Azure Mage (5e Class)
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This page is incomplete and/or lacking flavor. Reason: Almost no class page is in a finished state when it is first posted. For guidance, see the 5e Class Design Guide.
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Azure Mage[edit]
In the treacherous expanse of the Underdark, an Azure Mage, clad in a vibrant azure robe, faced a formidable beholder, its many eyes glowing with malicious intent. A group of over 20 adventurers had began for the beholder's lair and now just 1 stood with the rest either lying dead or petrified. The mage prepared to turn the tide of what seemed an inevitable defeat and in the beholder's surprise the Azure Mage's eye emmited a petrifying gaze just like his own and like that the adventurer gained the upper hand and vanquished the foe. A few minutes later the beholder's eyes were seperated from its corpse and nowhere to be seen.
- Origin story
A young man had aspired to become a good adventurer and had admired magic since birth. He had spent years reading about adventuring parties and their accomplsiment along with magic and the weird properties it has on the world. The issue was that he did not have the apptitude to will the weave and abhorring the style of fighters and being "wise" he set out on a mission, a mission of attaining magic or die trying. His first options was to become a warlock but he being chained to another being and lending power was not his calling and then was the time he turned to books of questionable reality for his problem. Books with stories about peculiar magic and phenomena. Sure, inside the stories most references were folly but an inquisitive person could learn to spot the patterns of what constituted a grain of truth. Amidst the stories he read about a cave system that harbored minerals with weird properties and weird fauna alike. Skimming through text he discovered that these supposed caverns should be the closest location from those he had found yet. He gathered info from every similar reference and as a not-so-wise young man he departed for his journey with all the resources he could buy, harvesting food and water along with hunting in the wild. He did not seem to believe that others might have also found out about the place he was heading to.
The young man remembered all the details of the different adventuring groups who wrote about this place and after passing through waterfalls, climbing vines, following different animals around and sneakily entering a tunnel system inside a jungle he was in. At the end of the first day in the caves there were already hints of cystals with blue hues on the wall. The man was extremely cautious as to not get ambushed by any large animals but far as he could see there existed only small animals which had obviously been affected by the crystals as a lot had an azure hue on their skin/hide. Now what remained was ascertaining the claims about the properties of the rock and studying it for ways it could help him. He delved deeper.
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It is said that here the man made a relization, a realization about the potential use of the crystals for aid with magic. The reality is that the realization had been made by an intellect other than his. Walking down the caverns the earth's floor itself trembled. No mere beast, but a greatwyrm of shimmering sapphire scales emerged, intellect searing forth from its ancient eyes. It seemed not angered, but intrigued by the young man and inquired him about his situation, having appeared before it when so many great men would not. Perhaps the man had been able to find the truth about the existence of this place but could not place his finger on why not more acounts were said. Either because some adventurers forgot most about this place, others died and the rest dared not to come into its domain.
There our hero told his story and the Azure Greatwyrm listened, it talked about a potential way of etching foreign magic on your person with the help of the crystals. After decades some of the toads in the cave had started assimilating some of the beasts aspects and so perhaps it would be possible for him to do something similar(note that the greatwyrm had limited the toads as a way to hide its effects). However for a man to achieve this instead of the continuous evolution of a species it would take a special constitution along with an indomitable will along with a trial by fire in order to come as close to the weave as a magic-less human could. After all according to the beast the frogs should ordinarilly be extremely poisonous along with carrying some of the crystal's aspects in them.
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The man had to be struck by the toads peculiar poison and consumed it afterwards, the wyrm told him he would probably not survive but try he did and survived. After a few years inside the caverns the man had also absorbed numerous other abilties with the greatyrm's tutorage. This was more than mere mimicry, the dragon explained but assimilation. Each creature, even the simplest possesed a sliver of 'essence'. This essence, when absorbed with the help of the crystal with its peculiar properties could grant something to the host. This, the greatwyrm named the heart of 'Azure Magic', named after the caverns that cradled its birth.
