MoleMage
2010-04-21, 07:13 PM
This bizarre construct appears a shark, constructed entirely of floating playing cards. Some clever gamblers who have discovered their existence may use them to cheat at games of chance, or the unsuspecting adventurer may find what he thinks to be a Deck of Illusions. When the illusions summon themselves right off the cards and the cards themselves start biting, he realizes he just got more than he bargained for. Whoever first created these creatures is unknown, but the technique is simple enough that a wizard who has encountered one and studied it with Detect Magic can figure out how to make one with only one weeks study, costing no materials, and taking only 3 hours a day.
Card Shark
Tiny Construct
HD: ½ d10+3 (5 HP)
Initiative:+1
Speed: 20 ft., Swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 13 (+2 Size, +1 Dex), Touch 13, Flat Footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0, -9
Attack: Bite +0 melee 1d3-2
Full Attack: Bite +0 melee 1d3-2
Space/Reach: 2½ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: N/A
Special Qualities: swim through air, low light vision, darkvision 60ft, construct traits, deck form, trick shuffle, activate component cards
Saves: +0 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will
Ability Scores: Str 6, Dex 12, Con -, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 10
Skills: Swim +8, Bluff +2
Feats: Toughness
Environment: Any, typically urban, magical
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: ½ (mundane cards), variable (magical cards, see activate component cards)
Treasure: none (unless constructed from valuable cards, see below)
Alignment: Usually Chaotic
Advancement: ½-5 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment: -
Card sharks speak no languages, but all can understand one language, chosen when they are created. It must be a language their creator can speak.
Swim Through Air (Su)
A card shark can treat the air as if it were water for the purposes of movement. This is a supernatural ability and does not function in an anti-magic field or similar effects. This does not allow the shark to qualify for flight based feats or effects.
Deck Form (Ex)
As a full-round action which provokes attacks of opportunity, the card shark can combine all of its component cards into a single deck of playing cards. In this form they are indistinguishable from any other deck of cards, save through magic. These cards at this point function exactly as the base cards it was fashioned from, with the exception that they are entitled to saving throws even when unattended, and they have the same HP as the card shark. If the cards in this form are separated by more than one mile, the shark begins to take one damage per hour per mile of distance between the two farthest cards. Unattended cards can be called back to the shark form, but only move at a maximum rate of 120 ft. per round to reach the shark. The shark must undergo a full round action until all cards are present to regain its shark form; unlike assuming the deck form, this provokes no attacks of opportunity.
Trick Shuffle (Su/Ex, see text)
When a card shark in Deck Form is shuffled, it may as a free action during the shuffle decide to rearrange itself into any order it pleases. This is both supernatural and extraordinary in nature, and as such it will work in an anti-magic field or similar effect, but not perfectly. In such conditions, the shark has only a 50% chance of accomplishing the order it desires. A dedicated observer can notice this with a Spot check opposed by the card shark's Bluff check. If the shark can use the supernatural component of this ability, it also gains a +10 racial bonus to this Bluff check.
Activate Component Cards (Su)
Card sharks constructed from decks of magical cards can activate any card they are composed of as normal for the card in question. They always count as meeting the requirements for these cards, and are always considered to be holding them. Should the magical cards count only as a deck, with the need to shuffle for effect, the card shark may activate any card within it at its whim. If any cards are magical in the card shark, all cards are counted as magical as long as it lives, and it gains at least a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls, as if it were using a +1 magical weapon. Consumed cards retain their magical quality and do no damage to the shark, but cannot be used again unless replaced.
Hardness
A card shark has hardness according to the base cards it is fashioned from. Typical cards are fashioned from thin strips of wood, and have a hardness of five. More expensive cards may be lacquered or fashioned from rarer woods or other materials, and therefor have a higher hardness. Cheaper cards made from parchment or paper are also common, having no hardness, but are not typically used to create a card shark.
Base Cards
A card shark is fashioned from a deck of 30 or more cards, depending on the original purpose of the deck. When damaged in combat, a card shark loses some of these cards according to hit points lost. To regain its health, it must be supplied with cards of the same material. If the cards replaced are different from the cards lost, the makeup of its deck form is likewise changed.
Skills
A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature always can choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.
Notes: A card shark may be taken as an Improved Familiar at level 3.
Construction: A card shark can be made from any deck of cards with 30 or more cards.The creature’s master may assemble the body or hire someone else to do the job. Creating the body requires a DC 12 (Sleight of Hand) check. A card shark with more than 1/2 Hit Die can be created, but the first whole Hit Die (a 1HD shark) costs 2500g instead of 1500, and each additional Hit Die adds +1,500 gp to the price.
