The Arcane Scholar
Magic is pretty complicated stuff, and even the simplest of spellcasters is pretty complex. But, for those who are able to handle that complexity, the rewards are pretty great. There’s a lot that you can do with magic, and there’s always more options in the next dusty old tome. Of course, the more options you have, the more complicated things get. But that’s OK, because many of us appreciate that complexity, and enjoy having it in our games. The Advanced Arcana series is for just such individuals.
Today marks the release of Advanced Arcana Volume V, which contains yet another impressive batch of “advanced” spells, which caters to those who can handle a little complexity, and are looking for more options. Today’s archetype, for the appropriately-named arcanist, is for those who want to learn as many spells as possible, and always have their entire archive of options on hand.
New Arcanist Archetype
Arcane Scholar
Knowledge is power, and so is magic. It stands to reason that those who learn as many spells as they can are the ones with the most power, or at least, those are the beliefs of arcane scholars. Renowned for their ability to learn the inner workings of a spell simply by seeing it cast, and their ability to spontaneously cast spells from within their spellbook, these arcanists are incredibly versatile, and are almost never caught unprepared.
Eagle Eye (Su): When an arcane scholar sees a spell cast, she can spend 1 point from her arcane reservoir in order to attempt to learn that spell, and later add it to her spellbook. In order to learn a spell in this way, she must be able to observe the spell being cast, and the spell must be on the sorcerer/wizard spell list, and be of a spell level that the arcane scholar can cast. Further, she must succeed on a Spellcraft check (DC 10 + twice the spell’s level), or the attempt fails. If the attempt is successful, she gains a strong enough mastery of the spell to be able to write it into her spellbook. Writing the spell into her spellbook in this way takes the normal amount of time (1 hour per spell level) and material costs. If the arcane scholar does not write the spell into her spellbook before 24 hours have passed, the knowledge of the spell escapes her, and this ability is wasted. Using this ability does not allow the arcane scholar to cast the spell directly; it only allows her to copy it into her spellbook, at which point she can prepare and cast it through normal means. The arcane scholar can use this ability once per day, plus an additional time per day for every 5 arcanist levels beyond 1st.
This ability replaces the arcanist exploit gained at 1st level.
Defensive Applications (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, an arcane scholar’s innate knowledge of the spells in her spellbook give her an edge in resisting those spells. Whenever the arcane scholar makes a saving throw to resist a spell that is included in her spellbook, she can spend 1 point from her arcane reservoir in order to gain a +1 bonus on that saving throw. She must have the spellbook on her person in order to use this ability. At 10th level, and every 5 levels thereafter, the bonus granted by this ability increases by +1.
This ability replaces the arcanist exploit gained at 5th level.
Spontaneous Spell (Sp): At 11th level, the arcane scholar learns to cast spells that she has not prepared. As a full-round action, she can cast a spell recorded in her spellbook which she does not currently have prepared, and which has a casting time of 1 round or less. In order to use this ability, she must be able to reference her spellbook, and she must spend a number of points from her arcane reservoir equal to the spell’s level. The arcane scholar must still have an unused spell slot of the appropriate spell level, and that spell slot is consumed when the spell is cast.
This ability replaces the arcanist exploit gained at 11th level.