Arcane Discoveries (Pathfinder Alternate Class Feature)

Arcane Discoveries

1st Level:

Arcane Implement:' You shape magical energy into an object made of pure arcane force. By sacrificing one of your prepared spells as a standard action, you can create a masterwork version of a simple tool of your choice that could be reproduced by a traveler’s any-tool (Ultimate Equipment). The tool has 5 Hit Points and hardness 5, and lasts for a number of minutes equal to the level of the spell sacrificed to create it.

Arcane Vengeance: When a foe provokes an attack of opportunity from you, you may cast and deliver a prepared spell as your attack of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less, and a range of touch. If you miss with your touch attack, the spell is lost. Except for casting the spell as an attack of opportunity, all the normal rules of spellcasting apply. You may use this ability once per day. At 15th level, you can use this ability twice per day. You must have Combat Reflexes.

Armor Runes: You can attune armor to not interfere, with your spellcasting. When you prepare your spells for the day, you can also place armor runes on one suit of armor. Placing an armor rune on a suit of armor requires you to sacrifice one spell slot for every level of spell you can cast. (Thus a 5th level wizard wishing to place armor runes on a suit of armor must sacrifice four total spell slots—one 0-level, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd level slot.) You do not suffer arcane spell failure for casting your wizard spells while wearing armor on which you have placed armor runes. This has no effect on spells you gain from other classes, or any armor on which you yourself did not place armor runes. Armor runes last until you next prepare spells, at which point they must be renewed.

Note that placing armor runes on armor does not give you any special proficiency with the armor.

You must have Arcane Armor Training.

• Armor Runes: While wizards are prohibited from wearing armor for good reasons both in game logic (learning to cast spells comes at the expense of training in such bulky, mundane gear) and game balance, the cost to overcome these limitations is alternatingly too low, and too high. A character can use mage armor to gain 4 points of armor bonus to AC, duplicating most light armors, or buy mithral breast plates and take Arcane Armor Mastery and be as well-protected as most rangers (and many fighters). Armor runes provide a compromise, allowing a wizard to wear even the bulkiest iron plate mail, but at the cost of losing several spell slots (which for balance purposes, can effectively be considered to have been used to cast increasingly high-level variants of mage armor). This allows the wizard to wear whatever armor he can afford (and get his hands on), but ensures he continues to pay a modest cost that is neither crippling, nor irrelevant at higher levels.

Artistic Studies: You have spent considerable effort learning the rules of art and social interaction, thus overcoming your lack of natural presence. You may add your Intelligence modifier (rather than your Charisma modifier) to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Perform checks.

Caustic Magic: You can imbue your acid magic with the terrifying power of caustic vapors. When you deal acid damage to a foe with a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, as a swift action you may also force that foe to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 level + Int modifier) or be considered flanked by you for 1 round. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Dedicated Familiar (Ex):' You may use your character level, not your class level, to determine the base statistics and special abilities of your familiar. Additionally, you may treat your character level as your spellcasting class level for the purposes of qualifying for the Improved Familiar feat.

You must have a familiar in order to select this discovery.

Deep Bond: Familiar: Your arcane bond with your familiar is much stronger and deeper than that of most wizards. Because of this bond, when you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 standard action or less, you may choose to cast it as a full-round action, and have the spell originate at your familiar’s location (as if you were standing where your familiar is), rather than your own. You must have line of sight on your familiar, and you may only use this option a number of times per day equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier.

Because your bond to your familiar is so strong, Should the familiar die, you may not summon another familiar for 30 days or until you gain a wizard level, whichever comes first. During this 30‑day period, you take a -1 penalty to your caster level.

You must have a familiar.

Deep Bond: Object: Your arcane bond to an object is stronger and deeper than that of most wizards. Increase the number of times per day you can cast a spell in your spellbook, even if the spell is not prepared, from once to twice per day. The spell is still treated like any other spell cast by you, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on your level. This spell cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities. The bonded object cannot be used to cast spells from your opposition school.

Because your bond to this object is so strong, if you attempt to cast a spell without the bonded object worn or in hand, in addition to having to make a concentration check or lose the spell, your caster level is reduced by two.

You must have an arcane bonded item.

