Spellcasting Rules of the 2014 Archive¶
Rules system: D&D 3.5-based homebrew (the 2014 archive; S395 of October 2014, with the April 2014 focus draft carried in S421, last touched 2022). Legacy design material, not canon for play.
Lore page: Casting Focuses of the Earlier Ages.
The late-2014 spellcasting system of the d20 Archive. Magic draws on five energies; divine casters reach it through an Astral Shard, mages through one or more of eight Mithis focuses. Each focus intersects four of sixteen colleges, colleges combine into twenty-four meta-colleges, and a caster's reach is bought with magical feats rather than class levels. The earlier draft of April 2014, with differently named focuses and a sphere table, is kept at the end of the page.
Magical energies¶
| Energy | Rule |
|---|---|
| Elemental | Elementals are their own source of energy. "The only wielders of Elemental energies are the Elementals themselves." |
| Mithis (Astral) | The free, distributed energy left when the Astral Shard brought to insulate the Material from the Abyss was destroyed; only a small fraction is usable at once. Mages tap it. |
| Divine (Positive/Negative) | Power generated by opposition (good and evil, creation and destruction). Priests, Monks, Clerics, Paladins and a few mages reach it through Astral Shards; holy sites are conduits the clergy build. |
| Astral | Every Astral being has its own; shards add vast quantities and a focus. A mortal has none unless Ascended or Fallen. |
| Ethereal / Demonic | The energy of souls, hard to tap without damaging the soul. Demons are its primary users; some casters use it to amplify their primary source. |
The cosmology behind these energies is described on Nature of Magic and Mithis.
Divine casters (Astral focus)¶
Clerics, Monks, Priests and Paladins must be Astral Ordained: an Astral Shard is their focus, and "a Mithis caster cannot tap Divine Energy". A shard can in principle open every college, but in practice the shard holder allows only a subset, so each shard's spell list is unique. Some shards are attuned to particular magics, giving benefits like Mithis specialization, and some support several religious orders with different college lists. The classes are on Divine Classes.
- Prayer for Spells: spells are granted by prayer, taking 10 min + (spell slot level × 10) − (caster level × 2), minimum spell slot level × 2 minutes. Energy and formula are not separate and are both chosen at the prayer.
- Energy Use: a higher slot may be used to pray for a lower spell, consuming the full slot.
- Magical Feats: three at first level, one more each level.
- Limited Specialization: no Focus Proficiency or Focus/College Specialization feats; colleges and specializations are fixed by the shard or religious order. College Proficiency, Expertise and Mastery are still bought with feats.
- Meta-College Flexibility: meta-college access comes from the shard, not from the dependent colleges.
Mages and wizards (Mithis focuses)¶
Without an Astral focus, a caster uses one or more of the eight Mithis focuses. The source adds that Mithis casting is not possible for most mortals: only Elves, Gnomes and Draconians cast consistently, others through bloodlines; and that those born without the ability may become a Sorceror by trapping a weak demon inside themselves as the channel, with a risk of being overtaken when exhausted of ethereal energy. That lore belongs to Arcane Magic and Demonic Magic. It also gives the terms Order, Cabal, Society for a group of mages; Wizard, Mage, Magician for magic-users in general; and Maleficanum, Witch, Warlock for evil magic-users.
- Memorization: spells are memorized daily at two minutes per spell level, which may be done during meditation but not rest or sleep.
- Energy Use: a higher slot may cast a lower spell, consuming the full slot.
- Spell Recovery: resting or meditating recovers one slot in 10 min + (slot level × 10) − (caster level × 2), minimum slot level × 2 minutes, uninterrupted.
- Magical Feats: 3 + Int bonus at first level, two more each level.
