Mage, Mana Variant (5e Class)

The Mage

A young man fires a blast of searing energy at a horde of goblins, setting one of them on fire as the others charge him. He fights them one by one, parrying, healing, and making use of his elemental abilities until none stand in his way.

A tall tiefling inspects a dagger that glows faintly to her. She studies its aura, eventually determining its powers and properties from the harmonics she sees in its arcane signature.

A scruffy elf charges into battle alongside his allies. He suffuses his wizard friend with magical energy, giving him more power to cast spells with. Mages are spellcasters, but strange ones. They do not follow the studious pursuits of the wizards and bards, the inherited magic of the sorcerers, nor the borrowed knowledge of the warlocks and clerics. Instead, mages aim to wield the stuff of the Weave, the energy that actually makes up magic, called mana. Using these magical manipulations, they can be as formidable a foe as any other spellslinger.

Creating a Mage

When creating a mage, think about their origins. Did they read up about mana, or did a supernatural event put them in contact with it? Maybe they have always been attuned to magical frequencies since they were born, or they learned arcane harmonics in a workshop somewhere. Have they always wanted to bend the Weave, or were they originally pursuing wizardry or clerical magic? What made them change their decision? These are the questions you should ask yourself.

Quick Build

You can make a mage quickly by following these suggestions. First, Intelligence should be your highest ability score, followed by Dexterity for a higher AC or Constitution for more hit points. Second, choose the hermit background, assuming your character gained their powers from solitary experimentation. Third, choose a rapier for your weapon, a potion of healing for your special item, an explorer's pack as your additional equipment, and studded leather armor as your protection.

Class Features

As a Mage you gain the following class features.

Hit Points

Hit Dice: 1d8 per Mage level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + Constitution modifier per Mage level after 1st

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Melee weapons with the finesse or light property, ranged weapons without the loading property
Tools: One tool of your choice
Saving Throws: Constitution or Dexterity (your choice), Intelligence
Skills: Choose any three

Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

• (a) Any melee weapon with the finesse property or (b) any two melee weapons with the light property
• (a) A potion of healing or (b) a tool with which you have proficiency and 25 gp
• (a) Explorer's pack or (b) dungeoneer's pack
• (a) Leather armor and a shield or (b) studded leather armor
• If you are using starting wealth, you have 125 gp in funds.

Table: The Mage

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Features	Mana Pool
1st	+2	Essence of Magic	2/2
2nd	+2	Mage Specialty	3/3
3rd	+2	—	4/3
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	6/4
5th	+3	Arcane Experience	7/4
6th	+3	Mage Specialty	8/5
7th	+3	—	9/5
8th	+3	Ability Score Improvement	11/6
9th	+4	—	12/6
10th	+4	Quickened Recovery (Optional)	13/6
11th	+4	Magic Strike	13/7
12th	+4	Ability Score Improvement	14/7
13th	+5	—	15/7
14th	+5	Mage Specialty	15/8
15th	+5	—	16/8
16th	+5	Ability Score Improvement	17/8
17th	+6	Essence Mastery	18/9
18th	+6	Mage Specialty	18/9
19th	+6	Ability Score Improvement	19/9
20th	+6	Soul of Mana	20/10

Essence of Magic

You have learned how to manipulate magical energies, called mana. Therefore, you can channel arcane energy around you to harm your enemies. As an action on your turn, you may fire a Mana Bolt. Make a ranged spell attack against one target within 60 feet of you, using Intelligence as your spellcasting ability. On a hit, you deal 1d12 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage (your choice) to the target.

In addition to this, you have a limited reservoir of more powerful abilities. You have 2 Mana Dice, which are d8s. You gain the following options to use your Mana Dice.

Precision Bolt

When you attack with your Mana Bolt, you may expend and roll 1 Mana Die and add it to the result of the attack roll. You must decide to use this before making the attack roll. If you expend your Mana Dice in this way, you can increase the Mana Bolt’s damage by 2.

Rejuvenating Energies

As an action on your turn, you may expend and roll 1 Mana Die. You or one creature you touch regains hit points equal to half the result (rounded down).

Basic Mana Weaving

As an action on your turn, you may expend and roll 1 Mana Die. Make a DC 12 Intelligence (Arcana) check and add the Mana Die’s result to your check total. If you succeed, you may cast one cantrip or 1st-level spell from the wizard spell list that has a casting time of 1 action or 1 bonus action. Once you are 3rd level, you can expend 2 Mana Dice instead, making a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check. If you succeed, you may cast one spell up to 2nd level from the wizard spell list that has a casting time of 1 action or 1 bonus action. Similarly, at 5th level you may cast 3rd-level spells with 3 Mana Dice, the DC increasing by 3 to 18. At 7th level you may cast 4th-level spells with 4 Mana Dice and DC 21. At 9th level you may cast 5th-level spells with 5 Mana Dice and DC 24.

