Mage (Theous)

Mage

About

Reckless, self-taught spellcasters who skip the years of study or innate talent, and forge their own shortcut to power. |fluff=Through the remains of a camp, a human male walks through the sodden dirt, bandits lining the floor with fiery holes in their stomachs. A dwarf chants over a scroll, as magic runs through the crystal in its hand. An elven female assails her enemies with a motley collection of trinkets and techniques she picked up on her travels.

Mages are often eager and impatient to become the powerful master of the arcane they believe themselves to be. Beginning early, they pursue reckless powers without any official training or restraint, simply picking up bits and pieces of whatever lore and techniques they find appealing. }}

Creating a Mage

When choosing to be a mage, think about your reasoning. A mage is a spellcaster who rushed through the early onset tutelage of magic and doesn't possess an innate affinity for magic. A mage is a spellcaster who developed a shortcut to magic, so why would someone pursue these techniques? They are most likely a student who just didn't have the time to learn or study or needed power and magic quick without putting in the work. Mages are those with limited to no official instruction, who put them on this path? Were they students of magic before or a street rat that saw a wizard one day?

Want to use magic but don't have the patience? Mages are spellcasters that often don't have the time or patience to prepare spells every day but lack the innate abilities of a sorcerer. By creating a shortcut to actual memorization, they store a limited number of spells in their mind as a sorcerer would, but also keep the spell effectively "prepared" in a focus. This way they only need a small gesture or word to finish the given spell and don't have to keep track of as much knowledge at once, allowing for free time like no wizard will ever know!

Class Features

As a Mage you gain the following class features.

Hit Dice. 1d6 per Mage level
Hit Points at 1st Level. 6 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels. 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per Mage level after 1st

Proficiencies
Armor: Light armor
Weapons: Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows
Tools: Choose one
Saving Throws: Choose any two
Skills: Choose any three

Equipment
You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:
- (a) a dagger or (b) a quarterstaff
- (a) a dungeoneer’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
- an arcane focus

Mage Table

Level	Proficiency Bonus	Spells Known	Cantrips Known	Features	Spell Points	Gained Skills
1st	+2	1	3	Spellcasting, Ritual Adept, Magic Aptitude	1 + Mod	F-Rank
2nd	+2	1	3	Chanting, Scholar	2 + Mod	E-Rank
3rd	+2	2	3	Subclass Feature	4 + Mod	—
4th	+2	2	4	Ability Score Improvement	5 + Mod	E-Rank
5th	+3	3	4	Memorize Spell, Quicken Magic	8 + Mod	D-Rank
6th	+3	3	4	Subclass Feature	10 + Mod	E-Rank
7th	+3	4	5	—	12 + Mod	D-Rank
8th	+3	4	5	Ability Score Improvement	14 + Mod	C-Rank
9th	+4	5	5	—	18 + Mod	D & E-Rank
10th	+4	5	6	Subclass Feature	21 + Mod	C-Rank
11th	+4	6	6	—	24 + Mod	B-Rank
12th	+4	6	6	Ability Score Improvement	24 + Mod	D & C-Rank
13th	+5	7	7	—	27 + Mod	B-Rank
14th	+5	7	7	Subclass Feature	27 + Mod	A-Rank
15th	+5	8	7	—	31 + Mod	C & B-Rank
16th	+5	8	8	Ability Score Improvement	31 + Mod	A-Rank
17th	+6	9	8	Subclass Feature	36 + Mod	—
18th	+6	9	8	Spell Mastery	38 + Mod	B & A-Rank
19th	+6	9	9	—	41 + Mod	—
20th	+6	9	9	Signature Spell	45 + Mod	A & S-Rank

Spellcasting

At 1st level, you have learned to cast spells. See Spellcasting for the general rules of spellcasting. The information below details how you use those rules with your Mage spells.

Cantrips. You know three F Rank Spells of your choice. Light, Mage Hand, and Arcane Bolt are recommended. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can replace one of your F Rank spells from this feature with another of your choice. When you reach Mage levels 4 and 10, you learn another cantrip of your choice, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Mage table.

Spellbook. Your apprenticeship culminated in the creation of a unique book: your spellbook. It is a Tiny object that weighs 3 pounds, contains 100 pages, and can be read only by you or someone casting Identify. You determine the book’s appearance and materials, such as a gilt-edged tome or a collection of vellum bound with twine.

The book contains the level 1+ spells you know. It starts with six level 1 Wizard spells of your choice. Detect Magic, Feather Fall, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Sleep, and Thunderwave are recommended.

Whenever you gain a Mage level after 1st, add two Wizard spells of your choice to your spellbook. Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots, as shown in the Mage Features table. The spells are the culmination of arcane research you do regularly.

Elemental Affinity. Whenever you choose to be a Mage, you may roll a 1d100 in front of your DM to decide what elemental affinity (or affinities) you are born with. Alternatively, you're free to choose what affinity you want, upon approval of your DM. Whatever elemental affinity you gain, you can only cast spells of that affinity.

Spell Slots. The Mage Features table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your level 1+ spells. You regain all expended slots when you finish a long rest.

Prepared Spells of Level 1+. You prepare the list of level 1+ spells that are available for you to cast with this feature. To do so, choose four spells from your spellbook. The chosen spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

The number of spells on your list increases as you gain Mage levels, as shown in the Prepared Spells column of the Mage Features table. Whenever that number increases, choose additional Wizard spells until the number of spells on your list matches the number in the table. The chosen spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.

