School of Madness

The School of Madness is one that is not satisfied with “accepted” knowledge. Instead of spending years trying to broaden understood knowledge, these wizards seek knowledge that others don't have the bravery to unveil. It is said this knowledge – this forbidden lore – will break the mind. This school is despised by other schools for introducing students to dangerous and corrupting knowledge. But how can one without the knowledge know the truth surrounding it?

Called tainters, eldritch casters, mad wizards, and more, members of this school are capable of shaping magic in ways typical wizards would never understand. They are attracted by the unnatural ways they can bolster their magic, but stay because of what they learn. Many say their minds are broken, but they know that truly their minds are whole.

Eldritch Explorer

Delving into eldritch knowledge, you learn things mortals were not meant to know. You gain access to the warlock spell list, and can learn warlock spells and add them to your spellbook upon leveling up. You can also scribe found warlock spells into your spellbook, following the normal rules for scribing spells, but the warlock spells cannot be copied by other wizards. The warlock spells in your spell book are wizard spells for you.

Furthermore, your alien knowledge gives you the ability to touch the minds of other creatures. You can telepathically speak to any creature you can see within 30 feet of you. You don’t need to share a language with the creature for it to understand your telepathic utterances, but the creature must be able to understand at least one language.

Warped Inspiration

At 2nd level, your study of warped knowledge has granted you the ability to twist the weave in many ways simultaneously. Fragments of the knowledge float in your mind, and when consciously put back together, you can unleash your knowledge at the expense of your sanity.

When you use a spell slot to cast a spell, you can choose to cast a second spell of the same level or lower with the same casting time without expending a spell slot. You are then driven temporarily insane - you cannot take actions, cannot understand what other creatures say, can't read, and can speak only in gibberish - for a number of rounds equal to 1 + the spell slot level.

Tainted Power

At 6th level, your knowledge of alien arts allows you to twist the effects or your damaging spells. Before rolling damage for a spell, you can choose to do additional damage. The additional damage is psychic damage equal to the difference between the maximum rolls of the damage dice and the rolled result of the damage dice. You then take psychic damage equal to a quarter of the psychic damage added to your spell's damage (rounded down), which cannot be avoided or reduced in any way.

Twisted Concentration

Beginning at 10th level, when you cast a spell that requires concentration while you are already concentrating on a spell, you can choose to concentrate on both spells at the same time. While you are concentrating on two spells, you are subjected to the Confusion effect.

Casting a third spell with concentration ends your choice of one of the two previous spells being concentrated on.

Eldritch Spellcraft

Starting at 14th level, you can twist the very reality of spells, causing them to become unnatural and more difficult to resist. When you cast a spell that forces a saving throw, you can choose to alter the saving throw to be of any other ability. For example, you could make a Fireball force a Charisma saving throw instead of its normal Dexterity. The ability save is changed for the entire spell. If a spell offers multiple different ability saves, you can choose to affect one or all of them, but they will all be changed to the same ability save.

The first time you do so, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a long rest, roll a d20. On a 1, you suffer a random effect of short-term madness immediately after you cast it. Each time you use this feature again before finishing a long rest, the die you roll changes, first to a d12, then a d8, then a d6, then a d4. After the d4, you are guaranteed to suffer an effect of short-term madness each time you use this feature until you finish a long rest.

Short-Term Madness Effects:

d100	Effect (lasts 1d10 minutes)
01–20	The character retreats into his or her mind and becomes paralyzed. The effect ends if the character takes any damage.
21–30	The character becomes incapacitated and spends the duration screaming, laughing, or weeping.
31–40	The character becomes frightened and must use his or her action and movement each round to flee from the source of the fear.
41–50	The character begins babbling and is incapable of normal speech or spellcasting.
51–60	The character must use his or her action each round to attack the nearest creature.
61–70	The character experiences vivid hallucinations and has disadvantage on ability checks.
71–75	The character does whatever anyone tells him or her to do that isn’t obviously self-destructive.
76–80	The character experiences an overpowering urge to eat something strange such as dirt, slime, or offal.
81–90	The character is stunned.
91–100	The character falls unconscious.

 

If you incur short-term madness that would cause the spell you cast in this way to end, it instead does not end, allowing you to concentrate on it normally, with concentration being able to break normally as well, barring the effects of the madness.