Neuromancy

The brain is the seat of one's sense of self, knowledge, capabilities, and fears. Neuromancers understand this better than anyone, and have mastered the brain's inner workings to such a degree that they can directly influence its functions, artificially improve it beyond its normal limits, or crush it utterly.

Arcane Seizure

2nd-level Neuromancy feature

Whenever you cast a spell using a spell slot of 1st level or higher that targets one creature and deals lightning or psychic damage, you can attempt to overwhelm its brain with excessive impulses. The creature must make a Constitution saving throw. On a failure, it takes no damage, but its movement speed is reduced to 0, and it cannot benefit from spells or effects that would increase its speed, until the end of your next turn. On a success, it takes the spell's damage as it normally would.

A creature that is immune to lightning damage or psychic damage is also immune to this feature.

Fray Nerves

6th-level Neuromancy feature

While most arcane practitioners squander the power of their spells aimlessly, you channel yours gracefully and aim for the head.

Whenever you cast a spell that deals lightning or psychic damage, you can add your Intelligence modifier to one of the damage rolls.

Additionally, when you cast a spell using a 1st level spell slot or higher that deals lightning or psychic damage and requires a target creature to make a saving throw, you can choose to forgo dealing damage. Instead, if the creature fails the saving throw, it is stunned until the end of your next turn. On a success, the target creature is not stunned and takes no damage.

If the spell target multiple creatures at once, choose only one creature to be targeted by this feature; the remaining creatures are affected by the spell normally.

Thought Thief

6th-level Neuromancy feature

You can use an action to attempt to forcibly extract information from an incapacitated creature that you can see within 5 feet of you. The creature must make a Wisdom saving throw. On a success, nothing happens. The creature also succeeds if it has no functioning brain, or is immune to lightning or psychic damage. Whether the creature succeeds or fails, it is unaware of your attempt at stealing its thoughts.

On a failure, you instantly learn information the creature knows. Ask the GM up to three questions. The GM must answer truthfully, but only based on information the creature knows. The GM can answer with "yes", "no", "uncertain", simple thoughts like a name or a word, or by describing an image that appears in your mind. If the creature is not humanoid, the answers may be vague, cryptic, or otherworldly, denoting the vast difference between its thought patterns and your own. If the creature is an aberration or a fiend, you take 3d6 psychic damage after you use this feature.

Once you use this feature, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest, or until you spend a spell slot of 3rd level or higher to do it again.

Using this feature requires a set of custom-made tungsten needles worth at least 500 gp. The needles acts as a focus for this feature, and can be used repeatedly.

Hasten Mind

10th-level Neuromancy feature

You combine arcane lightning and your expansive knowledge of the connectome to push the limits of mortal ability.

You can use an action to touch one willing creature and grant it one of the following benefits:

• Perfect Recollection. For the next 10 minutes, the creature can vividly recall the details of any events it had witnessed within the last year. This also ends all memory alterations affecting the creature, such as those caused by the modify memory spell.
• Clarity of Self. For the next 10 minutes, the creature gains advantage on Wisdom and Charisma saving throws against being charmed, frightened, paralyzed, or dominated. This also ends effects that adversely affect its sanity, if any.
• Axonal Quickening. The creature gains expertise in a skill of your choice for 1 hour. This benefit cannot be gained if the creature already has expertise in the chosen skill.
• Sensory Overtune. The creature gains Darkvision and Blindsight, both with a range of 60 feet. If the creature already has either of the two, its range is doubled. Additionally, the creature has advantage on Wisdom (Perception). These benefits last for 1 hour.

A creature can only gain one of these benefits at a time. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Using this feature requires a set of custom-made tungsten needles worth at least 500 gp. The needles acts as a focus for this feature, and can be used repeatedly.

Cerebral Disarray

14th-level Neuromancy feature

Your mastery of manipulating the living brain has peaked. You can forcibly alter the thought patterns of others to suit your whims.

As an action, you channel fine lightning filaments into a creature's head within 5 feet of you. The target creature must make a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC. On a success, the creature is unaffected. The creature automatically succeeds if it has no functioning brain, or if its CR is higher than your Wizard level.

