#notaspell

[thearcanacheck]

OH FOR THE LOVE OF

Sorry, I just got home from work and reblogged a bunch of garbage to the wrong darn account! Peace be with you!

(Link to the personal blog if garbage is what ye desire most: https://www.tumblr.com/harry-trumans-dishwasher)

[thearcanacheck]

Playing around with the idea of making my own little Sci-Fi TTRPG Setting! Lemme know if you guys are interested!

[thearcanacheck]

(Rats! Sorry for reblogging that last post about the wonders of the outdoors on to the wrong blog; glad you guys seemed to like it though!)

(I was just working in the Drafted-posts mine for the Arcana Check; but here's my link to my main blog if you want more stuff like that)

[thearcanacheck]

(Sorry, accidentally reblogged a post about the Pokemon “Archen” to the wrong account. Archen is very cute, in any case.)

[thearcanacheck]

I swear to god I wrote down a reminder to make this joke a few weeks ago I just forgot to post this earlier

[thearcanacheck]

All the calculators for finding appropriate Monster CRs for players to fight are confusing. I just use the “Half Your Age Plus Seven” rule and go from there.

[thearcanacheck]

Wizards

Wizards are typically defined by their education and, in days of yore, it was up to the Master Wizard to teach their apprentice the widest spectrum of magic possible so they may choose their own focus of independent study. Times have changed, of course. Now, apprentice wizards enjoy a buyer’s market and may choose from a long list of masters and schools. Below are a few of the more modern environments a Wizard may cut their teeth in.

Medical School: Although priests have cornered the healthcare market, there are mages who wish to study human anatomy from a more secular perspective. Wizard-doctors may fulfil a variety of roles, beyond Curing Wounds:

Diagnosing illnesses (Divination)

Heating or cooling patients to make them more comfortable (Evocation)

Shocking patients to make them less comfortable (Evocation)

Performing transplants (Transmutation)

Analyzing mental illnesses (Enchantment)

Forging hospital paperwork (Illusion)

Assisting in post-mortem reports (Necromancy)

Wizards and Artificers have also been developing “Scroll-Surgery.” To put it simply, a tiny (and waterproof) spell scroll is implanted in a patient’s body to do beneficial things like regulate electricity or pain. Less-beneficial effects are possible too; spies are often found with scrolls of “Fireball” or “Modify Memory” etched in their molars.

Astralspace Engineering: These are Wizards who specialize in studying the countless cosmological planes which appear to be everywhere and a long way off at the same time. If you need a submarine to plunge to the depths of the Elemental Plane of Water, an inflammable suit to trek the expanse of the Nine Hells, or a list of the top ten restaurants in Sigil, these are the Wizards to turn to.

Business School: Business Wizards perform a wide variety of roles in the modern-medieval world despite not knowing much magic. Well, actually just two:

Court Wizardry: Kings are always in need of magical advice, and the same goes for lesser feudal lords, wealthy merchants, military leaders, etc.

Supply-Chain Management: Artificers are the undisputed lords of magical-item manufacturing, but once you’ve got a cursed magical ring, you need someone who can get it on the shelves.

Community College: Certain towns may be too small to support a large University and too big to rely on 1-on-1 apprenticeship. In such cases, a Wizard may come down to the public meeting place and train prospective Wizards en masse. If a student shows promise, the head wizard may write a letter of recommendation, helping them secure a scholarship to attend a larger university miles away. If a student doesn’t show promise, they may still walk away with a cantrip under their belt. Some accredited Wizards see teaching as merely a way of earning income, while others may see it as a way of earning the respect of their Alma Matter.

With Wizardry becoming more and more specialized over the years, there are a select few who still wish to embrace the full spectrum of magical knowledge. Among these Wizards, there are no master, no arch-mages, grand-chancellors or post-graduates. Every student of  studies one topic enough to become a mere dilettante and then moves on to the next.

Below is a description of the 5e homebrew subclass: Liberal Arts School

Liberal Arts School

Wizards who want to study everything. Their skills, proficiencies, and expertise would put your average skill-monkey to shame – and may even multiclass a little without neglecting their Wizardry!

Expert Savant: At level one, you become proficient in one tool of your choice and may also pick one skill you’re proficient with and gain “Expertise” in it. At level 10 you may pick a second tool proficiency and a second “Expertise.”

Integrated Education: At level 2, your education is expansive, all-encompassing, and somewhat muddled in your mind. You may choose three non-intelligence skills and those skills will always be intelligence-based for you – instead of their usual ability.

On top of that, you can pick one spellcasting class that you could normally multiclass into (For example, if you want to choose the Bard class, you’d need a charisma of 13 or higher). Whenever you choose a new spell to learn, you may choose from this class’s spell list. If you come across spell scrolls for this class, you may copy them into your spellbook. These additional spells do not count as Wizard spells for the purposes of calculating spell save DCs and attack bonuses.

Unemployable: By the 6th level, the time you’ve spent below the poverty line has certainly left its mark on you. You only need half as much food, water, and short/long rest time as you normally would.

