The Arcanist[]
Description: Arcane magic is a volatile andinebriating drug, pure power distilled and channeled through the body to create arcane effects. Many races wield arcane power carelessly, disregarding the lessons of the past. The arcanist class encompasses all users of arcane magic — those who seek power without regard for consequences, and those who think arcane might can be handled responsibly; each arcane spellcaster chooses a distinct path. Those who wish to manipulate arcane magic must choose the way of the mage, necromancer or warlock. Each path specializes in a particular kind of magic, which reflects the nature and practice of the arcane arts on Azeroth. In a world effectively forged in war and beset by pervasive evils such as the Scourge and the Burning Legion, arcanists have gradually come to excel in specific areas of arcane magic. What Azeroth’s arcanists might lack in versatility, however, they more than make up for in the abilities they acquire and the powers they wield within their chosen paths.
Races:Dwarves, gnomes, high elves, humans, trolls and Forsaken are all capable of becoming mages. The dark path of the necromancer is rarely taken. Humans and the Forsaken practice this black art, while most other races seem not to have the stomach for such magic. Warlocks are uncommon. Some exist among the Forsaken, outcast gnomes, humans and orcs foolish enough to toy with the forces of demonic energy. The few remaining high elves who are warlocks have long since become blood elves.
Alignment:Arcanists can have the best of intentions, and while mages tend to be from mostly good and lawful alignments, necromancers and warlocks tend to come from the more unsavory levels of morality.
Affiliation:Arcanists are found among all of the affiliations; regardless of their practices, you will encounter them in both the Horde and the Alliance. Warlocks are far more common in the Alliance, surprisingly enough — the fact that the use of arcane magic is so prevalent in the Alliance possibly allows for such reckless practices. Still, mages are far more common in the Alliance, outnumbering warlocks immensely. Necromancers are unheard of — until someone encounters one.
Abilities:Whether it is the way of fire and frost or the whispering of the dead, all arcanists rely on Intellect to learn and master the powers they seek to command. Agility is also helpful, for good reflexes help to avoid a harmful sword blow or an incoming blast of flame.
Hit Die:d6.
Class Skills[]
The Arcanist’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Sta), Craft (Int), Craft (trade skill) (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Spt), Speak Language and Spellcraft (Int). See Chapter 5: Skills for skill descriptions.
Skill Points at 1st Level:(2 + Int modifier) x 4.
Skill Points at Each Additional Level:2 + Int modifier.
Class Features[]
Weapon and Armor Proficiency:Arcanists are proficient with clubs, daggers and quarterstaffs, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with an arcanist’s movements, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail.
Spells:An arcanist casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the arcanist spell list and the spell list for her particular path. An arcanist must rest and then prepare her spells for the day. To learn, prepare or cast a spell, the arcanist must have an Intellect score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The DC for a saving throw against an arcanist’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the arcanist’s Intellect modifier. Like other spellcasters, an arcanist can cast only a certain number of spell slots of each spell level per day.Her base daily spell slot allotment is given on Table 3–4:
Arcanist Spell Slots Per Day. In addition, she receives bonus spell slots per day if she has a high Intellect score.An arcanist may know any number of spells. She must rest for 8 hours and then select her prepared spells from a spellbook. After selecting the spells, she must spend a number of minutes equal to each spell level being prepared, starting from lowest to highest level. A 0-levelspell requires 1 minute to prepare.
Spellbook:An arcanist requires a spellbook in order to prepare her spells. If she does not have access to a spellbook while resting, she may not prepare her spells. She may prepare spells from her own spellbook normally.Preparing known spells from another arcanist’s spellbook takes double the normal amount of time. Arcanists cannot share spellbooks while resting. An arcanist begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level arcanist spells and all 0-level spells of her path’s spell list, plus three 1st-level spells of the player’s choice. For each point of Intellect bonus the arcanist has, the spellbook holds one additional 1st-level spell. The arcanist can choose to learn new spells at any time; however, she must pay the costs and spend the time necessary to learn them. At any time, an arcanist can also add spells found in other arcanists’ spellbooks to her own, as long as they are available to her current path.
Arcane Corruption:The arcane energy that a necromancer or warlock uses will corrupt her. For every 5 levels of necromancer or warlock the character has, her alignment takes one step toward an evil alignment in line with her current alignment (lawful, neutral, or chaotic).
