A History of Magic: The History of Enchantment (D&D)

Contents

Previously: Transmutation Subschools and Selected Spells

As research on the inner path developed into necromancy its practitioners were intimately aware of the power the energy they used had over living beings. As this awareness expanded, they discovered a variety of ways that the nature of the links between living creatures could be manipulated to produce sympathetic effects. One of the earliest innovations, long before the discovery of the negative energy plane as a source of power, was the means to influence the mind of living creatures.

A History of Magic: Transmutation Subschools and Selected Spells (D&D)

Contents

Previously: The History of Transmutation

Transmutation Subschools: Alteration, Metamorphosis.

Alteration: Alteration spells render physical changes on a material object, possibly improving its physical nature or granting it metaphysical properties.

Metamorphosis: Like all transmutations, these spells impose a physical change on a living creature. These spells change the nature of a living object, changing its form and possibly granting it greater abilities or new ones. At their most powerful metamorphic spells can make creature into an object, but still preserving their mind.

Selected Spells:

Talons

Transmutation cantrip (metamorphosis)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Self

Components: V, S, M (a bird's claw)

Duration: 1 minute

You transform your hands into wicked, birdlike claws. While under the effect of this spell you lack the manual dexterity to cast spells with somatic components. However, you can you make swift, slashing strikes in battle. You may choose to use Dexterity instead of Strength with your unarmed attacks, roll d4 slashing in place of your normal damage with such attacks, and, when you use the Attack action you can make one unarmed strike as a bonus action.

This attack's damage die changes when you reach 5th level (1d6), 11th level (d8), and 17th level (d10).

Dweomerwright

Transmutation cantrip (alteration)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: touch

Components: V, S

Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute

You touch a nonmagical weapon. Until the spell ends, that weapon becomes a magic weapon. It grants no bonus to hit or damage, but does effect creatures which are resistant or immune to nonmagical weapons.

Arcane Mark

1st level transmutation (alteration)

Casting Time: 1 action (ritual)

Range: touch

Components: V, S, M (special ink)

Duration: Permanent

This spell enables you to etch your personal rune or mark, which can consist of no more than six characters, upon any substance (even stone or metal) without harm to the material upon which it is placed. When you place this mark, the writing can be visible or invisible. If an invisible mark is made, a detect magic spell or other effects which allows the perception of the invisible, such as see invisibility or the truesight ability likewise allows the user to see an invisible arcane mark. To such vision it appears to glow and be visible, though not necessarily understandable.

The mark can be removed as an action by a touch from the caster. If an arcane mark is placed on a living being, normal wear gradually causes the effect to fade in about a month.

A wizard targeting an item, creature, or location carrying one of their arcane marks on it benefits from an established magical link. Similarly, using an item which a caster has placed their arcane mark on to target that caster provides the same benefit. For example; If you have cast an arcane mark on a location where you are attempting to teleport you count as possessing an “associated object," while attempting to scry on a subject whose arcane mark you have in your possession counts as a “body part, lock of hair, or the like," etc. 

Carapace

1st level Transmutation (metamorphosis)

Cast: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (a piece of turtle shell)

Duration: 1 hour

You touch a willing creature who isn’t wearing armor and it grows a thick protective shell which lasts until the spell ends. The target’s base AC becomes 16 + its Dexterity modifier. However, the target’s Dexterity and Charisma scores suffer a -2 penalty for the duration. Due to the random and irregular nature of the grown carapace the target cannot don armor while this spell is in effect.

Wings of Flight

2nd level Transmutation (metamorphosis)

Cast: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S, M (a pair of remex from a single bird)

Duration: 10 minutes

You touch a willing creature. The target grows a large set of wings for the duration of this spell. Fully opening these wings requires an area as large as if they were one size larger than they normal. Thus, a medium creature would be unable to use them in a 5' hallway. If able to open their wings fully, they gain a flying speed of 60 feet. Further, as a reaction, if you fall and can unfurl your wings you can set your rate of descent to 60 feet per round and, if you land while falling in this manner, land on your feet taking no damage.

While the transformation does not require concentration to maintain, flying or preventing falls with it does. If a flying character loses concentration they begin to fall unless they have another means to stop themselves. They are similarly subject to other effects that will cause flying creatures to fall (PH191). However, these effects do not end the spell, and they can resume concentration with a bonus action. When the spell ends the target reverts back to their natural form, falling if they are still aloft.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a slot of the 3rd level or higher you can target on additional creature for each slot above 2nd.