Efficient Spellcasting: You can complete long casting times faster than most wizards. You can cast a spell with a casting time of 1 round (such as the summon monster line of spells) with a standard action and a swift action.

Expedited Spellcasting: You can cast spells requiring lengthy preparations in less time. You can cast spells with a casting time greater than 1 round in half the normal time.

Fierce Caster: You can channel more power into some of your offensive spells, at the cost of reduced accuracy. At the beginning of your round, you may take a -1 penalty on all attack rolls you make with spells and spell-like abilities to gain a +3 bonus to hp damage with spells and spell-like abilities that require attack rolls. These penalties last until the beginning of your next turn. Only spells that deal hp damage gain this bonus. When your caster level reaches 4 (and every 4 caster levels afterward) the penalty increases by -1, and the bonus by +3.

Flame Magic: You can imbue your fire magic with the power of raging wildfires. When you deal fire damage to a foe with a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, as a swift action you may also force that foe to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 level + Int modifier) or catch on fire. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Forceful Counterspell (Su):' Whenever you successfully counter an opponent’s spell, that opponent receives an amount of nonlethal damage equal to the spell level of the spell countered.

Genie Servitor: See New Arcane Discoveries from Rogue Genius Games

Ice Magic: You can imbue your cold magic with the power of the bone-chilling north. When you deal cold damage to a foe with a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, as a swift action you may also force that foe to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 level + Int modifier) or have all their movement rates halved for 1 round. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Illimitable Power (Ex):' Select one arcane school power that you gained at 1st level that is normally usable a number of times per day equal to 3 plus your Intelligence modifier. You may use that ability a number of times per day equal to your class level (if greater than 3) plus your Intelligence modifier instead.

Improved Blast: You have strengthened one of your spell-like abilities. Select one spell‑like touch attack ability you gained from the wizard class, that deals 1d6 damage +1 damage per 2 levels with a range of 30 feet and which you can use a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Int modifier. Add +1d6 to the damage dealt by this ability, and +30 feet to its range. This arcane discovery can be taken more than once. Its effects stack.

Ioun Bond (Ex):' You can affix ioun stones to your bonded object, rather than setting them into orbit around your head. An ioun stone so affixed cannot be attacked or stolen separately. Each ioun stone affixed to your bonded object adds 2 temporary hit points to that object, and confers the usual benefits of the stone to both you and your bonded object, as long as those benefits could affect an object.

You must have a bonded object in order to select this discovery.

Life Lessons: You have discovered the secrets of magic can be found in every part of life. When you gain a new level of wizard, you gain 2 additional spells known (in addition to the 2 spells known learned by all wizards at each level). These additional spells known cannot be of the highest level of spell you can cast, and cannot be from your opposition school (if any).

Lingering Arcana: You can put the force magic you invoke to multiple uses. When you cast a [force] spell of 1st level or higher, as a swift action you may also gain the benefits of mage armor or shield (your choice) for 1 round.

Lingering Divination: You can put the divination magic you create to multiple uses. When you cast a divination spell of 1st level or higher, as a swift action you may also gain the benefits of detect magic for 3 rounds. It takes no time to use this effect to study an area or subject, but the rounds of study gained with this ability do not stack with rounds of study through an actual casting of the detect magic spell.

Lingering Flames: You can imbue some of the fire you summon with spells with a brief semblance of life. Whenever you cast a [fire] spell of 2nd level or higher, as a swift action you may also summon a fire elemental. This acts as a fire elemental summoned with a summon monster spell of the same level or lower as the [fire] spell that triggered this ability, but the elemental remains for only one round.

A GM may choose to allow similar arcane discoveries that work off acid or earth spells (earth elementals), cold spells (ice elementals), or lighting and air spells (air elementals).

Lingering Mirage: You can put the illusion magic you create to multiple uses. When you cast a (glamer) spell of 1st level or higher, as a swift action you may also gain the benefits of blur for 1 round.

Lingering Necromancy: You can put the necromantic magic you create to multiple uses. When you cast a necromancy spell of 1st level or higher, on your next turn if you deal hp damage to one or more targets with a spell or spell-like ability, you may heal yourself for 1 hit point per die of damage dealt by your spell. (You gain the same amount of healing regardless of how many targets you harm with your spell.)