Focuses, colleges and meta-colleges¶
The eight Mithis focuses form a grid. Each column focus and each row focus share one college at their intersection; a meta-college draws on three colleges.
| Change: Metamorphosis (Shaman) | Constant: Enchantment (Enchanter) | Consume: Incantation (Incanter) | Create: Conjuration (Conjurer) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matter: Elemental (Primalist) | Air | Earth | Fire | Water |
| Force: Arcane (Magus) | Transmutation | Binding | Abjuration | Evocation |
| Systems: Thaumaturgy (Thaumaturge) | Fey | Botanical | Gate | Corporeal |
| Acumenity: Augury (Augur) | Spirit | Divination | Mentalism | Shadow |
The grid's "Transmutation" is the college the list calls Transformation.
Mithis focuses¶
| Focus | Description |
|---|---|
| Elemental | Trades energy with Elementals for their services. Elementals "are energy hungry and many will do your bidding for relatively small amounts of energy", prefer Mithis or Ethereal energy, and are forced into submission by Astral energy. Long-term bonds are common; the study is "quite alien". |
| Arcane | Directly manipulates the Material Plane by memorized formulas and equations, "a discipline of precision and not force". |
| Thaumaturgy | The study of natural systems: natural laws, ecosystems, biological systems and the nature of the planes. |
| Augury | The study of mind and thought and how they interact with the systems around them; works with the Ethereal and Shadow Planes. Seers, fortune tellers, mind readers. |
| Metamorphosis | The study of change; mystical healers, soothsayers, agents of the forces of nature. |
| Enchantment | The study of constants and self-reinforcing systems, moving surroundings into or out of a steady state. |
| Incantation | Forceful change, breakdown and destruction. "The Incanter is the bully among wizards"; prized as battle mages. |
| Conjuration | The study of creation and construction. |
The sixteen colleges¶
| College | The study of |
|---|---|
| Abjuration | the extraction of energy |
| Air | the element of air, and matter in the gaseous phase |
| Binding | imbuing energies |
| Botanical | plants and plant systems |
| Corporeal | living bodies and soul-vessels |
| Divination | exploration, detection and truth |
| Earth | the element of earth, and matter in the solid phase |
| Evocation | the expression or creation of energy |
| Fey | nature and the mechanisms that govern natural law |
| Fire | the element of fire, and matter transitioning to the energy phase |
| Gate | extra-planar boundaries and their manipulation |
| Mentalism | the mind and central nervous system |
| Shadow | memory, thought and creativity |
| Spirit | the soul, soul-energy and the spirit-body connection |
| Water | the element of water, and matter in the liquid phase |
| Transformation | conversion of matter and energy |
The twenty-four meta-colleges¶
The order in brackets is the highest spell order the source gives. Focus marks: one focus required (−), two focuses required with one or both of the colleges in a given focus (= or +), three focuses required (*), as the grid marks them.
| Meta-college | Order | Colleges | Focuses | The study of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animation | 6th | Mentalism, Binding, Earth | two | imprinting thoughts and artificial intelligence into magical objects |
| Blood | 6th | Water, Abjuration, Spirit | two | extracting and transferring life energy |
| Channel | 9th | Fire, Spirit, Binding | three | the transference of magical energy, knowledge and/or spirit into a target vessel |
| Charm | 6th | Mentalism, Corporeal, Divination | two | altering the thought and decision-making of living beings |
| Contract | 3rd | Fey, Gate, Corporeal | one | forging enforceable magical contracts between souls |
| Counterspell | 3rd | Abjuration, Gate, Mentalism | one | magical intercession at the initiation of casting |
| Death | 9th | Abjuration, Spirit, Corporeal | three | extracting energies from or manipulating ethereal souls |
| Earthpower | 6th | Earth, Fey, Botanical | two | plant systems as "living pylons of Mithis energy" that draw Mithis from the earth and across the planes, can repair Mithis-damaged areas, and can act as gateways |
| Frost | 3rd | Fire, Abjuration, Shadow | two | the removal of heat energy |
| Healing | 9th | Water, Botanical, Transformation | three | restorative life magic |
| Illusion | 3rd | Mentalism, Shadow, Spirit | one | virtual environments a being may interact with as if real |
| Light | 9th | Air, Evocation, Shadow | two | expressions of light (and Astral energy) |
| Necromancy | 3rd | Water, Corporeal, Shadow | one | negative life energy |
| Planewalking | (none given) | Transformation, Gate, Spirit | two | extra-planar theory and astronomy |
