The PHB describes the Transmuter as "a student of spells that modify energy and matter. To you, the world is not a fixed thing, but eminently mutable, and you delight in being an agent of change. You wield the raw stuff of creation and learn to alter both physical forms and mental qualities." I'm wondering about the last part, mental qualities. The wizard spell list has zero transmutation spells (that I've found) that seem to alter mental qualities directly. The cantrip Message, maybe, fits this description at a stretch.
The only thing I've noticed in the spells that may be described as "altering mental qualities" relate to polymorphing a creature, which then takes on the INT of the new form. That seems a little slim for the above inclusion.
Do any of you know or care to speculate about the intent/purpose of that phrase in the description?
(My reason here is probably not worth going into in this forum. The short version is that I'm developing a collection of homebrew transmuter spells that follow the Arcane Tradition but also allow the transmuter to be a better battle mage.) Edit: those spells are here if anyone cares to have a look.
I think it's just meant to have some wiggle room for how spells are interpreted. For example, you could think of Darkvision as physically changing the target's eyes, or as shaping their "minds" to help them see in the dark. Haste and Slow have features that seem like they're subjective to the creature. Skill Empowerment from Xanathar's can affect purely mental attributes. Telekinesis can be seen as giving you a psionic ability rather than the spell interacting with the environment.
In some ways, it's going with Transmutation as the broadest school and having a lot of different arenas to draw from.
Greetings all.
The PHB describes the Transmuter as "a student of spells that modify energy and matter. To you, the world is not a fixed thing, but eminently mutable, and you delight in being an agent of change. You wield the raw stuff of creation and learn to alter both physical forms and mental qualities." I'm wondering about the last part, mental qualities. The wizard spell list has zero transmutation spells (that I've found) that seem to alter mental qualities directly. The cantrip Message, maybe, fits this description at a stretch.
The only thing I've noticed in the spells that may be described as "altering mental qualities" relate to polymorphing a creature, which then takes on the INT of the new form. That seems a little slim for the above inclusion.
Do any of you know or care to speculate about the intent/purpose of that phrase in the description?
(My reason here is probably not worth going into in this forum. The short version is that I'm developing a collection of homebrew transmuter spells that follow the Arcane Tradition but also allow the transmuter to be a better battle mage.) Edit: those spells are here if anyone cares to have a look.
Any thoughts on this will be appreciated.
Thanks.
Recently returned to D&D after 20+ years.
Unapologetic.
I think it's just meant to have some wiggle room for how spells are interpreted. For example, you could think of Darkvision as physically changing the target's eyes, or as shaping their "minds" to help them see in the dark. Haste and Slow have features that seem like they're subjective to the creature. Skill Empowerment from Xanathar's can affect purely mental attributes. Telekinesis can be seen as giving you a psionic ability rather than the spell interacting with the environment.
In some ways, it's going with Transmutation as the broadest school and having a lot of different arenas to draw from.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
Yes, I see that now. Thanks!
Recently returned to D&D after 20+ years.
Unapologetic.