Master of Magic Lore: You are an expert in all matters arcane. You add half your wizard level to all Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft checks.

Obfuscation (Ex):' You can cast arcane spells in such a way that they become difficult to identify. Add half your class level to the DCs of Spellcraft skill checks made to identify arcane spells that you cast.

Opening Words:' You know thousands of passwords and phrases of power for loosening secure portals and springing locks. You can use Knowledge (arcana) instead of Disable Device to open locks; doing so is a full-round action and you do not need a set of thieves’ tools to make the attempt. You must be able to speak loudly to open locks in this manner, and you cannot do so within areas that stifle sound, such as within the area of a silence spell.

Primal Magic: You have learned some of the raw, primitive magic of the shamans and tribal wise ones. Select a magic item body slot from the following list: body, chest, feet, hands, shoulders, wrists. When you prepare your spells for the day, you may select one spell of a level no higher than half the highest level spell you can cast, and mark your body with sigils for that spell in special oils and/or paints. As long as you do not have a magic item in that slot, you may cast the selected spell once per day without it counting against your total spells/day. You must meet all the spells requirements to cast it. If you wear a magic item in the slot at any time after preparing spells, you lose the ability to cast the spell until the next time you prepare spells.

You may select this arcane discovery more than once. Each time it applies to a different magic item slot.

Probing Magic: When you control a foe’s mind, you also gain a glimpse into it. When a foe fails a saving throw against a mind-affecting spell you cast, as a swift action you may probe into the target’s mind. This gives you information as if you had cast detect thoughts on the target and concentrated for 1 round. If the same target fails multiple saving throws against your mind-affecting spells in the same 24-hour period, each subsequent failed save after the first gives you information as if you had concentrated on the target with detect thoughts for a number of consecutive rounds equal to the number of times the target has failed its save.

Read Magic (Sp):' Your familiarity with the read magic spell is such that you can cast read magic as a spell-like ability usable at will.

Reservoir Familiar (Ex):' When you prepare spells, you may choose to commit the memorization of one of your spells to your familiar. As a swift action, you may touch your familiar to recall the spell you committed to its mind, instantly gaining access to the stored spell as though it had been prepared within your own mind all along. Your familiar gains no ability to cast any spell committed to it.

You must have a familiar in order to select this discovery.

Scholar’s Shorthand (Ex):' When you scribe a new spell into your spellbook, that spell takes up one page less than it otherwise would (minimum 1 page per spell). Furthermore, the writing costs of spells that you record into your spellbook are reduced by 25%.

Shock Magic: You can imbue your electricity magic with the power of jolting sparks. When you deal electricity damage to a foe with a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, as a swift action you may also force that foe to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 level + Int modifier) or suffer a -2 penalty to all attack rolls and Dexterity-based ability checks and skill checks for 1 round. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Sovereign Arcana: Select a number of spells equal to your Int bonus you have mastered with Spell Mastery. These are your sovereign spells. You may sacrifice a different prepared spell of the same level or higher to cast a sovereign spell. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

You must have Spell Mastery.

Spell Cunning: You can use different spellcasting techniques when circumstances require it. As a swift action, you can change what components you fulfill to cast a spell. For example, when casting spell with only verbal components, you may choose to instead cast it using only somatic components. You may do this a number of times per day equal to half your caster level.

The total number of components a spell requires are not changed by using this ability, only which components you must meet in order to cast it. Thus you can ignore the verbal, somatic or material component of a spell by adding another such component. You cannot replace a material spell component that has a gp cost. You can replace a spell focus, but only with a material component that has a cost equal to 1/50th the gp cost of the focus.

For example, Eliana is a wizard with Spell Cunning and the magic missile spell prepared, but she finds herself in the area of a silence spell. Since she cannot complete the verbal component of magic missile, and it already has a somatic component, so as a swift action she uses Spell Cunning to change the spell so she needs to complete a material component instead of a verbal one. Since she has her spell component pouch, she can cast the spell with somatic and material components even though she is silenced.

