck is the deck with which you play a cartomancer. The rules for constructing an active deck are listed above.
  • Collection – Your collection is the sum of all cards that a cartomancer knows, but does not include in a deck. Remember, cartomancers begin play with all cards, even though they do not have the ability to put all of those cards into their active deck at 1st level. By extension, since cartomancers eventually gain the ability to put a duplicate copy of least portents into their decks, that least portent is considered to be in both a deck and in the collection should only one copy be in a deck.
  • Discard – A card that goes to your discard pile without being played is considered discarded. A card that is discarded, usually by the effects of a portent or as an additional cost of using a seal ability, (see the seals class feature) does not trigger on-play abilities. For example, a discarded greater portent does not shuffle all lesser portents from the discard pile into the active deck.
  • Discard Pile – Cards that are played or discarded go to the discard pile.
  • Draw – To draw a card, take the top card of your active deck and put it into your hand. You cannot draw a card if drawing a card would make you exceed your maximum hand size.
  • Hand – When a card is drawn, it goes to your hand. A card must be in your hand in order to play it. Before you create a cartomancer, speak with your GM to determine whether the contents of your hand will be public information or private information. Other options, such as showing the contents of your hand to your party, but keeping it hidden from the GM, are possible, but may upset people. Precisely how your group chooses to work it is immaterial, so long as it works for your group and you follow it once chosen. Consistency between NPC cartomancers and PC cartomancers is also immaterial. If your group decides to make your hand public, there is no obligation on your GM’s part to make a cartomancer villain play with a public hand.
  • Maximum Hand Size – Unless a portent says otherwise, you cannot have more cards in your hand than your maximum hand size, which is 2 + 1 for every five class levels.
  • Monty Deck – A Monty deck is granted by the Three Card Monty feat. The Monty deck never interacts with the active deck or discard pile unless otherwise specified.
  • Reveal – To reveal a card, flip the top card of your active deck faceup onto the table (or other playing surface). This mechanic is usually used in two-step abilities with an if/then approach to their functionality.

Tell Fortune (Su)

Starting at 1st level, a cartomancer’s understanding of portents and fate allows her to coax the fates surrounding an individual into action. Doing so requires that the individual whose fortune is being told, the mark, consents to having his fortune told, as well a divination tool, such as dice, sticks, cards, palm reading, a crystal ball, or tea leaves. A cartomancer’s collection of cards counts as a divination tool. A cartomancer may not tell her own fortune. The process of fortune telling takes 1 minute.

The cartomancer may choose whether she desires the mark’s fortune to be for good or for ill. If she desires to give the mark a good fortune, simply roll on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes. If she desires to give the mark a bad fortune, roll on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes and reverse the bonus shown to a cumulative penalty. For example, rolling “+1 insight bonus to Fortitude saves” instead applies a 1 cumulative penalty to Fortitude saves. The cartomancer must decide whether to make a fortune good or bad before rolling on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes. As the mark gave his consent to having his fortune told, there is no saving throw against a bad fortune.

All benefits, or penalties, granted by fortune telling last for 10 minutes per cartomancer level. Once a mark has had his fortune told, he may not have it told again for 24 hours. A cartomancer may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier, minimum 1.

Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes
d20 Effect
1 Roll again. If you intended to give a good fortune, it is now a bad fortune, and vice versa.
2 +1 insight bonus to the mark’s highest ability score (cartomancer chooses if tie)
3 +1 insight bonus to the mark’s lowest ability score (cartomancer chooses if tie)
4 +1 insight bonus to attack rolls
5 +1 insight bonus to initiative rolls
6 +1 insight bonus to damage rolls
7 +1 insight bonus to Strength-based skills
8 +1 insight bonus to Dexterity-based skills
9 +1 insight bonus to Constitution-based skills
10 +1 insight bonus to Intelligence-based skills
11 +1 insight bonus to Wisdom-based skills
12 +1 insight bonus to Charisma-based skills
13 Roll again. If you intended to give a good fortune, it is now a bad fortune, and vice versa.
14 +1 insight bonus to concentration checks
15 +1 insight bonus to AC
16 +1 insight bonus to Fortitude saves
17 +1 insight bonus to Reflex saves
18 +1 insight bonus to Will saves
19 +1 insight bonus to the DC of cantrips and orisons
20 Roll again. If you intended to give a good fortune, it is now a bad fortune, and vice versa.

