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As the subject pretty much states, these are ideas I had regarding ways to buff up/improve the wizard class. I'll put each idea in a spoiler so this isn't a massive wall of text that will have everyone wanting the TL,DR version.
Before I start, a disclaimer: These ideas are based on my personal musings mixed with what I've read on the forums here, as opposed to actual play experience. Take it all with a pile of salt.
For my first idea, Wizards automatically gain Counterspell at level 1, and it gets better as they level up, letting them counter spells they know (not just prepared) at level 7 and any spell at level 15.
Granted, I'm not fully sure this is a very good one, especially given the complex counteracting rules, so I'm not overly attached to the idea as opposed to some others.
Instead of Spell substitution being a thesis, it would be an ability all Wizards have, and instead of letting them prepare two spells in a single slot, it would let a Wizard swap out their prepared spells after refocusing. This way, you don't need to worry as much about whether they've screwed up their preparations.
Granted, I'd honestly prefer such a thing be extended to ALL prepared casters. But, except for the Magus, I feel like the other prepared caster classes have something that gives them a fallback if you mess up the preparation.
Arcane Thesis
I feel like the problem with Arcane Thesis, in general, is that, aside from Spell Substitution and Spell Blending, they really don't give that much even though they make it sound like your Arcane Thesis is supposed to be an important part of your build. So, I've got ideas for each Thesis (except spell substitution, obviously) as well as an idea for a NEW thesis.
Yeah... This is probably the WEAKEST thesis of them all. It gives you a first level Spellshaping feat and then you can have one Spellshaping feat of your choice everyday... provided its half your level.
For this, I'd have it give you two extra Spellshaping feats as you get a higher levels, and once every 10 minutes, let's you use a Spellshaping feat as a free action.
Currently, the only reason I can think that someone would that this (outside of roleplaying, obviously) is to get a specific familiar. That's not bad, but familiars in general feel like they've been nerfed hard.
So, in addition to its existing benefits, IFA would also give your familiar the Independent trait for free, and at level 4, as a free action, you can use your familiar as the origin of your spell ([i]Yes, this is pretty much Familiar Master's Familiar Conduit as a free action. Would it be that broken?)
I've got nothing for this one. Really, it's only problem is that it's more useful at later levels than starting (which, honestly, feels like the problem with the Wizard Class in general)
So yeah, this is my idea for a new Arcane Thesis.
Magic Flow Realignment
You've developed a theory regarding the nature of magic: namely that, like air, magic flows around everything, unnoticed but ever present, and that spellcraft is dependent on harnessing this unseen flow, regardless of tradition. Furthermore, you believe, by aligning how the magic flows in an area, you can enhance the magic of your allies or inhibit the spells of your enemies.
You gain the Realign Flow action:
Realign Flow (Two Actions)
Frequency: Once per 10 minutes
You make minor adjustments in your immediate surroundings that change the alignment of magic flow for 1 minute. Choose either Attune or Inhibit:
Attune: You cause the magic around you and your allies to flow more freely, granting you all a +1 circumstance bonus to Spell Attack rolls and DCs.
Inhibit: You restrict the flow of magic around your enemies giving them a -1 circumstance penalty to Spell Attack rolls and DCs.
At 5th level and every 5 levels after, the circumstance bonus/penalty increases by 1, for a total of 4 at 20th level.
This is my last idea: Runes for spellbooks that grant an item bonus to spells that were prepared from the inscribed book. There could also be property runes that might give certain types of spells extra effects.
Those are my ideas, let me know what you all think.
I'd repeat what I said in the other post today.
Experimental Spellshaping
It becomes a baseline feature like the fighter's combat flexibility. I feel 9th level is fine.
Improved Familiar Attunement
If I had to be honest I'd remove this one. If you want to play a familiar-based caster IMO you have to play a witch.
Staff Nexus
I would remove this one as well or turn it into a feat. Staff Nexus always felt like a trap option to me.
Spell Blending & Spell Substitution
These two are so above the other thesis that it was wrong to make them compete against them. I'd turn both of these into baseline features or keep them as the only two arcane thesis since I feel these two are the ones that fit the most with the wizard class (that of a "scientist" that investigates magic).
