Puppet Master Near Completion (Patreon)

I just wrapped up the majority fo the new Puppet Master class that's coming. I still have to create the upgrades, but that should be fairly quick since they'll all be based on spells that have long durations (mage armor, barkskin, enhance ability, etc).

Let me know what you think:

Class Features

As a puppet master, you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Points: 1d6 per puppet master level

Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier

Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per wizard level after 1st.

Proficiencies

Armor: None

Weapons: Clubs, daggers, handaxes, darts

Tools: Tinker's tools

Saving Throws: Dexterity, Intelligence

Skills: Choose two from Acrobatics, Deception, Insight, Perception, Performance, Sleight of Hand, and Stealth

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) a club or (b) a handaxe
• (a) a diplomat's pack or (b) an entertainer's pack
• 3 daggers
• Medium canvas-and-wood puppet, puppeteer's gloves, and hemp puppet strings.
• Tinker's tools

Puppetry

You have learned how to create a life-sized construct that appears to move and act on its own. In reality, it is a puppet controlled by strings attached to your hands.

When you select this class, you create your first puppet which is a construct made from canvas and wood. Your puppet starts with the following statistics:

• Your puppet's size is Medium.
• Your puppet's Armor Class is 11 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
• Your puppet has hit points equal to four times your puppet master level.
• Your puppet's movement speed is 30 ft. It must always remain within strings' length of you.
• Your puppet's Strength and Dexterity scores are the same as your Intelligence score. Your puppet's Constitution score is 11. Your puppet's Intelligence and Charisma scores equal 1. And your puppet's Wisdom score is the same as your Wisdom score.
• Your puppet has proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saving throws.
• Your puppet starts without any skill proficiencies. If your puppet later becomes proficient in a particular skill, its ability checks are made using your proficiency bonus plus your Intelligence modifier regardless of what the skill is.
• Your puppet can't see and has no passive Perception of its own. It only reacts to what you can see.
• The puppet is immune to poison and psychic damage. It is also immune to the blinded, charmed, frightened, paralyzed, petrified, and poisoned conditions as well.
• Your puppet is proficient with simple weapons. Both its melee and ranged weapon attack bonus equals your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier.
• Your puppet can use two weapons as normal and doesn't add your Intelligence modifier to the bonus attack unless that modifier is negative.
• When attacking with a weapon, your puppet adds your Intelligence modifier to the damage.
• The puppet has a natural slam attack that deals bludgeoning damage equal to 1d6 + your Intelligence modifier.

As a construct, your puppet cannot speak on its own and it is unaligned. It does not require air, food, drink, or sleep. It is immune to disease.

You control your puppet through use of special strings. It takes its turn on your initiative, though it doesn't take an action unless you control it. On your turn, through a combination of hand motions and telepathic signals, you can control where the puppet moves (no action required by you). It must stay within the range of your strings. You can use your action to control the puppet so that it can take any action normally available to a creature except for the Cast a Spell and Search actions. 

If you are incapacitated the puppet is also incapacitated. If you are blinded, frightened, poisoned, or restrained the puppet has disadvantage on all of its attack rolls, ability checks, and Dexterity saving throws. Plus, its movement is halved and any attack rolls made against the puppet have advantage.

Your puppet cannot use reactions. However, if a creature would provoke an attack of opportunity against your puppet, you can use your reaction to have the puppet make an opportunity attack against the provoking creature.

If your puppet is destroyed, you can create a new puppet by spending 4 hours crafting a replacement using your tinker's tools. You must have the original puppet or at least 100 gp of resources available to you.

Puppet Strings

Your puppet is controlled via special strings. Without these strings, you cannot control your puppet and your puppet is incapacitated. You start with ten hemp strings that are attached to each of your fingers via puppeteer's gloves. While controlling the puppet you cannot hold an item in either of your hands nor can you take actions that require you to use your hands such as making a Sleight of Hand check or opening a door. Only your puppet can perform these actions for you.

At any time, you can use your action to remove your gloves. Your puppet immediately becomes incapacitated when you do.

Puppet Strings

     StringCostACHPLengthWeightSilk*180 gp112090 ft.18 lbs.Hemp*12 gp112060 ft.24 lbs.Steel120 gp196030 ft.30 lbs.Mithral600 gp217060 ft.12 lbs.Adamantine1,200 gp238060 ft.45 lbs.

* Vulnerable to fire damage.

A creature can target your puppet's strings by making an attack roll targetting the string's AC. If the attack hits, the creature rolls damage as normal. The strings are immune to psychic and poison damage and they are resistant to bludgeoning and piercing damage. Hemp and silk strings are vulnerable to fire damage.

When the strings' hit points are reduced to half or less, you lose partial control over your puppet. Your puppet's movement is halved, it has disadvantage on all attack rolls, ability checks, and Dexterity saving throws, and attacks made against it are made with advantage. If the strings' hit points are reduced to 0, you no longer control the puppet and it is incapacitated until its strings are repaired.

