School of Invocation

Based upon the spells for summoning fey, celestials, and devils. The School of Invocation focuses on summoning creatures, objects, and particularly powerful entities known as 'Heroic Spirits', or 'Servants', though recent studies of invocation rituals have lead to the discovery that 'Heroic' may not be the correct term for some of them.

This is achieved through summoning circles, generous amounts of magic, and artifacts that can help the summoning process in going a wanted direction.

Magus are cheap

(2nd level ability)

Beginning when you select this school at 2nd level, the gold and time you must spend to copy a conjuration spell into your spellbook is halved.

Spirits of time long passed

(2nd level ability)

You have barely reached a level of proficiency in both magecraft and magic circle creation that you can successfully create a temporary Servant Invocation circle. Catalysts cannot be used in this type of Invocation circle and any Servants summoned are without great abilities and the majority of their personality, but it's just the price to pay for being able to summon them with so little mana. Additionally, each Temporary Servant lasts for 1 minute after being summoned, requiring the Invoker to concentrate on the Servant as if concentrating on a spell.

It takes one Action to summon a Temporary Servant and in combat they take their turn directly after the Invoker, the Invoker can use a Bonus Action to give the Temporary Servant an order that the summon will carry out as they see fit until given another order.

Choose two of the seven classes to summon from, you gain a third and fourth at level 6, a fifth and sixth at level 10, and the final class at level 14.                                                                    At the end of a LR you can choose one class to summon from till your next LR, this increases to 2 choices at 6th level, 3 choices at 10th level, and 4 choices at 14th level.

Classes:

• Saber: Focuses on up-close melee combat with a bladed weapon, usually a long or greatsword.
• Archer: Focuses on ranged attacks and herding enemies into advantageous positions using their bows.
• Lancer: Focuses on fast, rapid attacks with a spear or polearm of some kind.
• Rider: Focuses on fast attacks (melee or ranged can depend on the exact summon) and mounted combat.
• Caster: Focuses on the use of magic for defenses, buffs, and debuffs.
• Berserker: A being overtaken by madness and anger, focuses on pure strength and speed to brute force enemies into submission
• Assassin: Focuses on stealth and silent killing, difficult to pin down and track at the best of times, low health but high dps.

 

This is the basic stat block for a Temporary Servant that can then be upgraded or changed depending on the summoned class and the spell slot used to summon it.

Temporary Servants also know any languages known to the Invoker.

To summon a Temporary Servant a spell slot of 1st level or higher must be used. Using a higher-level spell slot gives the summon:

1. +3 hit dice per level of spell slot.
2. A +1 magic weapon at 3rd level, a +2 magic weapon at 5th level, and a +3 magic weapon at 7th level.
3. +2 Ability Score increases per level of spell slot, this can be used to increase one stat by 2 or increase 2 stats by 1 (To a max of 20).
4. At a 3rd level spell slot, the Temporary Servant gains a second attack per attack action (Caster does not benefit from this ability)

 

You can use this ability (Prof. mod/2) times per LR, rounded down. Only one can be active at a time

Archer

Users of Bows, Crossbows and other similar ranged weaponry. They prefer to avoid melee combat and instead with their powerful bodies and eyesight will find sniper nests far away and/or high-up to pepper enemies with ranged projectiles. They excel in battlefield manipulation and control.

Archers get a base +2 increase to DEX and WIS and a -2 decrease to CHA. Studded leather armour and a Longbow/Crossbow with an inexhaustible supply of ammunition.

 

Assassin

Assassin's are silent, terrifying specters in every shadow and around every corner, except they're right behind you. Assassin's focus on putting themselves in as little danger as possible while doing the most damage possible to an enemy.

Assassin's gain +4 DEX, and gain -2 STR and CON. Additionally, Assassin's can only wear light armor and use Light or Finesse weapons. Assassin class Servants are able to use the Rogue's Assassinate & Sneak Attack features. The Assassin's Sneak Attack adds an additional (2d6) damage that increases by 1d6 for every level spell slot above 1st.