On a failure, you instantly rewire the target's brain. Choose one of the following effects. The target suffers the effect you choose, and is not aware of your role in it. The effect lasts until the creature benefits from a greater restoration spell or similar magic. The affected creature repeats the saving throw each time it is targeted with an attack or a harmful spell by you or one of your allies, or dealt lightning or psychic damage from any source.

• Unlearning. You dampen the creature's learned experiences. The creature's proficiency bonus becomes 0, and it loses all skill proficiencies.
• Willbreaking. You douse the flames of the creature's ambition, rendering it hopeless. The creature has disadvantage on Charisma saving throws, and must prioritize fleeing over fighting.
• Memory Wipe. The creature's memories of all events in the last month are erased. It perceives this lost time as a blank space, and if asked, it cannot explain why. A creature under this effect has disadvantage on saving throws made to resist memory-altering spells such as Modify Memory.
• Synaptic Scramble. The creature is driven mad as a storm of nonsensical thoughts assails its mind. A creature driven mad in this way drops everything it is holding to clutch at its own head. It also can't take actions, can't understand what other creatures say, can't read, and speaks only in gibberish.
• Frontal Flux. You realign the creature's value system. One factor of the creature's alignment is changed to another of your choice. For example, a chaotic neutral creature can be made chaotic good (altered morality) or lawful neutral (altered attitude towards society and order), but not lawful good (both).
• Motor Torpor. You slow the creature's motor activity to a near-halt. The creature cannot make more than one attack per turn, and has disadvantage on Strength saving throws. The creature must spend 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves.
• Cerebellar Disharmony. You unravel the creature's sense of physical balance. The creature automatically fails Dexterity saving throws, cannot take the Dash or Dodge actions, and makes ranged attacks at disadvantage. Additionally, each time the creature is struck with a melee attack, it must succeed on a Strength saving throw or fall prone.
• Tergiversation. The creature's allegiances change, such that it regards you and your allies as friendly, and its allies (if any) as hostile. The creature's memories of past events that would conflict with this sudden change are altered to fit its new worldview. If the creature can repeat the saving throw to resist this effect after being targeted with an attack or a harmful spell by you or one of your allies, it makes the roll with advantage.

A creature can only be affected by one of these effects at a time. You can have a number of creatures equal to your Intelligence modifier affected by this feature at once. Any additional affected creature beyond this limit ends the effects on the creature affected least recently.

Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest or until you expend a spell slot of 6th level on it.

Using this feature requires a set of custom-made tungsten needles worth at least 500 gp. The needles acts as a focus for this feature, and can be used repeatedly.

Rewrite Id

Your intimate familiarity with the brain's connectivity allows you near-complete control over the flow of thoughts and ideas. Given enough time, you can make permanent changes to an individual's sense of self.

You can spend a spell slot of 6th level or higher and 1 hour to implant, alter, or erase any number of thoughts, memories, beliefs, personality traits, fears, bonds, ideals, and alignment factors in a willing creature's brain, provided it has one. The creature must remain within 5 feet of you for the entire duration. The creature is made aware of the changes you are implementing in its mind, but only during the hour-long procedure. If the creature is charmed, incapacitated or unconscious at any point during the procedure, the changes fail to take effect.

An affected creature can be made to desire starting anew in another town, picking up woodworking as a profession, or joining a specific deity's clergy. It can be made ambitious, nitpicky, like a type of food it originally disliked, desire wealth, fear blue snakes, seek esoteric enlightenment, and so on. You can implement any number of detailed changes that can be communicated to the DM in 1 minute or less. You can also specify certain triggers, as you would with the suggestion spell. Implanted life choices must not conflict with one another (e.g. farm carrots and don't farm carrots) nor direct the creature to subject itself to certain death.

The changes take place after the full hour has been spent on this procedure, at which point the creature is no longer aware that any alterations were made to its mind. The changes last indefinitely, or until this feature is used on the same creature again. The affected creature will live and behave as though the changes you implemented were always a part of it. Only a wish spell can undo these changes without using this feature.

Using this feature requires a set of custom-made tungsten needles worth at least 500 gp. The needles acts as a focus for this feature, and can be used repeatedly.