In most campaigns a material component added as a requirement through Spell Cunning can be assumed to be something the wizard has in a material component pouch. However, in some campaigns a GM may wish to require a wizard with Spell Cunning to define a material component for each spell they have that normally does not require one, so the character can add material components while using this discovery. In this case such material components should never have a gp cost, and should be thematically related to the spell in question—for example, magic missile might require an arrowhead as a material component.

Spell Thesis (Ex):' Your studies have unlocked the secrets of one arcane spell. When you gain this discovery, choose one spell that you can cast. You automatically identify your thesis spell whenever it is cast. Furthermore, you gain a +2 bonus on concentration checks and caster level checks made with respect to or in conjunction with that spell. Finally, as long as you have your thesis spell prepared, you gain a +2 insight bonus on Spellcraft skill checks made to identify spells belonging to the same school of magic.

Spellbane: You know how magic spells work... and how to disrupt them. When you deal hit point damage to a target with a spell or spell-like ability, as a swift action you may choose to use the damage to disrupt that target. The damage dealt by the spell counts as “continuous damage” for that target’s spellcasting and concentration checks. This effect lasts until the beginning of your next turn. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Int modifier.

Theurge: You are realizing that, at its root, all magic is the same. Select a spell from a class list other than your own that is at least 2 levels lower than the highest-level spell you can cast. You learn this spell, and it is added to your class list as a spell 2 levels higher than its normal level.

You may take this arcane discovery more than once. It’s effects do not stack. Each time you select it, you choose a different spell from another class list.

You must have 15+ Intelligence.

Thunder Magic: You can imbue your sonic magic with the power of thunder. When you deal sonic damage to a foe with a spell, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability, as a swift action you may also force that foe to make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 level + Int modifier) or be deafened for 1 round. You may use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Voice of Reason (Ex):' Diplomacy is always a class skill for you, and you may apply your Intelligence modifier on Diplomacy skill checks.

Weather Mage:' You’ve learned to listen to the wild to discover future weather patterns. By spending 1 minute in quiet contemplation, you forecast the weather for the next 48 hours within a 6-mile radius of your location with perfect accuracy, providing you advance warning of storms, tornadoes, and so on. This ability only reveals weather that would arise naturally, and cannot predict magical alterations to the weather.

Wizard Tricks (Ex):' You may add the prestidigitation and ventriloquism spells to your spellbook at no cost, and the durations of those spells become “1 hour per level.”

Wizard’s Whispers (Ex):' You may add the comprehend languages and message spells to your spellbook at no cost, and the durations of those spells become “1 hour per level.”

Wrest Summons (Su):' You can attempt to wrest the control of a summoned monster from its controller as a full round action, as long as you have a summon monster spell prepared of sufficient level to summon that monster. The creature to be affected must be within 30 feet of you, and it must be able to see and hear you clearly (though it need not understand you). If you succeed on an opposed Charisma check against the summoned creature, it serves you for 1 minute, or for the remainder of the duration of the effect that summoned it.

5th Level:

Artificial Conduit (Su):' You can drain the magic properties from a magic item that you wear or wield and that has a cost of at least 500 gp as a free action in order to power a staff or wand for 1 round. If you do, you may activate a staff or wand as though you had expended 1 charge in the usual way. Items so depleted remain inert for 1 week. Cursed items may not be affected by this discovery.

Bottle Skill:' You are able to distill your experiences and training into an elixir that others can imbibe. It takes 1 hour to brew a dose of bottled skill, and once brewed, it remains potent until used. You can only maintain one dose of bottled skill at a time—if you brew a second dose, any existing bottled skill becomes inert.

When you brew a bottled skill, you select one Knowledge skill that you’re trained in. Upon being imbibed, the bottled skill causes the drinker to gain experience in the selected Knowledge skill equivocal to your own, allowing the drinker to use your ranks in the chosen Knowledge skill instead of their own, and the skill counts as a class skill for them. Since the drinker uses your ranks, they count as being trained in the skill if they aren’t already. If the drinker’s ranks in the selected Knowledge skill are equal to or greater than your own, they instead gain a +5 competence bonus on checks made with the skill. These effects last for 10 minutes per wizard level you possess.

You must have the Brew Potion feat.