Ofcourse such a dangerous ability does not come without its downsides and few are those with strong enough constitution to assimilate the azure crystal's power inside their bodies and be able to use the weave through consuming more creatures. As the drake infromed the man there is only a certain ammount of essence he can abrorb, overdoing it will lead to death or perhaps something worse, there is a delicate balance an Azure mage must retain.
In the following years the man honed his skills and discovered more about this power. He looked around the world for disciples and couldn't even find a handful he thought would survive the 'initiation'. Their numbers were few and the survival rate was an order of magnitude lower than common adventurers due to the nature of Azure magic. The man also considered the choice of wise apprentices as vital due to the extremely dangrous nataure of their magic, after all he had suspected of the fate worse than death which the greatwyrm talked about and wouldn't risk it with a less than ideal candidate. After all the heart of Azure Magic was balance. He taught his apprentices not to devour essence at random, but to seek harmony from within and without. One could absorb a monster's strength, but only if tempered with a resolute heart to avoid succumbing to the beast within. It was a practice only the wisest and strongest could master. Those who failed, so the rumors whispered, became monsters themselves, forever lost to the hunger of essence.
- Azure Dogma
Throughout the years the Azure Dogma grew in numbers but barely in the hundreds remaining quite esoteric. From the founder's days picking disciples was considered to be the biggest hurdle of an Azure Mage after his initiation and absorbing the first abilities and now the selection was stricter since there had been some who tried to absorb more than their vessel could handle in order to amass power faster. The luckier ones lost part of their lifespan, the worse could lose control to the monster's essences. As for those with hidden agendas who tried to attain immortality through absorbing undead their fate was arguably worse, condemned to become liches with their minds being in a constant struggle for dominance over their now undead vessel. Needless to say that an Azure Mage would usually find one disciple who can become a full-fledged azure mage with not being able to find one being understandable and finding 2 being exceedingly rare. Another reason for the numbers is the leading belief of theirs, 'trial by fire'. In the Azure Dogma it is believed that in order to attain true wisdom you need experience, nothing else will suffice. The dogma decided to stay realtively hidden known to only the few who fought alongside them in action, the people who were looking to hire specific adventurers for special tasks and powerful beings. So while it was not a secret per se and a some rumours floating around the abrurdity of the Azure Magic's heart was not believed by the masses and without concrete proof and the easy explanation of most phenomena by magic the dogma was only known to certain circles.
As you can understand from the nature of their powers and their unique relationship with monsters and magic casters Azure Mages do not travel in unison. It is normal the for their members and especially new ones to not know anyone apart from their 'teacher' presenting the problem of idnetifying another member in the wild. While in the end they will always end up testing the other through their unique abilities which cannot be replicated the Azure Dogma utilises another way to check if one is a genuine Azure Mage supposedly inspired from their founder who used to play a game called 'Ko Shogi'. So while travelling in case of meeting another Azure Mage you are requested to subtly show the blue piece with the symbol of a lotus wheel used in the afformetioned game. The piece has the ability to turn into almost every other piece but is unable to move in the turn it changes symbolising the versatility, tranquilitty and wisdom the practitioners should strive for.
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The Azure Order has members from every conrer of the forgotten realms or perhaps even further and not much homogeinity exists so while we call it an order it really is no more than a connected loose cradle with the so called Azure Mages as nodes, a joint school of thought which coincides to an appropriate school of magic. Yet there are some staple traditions. First there are the 2 archetypes available to an Azure Mage, the 'Savant' who along with magical creature abilities specializes in spell absorption and the 'Magus Universalis' who specializes in magical creature abilities along with martial abilties(//2do, intended to have another stat allocation-focus, one weapon of their choice proficiency, half or less than half of fighter attack actions and able to use absorbed abilities and have 4xability slot in table so max 16)
The second staple is that of the Azure Index. Due to the nature of the Azure Dogma its practicioners naturally place tremendous value on the knowledge of different creatures and their abilities. Some have an ideal goal in mind, a combination they wish to reach while others want as much information as possible in order to have the upper hand and the more daring want a relative challenge. An Index, a book with an Azure hue in the cover is given to disciples by the one who initiated them. There they are instructed to write down inforamtion about monsters they fought and to look up info on the monsters of the surrounding area in case they want to aquire an ability or be better prepared adding note pages on the index. No Azure Mage will willingly divulge information on what they consider to be a worthy opponent with the sole exception of the teachers adding one significant monster on their disciple's index which after they consume they might be considered true Azure Mages. Perhaps if a figure of power in a city has heard rumours about an Azure Mage having taken down or specialized in a certain monster archetype they will ask for information or help provided it helps the city get rid of one(for a price).
