In forgotten corners of the world, certain cardcasters practice the forbidden art of monster tarot. Their decks are comprised of strange suits and faces, each of which contains the trapped spirits of monsters. These cardcasters focus on the Jack of Beasts to unleash the creatures within.
Cantrips
You know the cantrips chill touch and dancing lights.
Bonus Proficiency
You gain proficiency with Animal Handling.
Bonus Ritual
You know the find familiar spell and can cast it as a ritual. You do not need to play a card to cast this spell.
Monstrous Arcana
The major arcana each provides you additional spell options.
0th–2nd: animal friendship
3rd: shield of faith
4th–5th: speak with animals
6th: animal messenger, locate animals or plants
7th: enhance ability
8th: conjure animals
9th: animate dead, speak with dead
10th: conjure minor elementals
11th: conjure woodland beings
12th: hold monster
13th: animate objects, conjure elemental
14th: conjure fey
15th: create undead
16th: conjure celestial
17th: forcecage
18th: animal shapes
19th: dominate monster
20th: astral projection
21st: gate
Eye of the Cardshark
Starting at 2nd level, your predatory divination grants you insight into creatures’ breaking points. As a bonus action, choose one creature you can see within 30 feet. You learn that the creature’s hit point maximum, present hit point total, and any damage vulnerabilities. Once you use this feature, you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again.
Empowered Summoner
Starting at 6th level, at your option, creatures you summon or manipulate with card powers, or those you summon with Capture Card (starting at 14th level), receive the following benefits:
The creature immediately gains temporary hit points equal to your cardcaster level.
The creature adds your proficiency bonus to its weapon damage rolls.
Your familiar gains these benefits when you first summon it or after you complete a long rest.
Voice of the Void
Starting at 10th level, the otherworldly arts of spirit binding empower you to communicate with all creatures. You are constantly under a tongues effect. You are also constantly under a speak with animals effect that extends to any creature without a language, such as unintelligent undead or constructs. These effects can’t be dispelled.
You can also use this feature to cast either speak with dead or speak with plants. Once you do so, you must finish a short or long rest before you can cast either spell again with this feature.
Capture Card
Starting at 14th level, you can capture a creature within your cards. As an action, choose one creature you can see within 20 feet of you. This creature must have a challenge rating no higher than half your cardcaster level. An unwilling target must make a Charisma saving throw. On a failed save, it disappears into extradimensional space within one of your tarot cards (note that a willing creature can voluntarily fail the save). If it succeeds, you can’t use this feature on it again for a year and a day. So long as you have trapped an unwilling creature with this feature, you cannot attempt to capture another unwilling creature.
As an action, you can discard a major arcana card from your hand and expend a major arcana play to summon your bound creature in an unoccupied space you can see within 20 feet. It is friendly to you and obeys your orders as if affected by dominate monster. You can release the creature or return it to its tarot card as an action, and it returns automatically after 1 hour. Its hit points are fully restored whenever you complete a long rest.
If the creature is killed, its form and consciousness return to and remain trapped within the card. The dead creature still counts against your limit of only one unwilling trapped creature. You can release the remains as an action, freeing the dead creature. If you have no other unwilling, living captured creatures—or if the creature was willingly captured—you can also spend 8 hours in isolated meditation to revive the creature at full hit points. This meditation is a strenuous spiritual activity, and cannot be completed during a long rest.
Intelligent creatures are harder to control in this way. If the target has an Intelligence of 8 or higher, it has advantage on the saving throw against capture. If it fails the saving throw and has an Intelligence of 12 or higher, it can also repeat the saving throw whenever you complete a long rest until it succeeds and is freed, appearing in a safe location approximately 5 miles away from your present location.
A creature that voluntarily failed its saving throw against capture never attempts to escape and does not count against your ability to capture with this feature again.