| Polymorph | 6th | Fey, Corporeal, Transformation | two | living form transmutations and shapechanging |
| Revelation | 9th | Shadow, Divination, Evocation | two | extracting predictive knowledge (prophecy) |
| Scrying | 9th | Fey, Divination, Abjuration | three | long-range or navigational divination and discovery |
| Spellbind | 3rd | Botanical, Binding, Divination | one | endowing living things with magical effects |
| Spellforge | 3rd | Transformation, Binding, Evocation | one | endowing objects with magical effects |
| Synthesis | 3rd | Air, Earth, Water | one | a combination of elemental matter |
| Time | 9th | Gate, Divination, Air | three | the manipulation of time, "widely considered the most dangerous and volatile meta-college" |
| Transjunction | 3rd | Air, Transformation, Fey | one | intra-planar rifts and conjunctions: teleportation, blink, some material conjurations |
| Void | 9th | Gate, Fire, Evocation | two | the Void, void entities and chaos |
| Wood | 3rd | Earth, Binding, Botanical | one | manipulating wood, living and dead |
The grid cells disagree in two places: Blood is given as Water+Abjur+Ether under Abjuration, and Counterspell as Abjur+Gate+Psion under Mentalism (the d20 Archive worksheet also has Psionics for Mentalism). Elemental Allotment refers to a "Storms" meta-college that is not in the list.
Magical feats¶
Focus and college feats¶
| Feat | Cost | Requires | Grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus Proficiency | two | nothing, unless another focus is specialized, in which case this focus must intersect it | proficiency or specialization in the focus's colleges; access to focus feats |
| Focus Specialization | two | every other known focus must intersect one college of this focus; with two specialized, no other focus may be taken | double spell slots per level, usable only for this focus's college spells (shared between two specialized focuses); meta-colleges benefit if two of their colleges lie in specialized focuses |
| Meta-College Proficiency | two | College Proficiency in each dependent college | spells up to 3rd level in the meta-college |
| College Proficiency | one | Focus Proficiency in one of the college's two focuses | spells up to 3rd level in the college |
| College Specialization | one | Focus Proficiency in both of the college's focuses, and no other college (or meta-college dependency) in either focus specialized | cast the college's spells as one level lower |
| Meta-College Specialization | one | Focus Proficiency in both focuses holding at least two dependent colleges, none already specialized | cast the meta-college's spells as one level lower |
| College/Meta-College Expertise | one | Proficiency | spells up to 6th level; 0-level spells at will |
| College/Meta-College Mastery | one | Expertise | spells up to 9th level; 0- and 1st-level spells at will |
General feats¶
| Feat | Requires | Grants |
|---|---|---|
| Empowerment | none | add spell energy to a single spell, up to double; doubling the effective level increases output by 50%, a 50% increase by 25% |
| Energy Mastery | Empowerment | spell levels become spell points: 0th=1, 1st=2, 2nd=4, 3rd=7, 4th=11, 5th=16, 6th=21, 7th=27, 8th=34, 9th=42 |
| Life Tap | none | Standard Action: consume 2 × spell energy points in hit points to regain used spell power (no more than the daily total); those hit points return only after 10 minutes' rest out of battle, and must have been available |
| Drain Energy | Life Tap | Standard Action: by touch, take life (as Life Tap) or spell levels from a willing or helpless being |
| Spellbook Generalist | none | cast any spell of an untrained college within your focuses from a spellbook, bonuses negated, at double casting time, DC checks −2, and one slot level higher |
| Improved Spellbook Casting | Spellbook Generalist | spellbook casting uses a slot one level lower; does not stack with Specialization, only with Generalist |
| Expanded Mind | none | memorize one additional spell per spell level (no extra slots) |
| Programmed Mind | Expanded Mind | permanently memorize up to Int bonus + level spells, and still prepare others daily |
| Caster's Advantage | none | advantage against targets affected by your spells on the previous turn |
| Reserved Spell | Caster's Advantage | ready one Reserved Spell as a Minor Action without wasting its energy; use it as a Reflex when an Opportunity Attack could be made, or swap a Standard Action for it |
| Magecraft | none | identify spells, sources, focuses and power levels; +5 to Magical Identification and Detect Magic; +1 passive Spell Interception (+1 per 10 levels) |
| Improved Magecraft | Magecraft | +1 on saves against spells of a proficient college (+1 per further 7 levels), flat +1 against all others |
Focus feats¶
Each requires its focus.
