Previous Hundred Dungeons posts:
The Wild (wilderness exploration)
The Dark (dungeon exploration)
Recuperation (resting and downtime)
Wizards are so dependent on their spells, the class design itself feels fairly skeletal. We’re going to try to grab what we like of the wizard and sorcerer in fifth edition. Note that doing away with the sorcerer has put metamagic back in the domain of the wizard. Let’s see how we do as we seek to:
Simplify in-game decision points
Condense the 20 levels down to 10 that cover a similar spread of power
Work in more “always on” features
Balance the pillars (which means removing some combat stuff and replacing it with features that showcase exploration and social activity)
Hope you enjoy!
WIZARD
Esoteric scholars and purveyors of forbidden magical mysteries, wizards represent the most studious and focused of spellcasters. Their search for the boundaries of possibility and the unearthing of lost knowledge frequently sends them into danger.
Even the most noble of wizards feels a pang of loss when secrets are hidden from them. The less compassionate of their colleagues dabble in even more dubious arts in the pursuit of arcane power.
Ability Increase: Intelligence
Skills: Ancient History, Magical Lore, Research and Scholarship, Spellcraft, Arcane Implements, Simple Weapons
…and one skill of your making
Hit Dice: d6
Starting Hit Points: 6 + Constitution score
Starting Gear:
5 Pouches
Dagger
Quarterstaff
Spellbook
Parchment scroll (blank)
Material components (for starting spells, 5 uses each)
10 silver
EXPLOITS
SCRIBE
Level 1
You have a spellbook containing your notes and research on the spells you’velearned. With access to a spell scroll or other scribed spell (such as can be found in another wizard’s spellbook), you learn its mysteries and scribe it into your spellbook. For each level of the spell, the process takes 1 hour and costs 30 silver.
If your spellbook is destroyed, you lose the spells recorded there. To scribe your prepared spells, or additional copies of those in your spellbook (effectively making backups), you spend 10 minutes and 10 silver per level of the spells copied.
When an effect says to “add” a spell to your spellbook, you don’t need to scribe it, and can do so at no cost.
SPELLCASTING
Level 1
Learn three cantrips and add five level 1 spells from the list of Wizard Spells to your spellbook. You can cast your cantrips at any time without expending them. Add two new spells to your spellbook each at levels 2-8, and one spell each at levels 9 and 10.
Your spellbook contains all the spells you’ve learned, but these must be prepared before you can cast them. When you finish a long rest, choose a number of spells from your spellbook based on the Spells Prepared column of the Wizard table. These are the spells you gain for that day. Your spellcasting ability for these spells is Intelligence.
SPELL FOCUS
Levels 2, 4, 6, & 8
Choose Abjuration, Enchantment, or Evocation. Your Spell Focus grants unique exploits at levels 2, 4, 6, and 8.
Abjuration, Level 2: Add one abjuration wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. You gain the skill Magical Wards.
Abjuration, Level 4: Add one abjuration wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. When you cast an abjuration spell that’s level 1 or higher, you create an arcane ward with hit points equal to double your wizard level + the spell’s level. It suffers damage instead of you. You suffer damage left over after the ward is reduced to 0 hit points.
Abjuration, Level 6: Add one abjuration wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. When a creature within 30 feet of you suffers damage while your arcane ward is active, you can use your reaction to have your ward suffer the damage instead. Any leftover damage goes to you, as usual.
Abjuration, Level 8: Add one abjuration wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. Your rolls to avoid spell effects are mighty, and you have resistance to spell damage.
—
Enchantment, Level 2: Add one enchantment wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. You gain the skill Beguiling Gaze.
Enchantment, Level 4: Add one enchantment wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. When you cast an enchantment spell that’s 1st level or higher, choose one creature affected by it. That creature must use Charisma at 10 + double your renown or be charmed by you until the end of your next turn. You can concentrate and use your action on subsequent turns to extend the charm until the end of the next turn. While charmed, the creature is incapacitated.
Enchantment, Level 6: Add one enchantment wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. When a creature within 30 feet of you that can hear you declares an attack against you, it must use Charisma at 10 + double your renown or direct the attack at another target within 10 feet of you.
Enchantment, Level 8: Add one enchantment wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. Your enchantment spells always benefit from the Twinned arcana, and you can give them a second arcana option.
—
Evocation, Level 2: Add one evocation wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. You gain the skill War Mage.
Evocation, Level 4: Add one evocation wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. After you take the Attack action, hit or miss, the target suffers magical acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder damage equal to your wizard level.
Evocation, Level 6: Add one evocation wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. Your evocation spells always benefit from the Careful arcana, and you can give them a second arcana option.
Evocation, Level 8: Add one evocation wizard spell of your choice to your spellbook. When one of your wizard spells damages a creature, it bypasses any resistance to the damage.
ARCANA
Levels 3 & 7
When you cast a wizard spell that’s level 5 or lower, you can use your reaction to apply one of the following effects before the casting is complete:
Careful: Choose up to three creatures in your spell’s area effect. They automatically succeed on rolls to avoid the spell.
Distant: If the spell has a range of 5 feet or more, double it.
Extended: If the spell has a duration of 1 minute or more, you can double its duration, to a maximum of 24 hours.
You gain the following additional Arcana options at level 7:
Empowered: After you roll damage for the spell, you can reroll the damage dice and keep the higher result.
Subtle: You cast the spell without needing verbal or somatic components.
Twinned: If the spell can be upcast to select more targets, upcast it one level without expending a higher-level spell in its place.
ATTUNEMENT
Level 5
When you finish a short rest, replenish one spell that’s 5th level or lower. This exploit replenishes when you finish a long rest.