For example, if you’re a level 3 Mage, your list of prepared spells can include six spells of levels 1 and 2 in any combination, chosen from your spellbook.

If another Mage feature gives you spells that you always have prepared, those spells don’t count against the number of spells you can prepare with this feature, but those spells otherwise count as Mage spells for you.

Changing Your Prepared Spells. Whenever you finish a long rest, you can change your list of prepared spells, replacing any of the spells there with spells from your spellbook.

Spellcasting Focus. You can use an Arcane Focus or your spellbook as a spellcasting focus for your Mage spells.

Spellcasting Ability. At 1st level, you can choose your spellcasting ability from Wisdom, Charisma, or Intelligence. You use your chosen ability whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use this modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Mage spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your chosen ability modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your chosen ability modifier

Ritual Adept

At 1st level, you can cast any spell as a ritual if that spell has the Ritual tag and the spell is in your spellbook. You needn’t have the spell prepared, but you must read from the book to cast a spell in this way.

Magical Aptitude

At 1st level, after you roll for how much Magical Affinity you start with, you may instead choose to begin with three elemental affinities.

Arcane Recovery

You can regain some of your magical energy by studying your spellbook. When you finish a short rest, you can choose to recover spell points. If you do, regain spell points equal to 2 + half your Mage level. Once you use this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.

Chanting

At 2nd level, you learn the art of chanting and incantation—essential to being a Mage. It allows you to enhance your spells through ritualistic speech and focused invocation. By carefully reciting an arcane chant, you can infuse your spells with greater power, altering their effects beyond normal limitations.

Invoking a Chant You may choose one of your spells and begin chanting as an action. The next time you cast that spell within the next two turns, it gains two benefits of your choice from the list below:

• The spell ignores resistances and treats immunities as resistances.
• The range, radius, or area of effect doubles.
• The range, radius, or area of effect triples (requires the double effect to be applied first).
• Targets making a saving throw against the spell roll at disadvantage, and the DC increases by your proficiency bonus.
• If the spell requires an attack roll, you roll with advantage and may add your proficiency bonus an extra time.
• The spell does an extra die of damage or healing. (you can take this multiple times)
• The spell ignores all forms of cover; however, you are still required to know the space of the creature to target. If they have moved from that space since the last time you saw them, the spell automatically fails as you cast it in the wrong place.
• The spell’s area changes to a Cone, Line, or Square (cannot be a single target effect).
• The spell’s duration is doubled.
• The spell’s duration is tripled (requires the doubled duration to be applied first).
• If the spell deals damage via a saving throw, it ignores abilities such as Evasion if the target fails the save by 5 or more (requires Complex Chanting).
• If the spell forces a creature to make a saving throw, they must roll three dice and take the lowest result (requires Complex Chanting).
• If the spell requires an attack roll, you may roll three dice and take the highest result (requires Complex Chanting).

Sustained Chanting For each subsequent turn you continue chanting as an action, you may apply two additional bonuses of your choice. A single spell may only benefit from 1 + your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier in total bonuses.

Complex Chanting Instead of chanting as an action, you may perform an advanced version using intricate hand signs and precise recitations as a full round action. When doing so:

• You may apply four benefits from the above list instead of two.
• For each subsequent turn spent chanting, you may apply four more benefits instead of two.

Maintaining Focus While chanting, you must maintain concentration as if concentrating on a spell. If you lose concentration, the chant is lost.

Limitations

• If the spell involves multiple attack rolls, saving throws, or areas of effect, you may only apply a chosen benefit to one instance per casting.
• Chanting cannot be used on spells with the Wish-like effect.
• You cannot ready an action for Chanting.
• Chanted spells cannot be used with Maximum Output or similar abilities.
• You cannot cast spells while chanting.

Scholar

At 2nd level, while studying magic, you also specialized in another field of study. Choose one of the following skills in which you have proficiency: Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, or Religion. You gain expertise in the chosen skill.

Mage Subclass

At 3rd level, you gain a Mage subclass of your choice. The Abjurer, Diviner, Evoker, and Illusionist subclasses are detailed after this class’s description.

A subclass is a specialization that grants you features at certain Mage levels. For the rest of your career, you gain each of your subclass’s features that are of your Mage level or lower.

Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th, and 16th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. Alternatively, you can choose a feat for which you qualify. You can't increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.

Memorize Spell

At 5th level, whenever you finish a short rest, you can study your spellbook and replace one of the level 1+ spells you have prepared for your Spellcasting feature with another level 1+ spell from your book.

Quickened Magic

Also at 5th level, whenever you cast an Arcane Bolt spell, you may cast it an additional time for the cost of no action.

Maximize Magic

When you cast a spell that deals damage associated with your elemental affinity, you can choose to take the maximum result of all damage dice instead of rolling. You can use this feature once per long rest.

At 17th level, you can use this feature an additional time between long rests.

Spell Mastery

At 18th level, you have achieved such mastery over certain spells that you can cast them at will.

Choose one level 1 and one level 2 spell from your spellbook that have a casting time of one action. You always have those spells prepared, and you can cast them at their lowest level without expending a spell slot.

To cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.

Whenever you finish a long rest, you can study your spellbook and replace one of these spells with another eligible spell of the same level.

Signature Spells

At 20th level, choose two level 3 spells from your spellbook as your signature spells. You always have these spells prepared, and you can cast each of them once at 3rd level without expending a spell slot.

Once you cast a signature spell in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

To cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.