Spiritual Invoker (5e Subclass)
Spiritual Invoker[edit]
Wizard Subclass
Spiritual invokers are dedicated to learning how to harness the spirits which take the forms of familiars to their advantage. The arcane tradition teaches techniques that allow spiritual invokers to strengthen their casting of conjuration magic which summons these spirits as well as use their familiars as an extension of both themselves and their magic once summoned.
Quite a few wizards began studying spiritual invoking because of feelings of loneliness before or during their studies. Others go into the field because gaining a familiar's service is a big appeal. A few wizards here and there may make the mistake of thinking that spiritual invoking is somehow related to nature (despite the name, it's actually more common than you might initially think).
In any case, due to how important familiars are to a lot of the magic which members of the spiritual invoking arcane tradition are going to perform, most spiritual invokers will form a bond with their familiars during their studies, begin to care more for their well being, and see them more so as friends, companions, or pets as opposed to servants, minions, or mere familiars.
| Wizard Level | Features |
|---|---|
| 2nd | Spiritual Companion, Warded Spirits |
| 6th | Distant Connection |
| 10th | Familiar Pack |
| 14th | Spell Delivery |
Spiritual Companion
Starting at 2nd level, you learn about the more in depth innerworkings of the spirits that serve as familiars compared to most wizards. You learn invoke familiar and can add it to your spell book for free. The spell is a wizard spell for you, you always have it prepared, and it doesn't count against the number of spells you can prepare.
Invoke Familiar
1st level conjuration (ritual)
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 10 feet
Components: V S M (8 gp worth of charcoal, incense, and herbs that must be consumed by fire in a brass brazier)
Duration: Instantaneous
You gain the service of a familiar, a spirit that takes an animal form you choose: bat, cat, crab, frog (toad), hawk, lizard, octopus, owl, poisonous snake, fish (quipper), rat, raven, sea horse, spider, or weasel. It appears in an unoccupied space within range. The familiar has the statistics of the chosen form, though it is a celestial, fey, or fiend (your choice) instead of a beast.
You can only have one familiar at a time. If you cast this spell to create a familiar while you already have the maximum amount, the casting fails. Familiars conjured by the find familiar spell or similar magic count against this total. If you cast find familiar while you have a familiar from this spell, the casting of that spell fails.
A familiar summoned in this way acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, a familiar rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. A familiar can't perform an attack, but it can take other actions as normal. When a familiar of yours drops to 0 hit points, it disappears, leaving behind anything it was wearing or carrying but no physical form. If you cast this spell again, you can cause a familiar of yours that disappeared in this way to reappear instead of gaining the service of a new familiar.
As an action, you can temporarily dismiss a familiar of yours to a pocket dimension, causing it to leave behind anything it was wearing or carrying. Alternatively, you can dismiss it forever. As an action while a familiar of yours is temporarily dismissed, you can cause the familiar to reappear in any unoccupied space within 30 feet of you.
You can spend 10 minutes to cause a familiar of yours within 10 feet of you to take on a new form. During that time, you must maintain concentration as if concentrating on a spell, and the familiar must remain within 10 feet of you. At the end of that time, you may choose one of the forms from the above list and have the familiar transform into the chosen creature. You may also have the familiar become a new type of creature (celestial, fey, or fiend).
Finally, while a familiar of yours is within 120 feet of you, you gain the following benefits:
- You can communicate with the familiar telepathically.
- As an action, you can see what the familiar sees and hear what the familiar hears, gaining the benefits of any special senses that it has. This lasts until you choose to end it at the start of your turn (no action required). It ends early if the familiar drops to 0 hit points or if you start your turn with the familiar out of range. While you're perceiving through a familiar's senses in this way, you are blind and deaf with regard to your own senses.
- When you would cast a spell with a range of touch, you can have the familiar use its reaction to cast the spell instead of you, even if the spell requires an attack roll. If the casting time exceeds 1 action, the familiar must use its reaction every turn until the spell is cast. The spell uses your spellcasting ability, spell attack bonus, and spell save DC. You must be the one to expend any required spell slots, maintain concentration if doing so is required, and provide any spell components as if you were the one who cast the spell. The spell is otherwise treated as if the familiar had cast it.
Warded Spirits
Starting at 2nd level, you learn to help ward off attacks for nearby familiars. As an action, you can choose any number of familiars conjured by invoke familiar, find familiar, or similar magic within 30 feet of you. A chosen familiar need not necessarily be your familiar, though a familiar's conjurer must be willing for you to choose a familiar of theirs. You create an invisible spiritual ward for each chosen familiar to protect them, replacing any spiritual ward they may have already had protecting them.
Each ward has a hit point maximum equal to your Intelligence modifier + half your wizard level (rounded up, minimum of 1 hit point) and lasts until the ward reaches 0 hit points. Whenever the familiar being protected would take damage, their ward takes the damage instead. If this damage reduces the ward to 0 hit points, the familiar takes any remaining damage.
Once you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.
Distant Connection
Starting at 6th level, you have learned to extend your communication with the spirits currently in your service. For any familiar conjured by invoke familiar, the range on your abilities to communicate with it telepathically and perceive through its senses is increased to unlimited (from 120 feet) as long as you two are on the same plane of existence. Additionally, while you're perceiving through a familiar's senses, you can speak through the familiar in your own voice even if it is normally incapable of speech.
Familiar Pack
Starting at 10th level, you have learned to the secret to harness more of the spirits at the same time than before. Invoke familiar allows you to have two familiars at a time instead of one when you cast it. Your familiars need not necessarily take on the same form or be the same type of creature as each other.
The number of familiars increases to three when you reach the 18th level in this class.
Spell Delivery
Starting at 14th level, you have learned to share your magic with the spirits and cast spells through them. For any familiar conjured by invoke familiar, your ability to have it cast a spell instead of you is no longer limited to spells with a range of touch. Additionally, while you can see a familiar or are perceiving through a familiar's senses, the range on your ability to have it cast a spell instead of you is increased to unlimited (from 120 feet).
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