All in all the majority of Azure Mages are very proud and remain secretive knowing firt hand the dangers their power brings.
- Azure Magic mechanics(for those who want extra detail)
From a meta perspective we know that when a being tries to utilise a magical effect no matter its nature it pulls arcane energy from the weave in order to do so. So now let us consider how the Azure Mage magic system works. First in order to be able to absorb and utilize another creatures essences we need the character to have gone through a sort of 'initiation' thereby(required they have a certain constitution to survive) gaining some abilities and later insight. Essences are essentially a corollary of the effects of the weave. Assuming that the azure crystal has magical properties on your setting you can flavour it however you like(in my DM's world they are essentially anti-magic stones with some other implications but this is personal).
Whenever a spell is cast one who is able to pull on the weave utilizes it and its essence combined with the weave's powers create the spell. So our Azure Mages now having an instinctual sense(veery much like our other senses) of magic can absorb a part of the creature's essence around their own(probably around their soul incorporated in their vessel) but extinguished since the weave returns back to its source.
You can think of a creature who is able to utilise the weave for magic as a client with the weave being the server. Essentially this server handles all the requests(magic) and every client(everyone able to cast magic) has a unique identity and the trace you leave behind are the results in the world we play in in the form of essence(kind of like a footprint which can be used to determine your unique identity/IP). I suspect that the maker of the weave did not anticipate cloning in this way and thus did not have a protocol implemented in order to limit queries(magic spells/magical abilities).
Of course, simply retaining the essence inside you is not enough since you will at best be able to use a spell once. Instead of a network of server/clients we have one with weave/creatures. In order to engrave the essence inside your vessel(body) you need to consume part of the original creature's(client's) body as in to mask your prescence and get by the biometric check(protocol) the weave utilizes. So by retaining the essence when getting hit and absorbing a certain part of the creature's body you are able to send queries of the saved spell/creature and get results from the weave. Sure it might not be elegant like wizards but it's good enough.
As for the space issue. Assuming you were not intended to use the weave the part where you can store/prepare spells where other classes do it was not built into you. So now you did get a storage space from the Azure Crystal but it's a makeshift HDD, so not very good. So essentially the progression is not you gaining more power so being able to pull more from the weave. Instead it is you having made a shitty storage drive but through the experience you accumulated you can slowly store more data into the same space. You have the same storage space in lvl 1 and level 20 but slowly you can compress the essences in such an efficient way where you can save much more. The mana points are of similar nature provided mana is supposedly all around the world and in time you compress it better through interaction with the weave and experience.
Similarly for efficiency reasons similar queries use similar message patterns. A healing spell A will use a similar pattern as a healing spell B and because of your unique constitution you are able to grasp the type. Some can be mixed i.e having a few AoE spells/abilities you can grasp if what you have absorbed is of a nature you have had before.
Passive abilities are of the same nature but instead of waiting for a request we assume that the weave is continually streaming into the client(but we are also disguised as him) and some polling must be done where the weave checks if the passive condition is being executed in a fast rate(also might depend on passive since some are said to occur every X amount of time).