| Focus | Feat | Grants |
|---|---|---|
| Elemental | Elemental Allotment | instead of memorized spells, negotiate with Elementals for energy of a college ("3rd Fire" instead of 3rd Fireball), usable on any spell of that college; only for Elemental colleges and meta-colleges with two dependent colleges in the focus |
| Elemental | Elemental Power | +1 power bonus (+1 damage or healing per die), +1 to buffed stats, +1 to Power, Range and Duration |
| Elemental | Elemental Debt | Elementals allow the caster up to a full day's spells in energy debt, for Elemental colleges only |
| Arcane | Arcane Calculations | +1 to hit and penetration |
| Arcane | Arcane Algorithms | dispel or negate checks against the caster's spells at −1, and −1 more per 5 levels |
| Arcane | Arcane Recursion | +1 power after a successful spell the previous turn, stacking to +2 (+1 per 5 levels) while uninterrupted |
| Thaumaturgy | Thaumaturgical Shift | Minor Action: shift a spell's effects into different planes, sparing allies and harming enemies in the same area, or the reverse |
| Thaumaturgy | Thaumaturgical Phase | Reflex: briefly insubstantial, +3 avoidance against one attack (+1 per 5 levels) and +2 against all others that turn |
| Thaumaturgy | Thaumaturgical Alignment | in an aligned area (plant life for Botanical, animal life for Corporeal, planar rifts for Gate, significant natural systems for Fey), cast as a caster of 1.5 × level |
| Augury | Augur Insight | read a person's planar power and sources, native plane, disposition toward good or evil and current mood; know if the aura is masked, chance to detect forgery, crude lie detection; invisibility does not mask an aura |
| Augury | Augur Sense | seeing a true aura grants +1 initiative, hit and penetration; memorize up to level auras to track targets with long-range spells |
| Augury | Augur Prescience | see an unmasked target's intent before it casts; Reflex for +5 to one avoidance or interception (+1 per 5 levels) |
| Metamorphosis | Metamorphosis Totem | enchant up to level totems (−5 to detect, not on enchanted items); +2 hit and penetration and +1 power per 5 levels against targets touching one, +1 hit and penetration within 5 ft per level |
| Metamorphosis | Metamorphosis Rejuvenation | Standard Action: spell energy restores 1d6 × spell level hit points to a touched target |
| Metamorphosis | Metamorphosis Shroud | Reflex while casting: +2 absorb (+1 per 5 levels) |
| Enchantment | Enchanter's Inspection | a meditation-like ritual of 10 − (level/2) minutes per 10×10 area or object, touching adjoining matter within 60 ft + 5/level, no line of sight needed; +2 Spot |
| Enchantment | Enchanter's Awareness | familiarity bonuses, below |
| Enchantment | Enchanter's Reaction | see a physical attacker's posture (not a caster's); attacker on the same earth or within 60 ft + 5/level and the current spell target; Reflex for +5 to one avoidance or interception (+1 per 5 levels) |
| Incantation | Incanter's Power | an extra die of damage or healing; range and area +20% |
| Incantation | Incanter's Focus | +1 (+1 per 6 levels) to Interruption DC checks |
| Incantation | Incanter's Overpower | +1 Penetration and +1 Break (+1 per 6 levels) |
| Conjuration | Conjurer's Light | Standard Action: a free Light spell (one at a time) giving allies +1 Spot per 5 levels and revealing illusions, invisibility and visual deceptions (+1 DC per 5 levels) |
| Conjuration | Conjurer's Rigor | spells creating an object, energy or being that did not exist before cast as if 50% higher level |
| Conjuration | Conjurer's Constitution | permanent +2 Constitution |
Enchanter's Awareness (one useful inspection per spot per day):
| Familiarity | Inspected | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Very Familiar Target | 60+ times | Spot +20; cast as if double level against the target |
| Very Familiar Area | 60+ times | Spot +20; cast as if double level in the area |
| Familiar Target | 8+ times | Spot +12; cast as if 50% higher level against the target |