 

Berserker

The Berserker class Servants are mad titans of strength and constitution that never seem to go down and break an adventurers spine with their bare-hands, this comes at the cost of their higher brain functions however. Berserker's are Servant's to be pointed directly at the enemy and sit back as they knock down any and all defenses and traps set up through brute force.

Berserker's gain +4 STR and CON, and gain -4 INT and CHA, Berserker's additionally gain the barbarian unarmored defense and either use their fists or a great-weapon of some kind. For every ASI used to increase the Berserker's INT its STR goes down by 1 and vice versa.

 

Caster

Caster's are physically weak but magically powerful Servant's whose main ability lies in 'territory creation' and giving buffs and debuffs. They prefer to avoid melee combat when it is possible.

Caster's gain +3 INT and CHA, and -2 STR and CON, they can be given Mage Armor and a dagger if necessary. Temporary Caster's are unable to create territories due to time constraints but can still cast any cantrip from the Wizard spell list at will. Additionally, they can cast any Wizard spell of a level equal to or lower than the spell slot used to summon them, using a levelled spell costs the summoner a spell slot of the same level, however.

 

Lancer

Lancer's focus on quick, rapid attacks in either brutal displays of ripping open an opponents gaps in their defenses or disturbingly beautiful dances of flashing blades and spilling blood. Lancer's work well with hit and run tactics or closing the distance to an enemy quickly.

Lancer's gain +2 STR and DEX, and -2 WIS. They can gain either studded leather or half-plate armour, and a spear or other polearm-type weapon. Also they gain an additional +10ft movement speed.

 

Rider

The Rider class is usually left on foot despite their moniker suggesting otherwise which can often times put them at a disadvantage. However if paired with a mount their true power can really shine. Rider class servants generally deal in melee combat with low-risk hit and run tactics.

Rider's gain +4 DEX and -2 STR and -2 CON. Rider's typically wear Studded Leather or Breastplate armor along with Shortswords and/or daggers. Additionally, when a Rider has a Mount, the Mount is treated as a Magical Creature, gains +15ft movement speed, +3 AC, and double health. However, while it is under the effects of Rider's upgrades everybody else has disadvantage to ride it.

 

Saber

Close range melee combatants, known as one of the three 'Knight' classes of Invocation. They primarily use Longswords or Greatswords but there are notable exceptions to this rule.

Most balanced stats of the seven classes with no notable weaknesses, but additionally has no notable strengths over the other classes. Individual Servant abilities and strategies are what usually makes the Saber-class terrifying to other Invocation users.

Saber class Servants gain a +1 to all ability scores. Half-plate or Plate armour (At the PC's decision) and the use of a Longsword or Greatsword (Can be modified for other knife/sword-type weapons)

Invocation Adept

(6th level ability)

You have gotten better at summoning Temporary Servants. Now, whenever you summon a Temporary Servant with a 3rd level spell slot or higher they get these benefits:

1. At 3rd, and 7th level you can give the Temporary Servant a feat for each level
2. They gain a proficiency in a skill of your choosing for each level (two proficiencies can be used to make one expertise)

Expert Invoker

(10th level ability)

Your skill in Invocation has grown exponentially, allowing even more benefits to your Temporary Servants:

1. You can give your Temporary Servants Saving Throw proficiencies when summoned at 4th level, gaining an extra saving throw proficiency for every 2nd level above 4th.
2. Your Servants gain a bit of their personality back, increasing their proficiency bonus by +3.
3. When creating your Servant choose one from Fire, Cold, Lightning, Force, Acid, Poison, Thunder, and Force. They deal +2 damage of that type when summoned at 1st level and deal an additional +1 damage of that type for each additional level of spell slot used.

I ask you, art thou my Master?