Arcane School
I would remove schools altogether and increase the amount of spell slots per day to 4. In regards to the focus spells of each school I would take all of them and make a similar feat to the one monks and rangers have that when you take it you can choose to gain one of those focus spells.
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Would this be better served in Homebrew where it won't turn into yet another thread on wizard hate?
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I'd repeat what I said in the other post today.
Experimental Spellshaping
It becomes a baseline feature like the fighter's combat flexibility. I feel 9th level is fine.Improved Familiar Attunement
If I had to be honest I'd remove this one. If you want to play a familiar-based caster IMO you have to play a witch.Staff Nexus
I would remove this one as well or turn it into a feat. Staff Nexus always felt like a trap option to me.Spell Blending & Spell Substitution
These two are so above the other thesis that it was wrong to make them compete against them. I'd turn both of these into baseline features or keep them as the only two arcane thesis since I feel these two are the ones that fit the most with the wizard class (that of a "scientist" that investigates magic).Arcane School
I would remove schools altogether and increase the amount of spell slots per day to 4. In regards to the focus spells of each school I would take all of them and make a similar feat to the one monks and rangers have that when you take it you can choose to gain one of those focus spells.
Would this be better served in Homebrew where it won't turn into yet another thread on wizard hate?
...I just wanted feedback on my ideas.
And on that note, I completely forgot about Staff Nexus:
The main issue is the issue that plagues magic staves in general: they require sacrificing spell slots to charge them.
So, instead of Staff Nexus Wizards getting to sacrifice Multiple slots to charge a staff, it should be that, as the Wizard gets higher in level, a sacrificed spell slot gives more charges!
So, instead of sacrificing two slots at 8th level, the spell slot they sacrifice gives charges equal to double the spell rank!
At 16th level, the sacrificed slot is gives triple the charges!
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Staff Nexus
I would remove this one as well or turn it into a feat. Staff Nexus always felt like a trap option to me.
Staff Nexus can help solve the issue you can find in school spells becoming obsolete as you level or become less than ideal in your situation. It allows you to pick a staff with some evergreen spells on it and trade [up to 3 as you level] school slots to trade in to cast from the staff. Seems like a solid option to me.
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The idea Staff Nexus is a trap option feels a little wild to me. If Spell Substition and Spell Blending are S-tier, then Staff Nexus is A-tier, B-tier at worst. (Familiar is at D tier ofc) You could maybe say the floor is lower on nexus compared to blending or substition, but that's why they're S. It's hard to go wrong there. I do think staff nexus being a 2 feat chain is fine, but we are running out of theses which are significantly more interesting than schools
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First of all, thanks to whoever moved the thread to Homebrew/House Rules.
Staff Nexus can help solve the issue you can find in school spells becoming obsolete as you level or become less than ideal in your situation. It allows you to pick a staff with some evergreen spells on it and trade [up to 3 as you level] school slots to trade in to cast from the staff. Seems like a solid option to me.Staff Nexus
I would remove this one as well or turn it into a feat. Staff Nexus always felt like a trap option to me.
The idea Staff Nexus is a trap option feels a little wild to me. If Spell Substition and Spell Blending are S-tier, then Staff Nexus is A-tier, B-tier at worst. (Familiar is at D tier ofc) You could maybe say the floor is lower on nexus compared to blending or substition, but that's why they're S. It's hard to go wrong there. I do think staff nexus being a 2 feat chain is fine, but we are running out of theses which are significantly more interesting than schools
Huh, never thought of that. Still, I'd rather Staff Nexus work the way with my idea.
What do you two think about the other ideas?| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
First of all, thanks to whoever moved the thread to Homebrew/House Rules.