Brother of Monsters:' Monstrous humanoids produce wizards who learn through ritual, oral traditions, and superstition. They work primitive magics, but ones no less potent than other wizards. Spells you cast that designate a humanoid creature as their target may now affect magical beasts and monstrous humanoids. (Example: a charm person spell would work on a griffon, despite it not being a humanoid creature).

You must be a monstrous humanoid, humanoid (goblinoid), or humanoid (orc).

Endow Wand (Su):' Once per day, you may spend 10 minutes endowing a wand with a temporary charge. If you do not spend the temporary charge before 24 hours have passed, the charge dissipates and is wasted.

Mind Over Matter (Ex):' You gain Diehard as a bonus feat, and you die when your negative hit point total is equal to or greater than your Intelligence score, not your Constitution score.

Power Staff (Su):' Any magical staff that you wield gains a +1 enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls.

Stately Spellcraft (Ex):' You are practiced at a courtly form of ritualized spellcasting. You may choose to cast any arcane spell with a casting time of 1 standard action or less as though the casting time were 1 round instead. If you do, you may treat your caster level as though it were two levels higher for the purposes of determining the duration and range of the spell (but not for any other purpose).

Subtle Illusions:' You are adept at disguising reality, and your illusions can fool magical detection. If a divination that would detect a magical aura, such as detect magic or arcane sight, is directed against one of your illusion effects, the caster must succeed on a caster level check, (DC 10 + your caster level) or fail to detect the presence of your illusion spell. This ability has no effect on other forms of divination, such as see invisibility.

Trace Bond (Sp):' You can use locate creature or locate object as a spell-like ability at will, but only to locate your bonded object or your familiar.

You must have either a bonded object or a familiar in order to select this discovery.

6th Level:

Energy Discharge:' Take what you have given! Once per day as a swift action you can discharge a reddish-purple ray composed of energy you have reduced using your energy absorption class feature. This requires a successful ranged touch attack that deals damage equal to the amount you have absorbed (max 3 x your wizard class level). This damage is raw arcane energy damage and therefore is not subject to immunity or resistance but is subject to spell resistance. You use your wizard class level as your caster level. The range on an energy discharge ray is 100 ft. + 10 ft./wizard level.

You must have an arcane school and the energy absorption class feature in order to select this discovery.

7th Level:

Ghostly Advisor:' You have raised and bonded with a spirit of a long-dead sage whose wisdom you can solicit. This counts as a constant unseen servant spell-like ability, except the servant counts as an outsider with the phantom subtype for all effects. If the servant is dissipated, it reforms the next time you prepare your spells. Once per day, the spirit’s presence allows you to roll twice on one Knowledge check and use the better result.

You must have chosen necromancy as your arcane school.

9th Level:

Dual Slot (Ex):' Each day, you may prepare two spells belonging to the same school in a single spell slot. When you cast either spell, the other leaves your memory as though you had cast it. If either spell should become unavailable to you by any other means (such as by being stripped from your memory as the result of your being subject to an energy drain effect), the second spell does as well. These two spells may be of any spell level that you can cast.

Imperious Familiar (Ex):' Your familiar gains the ability to use dominate animal as a spell-like ability three times per day. This ability may only target other animals of its kind. The caster level for this ability is equal to your wizard caster level.

You must have a familiar in order to select this discovery, and your familiar must have the speak with animals of its kind special ability.

Living Spellbook (Su):' Your spellbook becomes an intelligent magic item with a caster level, and Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, and Ego scores equal to your class level. Its alignment matches your own, and it gains the empathy, telepathy, read languages, and read magic special abilities.

Mysterious Patron:' You have contacted a mysterious and powerful entity that is willing to lend you unusual knowledge. Choose one of patrons available to the witch class (Advanced Player’s Guide). When you use your bonded object to cast a spell, you can cast spells from that patron’s spell list as if they were spells in your spellbook.

You must have chosen a bonded object as your arcane bond.

Symbol Mastery (Ex):' Your symbol spells are more difficult to bypass, destroy, or remove. Any creature attempting to remove one of your symbol spells with an erase spell must succeed on a DC 25 caster level check in order to do so. Additionally, the DCs of Disable Device, Perception, and Spellcraft skill checks to locate, identify or thwart your symbol spells are increased by +2.