Next: The History of Enchantment

~~*~~

I think I've made it painfully obviously that I think that transmutation needs a machete-style amputation, and intended to go all in for it- hacking out chunks that I've never felt fit into transmutation despite being there for multiple editions across decades. But, this shouldn't be taken to mean that I think the transmutation school needs *weakened*. It simply think it needed focused as transmuters often lack a "feel" that goes beyond that of generic wizards. With this conception transmuters suddenly have at least a couple competing, clear, and, hopefully, compelling visions.
While I've generally gone for "evolutionary" spells throughout this, here I wanted to specifically make a demonstration of what I think truly transmutative versions of spells that exist in the school would look like. While I made clear that I think "Fly," as written, should be elsewhere, transmutation, as I'm redefining it, remains perfectly capable of providing that effect. In fact, with the limitations placed I think it's easy to justify it being a lower level spell, on par with Spider Climb.

A History of Magic: The History of Transmutation (D&D)

Contents

Previously: Conjuration Subschools and Selected Spells

It has been suggested several times that Transmutation is the lost art of positive necromancy, or its direct descendant. The rampant growth and metamorphosis of positive energy mediated and controlled. The historical record, however, disputes this. The first efforts in transmutation were expressions of elementalism contemporary with the initial experiments in creating matter. Both groups grew from the earth and water focused expressions of elemental force in material form. While their contemporaries sought the creation of matter these individuals instead worked to change that which already existed in hopes that they could produce more dramatic effects for less energy.

A History of Magic: Conjuration Subschools and Selected Spells (D&D)

Contents

Previously: The History of Conjuration

Subschools of Conjuration: Creation, Summoning, Teleportation

Creation: A creation spell manipulates matter to create an object or creature in the place the spellcaster designates. If the spell has a duration other than instantaneous, magic holds the creation together, and when the spell ends, the conjured creature or object vanishes without a trace. If the spell has an instantaneous duration, the created object or creature is merely assembled through magic. It lasts indefinitely and does not depend on magic for its existence. Tenser’s Floating Disk, Bigby’s hands, acid, poison.

Summoning: A summoning spell instantly brings a creature or object to a place you designate. If the spell has a duration other than instantaneous when the spell ends or is dispelled the summoned creature or object is instantly sent back to where it came from. One result is such spells often have protections involved for the target of the summons, keeping their spirit from being destroyed if they are slain and restoring them to full health when returned all as part of the ongoing magic. Some summoning spells, referred to as Calling spells, provide none of these protections for the target and caster. Generally these spells have an instantaneous duration, locating a distant subject as normally and then physically teleport them to their new location without additional safeguards and bindings.

Teleportation: A teleportation spell instantaneously transports one or more creatures or objects a great distance. The most powerful of these spells can cross planar boundaries. Unless otherwise noted teleportation spells are like calling spells; the transportation is one-way and not dispellable.

Selected Spells:

Summon Stone

Conjuration cantrip (creation)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: Touch

Components: V, S

Duration: Instantaneous

You create a piece of unworked, non-magical, generally worthless rock no larger than your fist.
You can double the size of this rock or the number of rocks created when you reach 5th level (2 rocks or double the size), 11th level (4 rocks or up to approximately the size of your head), and 17th level (8 rocks or up to approximately the size of your torso).

Conjure Minor Elemental

1st level Conjuration (summoning)

Casting Time: 1 action

Range: 5 feet

Components: V, S M

Duration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You summon a single elemental creature of challenge rating 1/2 or less that appears in your space or an unoccupied spaces that you can see within range. The summoned creature is friendly to you and your companions and disappears when it drops to 0 hit points or when the spell ends. It obeys any verbal commands that you issue to it (no action required by you). If you don’t issue any commands, it defends itself from hostile creatures, but otherwise take no actions. In combat, the summoned creature has its own turn.

Next: The History of Transmutation

~~*~~

Summon Stone was one of the first spells that I created for this project, along with the proto-flame bolt. I've already talked about how the point of these spells is to show an evolution of the underlying concepts, not to be particularly useful. However, that doesn't mean that these spells don't have use. For example, the ability to create essentially unlimited amounts of unworked, mundane, cheap rock is unlikely to break the game. On the other hand, this is exactly the sort of very simple thing that both underscores the conjurer as a "creator of things from nothing" and provides a creative player a tool which, if they can find creative applications, becomes more powerful than the sum of its parts.

I originally wanted the conjure minor elemental spell to be a cantrip, part of my intent to make cantrip forms of each of the schools major components. Summoning is one of the trademarks of the conjuration school. In fact, prior to 3e, the school was called Conjuration/Summoning. But, for all the reasons that the DMG explicitly says that cantrips should not heal, cranked up to 11, that just wouldn't work. Meanwhile, this is what drove the creation of the elemental wisps, my contribution to filling this gaping hole in the monsters available both for DMs and summoners.

