Trouble always finds a card shark, whether he is a con artist or an honest gambler. Quick with his throwing cards and no stranger to barroom brawls, he can hold his own when spells and weapons start flying.
The card shark is an archetype of the gambler class.
Archetype Main Ability Scores:
The card shark mainly focuses on DEX for combat and CHA for their class features.
Archetype Feature Replacements:
1st – Roulette, Phantom Roll. 3rd – Joker’s Aim, Slots. 5th – Coin Toss. 9th – Pocket Pair. 11th – Snake Eye. 14th – Twist of Fate. 15th – Crooked Cards. 17th – Cutting Cards.
Weapon Proficiency
The card shark gains proficiency with bo staves.
Limit Break (Su)
At 1st level, the card shark receives the Limit Break (Red Card).
Red Card (Su): This Limit Break allows the gambler to throw enhanced cards at random (the player rolls 1d4 for suit and 4d4 for the value, consulting the tables below) as a ranged touch attack. The target takes damage equal to the card shark’s base Kinetic Card damage plus the value of the card and must make a saving throw against the card’s suit effect (DC 10 + half the gambler’s level + his Charisma modifier). Red Card is not modified by gambits or talents that alter Kinetic Card, nor does it do area of effect damage. The gambler draws and throws an additional card per four gambler levels after 1st.
Table: Red Card Suit
| Die Roll (1d4) | Card Suit | Card Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Club | [Fort] Stun for X rounds. Target is instead staggered on a successful save. |
| 2 | Diamond | [Wis] Frightened for X rounds. Target is instead shaken on a successful save. |
| 3 | Heart | [Fort] X+3 Bleed damage. Bleed is halved on a successful save. |
| 4 | Spades | [Fort] Nauseated for X rounds. Target is instead sickened on a successful save. |
Table: Red Card Value
| Die Roll (4d4) | Card Type | Face Value | X Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Ace | 14 | 5 |
| 5 | Two | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | Three | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Four | 4 | 1 |
| 8 | Five | 5 | 2 |
| 9 | Six | 6 | 2 |
| 10 | Seven | 7 | 2 |
| 11 | Eight | 8 | 3 |
| 12 | Nine | 9 | 3 |
| 13 | Ten | 10 | 3 |
| 14 | Jack | 11 | 4 |
| 15 | Queen | 12 | 4 |
| 16 | King | 13 | 4 |
This ability replaces roulette.
Kinetic Card (Su)
Starting at 1st level, the card shark can imbue his throwing cards with kinetic energy, exploding when it hits a solid object. As a standard action, the card shark throws a kinetic card at a target as a ranged touch attack and if it hits, the card explodes, dealing 1d6 points + his Charisma modifier of non-elemental damage in a 5-ft.-radius. Adjacent creatures to the target can make a Reflex save (DC 10 + half of the gambler’s level + his Charisma modifier) to take half damage.
At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, the damage increases by 1d6.
This ability replaces phantom roll.
Trick Shots (Ex)
At 3rd level, the card gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls made with throwing cards, quarterstaves, and bo staves. This bonus increases by +1 for every five gambler levels beyond 3rd.
Additionally, the card shark may use Dexterity instead of Strength on attack rolls with a quarterstaff or bo staff. When using the kinetic card feature, they may instead deliver the attack with either of these weapons as a melee attack, dealing weapon damage in addition to the kinetic card damage on a successful hit.
This ability modifies joker’s aim.
Throwing Card Specialist (Ex)
At 3rd level, a card shark gains Rapid Shot as a bonus feat even if he doesn’t meet the prerequisites. The card shark counts his gambler levels as fighter level for feats, but may only use such feats while using throwing cards.
At 7th level, a card shark can throw an additional kinetic card attack at a -5 penalty.
At 11th level, his card throwing attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. Additionally, whenever a creature rolls a 1 on a save against his kinetic card ability, it deals maximum damage.
At 15th level, a card shark can throw a third kinetic card attack at a -10 penalty.
At 19th level, his card throwing attacks score a critical hit on a roll of 18-20. Additionally, whenever a creature rolls a 1 or 2 on a save against his kinetic card ability, it deals maximum damage.
This ability replaces slots, snake eyes, and crooked cards.
Card Gambits (Ex/Su)
A card shark gains access to the following gambits:
Bad Beat (Su): When your opponent makes a full-attack action, you may take an immediate action and spend an amount of MGP equal to triple the amount of attacks they are allowed to make. They roll for all of their attacks at once, which you assign in any order you prefer. Prerequisite: The card shark must have the Card Count gambit.
Know When to Hold ‘em (Su): When making a Kinetic Card attack, the card shark may expend 1 MGP per square they wish to exclude from the effect.
Flush (Su): When making a Kinetic Card attack, you may expend 2 MGP to increase its blast radius by 5 feet. For every additional 2 MGP expended, you can further increase the blast radius by another 5 feet. Alternatively, you may reduce the blast radius to affect only the target square by expending 2 MGP.
Full House (Ex): When making a full-attack action with throwing cards, the card shark may spend 1 MGP when attacking a new target to use his highest attack bonus. Further iteratives follow their normal penalties.
Straight (Su): When making a kinetic card attack, the card shark may deal his Kinetic Card damage to all squares in a line between him and his target, rather than in a blast around the target. He must spend 1 MPG, plus an additional MGP per 20 feet between himself and his target. You can combine the effects of the Straight and Flush gambits to create Straight Flush, adding a base 5 foot radius explosion around the target for 2 MGP. Each creature only takes damage from this effect once.
Flick of the Wrist (Ex)
At 5th level, the card shark increases the range of their throwing cards by 5 feet, plus an additional 5 feet for every two gambler levels after 5th.
This ability replaces coin toss.
Re-Draw (Ex)
At 14th level, whenever the card shark misses with a ranged attack against a target within 30 feet, he can spend an immediate action to reroll the attack with a -5 penalty.
He can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier.
This ability replaces twist of fate.
Royal Flush (Su)
At 17th level, the card shark can send a flurry of card attacks in a 30-ft.-radius around him, striking enemies and having the cards explode. The card shark must spend 3 MGP per creature targeted by this attack and makes a separate ranged touch attack roll for each enemy. Any adjacent creatures to any of the targets that are struck (even if they are adjacent to multiple targets) must make Reflex saves for half damage (for Kinetic Card damage) for each that they are adjacent to.
This ability replaces cutting cards.