Temporal Steward:' Whenever a creature attempts to cast a spell with the Temporal descriptor within 30 ft. of you, you may attempt to block the effect. Make an opposed caster level check (1d20 + caster level) as an immediate action. If the check succeeds, the spell or effect fails and is wasted; otherwise, it is unaffected. You can use this ability once per day plus one additional time for every 5 wizard levels you possess beyond 10th. You may also spend a use of this ability to negate the effects of a time storm (Midgard Campaign Setting, page 161) or a temporal rift (Journeys to the West, page 21) for all creatures within 30 ft. of you without making a caster level check. This negation lasts as long as you are in the area of that particular event. The negation of other similar effects is possible, and left to the discretion of your GM.

Wand Transfer (Su):' You can transfer charges from one wand to another wand with an equal or lesser caster level, and containing a spell of an equal or lesser spell level. Each such transfer requires one minute of uninterrupted concentration per charge transferred.

Wizened (Ex):' You gain a +2 bonus to your Wisdom score.

10th Level:

Ars Arbitrium:' You have studied the forbidden art of choice magic which mucks with the very fabric of one’s ability to choose. A wizard who studied this, referred to as a “fulcrumite”, is ostracized by many for their breaking of fundamental magical laws. When an enemy casts a spell that offers them a choice, you can expend a prepared spell slot of equal or higher level and make an opposed caster level check as an immediate action. If successful, you may change one choice that the caster of the spell made. This is most commonly a decision who they target with the spell. You must abide by all restrictions the caster was under (for example: if a spell only works on an enemy, you can only cast it on something the caster considered an enemy) and you must recognize the spell being cast and know that it has a choice. If you fail the opposed caster level check the spell slot you sacrificed is still consumed. A creature who has been the subject of this arcane discovery gains a stacking +4 bonus on opposed caster level checks against subsequent applications for 24 hours.

Note: Remember, using Spellcraft to identify a spell can be done as a free action as the spell is being cast.

You must of a Chaotic alignment.

Metamage:' Through careful study of magic theory, you have learn how to influence the spells of others with metamagic. You can apply a single metamagic feat you know to a spell being cast as an immediate action by spontaneously expending a spell slot of a level equal to the level increase of the metamagic feat. This does not affect the spell’s effective level. If the caster of the targeted spell is unwilling to take the effect, you must make a caster level check (DC 11 + the spell’s caster level) or have the metamagic effect fail, though the spell slot used is still expended.

Applying the Elemental Spell metamagic to an ally’s fireball would require you to expend a 1st level spell slot to change its damage type to cold (if your Elemental Spell was taken with cold).

You cannot grant a spell the Heighten Spell, Quicken Spell, or Thought Beacon Spell metamagic benefit. The GM may rule that other specific metamagic feats cannot be granted using this arcane discovery.

Ritual of Recharge:' Through a forgotten arcane ritual you can recharge a wand. You can perform a 10 minute ritual over a wand to restore a bit of its expended power. During this ritual you can expend a spell slot to recharge a use of a wand. They must expend a spell of 2 levels higher than the spell in the wand. This has no effect on other spell completion items, just wands, or on wand that has no remaining uses. During this 10 minute ritual they may expend as many spells as they wish to recharge the appropriate number of charges. This ritual cannot be used to recharge uses of a wand that have a casting time longer than 10 minutes.

Draconic Influence:' You have always considered dragons the true masters of the arcane arts, and you have devoted some of your research to mimicking their terrifying breath weapons. When you cast an evocation spell with an instantaneous duration that affects an area, you can change its area of effect to a 60-foot line or 30-foot cone, emanating from your mouth. You can use this ability once per day plus one additional time for every 5 wizard levels you possess beyond 10th.

Familiar Messenger:' You are able to project your consciousness into your familiar, allowing it to speak for you. You gain the following spell-like ability: 3/day—familiar melding, share senses. While possessing your familiar with familiar melding, you can speak through your familiar even if it would not normally be capable of intelligible speech. You can cast these spell like abilities for every 5 wizard levels you possess beyond 10th.

You must have a familiar.

