Arcane Tradition: School of War Magic Revised
Homebrew revision by u/ApeZingh
Arcane Tradition
At 2nd level, a wizard gains the Arcane Tradition Feature. The following option is available to a wizard, in addition to the options offered in the PHB. This is the School of XYZ.
School of War Magic
As the battle rages on outside the castle walls, an assassin cuts open the throat of a guard next to an entrance. The entire elite boarding crew consisting of a taker of lives, a taker of things, a mage slayer with his long sword, and Syphania collectively hush into the castle. They are looking for the mad king. They are going to get him this time. And Syphania is there to make sure his puny mages can't slow down her allies. As they reach the throne room after living behind trail of bodies, Syphania and the mage slayer burst through the doors, while their friends of the shadows slip in behind them. A dark energy beam - disapates. Syphania instantly foils the incoming spell, soaking up the energy from it with a grin. The mage slayer strikes thrice, the assasssin once from behind - the result a dead mage. As the battle progresses Syphania lets out a few fire bolts here and there, but is usually focused on protecting her allies and herself from mages. She knows to strike later. She know to strike with greater force. As the mages fall one by one, until only the high-mage, right hand to the king, is left, next to the king, Syphania has had enough. All the spells she foiled and mitigated made her vibrate with arcane excess - she had been soaking up tidbits of her enemies arcane profusions. As she finally locks eyes with the last mage, pointing a finger at him and releasing her spell, she quickly counterspells his couterspell and as she foils the last spell, her capacities are filled up and she overloads, her initial spell becomes unstable and she gives into releasing the well of power she had been forming. The king's high mage disintegrates on the spot, leaving the king in shock. Syphania couldn't have been more experienced than his high mage. But she knows best; a taker of lifes might cut a throat fast enough and just right, a taker of things might get away with the crown, and even the mage slayer might get close to the mage and cut him down eventually. But getting close is her job. Protection is her job. She is trained in the art of balancing abjuration and evocation. She is the anti-mage. She is the controller of arcane warfare. War Magic is her is her tool and profession.
School of War Magic features
| Wizard Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Tactical Wit , Arcane Deflection |
| 6th | Permuation of Power |
| 10th | Durable Magic |
| 14th | Deflection Mastery |
2nd Level: Tactical Wit
Starting at 2nd level, your keen ability to assess tactical situations allows you to act quickly in battle. You have a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Intelligence modifier. Additionally you gain proficiency in one of the following tools, to reflect what kind of War Mage you are: Calligrapher's Supplies, Cook's Utensils, Cartographer's Tools, Navigator's Tools
2nd Level: Arcane Deflection
At 2nd level, you have learned to weave your magic to fortify yourself against harm. When you are hit by an attack or you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction to gain a +2 bonus to your AC until the end of the current turn or a +4 bonus to that saving throw, potentially succeeding it.
6th Level: Permuation of Power
Starting at 6th level, you can store magical energy within yourself to later empower your damaging spells. In its stored form, this energy is called a Power Surge.
You can store a maximum number of Power Surges equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of one). Whenever you finish a long rest, your number of power surges resets to one. If you end a short rest with no power surges, you gain one power surge. Whenever you successfully end a spell or prevent the casting of a spell with dispel magic, counterspell, or any other reaction abjuration spell, you gain one power surge, as you steal magic from the spell you foiled.
Power Burst You can spend any amount Power Surge once per turn when you deal damage to a creature or object with a wizard spell which is only targeting one creature or one object, to deal extra force damage to that target. The damage is equal to an additional damage die per Power Surge expended plus your Intelligence modifier and proficiency bonus.
Power Blast Or you can spend any amount of Power Surges once per turn when you deal damage to multiple targets with a wizard spell, to deal extra damage equal to 1 additional damage die of that spell per Power Surge expended. The bonus damage type is the same of the spells.
Ward of Power You can spend any amount of Power Surges once per round on your turn as a bonus action to give yourself or an ally within 60 ft. an arcane ward and grant the target you select temporary HP equal to 2d4 per Power Surge expended plus your Wizard level. When you do so you can't cast a spell of first level or higher that turn as an action. Ward of Power drops whenever you use any of the features of Permuation of Power while the Ward of Power is still active.
Surge Fatigue Whenever you expend 5 Power Surges at once to use any of the features of Permuation of Power, you fatigued and limited, so you can't expend any more than 3 Power Surges at a time for Permuation of Power until the end of your next long rest, at which Surge Fatigue resets.
10th Level: Durable Magic
Beginning at 10th level, the magic you channel helps ward off harm. While you maintain concentration on a spell, you have a +2 bonus to AC and all saving throws.
14th Level: Deflection Mastery
At 14th level, your skill in combative of magic becomes fast and precise. Whenever you use your Arcane Deflection feature successfully, or prevent an attack or a spell with an reaction abjuration spell (e.g. Shield, Counterspell, etc.) you can cause magical energy to arc from you and shape it at your will. As part of that reaction you can cast a cantrip targeting one or multiple enemies with the intent of dealing damage to them. You can also apply the Permuation of Power features Power Burst or Power Blast to that cantrip when you deal damage.