D&D 5E Cartomancer Feat

[Distracted DM]

So, impressively, even though it doesn't give you a bonus spell slot of whatever level you desire, it is still horribly broken, because it literally lets a Wizard pick any spell on the Wizard list once a day, whether they know it or not.

Thank goodness for the simplicity and clarity of natural language!

But it CAN give a 17th level wizard a second 9th level spell- quickened and semi-subtle'd.

 

[Kurotowa]

The difference here is that you must use the spell within 8 hours. Normally, stuff like that lasts until the next long rest (or longer, in the case of Artificers).

Ah, that's true. I did miss that part. It was late and I was consulting the UA in part, since I'm waiting for the physical release, and that clause wasn't there before. That is indeed an odd additional restriction. Yeah, I got nothing. That's just bloody weird.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

The difference here is that you must use the spell within 8 hours. Normally, stuff like that lasts until the next long rest (or longer, in the case of Artificers).

I would agree that this feat is badly worded, and this is terrible form a record keeping perspective. In practise this will be more until the next long rest and that is probably what I would do. I would also impose a spell slot use on use of the feature rather than preparation for a similar reason.

 

[pnewman]

But it CAN give a 17th level wizard a second 9th level spell- quickened and semi-subtle'd.

Wizard 18, Fighter 2 "I cast Meteor Swarm. Then I use the card to cast Meteor Swarm again. Then I use the Action Surge I got from my Fighter levels, and cast Meteor Swarm again."

 

[Stormonu]

Wizard 18, Fighter 2 "I cast Meteor Swarm. Then I use the card to cast Meteor Swarm again. Then I use the Action Surge I got from my Fighter levels, and cast Meteor Swarm again."

Luckily, its not THAT broken.

But I don't think it got the editorial pass it should have received. Likely due to coming out at the end of an edition and eyeballs are elsewhere.

 

[Weiley31]

Wizard 18, Fighter 2 "I cast Meteor Swarm. Then I use the card to cast Meteor Swarm again. Then I use the Action Surge I got from my Fighter levels, and cast Meteor Swarm again."

It's technically legit.

 

[ECMO3]

It's technically legit.

No or 2 reasons:

1. Cant cast a spell as a bonus action and an action.

2. An 18th level Wizard/2nd level fighter only has 1 9th level slot.

 

[I'm A Banana]

How does that work exactly? AFAIK, imbue is not a "term of art" in 5e. Does it consume a spell slot? If so, is the slot expended when you imbue the spell or when you cast it? It seems to me that the implication is that you use up a slot when you actually cast the spell, but I'm not 100% sure.

My read is that "imbuing" is defined by the feat, and so that doesn't take a spell slot.

"Cast" is where I'd rule the spell slot is spent.

It's also a little wild that this lets you access any spell on your spell list. Not powerful, exactly, just...weird.

"I'm Jeormy the Wizard, and I have heard of this 'fireball' spell, but I haven't studied it. But here, I drew a picture of a fireball, and now I can cast it!"

"I'm Sneaky Doug the Cleric, and while I didn't pray today for a cure wounds spell, I did draw this cool S, and that can heal some wounds real fast!"

"I'm Velma the Sorcerer and here's a drawing of a spell I don't know how to cast and will now cast fast."

IDK, a lot of this book seems a bit half-baked to me, so not SUPER surprising there's a half-baked feat in there, too. Being able to cast any spell on your spell list isn't broken (the game-design-y assumption is that a player does have access to whatever the most powerful spell of any given level is, and this doesn't break that assumption, it just makes it more likely), but spell lists are pretty grounded in the diegetics of your character, so this raises the in-world question of how you're imbuing the card with magic you don't know. Bleh.

 

[Peter BOSCO'S]

No or 2 reasons:

1. Cant cast a spell as a bonus action and an action.

2. An 18th level Wizard/2nd level fighter only has 1 9th level slot.

Reason 2 is correct but Reason 1 seems to no longer be correct with this Feat, because the Feat does not say that you can only use Cartomancy on turns when you have not already cast a spell as an action, so it can be read as getting around the usual rules.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

I'll add that Stage Magic is super poorly defined given stage magic could include anything from making folks disppearing, to pretending to saw people in 2, to escaping from deadly traps, card tricks, "mind reading", optical illusions, etc...