Spell Research (5e Variant Rule)

Spell Research

This downtime activity is exclusive to wizards. Similarly to how you discover two new spells when you level up as a wizard, you can also research and experiment using time and materials to discover new spells.

Resources

To research a spell, your character needs a spellbook or equivalent to record their research and experimental results. They also require spellcasting materials and components, as well as time to experiment with them. The time and cost required to do so is listed on the Spell Research table below.

If you have access to a well-stocked library or other repository of arcane knowledge throughout the duration of your work, you can halve the time and cost requirements.

Not all spellcasting materials are consumed in the process of spell research—at least half of your spellcasting materials are not consumed, merely unsuitable for the current line of research, and can reused for other spell research.

Spell Research

Spell Level	Time	Base Cost	Additional Expenditure
1st	3 days	50 gp	10 gp
2nd	1 workweek	250 gp	50 gp
3rd	2 workweeks	500 gp	100 gp
4th	5 workweeks	1,000 gp	200 gp
5th	10 workweeks	2,500 gp	500 gp
6th	20 workweeks	5,000 gp	1,000 gp
7th	30 workweeks	10,000 gp	2,000 gp
8th	40 workweeks	25,000 gp	5,000 gp
9th	50 workweeks	50,000 gp	10,000 gp

Resolution

At the end of the working period, the character must make an Intelligence (Arcana) ability check, with the DC equal to 10 + twice the researched spell's level. For each additional multiple of gp expended past the Base Cost according to the Additional Expenditure column, they gain a +1 bonus to this check, to a maximum bonus of +6.

If the character succeeds the check, they learn the spell and add it to their spellbook.

Complications

Every workweek spent in spell research brings a 10 percent chance of a complication, examples of which are on the Research Complications table.

Research Complications

d8	Complication
1	You accidentally fireball or unleash an uncontrolled magical effect of a similar caliber at a location involved in your research.
2	You accidentally polymorph yourself or someone else involved in your research into a frog for 4d8 x 4 hours.
3	You discover you require a material that's incredibly rare or dangerous to acquire to continue your research.
4	A more powerful being contacts you promising to grant you a piece of knowledge of the spell you seek in exchange for a favor.
5	Your spell research attracts undue suspicion from the local populace.
6	You realize that your research has brought you closer to understanding a different spell instead of the spell you were originally aiming for.
7	You become reclusive and hermitized in your research, isolating yourself from contact with others for extended periods of time and possibly even neglecting your own health.
8	The latest experiment in your research has left your mind or body fundamentally altered in some way.

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