A History of Magic: The History of Conjuration (D&D)

Contents

Previously: Abjuration Subschools and Selected Spells

It appears that the earliest conjuration spell was an elementalist’s attempt to give form to energy pulled from the elemental plane of earth, producing a rock. These early experimenters came predominantly from the earth and water focused elementalists, seeking to greater harness the power of their elements of interest. Ever since, conjuration’s focus since has unrelentingly been on the conversion of energy to matter. Initially this represented the creation of new items from unformed energy, and this remains a significant subschool even today. As the shield mages came to prominence these proto-conjurers found themselves with a surfeit of other-planar entities intensely interested in patronizing them. It is not without significant irony that some of the very first contracts by which modern conjurers summon were established by shield mages in efforts to prevent such incursions. However, with little coaching, these magicians became quite able to engage in the callings and summonings of their own.

A History of Magic: Abjuration Subschools and Selected Spells (D&D)

Contents

Previously: The History of Abjuration

Abjuration Subschools: Banishment, Binding, Negation, Shielding, Warding.

Banishment: Spells that cast out entities, physically or metaphysically, causing the magic in the space where they exist, or even within them, to reject them.

Binding: Essentially the inversion of banishment spells, these spells imprison or contain. They may cause the subject to be physically locked into a space (ie; Imprisonment) or to have their powers turned back upon them.

Negation: The second subschool to arise, and the source from which much of the banishment subschool would, in turn, evolve. Spells from this part of the tradition are focused on the manipulation of magic with relationship to energy, rather than physical or spiritual forms. This subschool includes spells that counter, undo, or cause to fail such as Antimagic Shell or Counterspell.

Shielding: The first results of outer path work on defensive magic, and the namesake of the early shield mages. This subschool represents the creation of the variety of barriers used to protect themselves both in research and adventuring. These effects are produced by weaving ambient magic into various forms.

Warding: A derivative of shielding, these effects are turned inward to be released when triggered.

A History of Magic: The History of Abjuration (D&D)

Contents

Previously: Evocation Subschools and Selected Spells

               The earliest outer path practitioners largely eschewed concerns regarding control and finesse in their craft. Consequently, a winnowing began to occur as the most powerful of their number began to experiment with what we would recognize as the earliest attempts at third level evocation spells. This encouraged a new level of care among their number. Coinciding with a renaissance in the inner path due to the breakthrough discoveries of the energy planes, a new group of outer-path researchers began working with inner path formulations for manipulation and control of magical power.

A History of Magic: Evocation Subschools and Selected Spells (D&D)

Contents

Previously: The History of Evocation

The Subschools of Evocation: Air, Earth, Fire, Force, Water.

Air: Those who focus on the elemental powers of air most directly express their power through applications of lightning and thunder.

Earth: Geomantic practices are rarely considered among those discussing evocation. The earth-based magics of evocation seeming dwarfed by the physical conjurations or manipulations of transmuters. Even among evokers, the flash of pyromancers or even aero and hydromancers is enough to overwhelm the geomancer. However, the practice persists even outside that required to generate raw force energy. Generally geomantic power is manipulated slowly and subtly, like any influence of the stone from which it is drawn. However, it also has the potential to generate potent effects over such fundamental forces as gravity.

Fire: The stereotypical evoker focuses on fire, though this is by no means the only focus within the tradition. One of the benefits of the influence of the sub-school, however, is the ranging applications that have been discovered for what might otherwise be dismissed as a purely destructive energy. For example, pyromantic evokers are the source of the ubiquitous light spell and regularly create dizzying pyrotechnic displays for events and celebrations.

Force: While the pyromancer is the stereotype, the prototypical evoker is far more balanced in their use of elemental energies. At the core of their practice they bring these energies together to generate raw magical energy such as that discharged freely in magic missile. More controlled applications of such telekinetic manipulation are the various forms of levitation and flight, including feather fall.

Water: The clearest expression of hydromantic evocation is through the use of cold.

A History of Magic: The History of Evocation (D&D)

Contents

Previously: Necromancy Subschools and Selected Spells

The outer path, while later to arise than the inner path, developed much more quickly. Focused on elemental energies the result was an abundance of relatively safe power. In comparison to practitioners of the inner path these outer path students were able to simply seek out larger fonts of their desired energy and channel it with near abandon. In fact, the popularity of fire as an easily constructed, drawn, and enlarged source of energy is influential in the thoughts of evokers even today. While they risked physical and metaphysical injury doing so, such concerns were nothing compared to the violent reactions of positive and negative energy to the mortal form and spirit. The result was swift access to still greater flows of energy through channels to the elemental planes.