On which spells/abilities can and which cannot be absorbed thorugh essence etc. Spells like web are essentially a 'magical' web aka the weave taking corporeal form and stopping you on your tracks. I assume that this corporeal weave will retain parts of the caster's essence thus allowing a mage struck by it able to retain. Now about spells like silence for example were it to be AoE and not specific towards you while some would say that this might not count making all sounds inaudible i would disagree since you should be able to hear things inside your body(heartbeat etc.) and since it mutes all sounds it must also magically affect your sensory detecting processes. In case where a spell does not influence you but the area outside, around you then I guess you would be unable to retain its essence(I have given you so much info, you should be able to rule it). Spells like counterspell do NOT inflict any results on the weave upon your person(vessel) and instead obstruct the magic you cast instead. Your magic is not directly connected to your vessel despite the command and identity being inside you thus I do not see how you would be able to retain its essence. A spell like power world kill you would be able to absorb but ofcourse now we see the real issue, practicality. The spell should kill a PC 99,9% of the time. So you would have to be over 100hp, get hit and survive because the check from the weave rules you as >100hp. Then comes the second part of practicality with you needing to absorb the caster. For obvious reasons this constitutes the class as "difficult" one would say. Also it is worth noting that for spells of summoning you will not be able to get the token of the query being hit by the summon while you will be able to retain any magic which directly influences you instead of indirectly.
An Azure Mage cannot absorb the essence of another Azure Mage without the other losing it(he would get eaten too...) since they have engraved only one token of an ability on their vessel and they cannot produce others for they are not the original users of that power.
Creating an Azure Mage[edit]
Why would an Azure Mage choose your character as a disciple/initiate? If you cannot think of a good answer then perhaps it is because one doesn't exist. The dangers are lots and the Azure Dogma prides itself on picking wise candiates who will not try to fill their vessel more than it can hold.
- Quick Build
You can make an Azure Mage quickly by following these suggestions. First, Constitution should be your highest ability score, followed by Wisdom.
Azure Mage[edit]
Class Features
As a Azure Mage you gain the following class features.
- Hit Points
Hit Dice: 1d8 per Azure Mage level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Constitution modifier per Azure Mage level after 1st
- Proficiencies
Armor: None
Weapons: Simple weapons
Tools: None
Saving Throws: Constitution, Wisdom
Skills: Choose two from Animal Handling, Arcana, Insight, Nature and Survival
- Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a light crossbow and 20 bolts or (b) any simple weapon
- (a) a scholar's pack or (b) a dungeoneer's pack
- an Azure Index
| Level | Proficiency Bonus |
Features | Ability Slots | Spells Known | Azure Points | Max Spell level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Mimicry, Essence Magic | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1st |
| 2nd | +2 | Forgery, Azure Superiority | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1st |
| 3rd | +2 | — | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2nd |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Improvement | 1 | 4 | 8 | 2nd |
| 5th | +3 | Dominance Hierarchies | 2 | 5 | 12 | 3rd |
| 6th | +3 | Cannibalism, Hunter's Gaze | 2 | 6 | 15 | 3rd |
| 7th | +3 | — | 2 | 7 | 19 | 4th |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Improvement | 2 | 8 | 21 | 4th |
| 9th | +4 | — | 2 | 9 | 24 | 5th |
| 10th | +4 | Gourmet, Jungle warfare | 2 | 10 | 27 | 5th |
| 11th | +4 | — | 2 | 11 | 31 | 6th |
| 12th | +4 | Ability Score Improvement | 2 | 11 | 35 | 6th |
| 13th | +5 | — | 3 | 12 | 39 | 7th |
| 14th | +5 | Absorb | 3 | 12 | 42 | 7th |
| 15th | +5 | — | 3 | 13 | 45 | 8th |
| 16th | +5 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | 13 | 49 | 8th |
| 17th | +6 | — | 3 | 14 | 52 | 9th |
| 18th | +6 | Chimeric concoction | 3 | 14 | 55 | 9th |
| 19th | +6 | Ability Score Improvement | 3 | 15 | 59 | 9th |
| 20th | +6 | Apex Predator | 3 | 15 | 62 | 9th |
Mimicry[edit]
At 1st level, when a monster targets you with a non-weapon ability, you can use your reaction to capture the essence of that ability, retaining it for 1 hour. To permanently acquire this ability, you must use your action to consume the specific part of the monster's body from which the ability originates. Upon consumption, make a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to the monster's Challenge Rating (CR) + 10. Successfully doing so permanently imprints the ability onto your body. If you are targeted by the same ability while you already possess its essence, you gain advantage on your Mimicry roll. You can hold a maximum of one such essence at a time and as many abilities as indicated on the Class Table. Abilities acquired through Mimicry that depend on size are adjusted relatively to yours.
