Arcane Order
Order of Antiquity
All wizards seek arcane knowledge, but mages of the Order of Antiquity know exactly where to search. They are historians and ruin-divers, devoted to seeking out the lost mysteries of the past. Some members of the Order seek relics from fallen empires, while others open dusty sarcophagi or hunt for long-lost scrolls. These wizards believe that ancient civilizations knew magic far beyond anything practiced by "modern" wizards, and are intent on uncovering it.
The stereotype of an Antiquity wizard is a wealthy noble, a dilettante who uses independent wealth to finance archaeological expeditions. And it is certainly true in some cases — but not all. Other Antiquity wizards may come from less-privileged backgrounds, and either gravitate to the Order by personal inclination or as an unscrupulous way to shortcut more regular paths of study. These wizards also have no particular tendencies to their alignments; an Antiquity wizard is just as likely to seek artifacts for personal power as they are to steward them away from dangerous hands.
Order of Antiquity Features
| Wizard Level | Feature |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Scholar of Antiquity, Ancient Magic, Artifactual Academic |
| 6th | Improved Artifacts, Dungeon Diver |
| 10th | Relic Hoarder |
| 14th | Lost Secrets |
Scholar of Antiquity
When you join this order at 2nd level, you focus your studies on the knowledge of the ancients. You gain proficiency in History or another wizard skill of your choice if you are already proficient. You can also immediately add the identify and comprehend languages spells to your spellbook. If either spell is already in your spellbook, you can add a 1st-level wizard spell of your choice instead.
Ancient Magic
Also at 2nd level, you master lost techniques which you have recovered through your historical studies. You can select one 1st-level spell you know and add a modified version of it to your spellbook. The spell may receive one of the following modifications:
- You change its damage type to any other damage type of your choice.
- You can increase its range by half.
- If its range is 60 feet or more, you can decrease its range to touch and increase its effects as if it were cast using a spell slot one level higher.
- Every time you cast the spell, you can roll a d6. On a roll of 6, the spell affects one additional creature within its range.
- You automatically succeed the first time you have to make a check to maintain concentration on the spell.
When you gain the ability to cast spells at a new spell level, you can modify 1 spell you know of that level to your spellbook. When you level up in this class, you can choose to remove one modified spell from your spellbook and replace it with a new one at the same spell level.
Artifactual Academic
Also at 2nd level, you gain a particular facility for working with magical items. When you find a magic item that can be used to cast a wizard spell, you can attempt to copy the spell from it into your spellbook. In order to do so, you must study the item for a number of hours equal to the spell's level and then succeed on an Intelligence (Arcana) check with a DC equal to 10 + the spell’s level. You can only attempt this check for a given item one time.
If your game includes a character that can easily produce items which cast spells, those items probably shouldn't be allowed as targets for Artifactual Academic. They're not ancient artifacts, after all.
Improved Artifacts
At 6th level, you develop a certain level of facility for improving the ancient relics that you find. When you first attune to a magic item, you can modify it, granting it one of the following benefits:
- If the item has charges, its maximum charges are increased by 1d4.
- If the item can force a creature to make a saving throw, that saving throw DC is increased by 1.
- You can imbue one 1st-level spell you know into the item. The item can be used to cast the spell once, regaining the ability after a long rest.
This benefit ends if you cease to be attuned to the item.
Dungeon Diver
Also at 6th level, you gain particular fluency for dodging traps and snares. Whenever you roll a saving throw to resist the effects of a trap, you do so with advantage.
Relic Hoarder
At 10th level, you can attune to up to four magic items at once. You also gain the following additional options for your Improved Artifacts feature:
- If the item grants you resistance to a damage type, you can change it to any other damage type.
- If the item grants you a bonus to AC, you can increase the bonus by 1.
- If the item modifies your movement speed, it can increase your speed by an additional 10 feet.
Lost Secrets
At 14th level, your mastery of lost spellcasting techniques improves. When you cast a spell modified through Ancient Magic or using an item modified through Improved Artifacts, you can do so as a bonus action. The spell must have a casting time of 1 action.
You can do so once, regaining the ability after a short or long rest.
Order of Antiquity quirks
The following are some optional quirks for a player of this subclass to choose from.
| d6 | Quirk |
|---|---|
| 1 | You style your clothing after ancient garments. |
| 2 | You always wear a jaunty hat and carry a satchel. |
| 3 | You lecture about ancient history at every chance you get. |
| 4 | You are convinced of the existence of a secret lost civilization, which nobody else believes in. |
| 5 | You hate snakes. |
| 6 | You pretend to read several dead languages you don't know anything about. |
Change Log
v0.3
- Small exploit-fixes on Scholar of Antiquity and Improved Artifacts
v0.2
- Removed save-modification option from Ancient Magic
v0.1
- Rough Draft
Credits & References:
Order of Antiquity created by somanyrobots Discord | Patreon
Art
Scholar of the Ages, by Micah Epstein © Wizards of the Coast LLC
Background Image Stains
License
© 2025 somanyrobots, CC BY-NC 4.0
Fan Content Policy
This work is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
5E SRD Content
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available here.
The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available here.