(14th level ability)

You have reached the pinnacle of Invocation (Until someone makes another breakthrough at least). All of your experience with your Temporary Servants and study has taught you what is necessary to truly summon a Heroic Spirit and not just an emotionless husk of one. Through spending at least 1,000 gp of crushed gems and magic chalk, along with a 7th level spell slot, you are able to spend 8 uninterrupted hours of continuous work to create the summoning ritual necessary to summon a Heroic Spirit, if you are interrupted at any time during this activity all materials used are deemed useless and the circle has to be created from scratch with new components.

When summoning a servant without a catalyst, a Heroic Spirit that would work well with you is automatically chosen and summoned. Without a catalyst, the same Heroic Spirit will always appear, no matter how many times you repeat the ritual. Using a catalyst (This can be an artifact or object tied to their legend/history) summons a Heroic Spirit directly tied to that catalyst. As stated above a spell slot of 7th level or higher is necessary to complete the ritual. Whatever spell slot you use to summon the Heroic Spirit is also the one that must be spent daily as payment to keep the Heroic Spirit, if this payment is not given the Heroic Spirit will fade into nothingness and need to be summoned again. A spell slot of 8th or 9th level increases all of their stats (and stat maximums) by +2 and additionally gives the Heroic Spirit +1 free Noble Phantasm use without draining the summoner per spell slot above 7th.

Additionally, since this is an Invocation involving Heroic Spirits, there are new benefits not found with Temporary Servants.

Command Seals: Three stylised red tattoo's will appear on the back of your hand. Each one represents an absolute command the summoner can give the Heroic Spirit. This can be used as an in-character command ("Stab that wall") or a more meta-knowledge command ("Regain all spent hit dice"). Per each summoning only three Command Seals can be attained, and they recharge at a rate of 1 per month. If all three Command Seals are used the Heroic Spirit instantly disappears upon completing the command.

Class Benefits:

Saber: The Saber class gains Magic Resistance (advantage on saving throws)

Archer: The Archer class gains Independent Action (Can last without a daily Spell Slot payment for a day)

Lancer: The Lancer class gains Evasion and Protection against Projectiles (All ranged projectiles have disadvantage to hit Lancer)

Rider: The Rider class can summon and ride powerful Magic Creatures from either their legends or from current times (Current creatures may not take positively to this however)

Caster: The Caster class gains Territory Creation and independent spell slots (Territory Creation allows them to create a 'Lair' effectively and depending on how strong their independent spell slots skill is, can passively generate anywhere from 1-25 levels of spell slots over a LR)

Berserker: The Berserker class gains Battle Continuation (It takes 6 failed death saves to kill them, but also 6 successes to stabilize them, and they stay conscious until they die)

Assassin: The Assassin class gains Presence Concealment (Every Assassin is under the permanent effects of "Pass without a Trace" and cannot automatically be found with Truesight)

 

Every Heroic Spirit has unique attacks/abilities known as 'Noble Phantasms' that can be quite costly to activate. The exact cost of each one is up to the DM, but Noble Phantasms can cost anywhere from a level 1 Spell Slot to a level 9 Spell Slot, with power proportional obviously, to activate. This can only be circumvented by using a Command Seal to activate a Noble Phantasm.

(When creating Noble Phantasm's. Remember there are ranks, using a points system can help create them. Try using a point pool of 15)

1. EX rank (9 points) = 9th level
2. A+ rank (8 points) = 8th level
3. A rank (7 points) = 7th level
4. B+ rank (6 points) = 6th level
5. B rank (5 points) = 5th level
6. C+ rank (4 points) = 4th level
7. C rank (3 points) = 3rd level
8. D rank (2 points)  = 2nd level
9. E rank (1 point) = 1st level

(Note: Heroic Spirits are Legendary Heroes from the History of your world. They should be created by the DM or the DM and Player working together and should act, feel, and be treated like the legends they are by the people that know of them)