Staff Nexus can help solve the issue you can find in school spells becoming obsolete as you level or become less than ideal in your situation. It allows you to pick a staff with some evergreen spells on it and trade [up to 3 as you level] school slots to trade in to cast from the staff. Seems like a solid option to me.Staff Nexus
I would remove this one as well or turn it into a feat. Staff Nexus always felt like a trap option to me.The idea Staff Nexus is a trap option feels a little wild to me. If Spell Substition and Spell Blending are S-tier, then Staff Nexus is A-tier, B-tier at worst. (Familiar is at D tier ofc) You could maybe say the floor is lower on nexus compared to blending or substition, but that's why they're S. It's hard to go wrong there. I do think staff nexus being a 2 feat chain is fine, but we are running out of theses which are significantly more interesting than schoolsHuh, never thought of that. Still, I'd rather Staff Nexus work the way with my idea.
What do you two think about the other ideas?
At highest levels staff nexus can already trade 2 lower rank slots for a high level slot in their staff. For instance a rank 4 and a rank 5, or a rank 3 and a rank 6, for a 9th level spell. The way adding additional charges to staves works is fine and getting to use another slot is fine. Staff Nexus primarily focuses on an abundance of lower level spells with the ability to get an additional higher rank spell late into the game. The real problem is I believe only one singular staff in the whole game lets you take advantage of this. I can see getting to sacrifice one spell for double the rank in charges can be too little cost for too much benefit, but it depends on how staves shake out. If you can sacrifice a 4th rank slot to get an additional 7th rank spell, that's probably too good. Typically your top three-ish ranks of spells are your really good ones, so even if you have 9th and 10th rank spells, rank 7 spells are still really good. A spell blender still has to sacrifice 2 rank 5 slots for a rank 7 slot
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At highest levels staff nexus can already trade 2 lower rank slots for a high level slot in their staff. For instance a rank 4 and a rank 5, or a rank 3 and a rank 6, for a 9th level spell. The way adding additional charges to staves works is fine and getting to use another slot is fine. Staff Nexus primarily focuses on an abundance of lower level spells with the ability to get an additional higher rank spell late into the game. The real problem is I believe only one singular staff in the whole game lets you take advantage of this. I can see getting to sacrifice one spell for double the rank in charges can be too little cost for too much benefit, but it depends on how staves shake out. If you can sacrifice a 4th rank slot to get an additional 7th rank spell, that's probably too...First of all, thanks to whoever moved the thread to Homebrew/House Rules.
Staff Nexus can help solve the issue you can find in school spells becoming obsolete as you level or become less than ideal in your situation. It allows you to pick a staff with some evergreen spells on it and trade [up to 3 as you level] school slots to trade in to cast from the staff. Seems like a solid option to me.Staff Nexus
I would remove this one as well or turn it into a feat. Staff Nexus always felt like a trap option to me.The idea Staff Nexus is a trap option feels a little wild to me. If Spell Substition and Spell Blending are S-tier, then Staff Nexus is A-tier, B-tier at worst. (Familiar is at D tier ofc) You could maybe say the floor is lower on nexus compared to blending or substition, but that's why they're S. It's hard to go wrong there. I do think staff nexus being a 2 feat chain is fine, but we are running out of theses which are significantly more interesting than schoolsHuh, never thought of that. Still, I'd rather Staff Nexus work the way with my idea.
What do you two think about the other ideas?
Ah! A good point indeed. I also forgot that Spell Blending's exchange works by exchanging to slots of one rank for a slot of up to 2 ranks higher.
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Also chiming in with Staff Nexus is amazing (it's my go to for DPR wizards), but wanted to give feedback on the proposed homebrew thesis.
Magic Flow is insane. Putting aside the nitpick of "Spell DCs" as opposed to all DCs, you'd be giving wizards a MASSIVE swing in accuracy in a system that already accounts for that not being there. For the cost of two actions, you're bumping up your DCs by a whole proficiency by level 5 and going beyond some wild super mega legendary by level 20. To put it in perspective - this would be outclassing not just other spellcasting accuracy and reliability, but fighter accuracy with their one chosen weapon. This would be amazing reliability with (nearly) every spell.
