School of Hard Knocks

The subclass image shown to the right contains the graffitied Elvish word for wizard, uth, written in the Elven script of Espruar. No walls were harmed in the making of this image.

The School of Hard Knocks technically isn't a formal school of magic. This term is used to describe a loose collection of arcane practitioners who either believe that hard study is no substitute for life experience, or lack access to the resources typically associated with an education in arcana. Less scholarly than is typical for members of this class, but just as intelligent, these wizards prefer to get out in the real world and try things — do things — instead of focusing on studying books and reading about the theory of the arcane. They are still keen to learn about the arcane, but passionate believers in learning-by-doing. Lacking a diverse breadth of reading in their background, some wizards within this school fixate on particular sage words wisdom or mantra which they think are particularly profound.

The School of Hard Knocks (also referred to as the University of Life) is an idiomatic phrase meaning the (sometimes painful) education one gets from life's usually negative experiences, often contrasted with formal education.

It is a response that may be given when one is asked about his or her education, particularly if they do not have an extensive formal education but rather life experiences that should be valued instead.

— Wikipedia

Learned It The Hard Way

2nd-level School of Hard Knocks feature

Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook is halved for all spells you have cast before. Additionally, the gold and time you must spend to copy a spell from your spellbook, or your prepared spells, into another book is halved.

You've learned everything the hard way, but at least that means it comes easier the second time around.

For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.

— Aristotle

If At First You Don't Succeed

2nd-level School of Hard Knocks feature

Beginning at 2nd level, you can adapt on the battlefield and learn from your mistakes when you miss with a spell attack. When you cast a spell targeting a single creature that requires you to make an attack roll, and you miss, you gain advantage the next time you target this same creature with the same spell. When you cast a spell targeting a single creature that requires it to make a saving throw, and the target saves, you can impose disadvantage on the creature's saving throw the next time you attack this same creature with the same spell.

It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.

— Samuel Smiles

'Tis a lesson you should heed:
Try, try, try again.
If at first you don't succeed,
Try, try, try again.

— William Edward Hickson

Once Burned Twice Shy

6th-level School of Hard Knocks feature

Starting at 6th level, you gain resistance to either acid, cold, fire, lightning, necrotic, poison, radiant, or thunder damage (your choice of one of these damage types when you first gain this benefit). Whenever you take damage possessing one of these types, you can use your reaction to change the type of damage to which you are resistant. You lose your previous damage resistance associated with this feature and gain resistance to the type of damage you suffered from the triggering attack. The resistance type changes immediately after damage is applied from the triggering attack.

The type of damage you are resistant to can not change in response to self-inflicted damage.

Pain is a formative teacher.

— Author Unknown

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.

— Friedrich Nietzsche

[Resistance Type Managed Separately]

Select this placeholder option if you prefer to manage your adaptive resistance damage type independently of this selection box. You can then control the damage type yourself by adjusting your resistances in the Defenses section in the D&DBeyond character sheet. This means you don't have to go to the Edit Character screen to change the option for this feature.

Acid Resistance

You gain resistance to acid damage.

Cold Resistance

You gain resistance to cold damage.

Fire Resistance

You gain resistance to fire damage.

Lightning Resistance

You gain resistance to lightning damage.

Necrotic Resistance

You gain resistance to necrotic damage.

Poison Resistance

You gain resistance to poison damage.

Radiant Resistance

You gain resistance to radiant damage.

Thunder Resistance

You gain resistance to thunder damage.

Improvisational Preparation

10th-level School of Hard Knocks feature

At 10th level, you become a master of spell improvisation. As a bonus action, you can replace one spell you have prepared with another spell from your spellbook.

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

To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.

— Issac Asimov

I Get Knocked Down: I Get Up Again

14th-level School of Hard Knocks feature

Starting at 14th level, when you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can expend a spell slot to immediately recover some of your hit points without becoming unconscious. The number of hit points recovered is equal to five times the level of the spell slot expended. However, you do fall prone.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

— Confucius

I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down

— Chumbawamba