| Familiar Area | 8+ times | Spot +12; cast as if 50% higher level in the area |
| Slightly Familiar Target | 1+ times | Spot +5; +1 hit and penetration against the target |
| Slightly Familiar Area | 1+ times | Spot +5; +1 power to spells whose target is in the area |
| Unfamiliar | normal constraints |
Earlier draft: casting focuses and spheres¶
The second half of S421 (the April 2014 text also found in the obsolete S389, S394 and S396) is the draft S395 reworked. Its magical energies match S395's, except that Priests, Clerics, Paladins "and some Mages" tap Positive/Negative energy directly and Death Magic practitioners are named users of Ethereal energy.
Astral foci¶
- Astral Ordained: a shard focus for Priests, Clerics, Paladins, Bound, Ascendants and Gods. Astral Attunement: in attuned areas a 2nd-level spell can cast a 3rd. Astral Opposition: if the holder permits it at all, an opposition spell needs a 2nd to cast a 1st. Elemental Domination: compelling Elementals with Astral energy risks rebellion in a zone friendly to them, by Willpower against spell level ("XXXXX: figure out formula"); a rebel manifests and attacks at Elemental level = spell level × 3.
- Astral Faults: casting along the faults between shards, used by mages and non-denominational clerics: any cleric spell at one level lower.
Focuses¶
The draft's focuses, with feat costs in brackets (+ a benefit, ++ a stronger benefit, − a drawback):
| Focus | Properties |
|---|---|
| Primalist / Elementalist | +Elemental Allotment (1); +Elemental Power (2): +1 power; ++Elemental Debt (4): no more than one spell in debt per elemental type, extended only at a moment's notice |
| Magus / Magister | +Calculated Outcome (1): +1 hit and penetration; +Interlaced Algorithms (2); ++Recursive Formulas (4). "Among mortal casters, their spells are some of the few that can rival Eldritch and Draconic spell complexity." |
| Augur | Manipulates the planar barriers; reagent- and preparation-heavy, with some of the quickest casting times; "prized for their magical dueling abilities and are trained in some places to police other wizards". +Aura Sense (1), +Aura Mastery (2), +Spell Shift (3), +Aura Reaction (4) (the S395 Augur and Thaumaturgy feats). |
| Sorcerer | Taps the Shadow Realm; the most shunned and feared casters. −Concentrated Casting (0): any damage interrupts, −2 initiative. ++Twilight Casting (1): +1 power in dim light or at dawn and dusk (+1 per 6 levels). ++Shadow Stride (3): straddle the Shadow Realm, +2 to all Avoidances and Absorption. +Shadow Vision (4): see both realms, revealing illusions and invisibility (+1 DC per 5 levels). |
| Shaman / Witch Doctor | Works the forces of living things; often self-taught. ++Magical Healing (2): 1d8 × spell level hit points, level/5 times a day. ++Totem (4): up to level totems, +1 hit and penetration and +1 power per 6 levels. |
| Enchanter / Mystic | Taps the Ethereal connections of creatures and matter. Dream Memorization (0): memorize while sleeping for double the study time. ++Dreamstate (2): the spirit leaves the body to move, see, hear and cast up to 500 ft per level away, ending if either takes damage. +Ethereal Target (3): target unseen enemies within 60 ft + 5/level. +Ethereal Avoidance (4). |
| Invoker / Battle Mage | "The bully among wizards." −−Spell Excess (0): each spell also consumes a slot half its level lower. ++Raw Power (0): two extra dice of damage or healing, +20% range and area. +Focused (2). ++Overpower (4). A fifth property is "+??". |
| Incanter | Reorganizes its surroundings by understanding them. +Incanter's Inspection (1), ++Incanter's Awareness (3), +Incanter's Reaction (4), as the S395 Enchanter feats, but Awareness grants +2 hit and penetration (Very Familiar Target), +2 power (Very Familiar Area), one slot lower (Familiar Target) and double range and area (Familiar Area). |
Defaults: spells are memorized daily at two minutes per spell level; a higher slot may cast a lower spell; a caster uses only one focus for a given spell (Singular Focus).
