This is the subclass that I'm currently working on, I feel like I'm almost done with it, but I'm unsure if the level 14 feature is too strong or fine as is. If you think it is too strong for a level 14 feature, can you please give a suggestion for either how you would balance it or an alternative feature that you think might fit. I'm currently having a hard time thinking of one myself without running into other issues. With that said, if there is anything else that stands out to you that needs to be changed in some way please let me know. To sum up this subclass, it focuses on amassing a large quantity of spells without a particular school in mind. I could see this subclass being played by someone who likes the idea of collection and learning a large number of spells, or someone who doesn't what to focus on a singular school of magic and would rather be a generalist wizard.
Edit: check further down for the most current version
Arcane Fundamentals Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, you learn the prestidigitation cantrip and gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. If you already know the prestidigitation cantrip, you learn a different wizard cantrip of your choice. This cantrip don’t count against your number of cantrips known.
Unbridled Learning Starting at 2nd level, each time you gain a level in wizard, you can choose to add 3 spells to your spellbook instead of 2, but each time you do so, each spell must be of a different school of magic (ex. at 5th level, if you choose to when you add the fireball spell to your spellbook the other two spells cannot be an evocation spell).
In addition, you can learn additional cantrips by studying spell scrolls. The process of learning a new cantrip takes you 2 hours of uninterrupted focus and 25 gp of supplies.
Improved Memory Beginning at 6th level, after each long rest, you can now prepare a number of spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus + your wizard level.
Rapid Preparation Starting at 10th level, at the end of a short rest, you can exchange a number of your prepared spells, to a max of your Intelligence modifier, for the same amount of spell from your spellbook. In addition, it now takes you half the time to prepare spells from your spellbook.
Additional Spell Mastery At 14th level, through constant study of the many different kinds of magic, you've learned to master spell quicker than other wizards. Choose one 1st-level or a 2nd-level wizard spell that is in your spellbook. You can cast the spell at it's lowest level without expending a spell slot when you have them prepared. If you want to cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.
By spending 8 hours in study, you can exchange spell you chose for different spell of 1st or 2nd level spell from your spellbook.
I've had a couple of read throughs and I cant quite get my head around the rationale for this school....
If this is more of a generalist approach why are they more adept at learnign spells than some one who focuses on one school?
Arcane Fundamentals: A free cantrip and proficiency ok,
Unbridled Learning: Learning 3 spells per level instead of 2 is a big leap in ability, just from a cost point of view assuming you were a normal phb wizard class and took all level 1 spells from wizard level 2 - 20 and assuming you found the spel scrolls and didn't have to buy them, thats 950gp worth of spells, paper and inks which isn't so bad but as soon as you start increasing spells levels the cost saving to the wizard are amazing...
for example, just taking into account the cost saving for a free 3rd spell each level and assuming you took the maximum level spell you could each time, the TOTAL saving would be 5250gp and this doesn't include the cost of a normal wizard having to buy spell scrolls.
I think I'd probably lose the learning an extra spell for free and change it to switch it to "you can half the cost of scribing a spell scroll into your spell book but doing so doubles the time as you take extra care to get everything right"
Tacking on the ability to learn any cantrip for 25gp is a bit over the top, its wording would imply you an learn ANY cantrip from from ANY spell list off of a spell scroll for 25gp and then cast it as it makes no reference to "Cantrips from the Wizard spell list", as a DM I would likely restrict this further to be any Cantrip from the wizard list but also that you have to prepare them like your level based spells so if you are a level 8 wizard with this sub class you may know 10 wizard cantrips but you can only prepare 4 of them to cast at will.
Improved Mastery: 3-6 extra prepared spells are probably not that big of deal in the grand scheme of things
RapidPreparation: Should be ok as it usually a max of 5 spells a pc could swap out but I'd likely also limit it to one short rest per day just in case someone tries to short rest after every encounter to tweak their spell list. 30 seconds of spell prep time per level instead of 1 minute probably wont be much of a factor and I'm not awaare of any DM that has kept time keeping on how many minutes/hours it takes a wizard to prepare their spells but the reduction of time is a nice bit of flavour.
Additional Spell Mastery: I'd have to say no to this one, given the amount of bonus spells and cantrip potential already built in this seems a bit of overkill. What about:
"When casting a spell as a ritual, the casting time is reduced by half to a minimum of 5 minutes", that would account for their expertise in spell casting, give them something they can do better than other wizards and just flesh out their abilities a bit.