At that point it goes from "an Arcane Thesis option" to "absolutely mandatory." That's not even getting into a save-less debuff that practically neuters any spellcaster. At two actions, it just feels like an unfun action tax, too. Like, it's powerful so it can't really be a free action or even one action, but to lose practically your whole turn at the start of every combat (because you will be using this in every combat) is just not a fun mechanic. Now, I personally oppose a Theory that is just "numbers but more," but there's a joke that my group has about Wizard Discourse.
"Everyone would swoon over the wizard if one Theory was just +1 to spell attack rolls and spell DCs."
Which, I mean, they would. It wouldn't be as engaging as the other theories, but people would get what they want - the wizard does spells, but HARDER. While Theories certainly help to differentiate wizard playstyles, they also give them interesting decision points that influence how a player uses that character. A staff nexus wizard may mix things up more with Sure Strike attack spells while spell blending wizards may go all in on ending fights as fast as possible with massive high level magic - they still have to choose what spells work best, how that playstyle feels to them, and what purpose they have for going that route. "Numbers but more" doesn't really have those decision points, it just "is bigger" which works for aby playstyle, which tends to leave the other Theories feeling... Lesser.
Now, if you love this idea, I would rework it - remove the upward scaling as that gets out of control immediately. I would even go so far as to remove the attack and DC buff. Instead think about what you want the goal to be. Want to dampen magic? Allow their spellcasting to bump saves vs magic. Want more accurate spells? Have their spellcasting inflict conditions (Reflex save spells add clumsy, Fort add drained, Will adds stupefied; needs work as those conditions are hardly equal). Want more damage? Limit how the wizard can add damage so they need to think of how to get there. It's a lot trickier to do, but you'll end up with a more satisfying and interesting result.
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I definitely agree that there's room to improve the Wizard, and I've also written a brew to that effect. In this post, though, I'll focus exclusively on the OP, which I think has a lot of good ideas that warrant their own discussion:
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Counterspell
For my first idea, Wizards automatically gain Counterspell at level 1, and it gets better as they level up, letting them counter spells they know (not just prepared) at level 7 and any spell at level 15.
Granted, I'm not fully sure this is a very good one, especially given the complex counteracting rules, so I'm not overly attached to the idea as opposed to some others.
The Wizard is in a pretty decent state now, with Int bonus damage for Cantrips at lvl1. I like the counterspell feat tree but having player options here would probably do wonders.
Spell Substitution
Instead of Spell substitution being a thesis, it would be an ability all Wizards have, and instead of letting them prepare two spells in a single slot, it would let a Wizard swap out their prepared spells after refocusing. This way, you don't need to worry as much about whether they've screwed up their preparations.
Granted, I'd honestly prefer such a thing be extended to ALL prepared casters. But, except for the Magus, I feel like the other prepared caster classes have something that gives them a fallback if you mess up the preparation.
Being able to refocus prepared spells would be very handy, maybe limiting the amount of spell levels exchanged could be equal to your Wizard lvl per refocus ?
Spellbook Runes
This is my last idea: Runes for spellbooks that grant an item bonus to spells that were prepared from the inscribed book. There could also be property runes that might give certain types of spells extra effects.
Those are my ideas, let me know what you all think.
Ive recently been taught there is a gap for attack rolls between martials and casters. Whilst having item bonuses on Wands could work, it would be quite limiting. I agree, having runes on your Spellbook would probably do wonders.
___________Personally, by lvl 1 or later, I'd like to see a reactive action or a Flourish ability which could allow you to add in a Cantrip casting after a main spell for the Wizard.
I started drawing out an ability like this:
*Flourish. You gain a Pool of Genius points of size equal to your Int bonus. The pool is refilled after a nights rest.
When attempting to cast a Spell; May 'Heighten' or do 'Simulcast' (combines two 2- action- castings into 3- actions, sharing the same specific DC/Attack roll). Heightening costs points equal to level increased, may max heighten +2 levels. Simulcast costs points equal to half of effective-lower-level-spell cast (including Cantrips), minimum 1.
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The Wizard is in a pretty decent state now, with Int bonus damage for Cantrips at lvl1. I like the counterspell feat tree but having player options here would probably do wonders.Being able to refocus prepared spells would be very handy, maybe limiting the amount of spell levels exchanged could be equal to your Wizard lvl per refocus ?