Your puppet must stay within a range of you equal to its strings' length as shown on the Puppet Strings table. While your puppet's strings are connected, any spell or magical effect that would separate you and your puppet such as a banishment or plane shift spell automatically targets both of you and you roll a single saving throw for you or your puppet, whichever offers the greater bonus to the roll.

Optional Rule. At the DM's discretion, your strings form a line that reaches from you to your puppet. The line is considered difficult terrain to any creature that crosses through it.

Puppet Repair

Starting at 1st level, when you complete a short or long rest, you can make repairs to your puppet as long as it has 1 hit point remaining and you have tinker's tools available.

At the end of a short rest, when you spend your Hit Dice on yourself or your puppet or your puppet's strings in order to regain hit points. You can still only spend a number of Hit Dice equal to your character level.

At the end of a long rest, your puppet and its strings regain all lost hit points.

Upgrades

At 2nd level, you have learned ways to retool your puppet with new bonuses, benefits, and features called upgrades.

Upgrade Points

At 2nd level, you have 2 upgrade points which you can use to upgrade your puppet. Your upgrade points go up as you reach higher levels, as shown in the Upgrade Points column of the Puppet Master table. You can never have more upgrade points than shown on the table for your level.

Upgrading Your Puppet

Your puppet must be present and have at least 1 hit point remaining in order for you to upgrade it. Using your tinker's tools, you spend your upgrade points on any upgrades that are known to you. The benefits of the upgrade immediately take effect. While your puppet benefits from the upgrade, you cannot use the upgrade points used to upgrade it until you remove the upgrade.

Removing Upgrades

You can use your tinker's tools to remove upgrades to regain spent upgrade points. You must select which upgrade you wish to remove and spend the requisite removal time removing it as noted in the upgrade's description. Once the removal is completed, your puppet loses the benefits of the upgrade and you regain the cost of the upgrade back in upgrade points which you are free to spend on different upgrades. 

Upgrades Known of 2nd Level and Higher

At 2nd level, you know two 1st-level upgrades of your choice from the puppet master upgrade list.

The Upgrades Known column of the Puppet Master table shows when you learn more upgrades of your choice at 1st level and higher. An upgrade you choose must be of a level no higher than what's shown in the table's Upgrade Level column for your level. When you reach 9th level, for example, you learn a new upgrade which can be of 1st, 2nd, or 3rd level.

Additionally, when you gain a level in this class, you can choose one of the upgrades you know and replace it with another upgrade from the puppet master upgrades list, which also must be of a level for which you have upgrades.

Upgrade Quality

The quality of your upgrades is determined by your Intelligence, so you and your puppet use Intelligence whenever an upgrade refers to your upgrade quality. In addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving throw DC for an upgrade you use and when making an attack roll with one.

Upgrade save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Upgrade attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Tinker's Tools

In order to spend upgrade points and add or remove upgrades to your puppet, you must have a set of tinker's tools available to you.

Puppet Master Technique

At 3rd level, you choose a technique that you strive to emulate: Masterpiece Method or Shadow Dance.  Your choice grants you features at 3rd level and again at 7th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Puppet Dodge

Beginning at 5th level, you can anticipate attacks coming at your puppet. When an attacker that you can see hits your puppet with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack's damage against your puppet.

Repair Triage

Starting at 6th level, you can make quick repairs to your puppet while in combat. You gain the following benefits:

• If your puppet's strings have 0 hit points and you are within 5 feet of your puppet, you can use your action to make a quick repair using your tinker's tools. The strings regain 1 hp.
• If your puppet has 0 hit points and you are within 5 feet of it, you can use your action to make a quick repair using your tinker's tools. Your puppet regains 1 hp.

One-Handed Puppet

Starting at 11th level, you can control your puppet using only one hand. While you have one hand free, you can't hold anything with two hands, but you can hold or use a single object at a time. In addition, you can use your bonus action to make an attack with your free hand on each of your turns.

Puppet Evasion

By 15th level, when your puppet is subjected to an effect, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a lightning bolt spell, that allows your puppet to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, your puppet instead takes no damage if you succeed on the puppet's saving throw, and only half damage if you fail.

Freehand Puppet

At 20th level, you can control your puppet without the use of strings. It functions independently of you and you have a telepathic link with your puppet as long as the two of you are on the same plane of existence. You can see through your puppet's eyes and hear what it hears.

On your turn, you can telepathically command your puppet where to move and what action to take (no action required by you). Your puppet can take actions, bonus actions, and reactions on its own separate of your own. Certain features, such as Puppet Dodge, still require you to use your reaction in order for your puppet to gain the benefits of the feature.

Puppet Master Techniques

Puppet masters learn a variety of techniques, however, the two most popular are the Masterpiece Method and the Shadow Dance.

Masterpiece Method

Puppet Masters who adopt the masterpiece method focus their efforts on improving their puppets as much as possible. They are not as concerned with making their puppet seem lifelike as they are making it the perfect champion.