Unbridled Learning: Learning 3 spells per level instead of 2 is a big leap in ability, just from a cost point of view assuming you were a normal phb wizard class and took all level 1 spells from wizard level 2 - 20 and assuming you found the spel scrolls and didn't have to buy them, thats 950gp worth of spells, paper and inks which isn't so bad but as soon as you start increasing spells levels the cost saving to the wizard are amazing...
for example, just taking into account the cost saving for a free 3rd spell each level and assuming you took the maximum level spell you could each time, the TOTAL saving would be 5250gp and this doesn't include the cost of a normal wizard having to buy spell scrolls.
I think I'd probably lose the learning an extra spell for free and change it to switch it to "you can half the cost of scribing a spell scroll into your spell book but doing so doubles the time as you take extra care to get everything right"
Tacking on the ability to learn any cantrip for 25gp is a bit over the top, its wording would imply you an learn ANY cantrip from from ANY spell list off of a spell scroll for 25gp and then cast it as it makes no reference to "Cantrips from the Wizard spell list", as a DM I would likely restrict this further to be any Cantrip from the wizard list but also that you have to prepare them like your level based spells so if you are a level 8 wizard with this sub class you may know 10 wizard cantrips but you can only prepare 4 of them to cast at will.
I'll start off by saying, that in hindsight the "learning cantrips" feature is over the top and I plan on removing it from the subclass. If I was going to implement that into a subclass, it would be one that it specially focuses on cantrips. As for the main feature, I went for the additional spell learned because I'm not sure if it is just my group or what, but we don't run into many spell scrolls. So by having the feature giving the player bonus spells, it would allow the player to gain more spells without. This way it could be seen as instead of the players wizard focusing on enhancing a particular school of magic, they are spending that time in learning new spells. With that said, I do like your suggestion for the cost reduction but at the increase of time.
RapidPreparation: Should be ok as it usually a max of 5 spells a pc could swap out but I'd likely also limit it to one short rest per day just in case someone tries to short rest after every encounter to tweak their spell list. 30 seconds of spell prep time per level instead of 1 minute probably wont be much of a factor and I'm not awaare of any DM that has kept time keeping on how many minutes/hours it takes a wizard to prepare their spells but the reduction of time is a nice bit of flavour.
Yeah I completely agree, I intended on having the "once per day" tag in there, guess I just overlooked it. With the preparing spells faster, it was meant more for flavor than anything.
Additional Spell Mastery: I'd have to say no to this one, given the amount of bonus spells and cantrip potential already built in this seems a bit of overkill. What about:
"When casting a spell as a ritual, the casting time is reduced by half to a minimum of 5 minutes", that would account for their expertise in spell casting, give them something they can do better than other wizards and just flesh out their abilities a bit.
I agree that the additional at will is too much, but the only another capstone that I've thought of that feels like a capstone would be something like, you can add spells from other spell lists, but at double the cost and double the time. If I went that route, would it be cool yeah, but it has the issue of breaking the "wizard's don't heal" weakness plus it would wouldn't add that much to the wizard since they have the largest spell list to choose from anyways. I do appreciate your suggestion for an alternative, is it good, definitely, but it just doesn't seem like it should be a subclass capstone.
So this is where I'm currently sitting at with the subclass...
Arcane Fundamentals
Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, you have focused on the perfecting the fundamentals of the arcane granting you some added bonuses. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. These cantrips do not count against your number of cantrips known.
Spellwright Perfectionist
Starting at 2nd level, you are a stickler for details allowing you to save on materials by taking the time to do everything correctly the first time. When you copy a spell to your spellbook, the process takes half the gold cost but takes an additional 1 hour per spell level.
Improved Memory
Beginning at 6th level, after each long rest, you can now prepare a number of spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus + your wizard level.
Rapid Preparation
Starting at 10th level, once per day when you finish a short rest, you can replace a number of spells that you have prepared, equal to or less than your intelligence modifier, and prepare the same number of spells from your spellbook. In addition, it now takes you half the time to prepare spells from your spellbook.
