Wizard
Wizard Subclasses
| Arcane Tradition | Description |
|---|---|
| School of Arcane Magic | Excels at quickly learning more spells |
| Villainous Class Option: School of Dark Arts | Studies sinister spells and other dark magics |
| A Song of Ice and Fire: School of Bloodmagic | Fuels magic and power with blood |
School of Arcane Magic
Instead of specializing into any one school of magic, you instead have taken up the all encompassing School of Arcane Magic. This school is more focused on acquiring a wide breadth of spells to use.
Magic Savant
2nd-level School of Arcane Magic feature
The gold and time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook is halved, and when you copy a spell from a spell scroll into your spellbook, the spell scroll is not destroyed after. You also become proficient in Arcana, and your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses it.
Quick Study
2nd-level School of Arcane Magic feature
You are able to quickly determine how a spell is crafted. When a creature you can see casts a spell, you may use your reaction to glean the mechanics of the spell. You immediately learn the spell's effects, and if it is a wizard spell of a level you can prepare, you may keep the spell in your mind in order transcribe the spell into your spellbook. You lose the ability to transcribe the spell after 24 hours or if you choose to keep another spell in your mind through another use of this feature.
Spell Insight
2nd-level School of Arcane Magic feature
Your understanding of magic gives you insight in how to resist certain spells. You have advantage on saving throws from spells in your spellbook or thata you are keeping in your mind through the Quick Study feature.
Cross-Arcane Study
6th-level School of Arcane Magic feature
You further your study in arcane magic. Pick one spell each from the bard, sorcerer, and warlock spell lists. The chosen spells are now in your spellbook and count as wizard spells for you.
You repeat this when you reach 10th and 14th level in this class.
Spells chosen using this feature must be of a spell level you can prepare as a wizard at the time of choosing.
Instant Preparation
10th-level School of Arcane Magic feature
You have learned how to quickly change out your spells. As a bonus action on your turn, you can replace one spell you have prepared with another spell from your spellbook.
You may do this a number of times equal to Intelligence modifier (minimum of once). You regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
Supreme Mage
14th-level School of Arcane Magic feature
When you reach 14th level, you gain a +1 bonus to your spell save DC and spell attack rolls.
Villainous Class Options
This subclass is from a series of subclasses based on the Villainous Class Options on pg. 96 of the Dungeon Master's Guide.
You can find more Villainous Class Options here.
Villainous Class Option: School of Dark Arts
Some magics are thought to be too vile, too wicked to practitioners of the arcane. For the School of Dark Arts this is merely a trivial matter of politics. Only a fool would limit their power, and your study of black magic grants you power.
Corruptible
2nd-level School of Dark Arts feature
You can sense in which way a creature is weakest. As an action, you choose one creature within 60 feet of you. You know which ability is the target's lowest saving throw. If more than one ability is the lowest, the DM secretly chooses one at random from lowest for you to learn.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Dark Spells
2nd-level School of Dark Arts feature
You gain certain nefarious spells from each school of magic at the wizard levels noted in the Dark Spells table. Once you gain a dark spell, it is added to your spellbook, you always have it prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can prepare each day. If you have a dark spell that doesn’t appear on the wizard spell list, the spell is nonetheless a wizard spell for you.
Dark Spells
| Wizard Level | Spell |
|---|---|
| 2nd | hellish rebuke |
| 3rd | suggestion |
| 5th | bestow curse |
| 7th | phantasmal killer |
| 9th | contact other plane |
| 11th | planar ally |
| 13th | symbol |
| 15th | glibness |
| 17th | power word: kill |
Left Hand Path
6th-level School of Dark Arts feature
When you finish a short or long rest and a magic item that requires attunement by a creature of evil alignment is within 1000 feet of you, you can sense its presence for a moment if the magic item wishes it. You do not sense the direction or distance to the object.
Right Hand Path
6th-level School of Dark Arts feature
The first time a creature attuned to a magic item that requires attunement by a creature of good alignment moves within 30 feet of you or starts its turn there, it must make a Charisma saving throw against your wizard spell save DC. On a failure, it becomes unattuned to the magic item. If it is attuned to multiple magic items that require attunement by a creature of good alignment, it makes a separate saving throw for each one.
Once a creature makes its required saving throws, it is immune to this effect for 24 hours.
Additionally, when a creature of a good alignment casts the counterspell or dispel magic spells to stop your wizard spells, it must always make a spellcasting ability check to succeed, regardless of the level of spells involved, and does so at disadvantage.
Dark Magic
10th-level School of Dark Arts feature
You have learned how to manipulate the dark arts to hide your spells. When you cast a spell, you may cast it without any somatic or verbal components and may make it appear as if the spell is coming from a different source within 30 feet of you such as another creature or another location, although the range of the spell still originates from you. If the spell specifies a creature is aware of the spell's effects, you may have it be unaware for this casting.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses of it when you finish a long rest.
