Master the Weave: 12 New High-Level Spells from Arcana Unleashed

Rework fate, transform your allies into living metal, conjure ancient beasts, and capture the souls of the dying. Oh, and explode your enemies. It’s time to stretch the limits of magic.

Arcana Unleashed raises the bar for magic in your setting, boasting nearly three dozen new spells—many of which are reserved for well-trained spellcasters. Let's take a look at some of these new potent incantations and how your expert spellcasters can put them to good use!

1. Aura of Evasion

Level 7 Abjuration

You may wrap yourself in protective spells like Mage Armor or Barkskin, rebuff incoming damage with Shield or Absorb Elements, or cover your body in heavy plate armor, but never underestimate the power of simply getting out of the way.

With Aura of Evasion, you’ll create a 30-foot Emanation that grants yourself and allies inside the radius Advantage on Dexterity saving throws; in addition, if you succeed, you take no damage, and if you do fail, you take no damage instead of half damage. So look that Ancient Red Dragon in the eye without fear of its breath—though maybe stay out of reach of those claws.

2. Detonate

Level 9 Evocation

Turn an enemy into a bomb with Arcana Unleashed's latest mass-damage spell—Detonate.

Pick an opponent—preferably one that is near other foes but far from you—and focus your ire. If your enemy fails its saving throw, it takes extreme damage, then—regardless if it fails or not—rocks the surrounding area in a massive explosion, blanketing the battlefield in fire. If the spell’s target died from the spell’s initial damage, then everybody within range of the explosion rolls their Dexterity saving throw with Disadvantage.

This is the type of spell that tyrannical warlords use to obliterate entire battalions or bring down entire troops of flying cavalry.

3. Distorted Distance

Level 4 Illusion

Level the playing field.

Distorted Distance twists the space in a 60-foot-radius Sphere. As creatures enter or end their turns in the area, you can force them to make an Intelligence saving throw or take Psychic damage and temporarily treat the Sphere as Difficult Terrain, or, if they are your allies, you can grant them a temporary 20-foot boost to their Speed.

If your party is facing down high-speed threats like Fire Elementals or Hell Hounds, Distorted Distance can turn the tables and expedite your retreat while slowing down your opponents!

4. Fractured Awareness

Level 7 Divination

Crack open an enemy’s mind and let them stare into their future; they won’t like what they see.

Fractured Awareness is a powerful Divination spell that forces conflicting and jarring visions of possible futures into a creature’s mind. The target makes an Intelligence saving throw to avoid massive Psychic damage and becoming, well, bad at everything. A creature who fails this save has Disadvantage on all D20 Tests for 1 minute.

Note that although an affected creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to throw off this spell, it will have Disadvantage on the attempt.

If you like Fractured Awareness, keep an eye out in Arcana Unleashed for a lower-level spell called Inflict Doubt that imposes the same Disadvantage on D20 Tests but without dealing any damage.

5. Iron Body

Level 8 Transmutation

Turn the knight into the shining armor.

With Iron Body, you can transform a willing creature into living metal for an hour, granting them Resistance and Immunity to a number of conditions and damage types. If your party frontliner needs a broad spectrum of defenses before charging into battle, this helps get them ready for the job.

This spell also presents a great roleplaying opportunity for its target: What does it feel like to be made of living metal? Does the world seem almost made of paper? And for the caster: does the target look like a featureless steel mannequin, a golem or gargoyle, or just a really shiny guy with a Russian accent?

6. Lightning Ring

Level 8 Evocation

Wrap yourself in the storm and charge into the fray.

Lightning Ring is a Bonus action spell that creates a 10-foot Emanation of static around you, which deals 3d6 Lightning and 3d6 Thunder damage to enemies that fail a Constitution saving throw when they enter its space, end their turn there, or whenever the Emanation enters the enemy’s space.

Further, while this ring is active, you can use a Magic action to send a bolt of lightning blasting in a 60-foot Line for another 6d6 damage if creatures in the area fail their Dexterity saving throws.

With Lightning Ring, you can step within 10 feet of an enemy to activate the damage, blast them with lightning point-blank as your action, then step back. If, on their turn, the enemy pursues you, they take the damage again as they enter the Emanation, and if they don’t leave your range before their turn ends, they’ll take the damage once more.

Alternately, simply take the Disengage action, run through the center of a horde with an active Lightning Ring spell, and then Misty Step out of there!

