The Archmage's Council

For the knowledge of arcane secrets, you have paid a terrible price -- and yet there will be so much more to come.

Student loans really are the worst.

 

This subclass was created as part of the Subclasseptember 2022 challenge!

Expanded Spell List

The Archmage’s Council lets you choose from an expanded list of spells when you learn a warlock spell. The following spells are added to the warlock spell list for you.

Spellcasting

At 1st level, the Archmage’s Council bestows upon you a Student’s Spellbook containing spells that show the first glimmerings of your true power. Your spellbook is the repository of the wizard spells you know, except your cantrips, which are fixed in your mind.

If you later gain the Pact of the Tome feature, you can use your Book of Shadows as your Student’s Spellbook.

Cantrips

You learn two additional cantrips of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn an additional wizard cantrip of your choice at 10th level.

Spell Slots

The Archmage’s Council Spellcasting table shows how many spell slots you have to cast spells with. This magic is distinct from your own as a Warlock, and you must earn the right to cast the higher magics of the wizards.

At 1st level, you have a spellbook containing two 1st-level wizard spells of your choice. You learn an additional wizard spell at the levels listed in the Archmage’s Council Spellcasting table.

The spells that you add to your spellbook as you gain levels reflect the arcane research you conduct on your own, as well as intellectual breakthroughs you have had about the nature of the multiverse. You might find other spells during your adventures.

Copying a Spell into the Book. When you find a wizard spell of 1st level or higher, you can add it to your Student’s Spellbook if it is of a spell level you can prepare and if you can spare the time to decipher and copy it.

Copying a spell into your Student’s Spellbook involves reproducing the basic form of the spell, then deciphering the unique system of notation used by the wizard who wrote it. You must practice the spell until you understand the sounds or gestures required, then transcribe it into your spellbook using your own notation.

For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gp. The cost represents tuition fees required to understand the arcane notation of the spell, as well as the fine inks you need to record it. Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell just like your other spells.

Replacing the Book. You can copy a spell from your Student’s Spellbook into another book-for example, if you want to make a backup copy of your spellbook. This is just like copying a new spell into your spellbook, but faster and easier, since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You need spend only 1 hour and 10 gp for each level of the copied spell.

However, for legal reasons, the Archmage’s Council does not permit you to actually make use of spells within these backup spellbooks. If your Student’s Spellbook is lost or destroyed, you must request a new one from the Archmage’s Council, which will appear after you spend 50 gp and complete a long rest. You can then use the same procedure to transcribe the spells that you have prepared into your new Student’s Spellbook. Filling out the remainder of your spellbook requires you to find new spells to do so, as normal.

The Book’s Appearance. Your spellbook is a thin booklet of inferior quality, but its use is required by the Archmage’s Council. Customizing your Student’s Spellbook is against the Council’s code of conduct.

Preparing and Casting Spells. You prepare the list of wizard spells that are available for you to cast. The Spells Prepared column of the Spellcasting table shows when you can prepare more wizard spells of 1st level or higher. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots from the Spellcasting feature.

You can change your list of prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of wizard spells requires time spent studying your spellbook and memorizing the incantations and gestures you must make to cast the spell: at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

You can use the spell slots you gain from the Pact Magic feature to cast wizard spells, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting class feature to cast warlock spells you know. Unlike your Pact Magic spell slots, you only regain these expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Note: Because DNDBeyond doesn't actually support a thirdcaster warlock, I'm going to have to code in the spell slots and known spells under the "actions" area.

Note 2: The character builder shows a giant list of all the spells you can learn throughout your career when you get this feature. Don't worry, you won't actually have access to those spells until the proper levels. Same goes for the Eldritch Thesis feature later (at 14th level).

1st-Level Spellcasting Slots

You can use the spell slots you gain from the Pact Magic feature to cast wizard spells, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting class feature to cast warlock spells you know. Unlike your Pact Magic spell slots, you only regain these expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

2nd-Level Spellcasting Slots

You can use the spell slots you gain from the Pact Magic feature to cast wizard spells, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting class feature to cast warlock spells you know. Unlike your Pact Magic spell slots, you only regain these expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

3rd-Level Spellcasting Slots

You can use the spell slots you gain from the Pact Magic feature to cast wizard spells, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting class feature to cast warlock spells you know. Unlike your Pact Magic spell slots, you only regain these expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

4th-Level Spellcasting Slots

You can use the spell slots you gain from the Pact Magic feature to cast wizard spells, and you can use the spell slots you gain from the Spellcasting class feature to cast warlock spells you know. Unlike your Pact Magic spell slots, you only regain these expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.

Arcane Burst

At 6th level, you gain the ability to cast cantrips in quick succession, much like a warlock’s eldritch blast. Once on each of your turns, when you cast a wizard cantrip with a casting time of 1 action and a range other than self, you can cast a second wizard cantrip. When cast in this way, both behave as if you were a 1st level spellcaster, but gains the ability to benefit from features that affect your eldritch blast, such as the Agonizing Blast invocation. The number of times you cast a cantrip in one action increases to three times at 11th level, and four times at 17th level.

Hardened Psyche

At 10th level, your mind has been hardened after countless hours of dry lectures. You have advantage on saving throws against exhaustion. In addition, you gain proficiency in Intelligence saving throws. If you already have proficiency in Intelligence saving throws, you instead gain proficiency in Charisma saving throws.

Charisma

You gain proficiency in Charisma saving throws.

Intelligence

You gain proficiency in Intelligence saving throws.

Eldritch Thesis

At 14th level, you begin a final masterwork that just might give you the influence needed to obtain tenure. You add a 6th and 7th-level Wizard spell of your choice to your known spells. At 15th level you add an 8th-level Wizard spell, and at 17th level you add a 9th-level Wizard spell. Each of these spells counts as a warlock spell for you and can be cast as a Mystic Arcanum, but it doesn’t count against the number of warlock spells you know.