Sidebar: Flipping Fortunes

When a cartomancer rolls on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes, the number of times a bonus can change to a penalty, then back into a bonus again, is unlimited. That is to say, if the cartomancer keeps rolling natural ‘1’s, ’13’s, and ’20’s, it can take awhile to resolve an ability that calls for that table’s use. Then again, such strange behavior should be expected when fate and probability are an individual’s source of power.

Fatespinning (Su)

Starting at 2nd level, a cartomancer gains a pool of fate points, which measures her capacity to follow and manipulate the skeins of fate. Given this sort of work requires actual understanding of how the world works rather than sheer force of will, the number of points in a cartomancer’s fate pool is equal to 1/2 her cartomancer level + herWisdom modifier.

Whenever a cartomancer spends fate points, roll once on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes for each fate point expended. On a result of a natural ‘1’, ’13’, or ’20’, roll again as if the cartomancer is giving herself a bad fortune using the tell fortune class feature. The penalty, or, if lucky, the benefit, lasts for minutes equal to the cartomancer’s class level. The heightened fate class feature applies.

By spending 1 point from her fate pool, a cartomancer can do one of the following:

  • Play a least portent as a move action, but only if she cast a lesser or greater portent in the same round, or
  • Play a lesser portent as a move action, but only if she cast a greater portent in the same round, or
  • Draw a card as a swift action, or
  • Reveal the top three cards of your active deck, then put them back on top of your deck in any order. This is a standard action.

Seal (Su)

Starting at 2nd level, a cartomancer gains access to general expressions of fate and probability, also known as seals. Seals require that the cartomancer discard a portent, as well as spend a number of fate points in order to twist the power held in the discarded portent to another purpose. To that end, the power of the seal is dependent on the power level of the discarded portent. By this logic, a discarded greater portent will have a greater effect than a discarded lesser portent. See each individual seal for the effects elicited by each power level of portent.

The Difficulty Class (DC) for a saving throw against a cartomancer’s seal is 10 + 1/2 the cartomancer’s class level + the cartomancer’s Wisdom modifier.

Select a single seal listed below at 2nd level, as well as an additional seal for every four levels beyond 2nd.

Seal of Arbitrary Possibilities

Cost: 2 Fate Points
Requires: Cartomancer 6

As a standard action, the cartomancer reveals a number of cards from the top of her active deck. Shuffle all greater portents revealed in this way back into the cartomancer’s active deck. Keep these revealed cards faceup on the table. They can be played and discarded as though they were in the cartomancer’s hand, but do not count toward maximum hand size. If not played or discarded within 1 round per cartomancer level, all cards left face-up on the table in this way go to the cartomancer’s discard pile. The number of cards revealed is dependent upon the power level of the portent discarded? if the cartomancer’s active deck does not contain enough cards, reveal all of them.

  • Least – 1 card
  • Lesser – 3 cards
  • Greater – 4 cards? do not shuffle revealed greater portents back into the active deck

Seal of the Augury

Cost: 4 Fate Points
Requires: Cartomancer 6

The cartomancer asks her deity, or Fate itself, questions, as the augury spell. The number of questions she can varies based upon the power level of the discarded portent. She may ask one question per round? if she is interrupted in between questions, the remaining questions are lost.

  • Least – 1 question
  • Lesser – 3 questions
  • Greater – class level questions

Seal of the Blinking Eye

Cost: 2 Fate Points
Requires: Cartomancer 6

As a standard action, the cartomancer alters the universe’s record slightly in order to change her physical placement in it, as the dimension door spell. The maximum distance she can move in this manner is dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent.

  • Least – 5 feet per two class levels
  • Lesser – 5 feet per class level
  • Greater – 10 feet per class level? used as a move action instead of as a standard action

Seal of the Cups

Cost: 1 Fate Point

As a swift action, the cartomancer grants herself a number of temporary hit points for 1 round. The number of temporary hit points gained in this manner is dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent.

