School of Invention (Revised)
Among the many schools of Wizardry, both large scale and private, there are many smaller branches of magecraft that you cannot find anywhere else. At the College of Greyhold, in the Thulian Commonwealth, this is the way of the Artificer. Cloistered in the mountaintop monasteries of Kaede, the Wu Xi pursue the mysteries of the Five Elements. In the harsh, forbidden landscape of the Avamath Dominion, there are whispers of Geomancers harnessing the ley energies of the planet. And in the Empire of Tierra Calida, within the halls of the two Academias de Magia, one can find the School of Invention.
These wizards learn to manipulate the raw energies of magic, not just with spell words and formulae, but in conjunction with such trappings. They have made a science out of the wild art of Sorcerous Metamagic, which is all but forbidden in their country; through this science, they have invented suits of armor that act as antennae to draw in magical energy, store it, and unleash it to modify their spells when the time is right. This heightened abundance of natural magic energy has made this school the preeminent source of new magical developments in the world, as they alone have an easy means to harness raw magic to shape as they will.
Tools of the Inventor
2nd-level School of Invention feature
Students of the School of Invention are encouraged to gain many skills; tinkering, crafting, and most of all, swift and proficient note-taking.
You gain proficiency with calligrapher's supplies, and two additional artisan tools of your choice. In addition, the gold and time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook is 25% less than normal, and the gold and time you must spend to create a new spell is halved.
Why Revise Invention?
I have a player who rolled an Invention wizard about a year and a half back, and after a decent amount of playtest, we found the subclass lacking a unique flavor beyond 'haha random spells'. So, we put our heads together, and reimagined them as something a little...different. Something that interacted well with my spell creation rules, brought some of the Sorcerer mechanics to a table that otherwise lacked them, and had some unique 'defense wizard' flavor to it.
Credits
Original UA version of School of Invention by Mike Mearls and Jeremy Crawford. Revisions by Seraph and Lunar. Contact me at u/RevenantSeraph with thoughts and comments. Thanks for reading!
Arcanomechanical Armor
2nd-level School of Invention feature
The gathering and harnessing of raw magical energy is dangerous, and is a feat beyond mere trinkets like wands or orbs. To this end, Invention wizards have created intricate armor to aid in their endeavors, as well as protect them when those endeavors go awry.
You gain proficiency with light armor and gain a suit of Arcanomechanical armor— a magic item that only you can attune to. While you are attuned to and wearing it, it grants you Resistance to force damage.
Intelligence Bound. Arcanomechanical armor uses Intelligence in place of Dexterity to determine the AC modifier, representing the force of your magic protecting you, rather than physical skill.
The armor is light armor and provides an AC of 12 + INT modifier. It weighs the same amount as the armor used to construct it.
Arcane Focus. Your Arcanomechanical armor functions as an Arcane Focus for purposes of spellcasting.
Reconstruction. You can create a new suit at the end of a long rest by touching a suit of light armor, which magically transforms it. Doing so removes the magic from your previous Arcanomechanical armor, returning it to its original state.
This armor may have a magical bonus to AC equal to half your proficiency modifier, rounded down; this magic bonus to AC still applies. Any other enchantments present on the armor become inert until such time as it returns to its original state.
Arcane Breakthroughs
2nd-level School of Invention feature
You've learned how to channel raw magical energy through your Arcanomechanical armor, using it to augment and manipulate spells in a variety of ways.
Your armor gains a number of Arcane Charges that can be used to fuel Breakthroughs you've made in the manipulation of raw magical energy.
Number of Arcane Charges: 2x Proficiency + Intelligence modifier + armor's magic AC bonus
'Armor's magic AC bonus' is the original armor's enchanted bonus to AC; e.g. a suit of +2 studded leather would grant +2 additional Arcane Charges.
When you cast a spell using your armor you can chose to expend a number of these Charges to affect the spell being used. The amount of Charges spent on a single effect may not exceed the maximum spell level you are capable of casting.
Your armor recovers all expended charges at the end of a long rest. If you have run out of charges, you may instead expend a spell slot of equal level to the number of charges required for the effect.