Essence Magic[edit]
When you are targeted with a magical spell you can "absorb" and retain the essence inside you for 1 hour. You can retain as many essences inside you as ability slots. In order to have a chance to learn a magical spell you need to consume the essence inside the caster's body which ordinarilly is inside their heart. You then make a a Con saving throw against a DC=(spell level)x3+5 and on a succesful save you learn the spell and keep its essence inside you for future use. On a failed saving throw you are sick and vomit up the corpse which is ruined.
- Spellcasting Ability.
Absorbing the essence and the biomass of a creature requires constitution and utilizing them requires an instinctual understanding of how those essences communicate with the weave with you as their host. This understanding comes through your vessel thus making yourSpellcasting Modifier Constitution.
You use your spellcasting ability whenever a spell refers to that ability. In addition, you use your spellcasting ability modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a spell it casts and when making an attack roll with one.
Spell save DC = 9 + your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier
Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your Constitution modifier
| Spell Slot | Mana Cost |
|---|---|
| 1st | 1 |
| 2nd | 3 |
| 3rd | 7 |
| 4th | 11 |
| 5th | 15 |
| 6th | 19 |
| 7th | 23 |
| 8th | 27 |
| 9th | 31 |
Ability Score Improvement[edit]
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, 16th and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Forgery[edit]
As a bonus action you can try to rekindle the foreign essence(s) inside you before you have absorbed them via "essence magic". Instead of the usual intuitive feeling which leads to casting the spell since you have not fully absorbed its essence it takes more wits and finetuning. By attempting this you lose the essence and must roll a Wisdom DC against the absorbed creatures level + proficiency bonus or provided they do not have a level against 2*(CR)+ proficiency bonus. On a succesful save you can cast the ability/spell as an action this turn. In case you fail the DC you lose the essence and you are unable to cast the ability/spell.
Azure Superiority[edit]
You have now grasped the basic mechanics of the essence you absorb and retain and along with them your knowledge on mana deepens. Once per day when you finish a short rest, you can recover half your total mana points rounded up.
Dominance Hierarchies[edit]
At the 5th level an Azure Mage has already had their share of experience in the wild with numerous ecosystems and is able to tell that despite what most humanoids and advanced races may think, our societies and politics are not essentially different than the ones relatively primitive animals have. Using an action you can try and size up a person relative to their societal influence by rolling a d20 + Insight against the creatures level * 2. In case you succeed you can grasp in what level of the dominance pyramid they are(Ω, Δ, Β, Α) with the lower levels being peons and with each level having authority over their inferiors. In the setting of a city/town you can spend 1 hour encircling and then briefly exploring the area in order to establish a miniature dominance pyramid in your mind, the check is once again d20 + Insight and the check is determined by the DM. In case of success you can grasp some aspects about the factions which are active in the part you explored along with their position as a faction in the city. From top where the administrative authorities along with large guilds or a main criminal organization would be, to middle where a few small guilds or criminal organizations would be and lastly to the base of the pyramid where tons of little small group are active.
