Gambler (3.5e Class)

Gambler
A gambler is a student of humanoids and a master of himself. He bends to fate, and in doing so bends it in return. The best he can hope for is to break even.

Making a Gambler
Being a gambler is a life of making the right choices. It also helps to have a good hand, and the gambler's friends are his cards. Gamblers work best when their compatriots are really good at what they do. Gamblers appreciate the strongest fighters, the most accurate rangers, the smartest wizards, the wisest clerics, and the most cunning rogues.

Abilities: Gamblers need strength or dexterity to gain the upper hand over their opponents. A hearty constitution is helpful when the pickings are scarce. To truly turn the tables on his opponents, the gambler needs to be charismatic, intelligent, or wise.

Races: Everyone gambles, but the cleverer, more materially focused races likes humans and dwarves are drawn to pursuing the path of the professional gambler.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 4d% (198 gp).

Starting Age: As fighter

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the gambler.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A good gambler has tried everything around and picked the games he's best at. The gambler is proficient with simple, martial, and exotic weapons, with light, medium, and heavy armor, and with shields and tower shields.

The difficulty class for saves vs. the gambler's class abilities is 10 + half the gambler's class level + the best of his charisma, intelligence, or wisdom modifiers.

 (Ex): Once per day per level, a gambler may take 10 on any d20 roll, including attack rolls and saves.

 (Ex): A 2nd level gambler may, as an immediate action, choose to grant himself a dodge bonus to AC. He may choose any bonus as long as it does not exceed his base attack bonus. He suffers an equivalent penalty to his attacks for one round. During this round the gambler must make an attack, or else suffers 1d6 of damage per +1 of bonus granted to himself.

 (Ex): By 3rd level, a gambler has learned to make side bets when the main action isn't going his way. When an opponent threatened by a gambler scores a critical threat against him, the gambler can elect to ensure that the opponent gains no benefit from succeeding. If the critical threat is confirmed, both the gambler and his opponent take the increased damage from the critical (even if the opponent would be immune to criticals, the gambler has used his opponent's focus to make a small counter-attack). If the critical threat is not confirmed, the gambler takes additional damage as if it had been confirmed.

 (Ex): When facing a save that allows for half damage, a 4th level gambler, before rolling, may choose to double the odds. On a successful save, he takes no damage, and on an unsuccessful save he takes half again as much.

 (Ex): Starting at 5th level, a gambler breaks even when taking 10. When a gambler takes 10 on a roll, there is a 50% chance that the result will be an 11 instead.

 (Ex) Beginning at 6th level, a gambler may deliberately fail a saving throw to gain an advantage. If he does so, he gains immunity to that spell or ability, regardless of source, and to any spells or abilities of the same school or of the same effect from the same source. He automatically succeeds on saving throws against these abilities, and, if the save would result in half damage, he takes no damage instead. This immunity lasts for one round/level. For example, a 6th level gambler facing a sorcerer and a wizard could choose to fail the save vs. a cone of cold cast by the sorcerer and take full damage from it. He would then be immune to any cone of cold spell cast by either the sorcerer or the wizard, as well as be immune to the sorcerer's spells of the evocation school or the cold effect.

 (Ex): A gambler knows how to choose which positions to take, and can modify those positions to be more advantageous. Beginning at 7th level, as a swift action, he may choose a single 5 foot square within 30 ft, and elevate it by 5 ft for the purpose of determining whether combatants receive a +1 bonus for being on higher ground. He may choose to modify the same square multiple times, each time elevating it an additional 5 ft. These changes have no effect on cover or concealment and do not actually change the terrain. These designations remain until the end of the encounter.

 (Ex): An 8th level gambler making an attack or full round attack action can choose to hit. Until his next turn he gains a +2 bonus to his attack rolls, but takes a -2 penalty to AC.

 (Ex): In the long run, a gambler can benefit from counting cards. Beginning at 9th level, he may elect to start keeping track of all die rolls of a given size. If one result has been less frequent than all others of the same die size, he may, as an immediate action, substitute that result for another roll before it is made. If he attempts to substitutes the result for a roll made by someone else, she is granted a will save to prevent this effect. If he successfully substitutes the result he must include it in his tally as if it were the result of an actual die roll.

