School of Alchemy

Alchemists are wizards who distill arcane formulae into volatile draughts, smoky ampoules, colored tonics, and carefully stoppered bottles. Rather than holding a flexible list of prepared spells in mind, an alchemist must decide each day precisely which magical effects they will need, then commit their spell power to those formulas before leaving the safety of their laboratory.

An alchemist may know the answer to nearly any magical problem. The hard part is having had the foresight to bottle it before the problem arrives.

Alchemical Savant

Beginning when you select this tradition at 2nd level, you gain expertise with alchemist’s supplies. 

You can use alchemist’s supplies as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells.

In addition, your understanding of magical formulae is comprehensive. You do not use a spellbook to determine which wizard spells are available to you. Whenever this tradition allows you to choose a wizard spell, you may choose any spell on the wizard spell list that is available in your campaign.

Your existing spellbook may remain as a laboratory journal, formula ledger, or personal grimoire, but you do not need to copy spells into it and its contents do not limit the spells you can prepare.

Bottled Spellcasting

Spell Bottles

You possess a collection of reusable alchemical vessels called spell bottles. You have a number of bottles of each spell level equal to the number of spell slots a wizard of your level has of that level.

For example, a 5th-level alchemist possesses four 1st-level bottles, three 2nd-level bottles, and two 3rd-level bottles.

A spell bottle can hold one wizard spell whose level is equal to or lower than the bottle’s level. You can place the same spell in more than one bottle.

Whenever you gain a wizard level and gain additional spell slots, you also create the corresponding new spell bottles.

Filling Spell Bottles

When you finish a long rest, you may fill any number of your empty spell bottles. To fill a bottle, choose a wizard spell from the wizard spell list whose level is no higher than the bottle’s level.

A bottle containing a spell of lower level casts that spell as though it were cast using a spell slot equal to the bottle’s level. For example, a 3rd-level bottle containing magic missile casts magic missile as a 3rd-level spell.

Filling a bottle requires 1 minute per level of the bottle. You must use your alchemist’s supplies during this process.

When you fill a bottle, you must provide any material components for the spell that do not have a listed gold cost. Those ordinary components are incorporated into the formula and need not be provided again when the spell is cast.

A material component with a listed gold cost is not incorporated into the bottle. You must provide that component when the spell is cast, as normal. If the spell normally consumes that component, it is consumed when the spell is cast.

You can fill spell bottles only when you finish a long rest, unless a feature of this tradition says otherwise.

Casting from a Spell Bottle

You can cast wizard cantrips normally.

You cannot cast a wizard spell of 1st level or higher unless it is contained in one of your filled spell bottles.

To cast a spell from a bottle, you must hold and open the bottle as part of the casting. The bottle provides the spell’s non-costly material components, but you must still provide any verbal components required by the spell.

Casting a spell from a spell bottle always requires a somatic component, even if the spell would not normally require one. A hand holding and opening the bottle can also be used to satisfy the spell’s somatic and material components.

A spell bottle is not necessarily drunk. Depending on the spell, you might drink it, throw it, pour it onto a surface, crush it in your hand, release its vapor, trace a symbol with its contents, or otherwise trigger the formula. The spell’s normal range, target, duration, and other effects are unchanged.

You can draw a spell bottle as part of the action, bonus action, or reaction used to cast the spell.

When you cast a spell from a bottle, the bottle becomes empty. The physical bottle is not destroyed and can be reused during a later preparation.

Ritual Casting

You can cast a wizard ritual spell only if it is contained in a filled spell bottle.

When you cast such a spell as a ritual, the bottle does not become empty. You carefully vent, activate, and reseal the formula during the ritual. The spell is cast at its lowest level, as normal for ritual casting.

The bottle remains filled afterward and can still be used to cast the spell normally, provided it has not expired.

Expiration and Destruction

A filled spell bottle remains potent for 24 hours after it is prepared.

If a filled bottle has not been used before that time expires, its magic dissipates and the bottle becomes empty. The spell slot represented by that bottle is treated as expended.

In addition, whenever you finish a long rest, all spell bottles that were filled before that long rest become empty, even if 24 hours have not yet passed.

If a filled bottle is broken, destroyed, or otherwise rendered unusable before its spell is cast, the magic within it dissipates. The bottle becomes empty, and its spell slot is expended.

You can create replacement bottles for lost or destroyed vessels during a long rest, provided you have your alchemist’s supplies.

Arcane Recovery

When you use your Arcane Recovery feature, you refill spell bottles rather than regain ordinary spell slots.

Choose a number of empty spell bottles whose combined levels are equal to or less than the number of spell-slot levels restored by Arcane Recovery. No bottle chosen in this way can be higher than 5th level.

You must spend 1 minute per level of each chosen bottle to refill it, following the normal rules for filling spell bottles.

For example, a 6th-level alchemist can use Arcane Recovery to refill one empty 3rd-level bottle, one empty 2nd-level bottle, and one empty 1st-level bottle, then select new spells to place in those bottles.

Adaptive Formulae

Beginning at 6th level, your experience lets you correct a bad prediction before it ruins an entire adventuring day.

Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

You can spend 10 minutes to empty one filled spell bottle and refill it with a different wizard spell from the wizard spell list. The new spell must be of a level no higher than the bottle’s level, and you must provide its material components as normal when filling it.

The newly prepared bottle remains potent for 24 hours from the time it is refilled.

Beneficent Distillation

Also at 6th level, you can prepare a limited number of bottles for use by others.

When you fill a spell bottle, you can designate it as a draught if the spell in the bottle meets all the following requirements:

• The spell has a casting time of 1 action.
• The spell targets only one willing creature.
• The spell has no area of effect.
• The spell does not require a spell attack roll.
• The spell has no material component with a listed gold cost.

You can have a number of designated draughts equal to your proficiency bonus at one time.

A creature other than you can use an action to open and drink one of your draughts. The creature must be able to manipulate the bottle and must provide any verbal component required by the spell.

When the creature drinks the draught, the spell affects that creature as though you had cast the spell on it. You remain the caster of the spell for all purposes, including concentration.

The draught’s spell bottle becomes empty after it is used.

Suitable spells might include invisibility, fly, haste, protection from energy, greater invisibility, polymorph, or stoneskin, provided the chosen target is willing.

Volatile Catalysis

Beginning at 10th level, you have learned to create formulas whose elemental reactions are especially violent.

When you cast a spell from a spell bottle and the spell deals acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison, or thunder damage, you can add your Intelligence modifier to one damage roll of that spell.

You can use this benefit only once per turn.

In addition, you gain resistance to acid damage and poison damage.

Philosopher’s Distillation

At 14th level, you can create a formula stable enough to maintain its own arcane equilibrium.

When you prepare a draught using your Beneficent Distillation feature, you can designate it as a philosopher’s distillation. When a creature drinks that draught, the spell can maintain its own concentration rather than requiring you to do so.

While the spell is maintained in this way, you can concentrate on another spell normally.

The philosopher’s distillation maintains concentration until the spell ends, its duration expires, the target becomes incapacitated, the target falls unconscious, or the target dies.

You can have only one philosopher’s distillation active at a time.

Once you use this feature, you cannot use it again until you finish a long rest.