7. Moment of Prescience

Level 8 Divination

Moment of Prescience allows you to reach into the future you want and pull it into the present. When an enemy hits you with an attack or when you fail a D20 Test, you can turn the enemy’s hit into a 1 or your failure into a 20.

Reach for this potent Divination magic when you desperately need to survive until your next turn so you can activate the macguffin, or when your upcast Guiding Bolt will definitely kill the boss if it becomes a Critical Hit.

If pulling the strings of destiny sounds appealing to you, keep an eye out for another high-level spell in Arcana Unleashed: Reweave Fate, which allows you to aid allies who fail a D20 Test.

8. Mordenkainen’s Lucubration

Level 5 Divination

It means “a great deal of intensive and laborious study, or the product of such study.” You knew that, and I definitely knew that, but I mention it for some of the Wizard apprentices who may be reading this.

Mordenkainen’s Lucubration is a logistical spell of sorts, one that may allow you to better prepare for battles ahead. The trade is fairly simple: you burn a level 5 slot and, in exchange, you restore up to two slots of level 2 or lower.

When you’re out of lower-level spell slots and get hit with an attack roll or a dragon’s breath, you are left with the choice of burning a higher-level slot on something like Shield or Absorb Elements or taking the damage, and the latter may not be an affordable option. If you are willing to part ways with a level 5 spell slot, you could gain two rounds’ worth of low-level Reaction spell slots to keep yourself alive.

9. Spirit Lantern

Level 5 Necromancy

Capture the power of death and distribute it according to your whim.

The Spirit Lantern spell conjures a floating lantern above your head that collects the souls of the dying. As nearby creatures die, slices of their soul fly into the lantern. As a Bonus action, you can then use this soul’s power to harm enemies, repair Undead allies, or ward your companions.

The spirit lantern has a maximum number of souls that it can hold at once. However, it lasts 10 minutes, so if your party keeps knocking creatures down, you can keep snatching their souls out of the air and twisting them to your own purposes.

10. Summon Dinosaur

Level 6 Conjuration

In a world of “Moment of Prescience” and “Mordenkainen’s Lucubration”, I have to admire the concision of Summon Dinosaur. You want a dinosaur? Here’s your dinosaur.

Summon Dinosaur lets you conjure a modular dinosaur spirit that takes the form of an Ankylosaur, a Triceratops, or a Tyrannosaurus Rex. (I’ll give you a moment to look up the Ankylosaur; yes, it’s the one you’re thinking of, with the heavy armor and the heavier, sledgehammer-like tail.)

You can command this allied creature without using any action economy, ensuring your Bonus action and action are free while your gigantic reptile stomps around.

If you welcomed this addition to your Conjuration arsenal, keep an eye out for another incoming spell in Arcana Unleashed: Summon Plant.

11. Wail of the Banshee

Level 9 Necromancy

Be the closer in a one-two punch with another spellcaster.

Though Wail of the Banshee can deal tremendous damage to and Deafen up to ten targets, it strikes fear into enemies with its ability to insta-kill each target that has 50 Hit Points or fewer.

When an allied caster has unleashed a Cone of Cold that Bloodied but did not kill a group of enemies, come in with Wail of the Banshee to mop things up.

12. Waves of Exhaustion

Level 5 Necromancy

Emit a debilitating Cone of necromantic energy that imposes a level of Exhaustion—and then do it again, and again.

Waves of Exhaustion is a Concentration spell that allows you to take a Magic action to emit another wave each turn, instilling up to 4 levels of Exhaustion to enemies (and allies, if you’re not careful).

This means that enemies who are trying to break your Concentration will have quite the challenge, as they’ll be suffering from an ever-increasing penalty to their Speed and attack rolls.

Exhaustion imposes a penalty to D20 Tests equal to double the Exhaustion level, and it lowers the target’s Speed. The condition is cumulative, and a creature that gains 6 Exhaustion levels dies.

How Will You Master the Weave?

Arcana Unleashed prepares you to command cosmic powers, reorder fate, and maybe even challenge a demigod to a duel. Most of its spells are level 5 or above, equipping your table with brand new ways to call upon the Weave in your next arcane adventures. Embrace your new powers over reality, and look out for villains slinging these spells your way!

This is not an apprentice’s spellbook. Dive into Arcana Unleashed on September 15!