You regain all expended Mana Dice after finishing a long rest. Your pool of Mana Dice increases as you level up, shown by the left side of the slash in the Mana Pool column of the Mage table.

Mage Specialty

At 2nd level, you chose a specialty for your magic studies. Choose between Healer[1] and Expert[2], both detailed at the end of the class description. Your choice grants you features at 2nd level and again at 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th level.

Ability Score Improvement

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.

Arcane Experience

Also at 5th level, your mana manipulation skills grow stronger. You have learned enough magic that your Mana Bolts are more powerful and can take elemental forms. Your Mana Bolt damage increases to 2d12, and it can be any of the following types of damage: acid, cold, fire, lightning, poison or thunder. Additionally, the type of damage you choose gives your attack a special effect.

Additional effects table

Damage Type	Additional Effect
Bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing	You gain a +2 bonus to each of your attack and damage rolls for the attack.
Acid	The next time the target attacks, the damage is reduced by 1d4 (the least they can deal is 0 damage).
Cold	The target’s speed is reduced by 10 ft. until the beginning of your next turn.
Fire	The target takes 2 fire damage at the beginning of each of their turns. This effect lasts for 1d3 rounds.
Lightning	The target is stunned for 1 round.
Poison	The target is poisoned for 1d3 rounds.
Thunder	The target is deafened for 1d4 rounds.

Additionally, you can read magical signatures through your skills with mana. You can cast the spells detect magic and identify at will without material components, and because casting them is so second-nature to you, you can cast those two spells as bonus actions.

Quickened Recovery (Optional)

By 10th level, you have absorbed some of the mana you use, and so you recover your powers faster. You regain all expended Mana Dice on a short rest, but when determining the amount of Mana Dice you have, you use the number to the right of the slash instead of the left in the Mana Pool column. Additionally, you gain the following option to use your Mana Dice.

Essence Recovery

As a bonus action on your turn, you may expend and roll up to three Mana Dice. If you roll an 8 on any of these, you regain all Mana Dice you used for this feature, plus an amount of expended Mana Dice equal to the number of 8s you rolled. If your Mana Dice are d10s, you can regain Mana Dice on a roll of 9 or higher. If your Mana Dice are d12s, you can regain Mana Dice on a roll of 10 or higher.

Magic Strike

At 11th level, your elemental blast morphs into strange forms, allowing you to use forces that aren't even found in nature. Your elemental blasts can deal force, necrotic, psychic, or radiant damage, with the additional effects for those stated below.

Additional effects table extension

Damage Type	Additional Effect
Force	You add your Intelligence modifier to the damage roll for the attack.
Necrotic	The target cannot regain hit points for 1d4 rounds.
Psychic	The target must use their reaction, if available, to move up to their speed away from you.
Radiant	The target is blinded for 1d4 rounds.

Essence Mastery

Also at 17th level, you are so well-versed with the arcane, elemental, and physical realms of magic that all of your Arcane Strike’s additional effects improve.

Improved additional effects table

Damage Type	Additional Effect
Bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing	You add your Intelligence modifier to the damage roll for the attack.
Acid	The next two times the target attacks, the damage is reduced by 1d4 (the least they can deal is 0 damage).
Cold	The target’s speed is reduced to 0 feet until the beginning of your next turn.
Fire	The target takes 4 fire damage at the beginning of each of their turns. This effect lasts for 1d3 rounds.
Force	You gain a +3 bonus to the attack roll and a +2 bonus to the damage roll for the attack.
Lightning	The target is stunned for 2 rounds.
Necrotic	The target cannot regain hit points for 1d4 rounds, and takes an additional 3 necrotic damage whenever they take damage for 1d3-1 rounds.
Poison	The target is poisoned for 1d4 rounds.
Psychic	The target must use their reaction, if available, to move up to their speed away from you. On their turn, their speed is reduced by 15 feet.
Radiant	The target is blinded for 1d6 rounds.
Thunder	The target is deafened for 1d6 rounds.

Additionally, this experience improves the abilities you can use. You gain the following options to use your Mana Dice.

Augmented Strike

When you attack with your Magic Strike, you can expend and roll 3 Mana Dice. Take the highest one and add it to the result of the attack roll. You must decide to use this before making the attack roll. If you expend your Mana Dice in this way, don’t roll damage dice, and instead deal the maximum amount of damage with your Magic Strike.