Ive recently been taught there is a gap for attack rolls between martials and casters. Whilst having item bonuses on Wands could work, it would be quite limiting. I agree, having runes on your Spellbook would probably do wonders.
___________Personally, by lvl 1 or later, I'd like to see a reactive action or a Flourish ability which could allow you...
First off, I have NO idea what you're talking about. Wizards do NOT add their Int modifier to cantrip damage. Part of the Remaster was removing the [spell does XdY amount of damage + Ability Modifier] formula from all spells.
Second... I really don't see the point in limiting the number of spells you'd be able to reprepare during a refocus. You never refocus during combat, so I don't see why you should restrict an out of combat activity, especially since you won't regain spell slots, just swap out spells in the ones you haven't used.
Third, yeah. I had this idea after thinking to myself (how could I give something prepared casters could use, but not spontaneous casters? Without inventing a whole new mechanic? Oh! What about Runes specifically for spell books!)
Lastly... I'm not seeing a need to give such an ability the 'Flourish' trait. From the sounds of it, you'd be using at least two actions if you use it, so you can't use it more than once a round anyway. Same reason why I'm seeing a need to add a pool and use pool points for it. As long as you're still using spell slots and actions to do it, I think it's not the most broken thing I've ever read.
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First off, I have NO idea what you're talking about. Wizards do NOT add their Int modifier to cantrip damage. Part of the Remaster was removing the [spell does XdY amount of damage + Ability Modifier] formula from all spells.
Sorry, Ive missed this completely, this really puts a Wizard apart from some of the other classes at lower levels, in addition to wizards lower AC.
Second... I really don't see the point in limiting the number of spells you'd be able to reprepare during a refocus. You never refocus during combat, so I don't see why you should restrict an out of combat activity, especially since you won't regain spell slots, just swap out spells in the ones you haven't used.
I took tail on the Medicin skills available, but since your idea of repreparing during refocus doesnt do direct healing or add new spells, Im swayed.
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If I had to do some broadstrokes buffs to the Wizard, while colouring somewhat within the existing lines, I would:
Thesis Changes:
- Remove:
-- Spellshape Mastery Thesis (Doesn't really serve a purpose)
-- Famailiar Attunement Thesis (Now the domain of Witches)
-- Spell Substitution Thesis (Reworked as a 4th level feat)
- Add:
-- Mythoclastic Studies Thesis
You become trained in a Anatomy Lore, a special lore skill that can be used to Recall Knowledge regarding creatures of any type. At 3rd level, you become an expert in Anatomy Lore; at 7th level, you become a master in Anatomy Lore; and at 15th level, you become legendary in Anatomy Lore.
In addition, as long as you are observing at least one opponent when initiative is rolled, you can use Anatomy Lore for your initiative roll.
- Focus Spells
-- All Thesis options will now grant a unique focus spell at 1st level (Mythoclastic Studies might just straight-up steal the new Ancestral Memories but with a sucessful RK as a requirement, Staff Nexus might get a way to re-add charges during the day, Spell Blending might get a stance spell that increases damage or some such)School Changes:
- Flavour
-- Each School grants a bonus skill or lore, depending on theme.
- Focus Spells
-- All Focus spells are removed from schools. Schools will no longer grant focus spells. All existing Wizard focus spells to be reworked into Wizard class feats of different levels, with each spell updated to be on par with their new level.
-- Curriculum Spell slot is reworked. Your curriculum slot now allows you to prepare spells in it as normal, however, you spend an action with the spellshape trait to reprepare that slot with a curriculum spell of the matching level.
Class Feats
- General
-- In addition to a series of feats granting focus spells to be added to the list, Spell Substitution is now a 4th level feat. Spell Substitution will also become a feat open to all prepared casters ranging from level 4-8 depending on the class.
- Thesis Feats
-- Each Thesis will have 2 feats added, one at 8th and the other at 16th. These feats will do something with or expand on the Thesis focus spell.