Seal of Entropy

Cost: 2 Fate Points
Requires: Cartomancer 6

As a standard action, the cartomancer manipulates local probability to make unlikely events unlikelier and likely events likelier. All creatures within 30 feet of the cartomancer, including the cartomancer herself, get a luck bonus to their highest saving throw and a penalty to their lowest saving throw. Creatures that move more than 30 feet away from the cartomancer immediately lose the effects of this ability, while creatures that enter this radius immediately gain the effects. The magnitude of the bonus and the penalty is dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent. This ability lasts for 1 round per cartomancer level.

  • Least – +1 bonus and -1 penalty
  • Lesser – +2 bonus and -2 penalty
  • Greater – +4 bonus and -4 penalty

Seal of Fate Respun

Cost: 1 Fate Point

As an immediate action, the cartomancer grants a retroactive insight bonus to the attack roll or skill check of an ally within 30 feet. If the bonus is enough to turn the failure into a success, the roll succeeds. The magnitude of the retroactive bonus is dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent.

Seal of Militant Probability

Cost: 2 Fate Points
Requires: Cartomancer 10

As a standard action, the cartomancer adjusts the behavior of fate to actively punish those with bad luck and reward those with good luck. Whenever a creature within 30 feet of the cartomancer, including the cartomancer herself, rolls a natural ‘1’ on a d20 roll, it takes force damage? similarly, whenever a creature within the same area of effect rolls a natural ’20’ on a d20 roll, it is healed. This healing is positive energy if applied to living creatures, negative energy if applied to undead creatures, and magically repairs constructs to which it is applied. The magnitude of the damage and healing effects are dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent. This ability lasts for 1 round per cartomancer level.

  • Least – 1 point of damage or healing per two class levels
  • Lesser – 1 point of damage or healing per class level
  • Greater – 1d4 points of damage or healing per class level

Seal of the Pentacles

Cost: 1 Fate Point

As a full-round action, the cartomancer draws power from the discarded card, granting an ally within 30 feet an improved ability to produce mundane equipment. The ally’s mundane equipment production speed is multiplied by a factor that is dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent. This ability lasts for 1 day.

  • Least – 2x
  • Lesser – 4x
  • Greater – 10x

Seal of Persistent Fate

Cost: 1 Fate Point

As a standard action, the cartomancer returns a card from her discard pile to her hand. The card returned must cast a portent of the same power level as the discarded portent.

Seal of the Read Palm

Cost: 1 Fate Point

As a standard action, the cartomancer twists the fate of a single creature within 30 feet. Choose good or bad fortune as if using the tell fortune class feature, then roll on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes. The number of rolls made on this table is dependent upon the power level of the discarded portent. A successful Will save negates all benefits, or penalties, of this seal? otherwise, these benefits, or penalties, last for 1 minute per cartomancer level. The heightened fate class feature applies to this seal.

  • Least 1 roll
  • Lesser – 2 rolls
  • Greater – 5 rolls

Seal of the Swords

Cost: 2 Fate Points

As a standard action, the cartomancer twists the power of the discarded card and uses it to lash out at a single creature within 30 feet. That creature takes an amount of slashing damage based on the power level of the discarded portent with a Reflex save for half damage.

  • Least – 1d6 slashing damage + an additional 1d6 slashing damage for every two class levels
  • Lesser – 1d6 slashing damage per class level
  • Greater – 6 slashing damage per class level

Seal of the Wands

Cost: 3 Fate Points
Requires: Cartomancer 10

As a standard action, the cartomancer pulls a wand out of thin air. This wand persists for 1 hour before vanishing and contains a single charge of the discarded portent with a caster level equal to the cartomancer’s class level.

Treat a wand containing a least portent as 1st-level (DC 11), a wand containing a lesser portent as 2nd-level (DC 13), and a wand containing a greater portent as 4th-level (DC 16). The portent is treated as though it were on the spell list of any divine caster for the purpose of using the wand without using the Use Magic Device skill.

Self Fortune (Su)

Starting at 3rd level, the cartomancer has learned to get past the bias of self and give herself a fair reading. She may now tell her own fortune using the tell fortune class feature. When telling her own fortune, the complex fortune, heightened fortune, and manipulate fortune class features do not expend additional uses of the tell fortune class feature.

