School of Witchcraft

Wizards of the School of Witchcraft, more often simply called witches, are often unfairly marked by society as evil, in their use of darker magics that those used by your common librarian wizard, in their penchant for contacting spirits and a tendency to lean towards, perhaps, some of the more necromantic aspects of arcana; and in their gatherings in covens, which are often misconstrued for cults.

In reality, most witches simply value community greatly, practising their magic in a group rather than alone, teaching and supporting one another alike. This manner of companionship is also shown in how close they tend to be to their familiars, finding respite in their animal companions in place of the rest of the world shunning them. As for their contact with the world of the dead, some do indeed have nefarious motives, but to most it is nothing more than a means to an end, peering through the veil of life and death to call upon spirits and aid them in battle or, in some occasions, for simple morbid curiosity.

Cauldron of the Coven

Beginning when you first pick this school at 2nd level, you’ve learnt to concoct incantations in a cauldron, using esoteric herbs and mystical chants. You can perform one or more incantations as part of a long rest, or one incantation as part of a short rest. You can perform an incantation a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest. Different incantations grant different benefits, or even active abilities, and you can perform the following incancations with your cauldron:

Familiar of the Coven

This incantation connects your familiar to the world of the dead, and it is active until your next long rest after performing it on your cauldron. While the incantation is active, while seeing through your familiar’s senses, you can see into the Ethereal Plane up to 15 feet. In addition, you can telepathically communicate with your familiar even if they’re on another plane of existence, and it gains an AC of 14 + your proficiency bonus.

Herbs of the Coven

This incantation connects your magic to the natural world, and it is active until your next short rest after performing it on your cauldron. While the incantation is active, you can cast the cure wounds spell once without expending a spell slot. When you cast the spell this way, you must sprinkle your herbs on the wound, and natural life around the healed creature wilts and is sapped of vitality.

Instrument of the Coven - 6th level

This incantation connects your arcane focus to the world of the dead, and it is active until your next long rest after performing it on your cauldron. You can perform this incantation once per long rest. While the incantation is active, up to a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, whenever you deal damage with a spell, you can gain temporary hit points equal to your wizard level + your proficiency bonus (no action required).

Knowledge of the Coven - 6th level

This incantation connects your mind focus to that of the rest of the coven, and it is active until your next long rest after performing it on your cauldron. You can perform this incantation once per long rest. While the incantation is active, up to a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, whenever you make an Intelligence ability check, you can use your reaction to gain a d6 bonus to the roll.

Potion of the Coven

This incantation brews a single potion that restores magic for your allies and yourself, and performing it expends a use of your Arcane Recovery feature. A creature must drink this potion alongside you as part of completing a short rest with you, which can be the the short rest required to perform the incantation. This potion grants the creature the benefits of your Arcane Recovery feature. Alternatively upon drinking it, both you and the creature regain spell slots, each of you up to a combined level equal to a quarter of your wizard level (rounded down: 1 each at 4th level, 2 at 8th, 3 at 12th, 4 at 6th, and 5 at 20th).

Protection of the Coven - 6th level

This incantation connects your body to the magic of the rest of the coven, and it is active until your next short rest after performing it on your cauldron. You can perform this incantation once per short rest. While the incantation is active, once for its duration if you fail a saving throw, you can use your reaction and add 1d6 to the roll.

Trance of the Coven

This incantation connects you to the world of the dead, and it is active until your next short rest after performing it on your cauldron. You can perform this incantation once per short rest. While the incantation is active, as an action, you can enter a trance to see beyond the veil of life for up to 10 minutes. For the duration, you can detect the presence of magic, as described in the detect magic, you can see into the Ethereal Plane and you gain advantage on Charisma ability checks made to interact with spirits and incorporeal undead, such as ghosts.

Witch's Hex

Also at 2nd level, once per short or long rest, as a bonus action on your turn, you can place a curse upon your enemies for transgressions against you and the coven. You must see the creature and it must be within 60 feet of you, and for the next minute, it suffers the following effects:

• Whenever they fail an attack roll, ability check or saving throw, they take psychic damage equal to your proficiency bonus. If this failure was due to a critical failure, they take an amount of psychic damage equal to a number of d4s equal to your proficiency bonus instead.
• Your cantrips score a critical hit on a 19 or 20 against them. If the cantrip requires a saving throw, it instead deals double damage if they roll a 1 on the d20 against the saving throw.

Incantations from Beyond

Starting at 6th level, you learn more incantations to perform with your Cauldron of the Coven. Furthermore, whenever you finish a short rest, if you performed an incantation with your Cauldron of the Coven during that short rest, you regain hit points equal to your wizard level.

Sanctified Witch

At 10th level, your training as a witch has granted you the following features:

Improved Witch’s Hex. The critical hit on 19s or 20s on attack rolls on cantrips, or the double damage if the creature rolls a 1 on the saving throw, now applies to all spells you cast, not just cantrips.

Improved Cauldron of the Coven. You regain one use of your ability to perform incantations on the cauldron when you finish a short rest, regaining all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Soul Sever

By the time you’ve reached 14th level, you can perform the ultimate act of witchcraft and separate a creature’s soul from their body. As an action, you can force a creature you can see within 60 feet of you to succeed on a Charisma saving throw against your spell save DC. 

On a failed save, they become stunned until the end of your next turn. For the duration, they have immunity to psychic damage, and their soul is pushed backwards, into the nearest unoccupied space directly behind them. Only you, or other wizards with this subclass, can see it, and deal damage to it. The soul of the creature is instead incapacitated but conscious, as it is their body that is  stunned due to their soul being severed from it. 

All spells cast by you or another wizard with this subclass gain the following benefits when damaging only the soul of the creature:

• Any resistances or immunities the creature has are suppressed, unless they are to psychic damage.
• Spells gain a bonus to up to one of their damage rolls, equal to twice your wizard level.

Once a creature fails the saving throw, you can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.