Cannibalism[edit]
After many cycles of absorbing, circulating and reusing essence inside you the barriers between the magic of man and magical creatures fade. Once per long rest when making a DC in order to absorb an essence and permenantely imprint it onto you you can make an additional check with the same DC allowing you to now retain a passive ability of a monster(i.e. goblin's nimble escape, a Galeb duhr's & Gorgon's natural armour etc.). In case where an ability might come along with a physical trait your body changes accordingly(scales, rocky, metalic appearence etc.) In the case of multiple passive abilities in a monster after a succesful DC save roll a dice which gurantees you have an equal probability for each ability. In case you lose this second DC you do not lose the first one as well. You now have twice the ability slots displayed in the table above. Retaining a passive ability takes up a slot until you forego it. Through consuming and merging with different organisms your constitution more resistant to foreign bodies, you now have resistance to poisons, venoms and toxins. Note that one cannot simply consume anything. In the case of an extremely tough hide or when one wants to consume a mineral appropriate preparation and ingenuity should be exercised as to not harm or worse even make the Azure Mage lose the current essences he is trying to etch on himself. Such examples would compose of trying to take a bite out of a gelatinous cube, or take a bite out of a Galeb Duhr's or Gorgon's hide. More elaborate methos should be used. At the DM's discretion, the consumption of a creature(or unwise consumption of a creature) may lead to its own problems such as diseases, physical changes, harm etc.
Hunter's Gaze[edit]
Through numerous encounters with wild beasts and trials by fire, at level 6 you may use your action to make a relevant Wisdom check (Insight)(DC = 12 + target's challenge rating (to a maximum of 30) to attempt to decipher some helpful information about a creature's race (immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities). To do so you must have a clear line of sight to the creature in order to try and corellate previous encounters and ecosystems which might have produced the creature and its features. If you fail you can not attempt this against the same target for the next 24 hours.
Gourmet[edit]
Many say that through near-death situations people learn to appreciate life more. As an azure mage you live for these situations and you find the saying rings true. After dozens of absorptions you have started experimenting with the carcasses of your enemies(monster or not ;>) through differernt ways of cooking, different kitchens, spices etc. By utilising different tools, ingredients and spices you can now make the process of absorbing more pleasant. You now have proficiency in cook's utensils and when you prepare a meal in order to absorb and crystalize an essence you can add +3 to the Constitution saving throws for the sake of Mimicry, Essence Magic and Cannibalism.
Jungle warfare[edit]
Azure Mages thrive on new and interesting ecosystems despite the danger. They lurk looking for interesting monsters, abilities and in order to dechiper the ways of said ecosystem. Through their experiences they have gained insight in new harsh enviroments.
Ambush in the wilderness: At 10th level provided you have seen/pbserved a creature(or group) before you roll initiative against them you can give yourself a bonus to your initiative rolls equal to your Wisdom modifier
Camouflage: Starting at 10th level, you can spend 1 minute creating camouflage for yourself. You utilize different materials from the wild environment you are in and use them creatively in order to conceal yourself. Once you are camouflaged in this way, you can try to hide by pressing yourself up against a solid surface, such as a tree or wall, that is at least as tall and wide as you are. You gain a bonus to your stealth check roll equal to your Wisdom(survivial) modifier as long as you remain there without moving or taking actions. Once you move or take an action or a reaction, you must camouflage yourself again to gain this benefit.
Chimeric concoction[edit]
At the 18th level your compression of essences and the level of control you have over them has become so supreme that you are able to fit even more information even more gracefully, you can now retain extra essences equal to your proficiency bonus. You are now also able to gain only one creatures Legendary Actions(but not lair actions) when trying to absorb its passive abilities. Also when casting/releasing a monster ability an afterimage of the original's form can be seen opaquely behind you by the enemy. You are also able to retain absorbed but not yet engraved essences indefinitely instead of one hour.
Apex Predator[edit]
At level 20 you have become so adept in absorbing a monster's essence and assuming it's form(either in a passive way or due to the afterimages some see) and abilities that you can by using an action assume its complete form along with whatever abilities it has(the stat block). You can do this for any monster's essence you have absorbed and currently retain inside your vessel. While in the creatures form you can cast spells and abilities as long as you satisfy the requirements(V,S,M) and your intelligence along with your wisdom remains to their original level unless they were to be higher. If you are reduced to 0 hit points in such a creature's form you permanently lose its essence alongside with any of its abilities(passive or not).
Multiclassing[edit]
You cannot multiclass
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