Multiclassing for Hand of the Apprentice

[BACE]

So I was thinking about making a Captain America-inspired character, and I remembered that Universalist Wizards get access to the Hand of the Apprentice Focus Spell, since it would let me throw my shield and have it return to me. Pretty nice flavor. So I started thinking about how I would do this. Base Paladin for the martial weapon proficiency, then grab Wizard Dedication at 2 and the "Arcane School Spell" archetype feat at 4. The only issue is...I don't think this even lets you be a Universalist. Which means no Hand of the Apprentice. So for reference, here's the text of Arcane School Spell:

Quote:

Select one arcane school of magic. You gain the school's initial school spell. If you don't already have one, you gin a focus pool of 1 Focus Point, which you can Refocus by studying. (For more on arcane schools, see page 204.)

The way I'm reading this, it doesn't allow you to select "no school" to get access to Universalist. It reads like it should work, but...it doesn't look like it does. As a GM I would rule that you can take Hand of the Apprentice/Universalist no problem. The issue is that this is a character I want to play at some point, so I'm hoping for something a bit more...concrete. Something I can point to if another GM starts saying "nope, that doesn't work." Anyone know where I can look for something like that? Or does it just...not work?

[mrspaghetti]

You're looking at the wrong feat. You don't want "Arcane School Spell", you want "Basic Arcana". Hand of the Apprentice is not a school power, it is a first-level wizard feat which is available to any wizard who has not specialized in a school (i.e., universalists).