Forbidden Ritual
14th-level School of Dark Arts feature
You learn a ritual requiring a creature's soul. When a creature is reduced to 0 hit points within 120 feet of you, you may use your reaction to capture the creature's soul. You can perform a 1 hour ritual within 24 hours of capturing it to transform the soul into a vitrified soul. A vitrified soul can be used in the following ways:
Material Components. When you cast a spell with a material component that is consumed, you may use a vitrified soul in place of the component. A vitrified soul can be used to replace up to 500 gp in value of a material components. For example, the planar binding spell requires a 1000 gp jewel. You could use a vitrified soul and a 500 gp jewel or two vitrified souls as material components for the spell.
Temporary Hit Points. As an action, you may expend a spell slot and consume a vitrified soul. You roll 3d12 for each level of the spell slot expended and gain a number of temporary hit points equal the total.
Create Specter. By taking an hour, you extract the soul from the vitrified soul and turn it into a specter under your control. The soul need not have been from a humanoid for you to do this. You may have a number of specters under your control equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one). Any additional specters you create are not under your control.
You roll initiative for your specters as a group, which have their own turns. As a bonus action on each of your turns, you can mentally command a specter if it is within 120 feet of you (if you control multiple specters, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the specter will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the specter only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the specter continues to follow it until its task is complete.
A Song of Ice and Fire Subclasses
This subclass is from a series of subclasses based on the culture and world of A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, but the various locations, people, and cultural touchstones mentioned can easily be reworked to to fit campaigns not set in that world.
You can find more subclasses inspired by A Song of Ice and Fire here.
A Song of Ice and Fire: School of Bloodmagic
Perhaps the oldest form of magic, bloodmagic is partially fueled by the sacrifice of blood and life, and the greater the sacrifice, the greater the magics created. The blood of kings is believed to be the most powerful. Much of the capabilities of bloodmagic remain esoteric with scholars speculating bloodmagic's work involved with the crafting of Valyrian steel and even in the birth of dragons. As a wizard of this school, typically called a maegi or bloodmage, you will begin to unravel these mysteries and master the more common functions such as imprecations and prophecy. Given its grisly nature, and especially since the Doom of Valyria, bloodmagic is hated and distrusted throughout the world save in Asshai-by-the-Shadow.
Blood Ink
2nd-level School of Bloodmagic feature
You may add any spell of 1st level or higher to your spellbook even those that are not wizard spells. To do so, in addition to the regular amount of ink and paper, you must provide your own blood. For each level of the spell, roll one of your Hit Die, expending it, and reduce your hit point maximum by an amount equal to the total rolled.
The maximum hit points reduced cannot be prevented or undone by any other spell or feature. The reduction to your hit point maximum lasts until you regain all of your Hit Dice.
When you copy a spell into your spell book in this way the spell is always prepared and doesn't count against the number spells you can prepare each day. When casting the spell using a spell slot, you must pay an additional cost of blood. Roll a number of d4s equal to the spell slot level used to cast the spell and take necrotic damage equal to the amount rolled. This damage to you can't be reduced or prevented in any way.
If you are performing the spell as a ritual, you need not provide your own blood but it does need to be fresh blood, and much less of it is required, approximately one vial's worth per level of spell. If you were to provide the blood of a living creature, the target would take 1 necrotic damage per vial's worth extracted, and this damage can't be reduced or prevented in any way.
When you reach 3rd level in this class, you add the augury spell to your spellbook through this process. You don't need to expend Hit Die or reduce your hit point maximum for this instance.
Lesser Valyrian Steel
2nd-level School of Bloodmagic feature
You have learned a process to enhance forged arms to imitate Valyrian steel. By taking an hour to bathe a metal weapon or piece of ammunition in blood and fire, you turn the weapon or piece of ammunition magical.
Payment of Death
6th-level School of Bloodmagic feature
When you reduce a creature to 0 hit points, the next spell you cast using your Blood Ink feature within the next minute doesn't require you to roll d4s and take the damage.
Blood Chant
10th-level School of Bloodmagic feature
You learn a primeval chant to help focus on spells which require your power to maintain. As a bonus action on your turn, you may take 1d4 necrotic damage and begin a blood chant. This damage to you can't be reduced or prevented in any way. Until the end of your next turn, you do not need to make Constitution saving throws to maintain your concentration on spells of 3rd-level or lower.
You may take more damage to have this effect applied to higher level spells, taking 2d4 for spells of 6th-level or lower and 3d4 for spells of 9th-level or lower.
Maegi's Malediction
14th-level School of Bloodmagic feature
You can curse a creature with its imminent death. As an action, choose a creature within 60 feet of you to make a Constitution saving throw against your wizard spell save DC. On a failure, the target takes an extra 1d4 necrotic damage each time it takes damage. This effect lasts until you use this feature again.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.