Magic Classes

Archivist

An archivist is a wielder of divine magic, similar to a cleric only in the type and nature of the magic at his command. Indeed, the archivist has more in common with the wizard than he does with the standard servant of the divine, due to the scholarly way in which he collects and maintains his spell selection. Archivists seek out esoteric sources of divine lore, wherever those sources might be, securing those secrets for themselves and their fellow scholars.



Beguiler

Some hold truth to be the greatest virtue, but it can do more damage than fiction. Everyone lives in a constant state of deception. White lies, false smiles, and secret thoughts keep society running smoothly. Honesty is a virtue only up to a certain point. Beguilers understand these ideas better than anyone, and they use deception, misunderstanding, and secrets as skillfully as a soldier employs weapons of war.

Beguilers see lying and manipulation as tools. Just as a hammer can be used to build a house or crack a skull, deceit and the ability to control others can be used for good or ill. A lie whispered in the right ear can ruin lives, but a dishonest smile and honeyed words can open doors, turn foes into friends, and even end wars. Beguilers have reputation as rakes, thieves, spies, and puppet masters, but they can also be diplomats, peacemakers, or heroic leaders who give hope in desperate situations.

If you delight in manipulating others, either to their disadvantage or for their own good, then the beguiler is the class for you. More than any other kind of character, you rely on Charisma-based skills to change the reactions of others, while your other class abilities enable you to catch others off-guard with devastating spell-based attacks.


Dragonfire Adept

Whether they are bold champions defending the weak and downtrodden, or merciless raiders seeking might and riches, dragonfire adepts are imposing figures who command the magic of dragonkind. Able to call upon a dragon's fiery breath and augment themselves with spell-like abilities, dragonfire adepts have access to powers normally beyond the reach of humanoids.

Dragonfire adepts have no arcane or divine magic, nor are they masters of martial prowess. Instead, they draw upon a direct link with the nature of draconic existence, infusing their soul with the raw magic of dragons. The most obvious incarnation of this link is their breath weapon, but as they gain experience, dragonfire adepts learn powerful invocations that allow them to access different draconic abilities. Cunning, hearty, and learned, dragonfire adepts can be warleaders or sages with equal ease.

A dragonfire adept is a student devoted to understanding the ways of dragons and emulating them. Evil dragonfire adepts are cruel tyrants who impose their will on others, seeking to control land, build strongholds, and amass vast treasures. Good dragonfire adepts are champions of justice and freedom, using their powers to aid others. Like a sorcerer, a dragonfire adept gains new powers automatically as she rises in level, tapping ever deeper into the draconic magic in her soul. Unlike a sorcerer, however, a dragonfire adept manifests this magic not in the form of spells, but as invocations that emulate draconic powers.

Dread Necromancer

A specialist wizard who calls himself a necromancer or a cleric with the Death domain has significant power over undead and the forces of negative energy, but a dread necromancer is their true master. A practitioner of vile and forbidden arts, the dread necromancer roots about in graveyards, searching out moldering components for her obscene spells. She calls upon restless, tormented spirits of the dead, seeking their arcane secrets. She might be a consummate villain, or perhaps a tortured hero whose obsession with death leads her along questionable moral paths.







Healer

The hurts of the world are manifold. Minor accidents are common, and usually easily dealt with. However, when conflict and all-out warfare occur, they leave misery and hurt in their way that can stagger the imagination. While good-aligned clerics are called upon to heal, their complex obligations and abilities often get in the way of pure solace and remediation. Not so the healer. One of the healer's great purposes in life is to provide protection, and failing that, healing, to all good people who require her aid.

Empathetic, a healer is adept both at detecting the alignment of allies and understanding the coarse, unruly thoughts of beasts. Her way with animals wins her friends among otherwise savage creatures of the wild.



Incarnate

Incarnum is a tool you can use to manipulate the physical manifestations of moral and ethical forces and wield them in righteous pursuit of an ideal. Whether you are holy and righteous or corrupt and evil, you literally come to embody one cause or alignment, adding the distilled essence of good, evil, law, or chaos into your soulmelds.

Gnome Incarnate

A gnome incarnate is a righteous and cunning servant of the cause of good. Often dedicated to Garl Glittergold, the god of gnomes, a gnome incarnate is a living testament to the traditions of the race. His link to the souls of gnomes past, present, and future gives the gnome incarnate a special place of honor among their people, which he holds quite sacred.





Psion

The striking fist or flashing sword pales beside a psion's focused stare. Psionic powers arise from a regimen of strict mental discipline developed over months and years of self-scrutiny and subconscious discovery. Those who overcome their personal demons, fears, and other pitfalls of intense self-reflection learn to call upon an internal reservoir of psionic power.