Performance Enhancer: At level 10, you’ve learned a magical technique that could probably get you expelled from university. As an action, you can make a motion with your hands to send magic coursing through your brain. For the next 5 minutes, you can cast any un-prepared 1st level wizard spell in your spellbook and you may concentrate on two spells at once.

When the minute is over, you can no longer concentrate on spells until you complete a long rest. If you try to use this feature while you are suffering from the aftereffects, there is a 50% chance that you instead gain a level of exhaustion.

Declared Minor: At level 14, you’ve spent so long studying wizardry… it’s gotten pretty dull. You gain the benefits of one level in any other class besides wizard, with the following three catches:

HP maximum only increases by the amount the wizard class would improve normally.

Your number of spell slots only increases by the amount it normally would for a wizard.

Your character level for cantrip scaling (and similar purposes) only increases by one.

For example, if you were a Fighter 6 and Wizard 13, you could effectively become a Fighter 7, Wizard 14. So go nuts!

[thearcanacheck]

Sorcerers

It is widely held that there are more Sorcerers around than there were in the old days. Back in the dawn of history, Sorcerers were incredibly rare compared to other magic users (in a time where Druids were a dime-a-dozen). Some say that this is because, pause for dramatic effect, the world’s magic is becoming more “wild” and “battered” from centuries of heavy use. Alarmists say that, if this trend continues, Magic will soon become untamable and plunge the world into chaos!

The truth, however, is that more Sorcerers are surviving becoming Sorcerers. Magic was a great deal deadlier back in the day. If a farmer were struck by polychromatic lightning, all you’d have is a pair of smoldering boots. If your great-great-grandfather was a polymorphed dragon, that innate magic had terrible comorbidity rates with heart diseases and spontaneous combustion.

There once was a time when Midwives had to have a very good throwing arm. 

If the newborn exhibited any signs of Sorcery (glowing eyes, cloven feet, already exploded, etc), the Midwife had to be prepared to grab the child, run to the edge of town, and throw it as far as possible before it fireball’d itself.

Nowadays, Magic is certainly more well-worn, but in a good way. Like a soft couch or a favorite pair of shoes. People contract Sorcery and have even begun to see it as a boon than a cause of death. A man might go hunting one day, get kicked by a Unicorn, and come home with differently-colored eyes. Whoop-tee-doo.

Many Sorcerers are all-too familiar with those springs of fresh magic, still clean and sharp as a razor out of the box. Some derive their magic from the churning chaos of The Abyss (usually after surviving an encounter with a Sibriex or an Alkilith). The 5e Subclass, Abyssal Blood Sorcery, can be found below:

Abyssal Blood 

Flesh Warping: Whenever you finish a long rest, use one of your highest-level spell slots, or recover from zero hp, roll a 1d100 on the table at the bottom to change your current demonic mutation. “Abyssal” is added to your list of known languages.

Demonic Presence: At 1st level, your ties to the bottomless abyss reveal themselves when you’re at your weakest.

Whenever you fall to zero hp, you enter a semi-conscious state as you are possessed by a fiend. You choose the CR (which cannot be higher than your Sorcerer level) but the DM chooses the statblock.

While possessed, you lose your current “Flesh Warping” mutation and your body twists to vaguely resemble the chosen fiend – effectively polymorphing without the added hp. You and the fiend will have to enter a charisma contest to determine what you do on your turn, but you must use the fiend’s statblock (minus the hp) instead of your own. You may spend two sorcerer points if you fail the charisma contest to succeed instead.

The possession ends when you are stabilized, regain hp, or die outright (you still must make death saving throws while polymorphed in this way).

Sculptor of Chaos: At level 6, you have gained some control over your demonic abilities. You may spend 1 sorcery point to choose your current “Flesh Warping” mutation. The chosen mutation lasts a number of hours equal to your Charisma modifier, but when the time is up, you must roll for a new random mutation.

Furthermore, you may spend 3 sorcery points and grab a creature to bestow a curse. If your melee spell attack is successful, the creature gains one mutation of your choice from the table. The curse lasts a number of minutes equal to your charisma modifier. If the melee spell attack was unsuccessful, however, the targeted creature instead gains a random mutation for one minute.

Bad Blood: At level 14, experts agree that your blood is best kept where it is. Whenever you lose more than 5 hit points at once, you can choose up to 3 creatures within 10 feet of you to splash with your blood. If a chosen creature fails a dexterity saving throw, they take 4d12 acid, poison, or necrotic damage (your choice) and cannot take reactions until the end of your next turn. If the save is successful, they take half damage.

When you reach level 18 in this class, the damage increases to 5d12.

Demon Lord: At level 18, you have established a clear presence in the abyss’ pecking order. You have advantage on charisma checks made to interact with Demons and you no longer have to compete for control while possessed. You also possess some real estate in the abyss. You can cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion once per long rest – except the mansion is staffed by Quasits and the atmosphere is “extremely unpleasant” to creatures other than yourself. Additionally, inanimate objects you leave in the mansion remain there until you return.