Triple Triad is an extremely popular card game in some worlds, and some enthusiasts are able to turn monsters into cards. A true triad master is able to re-summon these monsters into battle.
The triad master is an archetype of the summoner class.
Archetype Main Ability Scores:
The triad master mainly focuses on DEX for combat, and CHA for his class features and spells.
Archetype Feature Replacements:
1st – Spells, Limit Breaks, Avatar, Summon Gear. 2nd – Summon Monster. 3rd – Blood Pact, Bond Senses. 5th – Clear Mind. 6th – Counter-Summon. 8th – Superior Summons. 11th – Greater Blood Pact. 12th – Weaken Summons. 14th – Summoner’s Charm. 15th – Paragon Summons. 17th – Tireless Pact. 19th – Merge Forms, Summoning Mastery. 20th – Mighty Blood Pact, Twin Avatar.
Diminished Spellcasting
A triad master gains fewer MP than normal equal to the spell level he gains. For example, a triad master of 5th level would only have 6 MP excluding extra MP from Charisma bonus.
Table: Diminished Full MP Progression
| Level | MP | Spell Level |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | 2 | 1st |
| 2nd | 3 | 1st |
| 3rd | 4 | 2nd |
| 4th | 5 | 2nd |
| 5th | 6 | 3rd |
| 6th | 8 | 3rd |
| 7th | 11 | 4th |
| 8th | 15 | 4th |
| 9th | 20 | 5th |
| 10th | 24 | 5th |
| 11th | 29 | 6th |
| 12th | 35 | 6th |
| 13th | 42 | 7th |
| 14th | 49 | 7th |
| 15th | 56 | 8th |
| 16th | 65 | 8th |
| 17th | 74 | 9th |
| 18th | 83 | 9th |
| 19th | 92 | 9th |
| 20th | 101 | 9th |
Limit Breaks (Su)
At 1st level, the triad master receives the Limit Breaks (Card Cage and Refresh Deck)
Card Cage (Su): This Limit Break allows the triad master to create a card that traps a monster’s soul. The triad master can make a melee touch attack against an enemy and, if successful, the creature (which cannot have a higher HD than the summoner or it fails to work) must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + half of the summoner’s level + his Charisma modifier) or be captured in a Triple Triad card. The card has a hardness of 1 and HP of 1, can only be destroyed by outside sources, and takes the square the creature is in. The hardness and HP of the card increases by 1 for every four summoner levels after 1st. If the battle ends before the card breaks, the triad master can add the card to his collection for later summoning. If the card breaks, the creature’s soul returns to the body.
Refresh Deck (Su): This Limit Break allows the triad master to revive the monsters in his deck with 1d6 HP + 1d6 for every four summoner levels after 1st. This allows cards that were previously exhausted to be used one extra time this day.
These abilities replace the summoner’s standard Limit Breaks.
Cards (Su)
At 1st level, the triad master gains the ability to create cards of monsters. In order to do this, the triad master must find a monster that has been dead for no more than 1 minute (or just kill it himself), and trap its soul in a card. The monster can then be summoned as an avatar, part of the triad master’s deck as a full-round action. The triad master can not trap a monster with an HD higher than his own summoner level and a trapped monster is considered as the base monster without any templates or modifications. A triad master begins play with five such cards, and each card a triad master makes can only be used once per day (unless refresh deck is used).
A card, once created, can be added to a deck. This deck, changeable once per day after a full night’s rest, represents the five cards that can be summoned. No more than one such monster can be summoned at a time, the monster is treated as an Avatar for the purpose of summoner abilities, the triad master can not summon monsters with a HD higher than his own summoner level, and the triad master can only have one deck active at a time (though he can make as many preset decks as he desires). Triple Triad cards bought off the market or from other people can not be used to summon monsters, unless created by another triad master. New blank cards can be created for 100 gil x the triad master’s summoner level, and can not trap monsters of a HD higher than the triad master’s summoner level at the time of creation. The creation DC is a Craft (Calligraphy) check of 5 + the summoner level of the triad master.
When a spell is used to revive a target whose soul is trapped in a card, the caster must make a caster level check (DC 10 + the triad master’s summoner level + his Charisma modifier). Success means the card is destroyed and the target is returned to life. The triad master is immediately alerted to the attempt regardless of if it succeeded or not.
This ability replaces avatar, summon gear, blood pact, clear mind, greater blood pact, tireless pact, and mighty blood pact.
Card Creation Mastery (Ex)
As a triad master continues his craft, he becomes more and more capable of creating stronger cards. At 2nd level, the triad master treats his summoner level as 1 higher for purposes of creating cards and capturing and summoning monsters. This bonus increases by 1 every even level, to a maximum of a +10 bonus.
This ability replaces summon monster I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, and IX.
Advancement (Su)
At 3rd level, the triad master gains the ability to advance his cards, granting the monster within the card the advanced template. Only one card in a deck can have this advancement at a time, and must be chosen when the deck is made. Another card can gain the template at 7th level and every four summoner levels afterward.
This ability replaces bond senses, superior summons, weaken summons, summoner’s charm, and summoning mastery
Chain (Su)
At 6th level, the triad master gains the ability to chain a summon off of the death of one of his summoned monsters. When a monster summoned by a card the triad master has in his deck dies, he may, as an immediate action, summon another. A monster summoned this way can not act until the summoner’s next turn, and is considered flat-footed until it acts. This ability can be used an amount of times per day equal to the triad master’s Charisma modifier.
This ability replaces counter summon.
Trump Card (Su)
At 15th level, the triad master may increase his summoner level by 1.5x for purposes of creating cards and capturing monsters once per day as a swift action. A card created in this way may be treated as 3/4 HD for purposes of determining if it can be put into a deck and summoned. This card can not be affected by Advancement or summoned through Chain, nor can it be summoned until such time as at least two monsters summoned by other cards in the deck are defeated in a day and only one Trump Card can be in the deck at a time.
This ability replaces paragon summons.
Merge Cards (Su)
At 19th level, as a full-round action, the triad master may summon a monster using two cards instead of one. The resulting creature can not be affected by Advancement or Trump Card (though it does count as two monsters being defeated for the purposes of Trump Card), and can not be summoned through Chain. The creatures must be of the same type, and gains the abilities, feats (in the case of duplicate feats, the monster only gains one instance of the feat – source can be chosen from either creature), and bonuses of both cards. Ability scores are treated as though they were the highest score between the two merged cards, and HD starts at the HD of the stronger of the two cards, and is then increased by half the HD of the weaker of the two cards. This ability can only be used once a day. All resulting monsters intended for use with merge cards must be created in advance by the player (though a GM can look over the result if needed).
Quick rule: Instead of making a new monster, the triad master may simply give the higher HD creature a bonus to all rolls equal to half the HD of the smaller HD creature.
This ability replaces merge form.
Trap Person (Su)
At 20th level, the triad master may create cards of once-living people, complete with equipment. In this case, the ‘monster’ is as the trapped soul’s character sheet or stat block as they were at the time of death. In addition, at an additional cost of 9,000 gil, the triad master may create a card that traps his own soul upon death. The card is then played 1 round after the triad master’s soul is trapped with the triad master at full HP and MP. The triad master can only ever create one such card (a failure does not count; the triad master simply needs to try again), and has a Craft (Calligraphy) DC of 35 to create.
This ability replaces twin avatar.