 (Ex): A gambler knows that sometimes it's better to face more opponents. A 10th level gambler may, as a full round action, make an attack against every foe he threatens at his full base attack bonus. Doing so provokes attacks of opportunity.

 (Ex): By 11th level, a gambler has learned that sometimes the only way to break even is to not play. He learns to move at half speed without provoking attacks of opportunity.

 (Ex): A 12th level gambler learns to use inaction to his advantage. When an opponent within 100 ft does nothing except move on her turn, a gambler may check as an immediate action. He may not take a standard or full-round action on his next turn. He gains a +1 bonus to attack, damage, saves, and AC vs this opponent. He may check multiple times against the same opponent, each time increasing his bonuses by one.

 (Ex): Sometimes its better to take more positions with worse chances. A 13th level gambler may choose to split as an immediate action. For the remainder of the round, whenever the gambler would attack, he instead makes two identical attacks, each at -5. A gambler does not need to make a full-round attack action to benefit from the additional attacks granted by a split.

 (Ex): An experienced gambler knows that sometimes the best odds are outside the game. Beginning at 14th level, a gambler may attempt a feint as a swift action, using his slight of hand skill rather than his bluff skill, and opposed by his opponent's spot skill, rather than her sense motive. If he fails, he provokes an attack of opportunity from this opponent.

 (Ex): By 15th level, a gambler has learned how to play the small margins when he has them. He may, as a swift action, select two creatures, a roll type, and a die size. The next time either of them rolls a die of this size, it becomes the result for the next roll of the same type with the same die made by the other. When the gambler takes this action both creatures are granted a will save to prevent it from happening; if either succeeds the effect is negated. The gambler may elect to choose the same creature twice.

 (Ex): A gambler that has learned to cheat quickly learns to run. A 16th level gambler may move at twice his normal speed. If he does so, he loses his dexterity bonus to AC for one round and automatically fails any check to avoid being tripped.

 (Ex): A 17th level gambler knows when to risk everything. As a standard action, he may identify a single 5 foot square within 30ft of him. Anything occupying this square is considered to have cover and concealment against anything outside the square, and is granted a +2 circumstance bonus on attacks. This designation lasts until the end of the encounter.

 (Ex): Mastering the urge to play, an 18th level gambler plans his limits before his first ante. A gambler making a full round attack may choose to attack only once at his full base attack bonus instead of making multiple attacks. The damage from this attack is doubled; any damage that would have applied to every attack he could have made in the round is multiplied by two. This includes damage from his strength bonus, from magical enhancements to his weapon including extra damage dice, from critical hits, and from any other effect that would have affected all attacks. Roll the damage once, and double it.

 (Ex): The 19th level gambler is an expert at studying others. He may, as an immediate action, add his sense motive skill as a dodge bonus to his AC against a single attack or to a single reflex save. He may not read faces if he is denied his dexterity bonus to AC. If he does so his opponent may add her bluff skill to her attack or to the difficulty class of the saving throw.

 (Ex): An experienced gambler always seems to have the right cards. This is not due to luck, but rather due to choosing what to do with it. On his turn, as a free action, a 20th level gambler may roll any number and type of dice. Until his next turn, whenever he would roll a die, he, instead, if possible, chooses one of the dice he already rolled and uses the earlier result as his result and discards the die. If he fails at an action that would lead to rolling more dice, such as a touch attack to initiate a grapple or a concentration check to cast a spell, he may discard dice that would have been rolled if he succeeded, starting with those with the highest values. The gambler must use all of the dice rolled; at the beginning of his next turn, if he has any dice remaining, he dies.

Sample Human Gambler Starting Package
Weapons: Spiked Chain, 5 Darts

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 8 + Int modifier.

Feat: Power Attack.

Bonus Feats: Alertness.

Gear: Leather armor, backpack, bedroll, flint and steel, hooded lantern, 3 flasks of oil, 1 day's rations, sack, waterskin

Gold: 3d% (148.5 gp).