Complex Fortune (Su)

Starting at 7th level, the cartomancer may expend an additional use of the tell fortune class feature when telling a mark’s fortune to roll twice on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes instead of just once. The mark gains the benefits, and penalties, of both rolls.

Manipulate Fortune (Su)

Starting at 9th level, the cartomancer may expend an additional use of the tell fortune class feature when telling a mark’s fortune in order to reroll a roll on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes. Rerolls cannot themselves be rerolled, nor can natural rolls of ‘1’, ’13’, and ’20’. Starting at 19th level, the cartomancer can reroll natural rolls of ‘1’, ’13’, and ’20’.

Heightened Fortune (Su)

Starting at 13th level, all benefits, and penalties, granted by the cartomancer’s tell fortune class feature are doubled. That is to say, all +1 insight bonuses are now +2 insight bonuses and all -1 penalties are -2 penalties.

Instant Fortune (Su)

Starting at 17th level, the cartomancer may use her tell fortune class feature as a full-round action? however, all benefits, and penalties, granted by the fortune only last for 1 minute per cartomancer level. The mark must still consent to have his fortune taken.

Cyclical Fate (Su)

At 20th level, the cartomancer realizes that fate is truly cyclical. Whatever fortune is granted to one must be taken away from another. As a standard action, she can discard a lesser portent or a greater portent in order to draw energy from it. If the discarded portent is a lesser portent, she regains 1 fate point. If the discarded portent is a greater portent, she regains 5 fate points.

Favored Class Bonuses

Instead of receiving an additional skill rank or hit point whenever they gain a level in a Favored Class, some races have the option of choosing from a number of other bonuses, depending upon their Favored Classes. The following options are available to the listed race who have cartomancers as their Favored Class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the listed Favored Class reward.

  • Aasimar Add +1/6 of a seal.
  • Drow Every 6 times this bonus is selected, select a seal. The fate point cost of that seal is reduced by -1, to a minimum of 1.
  • Dwarf Whenever the cartomancer casts a greater portent, she gains temporary hit points equal to the number of times this bonus has been taken. These temporary hit points last for 1 round.
  • Elf Add +1/3 of a point to the fate pool.
  • Gnome Add +1/4 of a use to the tell fortune class feature.
  • Half-elf Add +1/3 of a point to the fate pool.
  • Halfling When using the tell fortune class feature, add +1/8 to the bonus, or penalty, of the first roll made on Table: Tell Fortune Outcomes.
  • Half-orc Whenever the cartomancer casts a greater portent, she gets a bonus to her next weapon damage roll equal to the number of times this bonus has been taken. This bonus lasts for 2 rounds or until discharged.
  • Hobgoblin Add +1/2 to Intimidate and Perception checks.
  • Human Add +1/4 of a least portent to the active deck.
  • Kitsune Add +1/3 of a least portent with the enchantment or necromancy school to the active deck.
  • Kobold Add +1/4 to the Difficulty Class of all seals if the victim is a gnome.
  • Orc Whenever a portent deals bleed damage, add +1/4 to that damage.
  • Puddling Add +1/4 of a use to the tell fortune class feature.
  • Tiefling Add +1/6 of a seal.

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Many of the sanguinity tree's nastier tricks- such as area-of-effect ability bleed- and all of its sustainability effects make use of the blood pool, which replenishes itself as the assassin deals bleed damage to various targets. This forces an assassin to play the long game of bleed damage while simultaneously awarding the assassin with the means to stay alive long enough for that bleed to end any encounter that isn't stuffed to the gills with opposing healers.

The sanguinity tree combines well with the following technique trees:

The fabrication cold tree grants the assassin tactical flexibility, and its ability to enhance sustainability with a plethora of tiny stimpacks segues nicely into the sanguinity tree's gameplan.

The execution hot tree contains several bleeds, and since bleeds already existed in the assassin's repertoire, the sanguinity tree was built to assume that you'll either specialize in the other tree that'll help fill the blood pool, or that you'll spend your very few flexible technique choices on out-of-tree bleed effects.