Protective Blaze

As a bonus action on your turn, you may expend and roll 4 Mana Dice. You gain temporary hit points to half the total of all the dice, and while these temporary hit points last, your AC is increased by 2 and you deal 3 force damage to anyone who makes a melee attack against you (though they need not hit).

Advanced Mana Weaving

As an action on your turn, you may expend and roll 5 Mana Dice. Make a DC 26 Intelligence (Arcana) check and add the Mana Dice’s results to your check total. If you succeed, you may cast one spell from 1st to 5th level that has a casting time of 1 action or 1 bonus, ready one spell with a casting time of 1 reaction, or begin casting a spell that has a longer casting time. Alternatively, if you fail the check, you can choose one cantrip. You gain the ability to cast that cantrip for 5 rounds. You can choose to fail the check if you succeed, in which case you can cast that cantrip for 10 rounds instead of 5.

Soul of Mana

At 20th level, when you roll initiative and have no Mana Dice left, you regain 4 expended Mana Dice.

Healer

Healers are mages who focus on the restorative properties of mana, using their powers to heal, protect, and refresh.

Blessed Mana

Starting at 2nd level when you choose this subclass, you are more adept at healing and protecting with your powers than other mages. You gain the following options to use your Mana Dice.

Arcane Healing

As an action on your turn, you may expend and roll 2 Mana Dice. You or one creature you touch regains hit points equal to the total rolled.

Combat Ward

As a bonus action on your turn, you may expend and roll 3 Mana Dice. One creature you touch gains temporary hit points equal to the total rolled.

Starting at 10th level you can expend 1 - 3 Mana Dice for Arcane Healing, and 2 - 4 Mana Dice for Combat Ward. Additionally, for 2 rounds after a creature regains hit points from Arcane Healing or while a creature has at least 10 temporary hit points from Combat Ward, they get a +1 bonus to Armor Class.

Starting at 18th level you can expend as many Mana Dice as you want when using either of those features. Additionally, for 5 rounds after a creature regains hit points from Arcane Healing or while a creature has temporary hit points from Combat Ward, they get a +2 bonus to Armor Class.

Magic Defense

Also at 2nd level, you figure out how to better defend yourself with mana. You add your Intelligence modifier to your Armor Class when you aren't wearing armor. Additionally, you may expend 1 Mana Die to cast the shield spell or to have one of your allies cast it. If an ally casts shield in this way, both you and them must spend your reaction.

Vampiric Blast

By 6th level, when you hit people with your Elemental Blast, you can siphon off some of their vitality for your allies' benefit. When you deal damage with your Elemental Blast, you or one creature within 5 feet of you gains 5 temporary hit points.

Spell Restoration

At 14th level, you can manipulate mana to help your fellow spellcasters. As an action on your turn, you may expend 1 to 3 Mana Dice. One creature you touch gains one spell slot with a level equal to the amount of Mana Dice you used. You can't give a creature a spell slot of a level they don't already have at least one spell slot of, so you can't use this ability on a creature that doesn't already have at least a 1st-level spell slot.

Expert

Experts are mages who have more versatility and utility, and are often as useful out of combat as they are in it.

Knowledge Improvement

At 2nd level, and again at 6th and 14th level, you gain proficiency in one skill of your choice, or you may choose one skill in which you have proficiency to add double your proficiency bonus for any ability check you make with it. The skill you choose must be one that isn't already benefiting from a feature, such as Expertise, that doubles your proficiency bonus.

Magical Utilities

Also at 2nd level, you learn some of the basic magical utilities you can use with Mana. You can cast any cantrip that doesn't deal damage without providing material components.

Patient Caster

By 10th level, you are very good at more complex spells, able to cast them easier over a long period of time. Whenever you cast a spell with a casting time of 1 minute or longer with your Basic or Complex Mana Weaving feature, you expend 1 less Mana Dice. You can still roll the one that you don't expend.

Greater Magical Utilities

At 18th level, your talent for spellcasting is extremely evident, at least where combat is not directly involved. You can cast any spell that doesn't deal damage, restore hit points, give or remove conditions, or give temporary hit points. You can't cast wish with this trait. Other spells may also be restricted, at the DM's discretion. You can use this feature up to three times. You regain all uses after a long rest.

Multiclassing

Prerequisites. To qualify for multiclassing into the Mage class, you must meet these prerequisites: Intelligence 15 and the ability to cast at least one spell.

Proficiencies. When you multiclass into the Mage class, you gain the following proficiencies: Any two skills, one tool of your choice, one melee weapon with the finesse property, and one melee weapon with the light property.

Restriction. When you multiclass into the Mage class, to determine the amount of Mana Dice you have, you use the number to the right of the slash instead of the left in the Mana Pool column.

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