Quicken Protective Ward:' Being useful is a matter of timing. You can activate your protective ward as an immediate action (that does not provoke an attack of opportunity) three times per day (this consumes a use of the protective ward class feature).

You must have an arcane school and the protective ward class feature in order to select this discovery.

11th Level:

Animator (Ex):' Add animate objects to your wizard spell list as a 6th-level spell. Whenever you use that spell to grant a semblance of life to one or more objects, each animated object gains 1 additional Construction Point.

Insightful Preparation (Su):' Whenever you prepare arcane spells, you may choose to gain one of the following benefits, as long as you have at least one spell of the highest spell level that you can cast prepared from the school of magic specified below. Each time that you prepare arcane spells, you may choose a different benefit.

• Abjuration: You gain DR 1/magic.
• Conjuration: You gain a +4 armor bonus.
• Divination: You gain a +4 bonus on Perception skill checks.
• Enchantment: You gain a +2 resistance bonus on Will saving throws.
• Evocation: You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks.
• Illusion: You gain a +2 bonus on Bluff and Intimidate skill checks.
• Necromancy: You gain 2d4 temporary hit points.
• Transmutation: Your natural armor bonus is increased by +2.
• Universal: You gain a +4 bonus on Spellcraft skill checks.

Spell Battery (Su):' You may use a magical staff or wand that you wield to power your spells. You can recall any spell of up to 1st level (when you drain a wand) or 5th level (when you drain a staff) that you had prepared and cast on the same day. Doing so drains the object of a number of charges equal to twice the level of the spell that you recall, and causes the item to gain the broken condition. A broken staff or wand is destroyed instead. If the object does not hold the required number of charges, your spell is not recalled.

15th Level:

Universal Language:' You have decoded the basic building blocks of language, allowing you to make yourself understood. You gain the truespeech universal monster ability.

20th Level:

Arcane Signet (Ex):' Your arcane mark spell conveys a symbol of testament to your vast arcane powers. As long as you display your arcane mark on your person, or on some object in your possession, you gain a bonus on Diplomacy and Intimidate skill checks equal to half your class level when dealing with arcane spellcasters who recognize your arcane mark. Generally, any arcane spellcaster with at least 1 rank in either the Knowledge (arcana) or Spellcraft skills recognizes the significance of your arcane mark.

None Dare Speak His Name (Su):' You gain a strange, supernatural awareness that alerts you whenever your name is willingly spoken by a creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher, as long as that creature exists on the same plane of existence that you do. You learn the distance to and direction of the speaker, but no other details. You may activate or suppress this ability as a free action once per round.

Permanent Magic (Ex):' You can use the permanency spell to greater effect. When you cast permanency to render permanent the duration of a spell with a range of “personal” that you cast, you may ignore up to 10,000 gp worth of the required material components.

Sense Artifacts (Su):' You gain a powerful supernatural sense that alerts you to the presence of artifacts. You can focus your senses as a standard action to learn the direction of (but not the distance to) the nearest artifact on your plane of existence within 100 miles, if any artifact exists within that range. Using this discovery is an intensely overwhelming experience, and causes you to become stunned for 1 round (no save) whenever you activate it. If the nearest artifact is within a mile of your location when you activate this sense, you take 2d10 points of nonlethal damage in addition to becoming stunned.

Undying: You have performed rituals that blend the power of wish, contingency, and permanency. If you are killed, your body (or anything that remains of it) is teleported to a safe location of your choosing (treat this as a greater teleport), and you are brought back to life as if true resurrection had been cast on you. Each time this ability is used, you must renew it with a ritual that takes 1 hour and costs 25,000 gp.

Once a day when you prepare your spells, you may set a delay on this ability, so it only functions if you remain dead for a predesignated period of time (such as only if you remain dead for 1 minute, or only if you remain dead for 8 hours). You may also change the location you are teleported to once a day when you prepare your spells.

Source Arcane Discoveries from Everyman Games

Source Class Acts: 32 Arcane Discoveries from Abandoned Arts

Source Alternate Paths: Magical Characters II from Little Goblin Games

Source 101 Arcane Discoveries from Rite Publishing

Source Deep Magic from Kobold Press

Source New Arcane Discoveries from Rogue Genius Games

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