The magehunting hot tree helps you shut down enemy healers so your bleed effects stick, while the sustainability of sanguinity makes it so you're a persistent thorn in the side of anyone with any spells to their name.

Product Features

The sanguinity hot tree for the assassin base class, detailing 15 new techniques and the blood pool autogrant ability

Three new feats for those who wish to specialize in this new tree

Ultimate Onmyodo - Onmyodo Magic Items

Vendor: Interjection Games
Type: Book
Price: 1.50

Expand your resident spirit speaker with a collection of brand new magic items!

Following Interjection Games' design traditions, Onmyodo Magic Items features heavily modular/tactical options, such as the following:

Blessed Chochin - Pick haiku, petitions, or talismans, and then increase the effective range of abilities from the chosen onmyodic magic system by placing this magical lantern in a choke point or other strategic position. If your target is within both double the ability's normal range and 15 feet of the chochin, then your target is in range of the ability. This also applies to areas of effect. Reach out and hurt somebody.

Thread of the Gods - Talismans act like spontaneous spellcasting for onmyodo classes. By sacrificing this flexibility and "preparing" a portion of your talismans like a wizard, you add one of ten bonus effects to each of your prepared talismans. These effects include talismans that move on their own, the ability to generate a single lightning bolt over the course of the talisman's duration, or the spontaneous generation of Jurojin's famous healing plums.

Trickster's Tail - Turn anyone into a spellcaster with this kitsune-tail belt that holds the knowledge and ability to cast a single 1st-level enchantment or illusion spell.

Ward Token - Combine up to three of the nine variants of this item into a single ring, and activate one variant's effects each time you do something particularly onmyodic.

The Triggerman - Momentum-Based Gunslinging

Vendor: Interjection Games
Type: Book
Price: 5.99

Momentum Classes

  • The Master of Forms (momentum monk) - Endzeitgeist top 10 of 2015 nominee
  • The Assassin (momentum rogue) - Endzeitgeist #6 of 2016!
  • The Triggerman (momentum gunslinger)

What is Momentum?

Momentum is a system that hearkens back to the combo point engines that you find in various video games. In its simplest form, you execute various techniques to build focus, which can then be spent on other techniques. Unlike the rather binary nature of the- admittedly simplistic- video game combo point engines, momentum has techniques with variable points costs, a point cost of 0, alternate versions that cost more, and fixed cost techniques ranging from -1 to -4. This makes each of your actions a choice. Do you build up for another round, sacrifice power from a separate pool to build up faster this combat, or let loose with a big- but not huge- effect right now?

The end goal of momentum is to give the martial classes that use it a heaping dose of freedom, choice, and agency in their turn-to-turn minutiae. Who cares if a class is competitive if all it does is make a full attack each round? We are gamers, and being able to do cool stuff is half the draw of a class.

Momentum and Moxie: The Triggerman's Special Mechanic

All of Interjection Games' momentum classes take the core momentum engine and do something unique with it. For the triggerman, whenever you spend 2 or more focus on a single technique, you generate moxie points, which themselves are a currency that can let you weave small effects in between your momentum builders and finishers. Some moxie techniques grant a passive bonus based on the number of moxie points you're holding, while others simply add energy damage to an attack, increase the reach of that one shot that really matters, or assist with a skill check.

Moreover, the triggerman's guns build momentum, not the triggerman himself, allowing him to build up points for multiple finishers simply by swapping out guns frequently. Other class features allow for easily pumping a point of focus into a gun with no focus, thus making the triggerman more about cranking out -1s "mini-finishers" than any other momentum class in the series so far. As a result of the necessary waiting baked into the momentum engine this time around, the triggerman's -2 techniques are generally a heavy power spike over the -1s, and the moxie engine further pushes patience for more power.

Product Features

The triggerman base class

4 technique trees with 20 techniques each: dragoon, gun fu, marksmanship, and munitions

Technique tree specialization bakes build variety right into the class; no archetypes!

2 feats for each technique tree, and a smattering of tree-agnostic feats

Favored class bonuses for over 20 races

Generic favored class bonuses! Not on the race list? Don't like your race's bonus? Take one of these instead.

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