Upgrade Expert

Starting at 3rd level, the time you must spend to upgrade your puppet is halved. And if the upgrade has a material cost, the cost is halved.

Skilled Surrogate

At 3rd level, your puppet becomes proficient in one skill of your choice: Acrobatics, Athletics, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth. You may select thieves' tools or an artisan's tools for your puppet instead of a skill. The puppet's proficiency bonus is equal to double your proficiency bonus for any ability check it makes using the chosen proficiency.

Puppet Majesty

Also, at 3rd level, you can put your technique on display by having your puppet perform a unique and mesmerizing dance. 

You perform with your puppet for at least 1 minute. At the end of the performance, choose a number of humanoids within 60 feet of you who watched the entire performance, up to a number equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one). Each target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your upgrade save DC or become charmed. While the creature is charmed by you, the target idolizes you and your puppet, it speaks glowingly of you and your puppet to anyone who talks to it, and it hinders anyone who opposes you or your puppet, although it avoids violence unless it was already inclined to fight on your behalf.  

This effect ends on a target after 1 hour, if the target takes any damage, if you attack the target, or if the target witnesses you attack or damage any of its allies.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

Puppet Defense

At 7th level, you gain one of the following features of your choice.

Graceful Command. Opportunity attacks against your puppet are made with disadvantage.

Puppet Mount. You can mount your puppet by either standing on a platform at its waist, or riding it like a horse. The normal mounting and dismounting rules apply when you are mounted on your puppet. Plus, while mounted on your puppet you can force an attack targeted at you to target the puppet instead.

Vigilant Defender. When a creature that you can see moves within 15 feet of your puppet, you can use your reaction to move your puppet to a space that would put the creature within the puppet's melee weapon reach (maximum of 10 feet). The movement occurs right before the creature moves again or uses an action or bonus action.

Influential Companion

At 10th level, your puppet is such a picture of near perfection it is distracting to others. You have advantage on Charisma (Deception, Intimidation, and Persuasion) ability checks when your puppet is within 10 feet of you and the creature you are interacting can see your puppet. Creatures that are immune to being charmed are not affected.

Protective Puppet

At 14th level, your puppet protects you at all costs. When you take damage from a creature that you can see that is within 5 feet of your puppet, you can use your reaction to have your puppet make a melee weapon attack against that creature.

Extra Upgrade

At 18th level, you can add one extra 1st-level upgrade to your puppet that you know. This upgrade does not use any of your upgrade points, nor does it cost any extra gold or time. After you complete a long rest, you can swap out the upgrade for another 1st-level upgrade that you know.

Shadow Dance

Practitioners of the Shadow Dance are obsessed with making their puppets seem as lifelike as possible. They disappear into the shadows so their puppets may perform on their behalf. Over time, a Shadow Dance puppet master's own allies may even forget that he or she exists beyond the puppet.

Unseen Puppeteer

When you select this style at 3rd level, you have learned how to hide while your puppet acts on your behalf. On each of your turns, you can take the Hide action as a bonus action. This does not include your puppet, however, the puppet's strings are also hidden. While you are hidden, you can control your puppet and have it take actions without giving away your position.

Ventriloquism

At 3rd level, you can speak through your puppet as if it is under the effect of the minor illusion cantrip. As long as your puppet is within 60 feet of you, the puppet speaks clearly and uses its mouth to emote normally. While you speak through it, you can use any skills that require you to interact verbally with another creature such as Charisma (Deception or Persuasion) through your puppet, using your normal ability modifiers and proficiency bonuses.

If a creature uses its action to examine the puppet, the creature can determine that it is an illusion with a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your upgrade save DC. If a creature discerns the ventriloquism for what it is and you are hidden, the creature has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to find you until the end of its next turn.

Redirect Attack

Beginning at 7th level, when a creature that you can see targets you with an attack and your puppet is within 5 feet of you, you can use your reaction to swap places with your puppet, and the puppet becomes the target instead.

Improved Ventriloquism

At 10th level, your ability to throw your voice is so perfect that it's nearly impossible to tell the sounds your puppet are making are coming from somewhere else. All Intelligence (Investigation) checks to discern your Ventriloquism feature for what it is are made with disadvantage.

Uncanny Valley

At 14th level, you can use your action to have your puppet weave a distracting string of words. Each creature of your choice within 60 feet of your puppet must make a Wisdom saving throw against your upgrade save DC. Any creature that can't be charmed succeeds on this saving throw automatically, and if you or your companions are fighting a creature, it has advantage on the save. On a failed save, the target has disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks made to perceive any creature other than your puppet. The effect ends after 1 minute or until the target can no longer hear your puppet.

Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until after you complete a long rest.

Lost in the Shadows

At 18th level, your ability to hide your own presence during performances with your puppet is so great, that many creatures are unwilling to believe you even exist. While you are hidden and your puppet isn't incapacitated, all Wisdom (Perception) checks made to find you are done so with disadvantage. A creature that is immune to being charmed ignores this effect.