Breakthroughs
| Charges | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | When you cast a spell that deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, thunder, or poison damage you may change that damage type to one of the other types. |
| 2 | Add 2d10 force damage to a spell's damage roll against one of the spells targets of your choice. If your armor has a magical bonus to its AC, you may also add double that modifier to the damage roll. For each Charge spent above two you may add an additional target to this effect, with a maximum number of targets equal to your proficiency modifier. |
| 3 | Increase the range or radius of a spell. Spells with Touch as their range instead have a range of 30 feet. Spells with a range of 5 feet or more have their range increased by 100%. If the spell has a radial area of effect, instead of increasing its range, you may increase its radius by 100% or 20 feet, whichever is smaller. |
| 4 | Increase a spell's save DC by 2. If the spell being cast is Counterspell or Dispel Magic, add a +2 bonus to the rolled check. If your Armor has a magical bonus to AC you may instead add that modifier to a spell's DC and Counterspell or Dispel Magic checks if it would be higher. This Breakthrough may only be used once with Spirit of Innovation. |
| 5 | When you roll damage for a spell, treat all results of 1 or 2 on any damage dice as though you rolled a 3 instead. If this Breakthrough is used twice with Spirit of Innovation, treat all results of 1, 2, or 3 on any damage dice as though you rolled a 4 instead. |
Arcanomechanical Resistance
6th-level School of Invention feature
You've learned to finely weave your magic throughout your armor with greater skill and presicion in order to enhance its protection from both enemy magic and your own.
Your armor gains Resistance to a damage type of your choice from the following: fire, cold, acid, lightning, thunder, poison, or necrotic damage. This added Resistance stacks with your existing resistance to Force damage, and may be changed to one of the other available types after completing a long rest.
Additionally, whenever you make a save against a damage type your Arcanomechanical armor gives you Resistance to, you may add your Intelligence modifier to the result. If this save is against a spell cast by you, you take half damage on a failure, and no damage on a success.
Improved Arcanomechanical Armor
10th-level School of Invention feature
You are able to create a stronger suit of armor to handle your stronger experimental magic.
Your Arcanomechanical Armor can now be made from Medium armor and you gain proficiency with it while attuned; the Armor's AC calculates as the base armor, using your INT modifier in place of DEX modifier. This ability is considered to meet the prerequisites for taking the Medium Armor Master feat.
Furthermore, you gain an extra attunement slot that can only be used to attune to your Arcanomechanical Armor.
Prodigious Inspiration
10th-level School of Invention feature
As a bonus action, you may replace one spell you have prepared with another spell from your spellbook.
You cannot use this ability again until you finish a short or long rest.
Spirit of Innovation
14th-level School of Invention feature
You have mastered the art of manipulating raw magic through your Arcanomechanical Armor. This mastery has increased the sheer amount of energy available for manipulation, it allows you to control multiple Breakthroughs at once, and it has given you insight into several more Breakthroughs of unrivaled potency.
Your number of Arcane Charges increases, becoming:
Number of Arcane Charges: 3x Proficiency + Intelligence modifier + armor's magic AC bonus
You are no longer limited by your maximum spell level in how many points you may spend on Breakthroughs for a spell.
When you cast a spell, you may pick up to two Breakthroughs to add to the spell instead of one. Their combined cost may not exceed your currently available number of charges. Once you've used this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
In addition, you gain the following Breakthroughs:
| Charges | Effect |
|---|---|
| 6 | This spell may be cast as a bonus action if desired, and ignores restrictions on casting multiple non-cantrip spells in one turn. This Breakthrough may not be used on spells of 7th-level or higher. |
| 7 | If a target has the Magic Resistance trait, you cause them to lose its benefits until the end of your next turn. You may only choose one target affected by an area spell to gain this benefit. If this Breakthrough is used twice with Spirit of Innovation, it removes any damage type Resistances the target has until the end of your next turn. |
| 8 | When casting a single-target spell that requires you to roll damage, you deal the maximum possible amount of damage instead of rolling. This Breakthrough may not be used on spells of 7th-level or higher. |