For instance, if Higgins the human necromancer is lawful neutral at 1st level, at 5th level his alignment will shift to Lawful Evil. (For a more detailed arcane corruption variant rules system, see Magic & Mayhem.)
Arcane Path:Arcanists take levels in one of three “paths” (mage, necromancer or warlock), with each path casting spells from its own spell list and gaining special abilities that reinforce and enhance its particular brand of magic. Each path also faces certain restrictions when learning and casting spells from the spell list of another path (in the case of multiclassing). All arcanists have these class features based on their
chosen paths:
| Human Mage Starting Pack | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Armor: Non (speed 30ft) | |||
| Weapons: Quarterstaff (1d6/1d6, crit x2, 4 lb., twohanded, bludgeoning); light crossbow (1d8, crit 19–20/x3, range inc. 80 ft., 4 lb., piercing) | |||
| Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 2 + Int modifier. | |||
| Skill | Ranks | Ability | Armor Check Penalty |
| Concentration | 4 | Sta | ---------- |
| Decipher Script | 4 | Int | ---------- |
| Diplomacy | 4 | Cha | ---------- |
| Knowledge (Arcana) | 4 | Int | ---------- |
| Search | 2 | Int | ---------- |
| Spellcraft | 4 | Int | ---------- |
| Feat: Magic Energy Control | |||
| Bonus Feat: Scribe Scroll | |||
| Spellbook: All 0-Level spells from the mage and arcanist spell lists, plus arcane missile, charm person and slow fall, plus one of these spells of your choice per point of Intellect bonus (if any): burning hands, comprehend languages, mana shield and protection form evil. | |||
| Gear: Backpack with waterskin, 1 day's trail rations, bedroll, sack, and flint and steel. Ten candles, scroll case, 3 pages of parchment,ink, ink pen. Spell component pouch, spellbook. Case with 10 crossbow bolts. | |||
| Funds: 3d6 gp | |||
• An arcanist can cast one additional spell per spell level per day from his specifi c spell list. A multiclassed arcanist must choose the path spell list for his additional spell; the path spell list need not be the same for each spell level. Thus, the arcanist receives only one additional spell per spell level per day, regardless of how many paths in which he has levels.
• The save DCs of spells from the arcanist’s path spell lists are increased by +1.
• The arcanist receives a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks to learn spells from his path spell list(s).
• An arcanist acquires special abilities, called “arcana,”at 1st, 4th, 8th, 12th and 16th level according to his path,as noted in Table 3–3: The Arcanist and described below.
•Forbidden Arts:While all arcanists can cast spells from the general arcanist spell list, they face certain restrictions when casting spells from another path’s spell list. They cast spells from another path’s spell list with a –2 caster level penalty (minimum caster level 1st, but these penalties stack with those imposed by arcane addiction). The save DCs of such spells are reduced by –2, and there is a 2% chance per spell level of spell failure when casting spells from another path’s spell list. Arcanists cannot learn spells from another path’s spell list unless they have at least one level in that path. (See Chapter 16 for spell lists.)
These restrictions apply to all but the arcanist’s current path, which is the path in which she most recently took a level.
Scribe Scroll:At 1st level, an arcanist gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.
Bonus Feat:At 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th level, an arcanist gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity,she can choose a metamagic feat or an item creation feat. The arcanist must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.
Arcanist Paths[]
Each section below details one of the three paths available to the arcanist.
Mage (Mge) []
Mages, the most common of arcanists, are found all over Azeroth. They focus on magic that creates and that changes things, most often with the purpose of damaging their enemies and boosting the power of their allies.
Necromancer (Ncr)[]
Necromancers twist arcane magic to manipulate the power of death. Commanding the undead, generally in service of the Scourge, they gradually take on the appearance and characteristics of the dead — hollow eyes, shambling gaits, pallid and sunken skin, foul odors and so forth.
Warlock (Wrl)[]
Warlocks devote themselves to trafficking with demons and other vile beings, seeking the roots of demonic power and other dark knowledge. They initially appeared on Azeroth during the First War, when Gul’dan, the first of their kind, led the Horde through the Dark Portal from Draenor while in servitude to the Burning Legion.