- Refocus feat
-- Wizards gain the standard refocus feat at 12th.
What if wizard had the ability to when using drain bonded item to cast a spell upgrade the result of the spell one degree if it was cast against a weakest save? That wouldnt work for universalist actually but the idea is still there just limit to once per day.
Its limited, powerful, and requires using knowledge of the targets weakest saves to use?
Or there could be other more minor effects on cast against weakest save?
This kind of increases the ceiling in a way that rewards prepared casting. A wizard played well, that anticipates the coming situation by slotting the right spells, and deploying them at the right time against the right opponents can leverage greater effect than normal.
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Given how people want to just make spell substitution usable alongside another thesis, and how familiar and spellshape are considered kind of weak, I'm going to once again raise a proposal that the wizard can just choose a second thesis at 5th level, lets call it your master thesis. This gives a bit more freedom than making spell sub automatic and also solves spell blending feeling bad at low levels. I suppose the only issue here is taking both spell blending and staff nexus for a truly absurd number of top rank slots.
You could expand on this and divide them in two.
Tag one group of Thesis options as "Majors" and the others "Electives".
At 1st level you pick your Major Thesis, of which you can only ever get one. Spell Blending, Staff Nexus, etc.
All the others could be tagged as electives, which can be picked up with your suggested feat.
Add several more electives, with different options, then allow the feat to be taken a 2nd time at a higher level.
With an end result of being able to get 1 Major and up to 2 electives.
What if wizard had the ability to when using drain bonded item to cast a spell upgrade the result of the spell one degree if it was cast against a weakest save? That wouldnt work for universalist actually but the idea is still there just limit to once per day.
Its limited, powerful, and requires using knowledge of the targets weakest saves to use?
Or there could be other more minor effects on cast against weakest save?
This kind of increases the ceiling in a way that rewards prepared casting. A wizard played well, that anticipates the coming situation by slotting the right spells, and deploying them at the right time against the right opponents can leverage greater effect than normal.
From all the conversations about wizards there were two defeating points about wizards vs spontaneous casters like sorcerer that i remember.
Prepared casting leads to less useful spell slots when you get it wrong and the second being even when you get it right there are little to no niche spells that provide an effect that is worth having prepared them over the same spells a sorcerer would put in repertoire.
if those two things are actually true then increasing the ceiling for getting it right in some way is the answer to bring prepared casting on a wizard on par.
Extra benefits when hitting weakest save or when hitting a weakness.
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This is an adjustment from the last time I looked this over, integrating multiple ideas I've had. My goals were to increase the value of INT generally, make it easier for Wizard to access its trademark versatility, and also slightly compensate Wizard for what Sorc got in the Remaster. Technically, this is full of buffs... but I'm pretty sure this is still worse than an imperial sorcerer (or most arcane sorcerers, really) because of the spell balance and the downsides of prepared arcane casting.
Tap Bonded Item may be too strong as-is, since it "stacks" with enemy status penalties; if needed, I would probably just change it to a status penalty to enemy saves instead. It does pressure feat selections at level 1 (and after), but wizard has so many bad feats I have a hard time seeing this as much of an issue. (EDIT: It definitely was, so I'm giving it and unscaling +1 status bonus instead of +1/2/3. If you read this post during the first hour or so of its life, I changed it.)
I do also touch up Spellshape Thesis some. I think Familiar Thesis also needs some help, but I'm not as acquainted with it, and I'm not sure what I'd give it.
SYSTEM-WIDE CHANGES THAT BENEFIT WIZARD:
• At +1/3/5 INT, you become trained in a lore skill of your choice (in addition to the skill training you receive normally).
CUTS:
• Wizards do not automatically learn their L1 school focus spell, and do not automatically gain a focus point pool.
THESIS CHANGES:
• Remove the spell substitution thesis entirely. (But see more below.)
• Spellshape thesis wizards gain the following once-per-day spellshape ability at L7; they can use the ability twice per day at L15.