Unrestrained Learning
At 14th level, you are no longer restrained by the same limitations as other wizards. You can now copy spells to your spellbook from any spell list, if it is of a spell level you can prepare. For each spell level of the spell, the process takes 4 hours and 200 gp. The additional cost and time represents the added difficultly of trying to replicate the spell from another type of caster into a manner which a wizard may cast it. Once the spell is added to your spellbook, it counts as a wizard spell for you. Spells from a non-wizard spell list are not effected by the Spellwright Perfectionist feature.
*Note: Please work with your DM before adding spells from another spell list into your spellbook. There are certain spells that a wizard should not be able to learn such as healing spells and other divine spells. Some of these spells might be able to be flavored in a manner where a wizard can learn them, one such example can be the shield of faith spell, where it can work as intended but is now an Arcane Barrier instead.
This is the subclass that I'm currently working on, I feel like I'm almost done with it, but I'm unsure if the level 14 feature is too strong or fine as is. If you think it is too strong for a level 14 feature, can you please give a suggestion for either how you would balance it or an alternative feature that you think might fit. I'm currently having a hard time thinking of one myself without running into other issues. With that said, if there is anything else that stands out to you that needs to be changed in some way please let me know. To sum up this subclass, it focuses on amassing a large quantity of spells without a particular school in mind. I could see this subclass being played by someone who likes the idea of collection and learning a large number of spells, or someone who doesn't what to focus on a singular school of magic and would rather be a generalist wizard.
Edit: check further down for the most current version
Arcane FundamentalsBeginning when you select this school at 2nd level, you learn the prestidigitation cantrip and gain proficiency in the Arcana skill. If you already know the prestidigitation cantrip, you learn a different wizard cantrip of your choice. This cantrip don’t count against your number of cantrips known.Unbridled LearningStarting at 2nd level, each time you gain a level in wizard, you can choose to add 3 spells to your spellbook instead of 2, but each time you do so, each spell must be of a different school of magic (ex. at 5th level, if you choose to when you add the fireball spell to your spellbook the other two spells cannot be an evocation spell).In addition, you can learn additional cantrips by studying spell scrolls. The process of learning a new cantrip takes you 2 hours of uninterrupted focus and 25 gp of supplies.Improved MemoryBeginning at 6th level, after each long rest, you can now prepare a number of spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus + your wizard level.Rapid PreparationStarting at 10th level, at the end of a short rest, you can exchange a number of your prepared spells, to a max of your Intelligence modifier, for the same amount of spell from your spellbook. In addition, it now takes you half the time to prepare spells from your spellbook.Additional Spell MasteryAt 14th level, through constant study of the many different kinds of magic, you've learned to master spell quicker than other wizards. Choose one 1st-level or a 2nd-level wizard spell that is in your spellbook. You can cast the spell at it's lowest level without expending a spell slot when you have them prepared. If you want to cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.By spending 8 hours in study, you can exchange spell you chose for different spell of 1st or 2nd level spell from your spellbook.My Homebrew | Background | Feats | Magic Items | Races | Spells | Subclass | Homebrewery
To see my more recent homebrew creations, please check out my content on Hombrewery.
I've had a couple of read throughs and I cant quite get my head around the rationale for this school....
If this is more of a generalist approach why are they more adept at learnign spells than some one who focuses on one school?
Arcane Fundamentals: A free cantrip and proficiency ok,
Unbridled Learning: Learning 3 spells per level instead of 2 is a big leap in ability, just from a cost point of view assuming you were a normal phb wizard class and took all level 1 spells from wizard level 2 - 20 and assuming you found the spel scrolls and didn't have to buy them, thats 950gp worth of spells, paper and inks which isn't so bad but as soon as you start increasing spells levels the cost saving to the wizard are amazing...
for example, just taking into account the cost saving for a free 3rd spell each level and assuming you took the maximum level spell you could each time, the TOTAL saving would be 5250gp and this doesn't include the cost of a normal wizard having to buy spell scrolls.
I think I'd probably lose the learning an extra spell for free and change it to switch it to "you can half the cost of scribing a spell scroll into your spell book but doing so doubles the time as you take extra care to get everything right"
Tacking on the ability to learn any cantrip for 25gp is a bit over the top, its wording would imply you an learn ANY cantrip from from ANY spell list off of a spell scroll for 25gp and then cast it as it makes no reference to "Cantrips from the Wizard spell list", as a DM I would likely restrict this further to be any Cantrip from the wizard list but also that you have to prepare them like your level based spells so if you are a level 8 wizard with this sub class you may know 10 wizard cantrips but you can only prepare 4 of them to cast at will.
