divination cantrip
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Component: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
For the duration you can add your proficiency bonus to Perception rolls. If you are already trained in the Perception skill this doubles your effective proficiency bonus for that skill for the duration.
The purpose of sub-classes, like the Wizard schools/traditions and Cleric domains is to branch the classes out so they have more styles of play. Inevitably, however, this creates overlap between them. This has been particularly codified in 5e, with every class having Schools, Circles, or other associations of specialty, down to Rogues and Fighters with their Archetypes. It has been amusing to watch early crossovers become so iconic they move out of the shadows of their parent classes to become classes of their own with their own subtypes; Fighter Clerics becoming Paladins, Wizard Rogues becoming Bards, and Fighter Druids becoming Rangers, While each of these have evolved to become their own "thing," possibly none more clearly than the Bard who has appropriated clerical healing and buffing into an arcane class, they retain much of the flavor and legacy of their origin. This becomes even more entertaining when the child class crosses back in with one of the parent classes (Bardic Schools) or new subclasses have to be created to reproduce the successful crossbreed (Arcane Trickster).
What's the point of all this? There's not enough design space for more than four very narrowly designed classes to each have a unique set of skills. This is why the archetypical/prototypical Wizard is a learned evoker, Rogue is the backstabbing-finder, the Fighter is a tank, and Cleric the buff-dispenser and healer. Any expansion or change in one of these slots and someone is getting in another lane. However, even as the community loves and demands exactly this expansion, there's strong resistance in many quarters to it. In some places it's a sacred cow beyond all reason, such as the line in the DMG about wizard healing stepping on clerics' turf. But, if we just accept that classes are going to be all over one another, that the cleric doesn't have to be the healer and the rogue doesn't have to be the finder, we get an immense amount of flexibility out of the concepts already existing in D&D.
Wizard schools and Cleric domains are, perhaps, the easiest place to see this, with their clear labels, long evolution, and discrete chunks of rules in the form of spells. However, there's no reason that Fighters and Rogues have to be any less flexible. The 4e Warlord, which seems to have been folded back into the Fighter as the Battle Master archetype, was a clear evolution from the fighter into the buff/heal space that "traditionally" belongs to the Cleric.
Kill the sacred cow.
So, what does this have to do with the spell above? One of the things that became clear to me ages ago is that to give a Diviner significant space they're going to be the Wizard's version of a Rogue. Where all Wizards play to the "knowledgeable" role a diviner has a more immediate tap on not just esoteric and ancient but also the immediate and impending- what I refer to above as being the party "finder." With powers like clairvoyance and scrying they become excellent scouts, and a fuller spell selection should only serve to expand that ability.
Which brings us back to the entire conversation above about class design space. So, what of Rogues? One of the things that 4e did that was interesting, and we should remember more, is that it focused the party composition less on specific classes and more on roles. If there's a Diviner in the party maybe the Rogue will focus more on the damage dealing or interactional parts of the class. With a focus on defenses they could take the tank position, maybe we should create a healer concept for the Rogue (a Chirurgeon, a healer who has no access to magic). Maybe the party doesn't need a Rogue at all. I've had several mono- or nearly mon-class parties over the years and, if built well, they can be both fun and effective.
Casting Time: 1 minute
Range: Self
Component: V, S
Duration: 1 hour
For the duration you can add your proficiency bonus to Perception rolls. If you are already trained in the Perception skill this doubles your effective proficiency bonus for that skill for the duration.
~~*~~
The purpose of sub-classes, like the Wizard schools/traditions and Cleric domains is to branch the classes out so they have more styles of play. Inevitably, however, this creates overlap between them. This has been particularly codified in 5e, with every class having Schools, Circles, or other associations of specialty, down to Rogues and Fighters with their Archetypes. It has been amusing to watch early crossovers become so iconic they move out of the shadows of their parent classes to become classes of their own with their own subtypes; Fighter Clerics becoming Paladins, Wizard Rogues becoming Bards, and Fighter Druids becoming Rangers, While each of these have evolved to become their own "thing," possibly none more clearly than the Bard who has appropriated clerical healing and buffing into an arcane class, they retain much of the flavor and legacy of their origin. This becomes even more entertaining when the child class crosses back in with one of the parent classes (Bardic Schools) or new subclasses have to be created to reproduce the successful crossbreed (Arcane Trickster).
What's the point of all this? There's not enough design space for more than four very narrowly designed classes to each have a unique set of skills. This is why the archetypical/prototypical Wizard is a learned evoker, Rogue is the backstabbing-finder, the Fighter is a tank, and Cleric the buff-dispenser and healer. Any expansion or change in one of these slots and someone is getting in another lane. However, even as the community loves and demands exactly this expansion, there's strong resistance in many quarters to it. In some places it's a sacred cow beyond all reason, such as the line in the DMG about wizard healing stepping on clerics' turf. But, if we just accept that classes are going to be all over one another, that the cleric doesn't have to be the healer and the rogue doesn't have to be the finder, we get an immense amount of flexibility out of the concepts already existing in D&D.
Wizard schools and Cleric domains are, perhaps, the easiest place to see this, with their clear labels, long evolution, and discrete chunks of rules in the form of spells. However, there's no reason that Fighters and Rogues have to be any less flexible. The 4e Warlord, which seems to have been folded back into the Fighter as the Battle Master archetype, was a clear evolution from the fighter into the buff/heal space that "traditionally" belongs to the Cleric.
Kill the sacred cow.
So, what does this have to do with the spell above? One of the things that became clear to me ages ago is that to give a Diviner significant space they're going to be the Wizard's version of a Rogue. Where all Wizards play to the "knowledgeable" role a diviner has a more immediate tap on not just esoteric and ancient but also the immediate and impending- what I refer to above as being the party "finder." With powers like clairvoyance and scrying they become excellent scouts, and a fuller spell selection should only serve to expand that ability.
Which brings us back to the entire conversation above about class design space. So, what of Rogues? One of the things that 4e did that was interesting, and we should remember more, is that it focused the party composition less on specific classes and more on roles. If there's a Diviner in the party maybe the Rogue will focus more on the damage dealing or interactional parts of the class. With a focus on defenses they could take the tank position, maybe we should create a healer concept for the Rogue (a Chirurgeon, a healer who has no access to magic). Maybe the party doesn't need a Rogue at all. I've had several mono- or nearly mon-class parties over the years and, if built well, they can be both fun and effective.
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