Spheres by focus¶
The draft pairs four "primitive" focuses (across) with four "academic" focuses (down), which "rely on much more training and apprenticeship". Astral focuses have their own domains.
| Life: Shaman | Ethereal: Enchanter | Energy: Invoker | Matter: Incanter | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elemental: Primalist | Water, Acid (Hydromancer, Acetemancer) | Air, Electricity (Aeromancer, Fulgemancer) | Fire, Frost (Pyromancer, Frigumancer) | Earth, Stone (Geomancer, Lithumancer) |
| Material: Magus | Blood Magic, Metamorphosis (Bloodmage, Druid) | Enchantment, Alchemy (Binder, Alchemist) | Evocation, Control Magic (Arcanist, Spellbinder) | Transformation, Autosynthesis (Transmuter, Thaumaturge) |
| Planar: Augur | Abjuration, Contract Magic (Abjurer, Medium) | Divination, Void Magic (Seer, Voidcaller) | Gate, Abyssal Magic (Summoner, Demoncaller) | Conjuration, Null Magic (Conjurer, Negater) |
| Shadow: Sorcerer | Witchcraft, Charm (Witch, Mesmer) | Illusion, Psychic (Illusionist, Psion) | Shadow Magic, Death Magic (Shadowmancer, Deathmage) | Animation, Necromancy (Necromancer, Animist) |
Casting feats¶
First level grants one focus, one trained sphere and two feats; each level two more. Magical Focus opens a focus's spheres and their cantrips. Sphere Trained (to 3rd), Sphere Proficiency (to 6th), Sphere Mastery (to 9th, requiring Adept as written). Sphere Specialization gives up an opposition sphere pair in the same focus for an extra slot per level (only for the first specialization, at most two per focus) and casts 1st and 2nd as one lower; Sphere Expertise extends that to 5th; Sphere Adept to 8th, plus one spell one level above the caster's reach. Empowerment, Energy Mastery (3 points for a 3rd-level spell), Life Tap (2^spell level hit points: 2, 4, 8 ... 512), Drain Energy, Spellbook Generalist (opposition spheres two levels higher), Improved Spellbook Casting, Expanded Mind, Programmed Mind (not with Elemental Allotment), Caster's Advantage, Reserved Spell, Magecraft and Improved Magecraft are as in S395 with those differences.
Sample build, a level 10 Augur "Mage Hunter (Negater)":
| Level | Feats |
|---|---|
| 1 | Focus: Augur; Trained: Null Magic, Abjuration; Specialization: Null Magic (opposition Gate, Abyssal Magic) |
| 2 | Trained: Divination, Void Magic |
| 3 | Empowerment, Caster's Advantage |
| 4 | Proficiency and Expertise: Null Magic |
| 5 | Mastery and Adept: Null Magic |
| 6 | Reserved Spell |
| 7 | Energy Mastery |
| 8 | Proficiency: Abjuration, Void Magic |
| 9 | Trained: Conjuration, Contract Magic |
| 10 | Expanded Mind, Magecraft |
Sorcerer and Sorceror¶
In the draft, a Sorcerer is the caster of the Shadow focus. In S395, a Sorceror is a caster with no native ability who hosts a trapped demon as a channel. The two words name different things in the two documents.
Gap
S395 gives no spell lists, slot tables or class progression; the college fragments hold the only spells written for the college system. The Planewalking meta-college has no order.