Heighten Spell (1A)
Spellshape, Wizard, Concentrate
Frequency: Once per day
This spellshape can only affect spells prepared in a slot at least two ranks below the highest rank of spell you can cast. Treat the spell’s rank as if it were one higher for the purposes of heighten effects and the incapacitation trait.
NEW CLASS FEATURES:
L1: Spellbook Specialist
You gain the Spellbook Prodigy class feat as a bonus feat.
L2: Post-Graduate Studies
At every even levelup, you send a letter detailing your adventures and research to your school, and receive a package from your alma mater in return. It contains a letter congratulating you on your most recent achievements, and a unique Certificate Scroll containing a common spell of your choice that is at least one rank lower than the highest rank of spells you can cast (with a minimum rank of 1).
The Certificate Scroll is from your alma mater, signed by your school head, and decorated in your school's stationery; it doubles as a certificate of achievement. It has the following unique properties:
• The scroll has less value due to its excessive personalization, and cannot be sold without incurring the ire of your school. If you sell any of these scrolls, they sell for a quarter their listed sale price instead of half. Furthermore, any wizard who sells a certificate scroll from their alma mater has their degree revoked and is no longer considered an alumnus. Alumni and students who recognize your name will have an initial attitude towards you one step lower than they otherwise would, and you will receive no further Certificate Scrolls from your school. You may also be subject to further consequences at GM discretion.
• The Certificate Scroll comes with a carbon copy. This carbon copy is not magical and cannot be used to cast a spell; however, it can be used to learn the spell, even after the Scroll itself has been consumed. Attempting to sell the carbon copy has the same consequences as selling the actual scroll.
L8: Spell Substitution
At level 8, you gain a focus pool of 3 if you don’t already have it. You also gain the following focus spells:
(Focus 4) Spell Substitution
Wizard, Spellshape, Concentrate
Cast: 1 minute
Cost: 1 Focus Point
You empty one of your prepared spell slots and prepare a different spell in its place. If the cast is interrupted, the original spell remains prepared and can still be cast.
(Focus 4) Hasty Substitution
Wizard, Spellshape, Concentrate
Cast: 1 Action
Cost: 3 Focus Points
You quickly empty one of your prepared spell slots and prepare a different spell in its place. If the cast is interrupted, the original spell remains prepared and can still be cast.
The exertion leaves you frazzled for the rest of the day, reducing your ability to focus. Your focus pool’s maximum is 1 until the next time you prepare spells.
NEW FEATS:
L1: Focus Spell Training
Grants your initial school focus spell.
L1: Spell Substitution Specialist
You gain the Specialist's substitution focus cantrip.
(Focus Cantrip 1) Specialist's Substitution
Wizard, Spellshape, Concentrate
Cast: 20 minutes
You empty one of your prepared spell slots and prepare a different spell in its place. If the cast is interrupted, the original spell remains prepared and can still be cast.
Heighten (4th): The casting time is 10 minutes, instead.
At level 8, once per day, you can ignore the reduction in your maximum focus pool from Hasty Substitution.
L1: Tap Bonded Item
Your ability to manipulate your bonded item improves. You gain the following abilities:
Tap Bonded Item (Free)
Wizard, Concentrate
Frequency: Once per day
You siphon some of the energy from your bonded item to empower your spells. If your next action is Drain Bonded Item, you add a +1 status bonus to your spell DCs for the rest of your turn.
Sustain Tap (1A)
Wizard, Concentrate
Requirements: You used Sustain Tap on your previous turn, or both Tap Bonded Item and Drain Bonded Item; you are in encounter mode
You keep the arcane energy from your bonded item in your body, and continue to use it to strengthen your spells. You add a +1 status bonus to your spell DCs for the rest of your turn.
UNFINISHED FEAT CONCEPTS:
L?: Gives a free action recall knowledge as a rider on DBI. (Free action rk as a rider on spellshapes /in general/ would be very neat, but i’m unsure of how to balance that or what its relative powerlevel would be.)
L?: Maybe the familiar thesis could also use a feat to ease rk use, flavored as the familiar making the check for you? Sort of like an upgrade to second opinion or skilled. I’d need to look over the familiar rules more.