SIGNATURE SPELL
Level 9
Choose a 1st level spell. You can cast it at any time without expending it.
ARCHMAGE’S WARD
Level 10
When you prepare your spells, choose one in your spellbook that can select you alone as a target. Until you prepare your spells again, you may interrupt any actions or encounters to immediately cast that spell. While selected, it doesn’t count against your Spells Prepared. After being cast, it must replenish before you can cast it again, but you can expend other spells to cast it as usual.
WIZARD SPELLS
Cantrips
Dancing Lights
Light
Mage Hand
Mending
Message
Minor Illusion
Prestidigitation
True Strike
Level 1 Spells
Alarm
Burning Hands
Charm Person
Chill Touch
Color Spray
Comprehend Languages
Detect Magic
Disguise Self
Expeditious Retreat
False Life
Feather Fall
Find Familiar
Floating Disk
Fog Cloud
Grease
Hideous Laughter
Identify
Illusory Script
Jump
Longstrider
Mage Armor
Magic Missile
Protection from Evil and Good
Ray of Frost
Shield
Shocking Grasp
Silent Image
Sleep
Thunderwave
Unseen Servant
Level 2 Spells
Acid Arrow
Alter Self
Arcane Lock
Arcanist’s Magic Aura
Blindness/Deafness
Blur
Continual Flame
Darkness
Darkvision
Detect Thoughts
Enlarge/Reduce
Flaming Sphere
Gentle Repose
Gust of Wind
Hold Person
Invisibility
Knock
Levitate
Locate Object
Magic Mouth
Magic Weapon
Mirror Image
Misty Step
Ray of Enfeeblement
Rope Trick
Scorching Ray
See Invisibility
Shatter
Spider Climb
Suggestion
Web
Level 3 Spells
Animate Dead
Bestow Curse
Blink
Clairvoyance
Counterspell
Dispel Magic
Fear
Fireball
Fly
Gaseous Form
Glyph of Warding
Haste
Hypnotic Pattern
Lightning Bolt
Magic Circle
Major Image
Nondetection
Phantom Steed
Protection from Energy
Remove Curse
Sending
Sleet Storm
Slow
Stinking Cloud
Tiny Hut
Tongues
Vampiric Touch
Water Breathing
Level 4 Spells
Arcane Eye
Banishment
Black Tentacles
Blight
Confusion
Conjure Minor Elementals
Control Water
Dimension Door
Fabricate
Faithful Hound
Fire Shield
Greater Invisibility
Hallucinatory Terrain
Ice Storm
Locate Creature
Phantasmal Killer
Polymorph
Private Sanctum
Resilient Sphere
Secret Chest
Stone Shape
Stoneskin
Wall of Fire
Level 5 spells
Animate Objects
Arcane Hand
Cloudkill
Cone of Cold
Conjure Elemental
Contact Other Plane
Creation
Dominate Person
Dream
Geas
Hold Monster
Legend Lore
Mislead
Modify Memory
Passwall
Planar Binding
Scrying
Seeming
Telekinesis
Telepathic Bond
Teleportation Circle
Wall of Force
Wall of Stone
Level 6 Spells
Chain Lightning
Circle of Death
Contingency
Create Undead
Disintegrate
Eyebite
Flesh to Stone
Freezing Sphere
Globe of Invulnerability
Guards and Wards
Instant Summons
Irresistible Dance
Magic Jar
Mass Suggestion
Move Earth
Programmed Illusion
Sunbeam
True Seeing
Wall of Ice
Level 7 Spells
Arcane Sword
Delayed Blast Fireball
Etherealness
Finger of Death
Forcecage
Magnificent Mansion
Mirage Arcane
Plane Shift
Prismatic Spray
Project Image
Reverse Gravity
Sequester
Simulacrum
Symbol
Teleport
Level 8 Spells
Antimagic Field
Antipathy/Sympathy
Clone
Control Weather
Demiplane
Dominate Monster
Feeblemind
Incendiary Cloud
Maze
Mind Blank
Power Word Stun
Sunburst
Level 9 Spells
Astral Projection
Foresight
Gate
Imprisonment
Meteor Swarm
Power Word Kill
Prismatic Wall
Shapechange
Time Stop
True Polymorph
Weird
Wish
NEXT TIME
That’s it for the classes! We’re going to dive into spellcasting next, believe it or not. Lots of language tweaks coming, and some simplification to the general spellcasting rules.
This work includes material taken from the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1”) by Wizards of the Coast LLC and available at https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/systems-reference-document. The SRD 5.1 is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.
Hundred Dungeons is created and written by Graham Ward © 2023
Permission granted to copy for personal use only.
THE WIZARD
| EXP Required | Wizard Level | Hit Dice | Exploits | Spells Prepared | Traits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renown 1 | +1 Intelligence |
Inquisitive Apprentice | |||
| — | 1 | 1d6 | Scribe | 4 | |
| 2 | 2 | 2d6 | Spellcasting, Spell Focus | 6 | |
| 3 | 3 | 3d6 | Arcana | 8 | |
| 4 | 4 | 4d6 | Spell Focus | 10 | |
| Renown 2 | +1 to any ability score |
Learned Sage | |||
| 5 | 5 | 5d6 | Attunement | 12 | |
| 6 | 6 | 6d6 | Spell Focus | 14 | |
| 7 | 7 | 7d6 | Arcana | 16 | |
| Renown 3 | +1 to any ability score |
Master of [Spell Focus] | |||
| 8 | 8 | 8d6 | Spell Focus | 18 | |
| 9 | 9 | 9d6 | Signature Spell | 19 | |
| Renown 4 | +1 to any ability score |
Archmage | |||
| 10 | 10 | 10d6 | Archmage's Ward | 20 |