Craft Construct, at least two transmutation spells of 2nd level or higher or has studied an encountered card shark with detect magic, caster must be at least 5th level; Price 1,500 gp plus the cost of the cards; Cost 750 gp + 30 XP plus the cost of the cards.
Card Shark
Tiny Construct
HD: ½ d10+3 (5 HP)
Initiative:+1
Speed: 20 ft., Swim 20 ft.
Armor Class: 13 (+2 Size, +1 Dex), Touch 13, Flat Footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +0, -9
Attack: Bite +0 melee 1d3-2
Full Attack: Bite +0 melee 1d3-2
Space/Reach: 2½ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: N/A
Special Qualities: swim through air, low light vision, darkvision 60ft, construct traits, deck form, trick shuffle, activate component cards
Saves: +0 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will
Ability Scores: Str 6, Dex 12, Con -, Int 5, Wis 13, Cha 10
Skills: Swim +8, Bluff +2
Feats: Toughness
Environment: Any, typically urban, magical
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: ½ (mundane cards), variable (magical cards, see activate component cards)
Treasure: none (unless constructed from valuable cards, see below)
Alignment: Usually Chaotic
Advancement: ½-5 HD (Tiny)
Level Adjustment: -
Card sharks speak no languages, but all can understand one language, chosen when they are created. It must be a language their creator can speak.
Swim Through Air (Su)
A card shark can treat the air as if it were water for the purposes of movement. This is a supernatural ability and does not function in an anti-magic field or similar effects. This does not allow the shark to qualify for flight based feats or effects.
Deck Form (Ex)
As a full-round action which provokes attacks of opportunity, the card shark can combine all of its component cards into a single deck of playing cards. In this form they are indistinguishable from any other deck of cards, save through magic. These cards at this point function exactly as the base cards it was fashioned from, with the exception that they are entitled to saving throws even when unattended, and they have the same HP as the card shark. If the cards in this form are separated by more than one mile, the shark begins to take one damage per hour per mile of distance between the two farthest cards. Unattended cards can be called back to the shark form, but only move at a maximum rate of 120 ft. per round to reach the shark. The shark must undergo a full round action until all cards are present to regain its shark form; unlike assuming the deck form, this provokes no attacks of opportunity.
Trick Shuffle (Su/Ex, see text)
When a card shark in Deck Form is shuffled, it may as a free action during the shuffle decide to rearrange itself into any order it pleases. This is both supernatural and extraordinary in nature, and as such it will work in an anti-magic field or similar effect, but not perfectly. In such conditions, the shark has only a 50% chance of accomplishing the order it desires. A dedicated observer can notice this with a Spot check opposed by the card shark's Bluff check. If the shark can use the supernatural component of this ability, it also gains a +10 racial bonus to this Bluff check.
Activate Component Cards (Su)
Card sharks constructed from decks of magical cards can activate any card they are composed of as normal for the card in question. They always count as meeting the requirements for these cards, and are always considered to be holding them. Should the magical cards count only as a deck, with the need to shuffle for effect, the card shark may activate any card within it at its whim. If any cards are magical in the card shark, all cards are counted as magical as long as it lives, and it gains at least a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls, as if it were using a +1 magical weapon. Consumed cards retain their magical quality and do no damage to the shark, but cannot be used again unless replaced.
Hardness
A card shark has hardness according to the base cards it is fashioned from. Typical cards are fashioned from thin strips of wood, and have a hardness of five. More expensive cards may be lacquered or fashioned from rarer woods or other materials, and therefor have a higher hardness. Cheaper cards made from parchment or paper are also common, having no hardness, but are not typically used to create a card shark.
Base Cards
A card shark is fashioned from a deck of 30 or more cards, depending on the original purpose of the deck. When damaged in combat, a card shark loses some of these cards according to hit points lost. To regain its health, it must be supplied with cards of the same material. If the cards replaced are different from the cards lost, the makeup of its deck form is likewise changed.
Skills
A creature with a swim speed can move through water at its indicated speed without making Swim checks. It gains a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform a special action or avoid a hazard. The creature always can choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered when swimming. Such a creature can use the run action while swimming, provided that it swims in a straight line.
Notes: A card shark may be taken as an Improved Familiar at level 3.
Construction: A card shark can be made from any deck of cards with 30 or more cards.The creature’s master may assemble the body or hire someone else to do the job. Creating the body requires a DC 12 (Sleight of Hand) check. A card shark with more than 1/2 Hit Die can be created, but the first whole Hit Die (a 1HD shark) costs 2500g instead of 1500, and each additional Hit Die adds +1,500 gp to the price.
Craft Construct, at least two transmutation spells of 2nd level or higher or has studied an encountered card shark with detect magic, caster must be at least 5th level; Price 1,500 gp plus the cost of the cards; Cost 750 gp + 30 XP plus the cost of the cards.