Improved Mastery: 3-6 extra prepared spells are probably not that big of deal in the grand scheme of things
Rapid Preparation: Should be ok as it usually a max of 5 spells a pc could swap out but I'd likely also limit it to one short rest per day just in case someone tries to short rest after every encounter to tweak their spell list. 30 seconds of spell prep time per level instead of 1 minute probably wont be much of a factor and I'm not awaare of any DM that has kept time keeping on how many minutes/hours it takes a wizard to prepare their spells but the reduction of time is a nice bit of flavour.
Additional Spell Mastery: I'd have to say no to this one, given the amount of bonus spells and cantrip potential already built in this seems a bit of overkill. What about:
"When casting a spell as a ritual, the casting time is reduced by half to a minimum of 5 minutes", that would account for their expertise in spell casting, give them something they can do better than other wizards and just flesh out their abilities a bit.
I'll start off by saying, that in hindsight the "learning cantrips" feature is over the top and I plan on removing it from the subclass. If I was going to implement that into a subclass, it would be one that it specially focuses on cantrips. As for the main feature, I went for the additional spell learned because I'm not sure if it is just my group or what, but we don't run into many spell scrolls. So by having the feature giving the player bonus spells, it would allow the player to gain more spells without. This way it could be seen as instead of the players wizard focusing on enhancing a particular school of magic, they are spending that time in learning new spells. With that said, I do like your suggestion for the cost reduction but at the increase of time.
Yeah I completely agree, I intended on having the "once per day" tag in there, guess I just overlooked it. With the preparing spells faster, it was meant more for flavor than anything.
I agree that the additional at will is too much, but the only another capstone that I've thought of that feels like a capstone would be something like, you can add spells from other spell lists, but at double the cost and double the time. If I went that route, would it be cool yeah, but it has the issue of breaking the "wizard's don't heal" weakness plus it would wouldn't add that much to the wizard since they have the largest spell list to choose from anyways. I do appreciate your suggestion for an alternative, is it good, definitely, but it just doesn't seem like it should be a subclass capstone.
My Homebrew | Background | Feats | Magic Items | Races | Spells | Subclass | Homebrewery
To see my more recent homebrew creations, please check out my content on Hombrewery.
So this is where I'm currently sitting at with the subclass...
Arcane Fundamentals
Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, you have focused on the perfecting the fundamentals of the arcane granting you some added bonuses. You gain proficiency in the Arcana skill, and you gain two cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. These cantrips do not count against your number of cantrips known.
Spellwright Perfectionist
Starting at 2nd level, you are a stickler for details allowing you to save on materials by taking the time to do everything correctly the first time. When you copy a spell to your spellbook, the process takes half the gold cost but takes an additional 1 hour per spell level.
Improved Memory
Beginning at 6th level, after each long rest, you can now prepare a number of spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your proficiency bonus + your wizard level.
Rapid Preparation
Starting at 10th level, once per day when you finish a short rest, you can replace a number of spells that you have prepared, equal to or less than your intelligence modifier, and prepare the same number of spells from your spellbook. In addition, it now takes you half the time to prepare spells from your spellbook.
Unrestrained Learning
At 14th level, you are no longer restrained by the same limitations as other wizards. You can now copy spells to your spellbook from any spell list, if it is of a spell level you can prepare. For each spell level of the spell, the process takes 4 hours and 200 gp. The additional cost and time represents the added difficultly of trying to replicate the spell from another type of caster into a manner which a wizard may cast it. Once the spell is added to your spellbook, it counts as a wizard spell for you. Spells from a non-wizard spell list are not effected by the Spellwright Perfectionist feature.
*Note: Please work with your DM before adding spells from another spell list into your spellbook. There are certain spells that a wizard should not be able to learn such as healing spells and other divine spells. Some of these spells might be able to be flavored in a manner where a wizard can learn them, one such example can be the shield of faith spell, where it can work as intended but is now an Arcane Barrier instead.
My Homebrew | Background | Feats | Magic Items | Races | Spells | Subclass | Homebrewery
To see my more recent homebrew creations, please check out my content on Hombrewery.