Psions depend on a continual study of their own minds to discover an ever wider range of mental powers. They meditate on memories and the nature of memory itself, debate with their own fragment personalities, and delve into the dark recesses of their minds' convoluted corridors. "Know thyself" is not just a saying for the psion - it's the road to power.

Erudite

An alternative to the standard psion class, the erudite is a psionic character who follows a scholarly and self-reflective road to power, instead of a merely self-conscious path like the psion follows. An erudite's psionic powers stem from a schedule of austere study and continual practice. Those who can master the teachings of erudite lore eventually call upon an internal reservoir of psionic power.

An erudite's strength lies in his array of powers. His mental abilities are the result of hard work and prolonged study. As with the psion, an erudite's aggressive powers do not freely scale like the spells of arcane and divine casters (though they can be augmented), but he enjoys supreme flexibility in accessing those powers with power points.

Unlike a psion, an erudite does not choose a discipline in which to focus; his ability to learn select discipline powers is somewhat restricted. In addition to the powers he learns for free when gaining a new level, an erudite can learn powers as he comes upon them, which means his potential variety of powers is much broader than a psion's. Additionally, an erudite can seed a crystal or gem with a fragment of his personality, creating a psicrystal as a class feature. A psicrystal has special abilities that are helpful to an erudite.




Shadowcaster

All things fall into shadow, even light. Shadows do not represent the absence of light; they show the presence of darkness. Thus, shadow and darkness are not death or diminishment; they are the fundamental state of the universe, the constant that existed before, that exists now, and that will exist when all other things are snuffed out. So it is with the Plane of Shadow, that dark mirror to the Material Plane and many other realities. Shadowcasters tap into this most fundamental of forces and planes to work their dark wills. By tying themselves to the Plane of Shadow, they maintain a tenuous link to the ultimate force of existence.

The shadowcaster understands the true, primal power of darkness, attunes herself to the Plane of Shadow, and learns great shadow mysteries the equal of any mundane spell. These dark casters are workers of alien magic, possessing an occult understanding of the world and magic that even other spellcasters find disturbing. They are masters of a dark power - and perhaps, as some worry, its servants as well.

Shugenja

A class inspired by the mythologies of Asian cultures, the shugenja is a divine spellcaster who casts spells by attuning himself to the primal energies around him and focusing such energy through his body to produce magical effects. Like the samurai (described in Complete Warrior), shugenjas are often members of the noble class, though they are not as bound by honor and the code of bushido as their martial counterparts.

Sorcerer

Sorcerers create magic the way a poet creates poems, with inborn talent honed by practice. They have no books, no mentors, no theories - just raw power that they direct at will.

Some sorcerers claim that the blood of dragons courses through their veins. That claim may be true in some cases - it is common knowledge that certain powerful dragons can take humanoid form and even have humanoid lovers, and it's difficult to prove that a given sorcerer does not have a dragon ancestor. It's true that sorcerers often have striking good looks, usually with a touch of the exotic that hints at an unusual heritage. Others hold that the claim is either an unsubstantiated boast on the part of certain sorcerers or envious gossip on the part of those who lack the sorcerer's gift.

Dragon Magic Sorcerer

Arcane spellcasters, even those who don't claim the blood of dragons as their own, often have a special link with dragonkind. One manifestation of this link is the caster's familiar, which can take on draconic characteristics.

Player's Handbook II Sorcerer

With a limited selection of spells at his fingertips, it's natural for a sorcerer to turn to metamagic feats to gain flexibility in effects. If the idea of playing a sorcerer who efficiently twists his spells into new shapes and sizes excites you, the metamagic specialist alternative class feature is the way to go. Though you must forgo the benefits of a familiar to pursue this path, some sorcerers relish of not having to keep track of such a vulnerable accessory.

Dwarf Sorcerer

In most dwarf communities, sorcerers are relatively rare. Dwarves don't tend to have the force of personality required for top-notch sorcerers; thus they often prefer wizardry instead. However, a dwarf sorcerer can tap into other reservoirs of power - including the very earth itself - to enhance his arcane aptitude. To do this, he gives up some of his versatility, but the power gained is substantial.

Battle Sorcerer

The battle sorcerer is no weak arcanist, hiding behind the fighters. Instead, she is a capable physical combatant who mixes magical prowess with fighting skill.

Unearthed Arcana Sorcerer

A sorcerer might desire a more durable companion to accompany him on excursions into the wilderness.







Warmage

Some spellcasters care for only one thing: war. They dream of steel and mighty blasts of devastating magic, the march of troops, and the unleashed destruction found on battlefields everywhere. Graduates of special arcane war colleges, those known as warmages are drilled only and utterly in the casting of spells most useful for laying down destruction, confusing an enemy, or screening an allied action. The utilitarian spells used by wizards and sorcerers have little importance to a warmage's way of thinking. What are support casters for, after all? A warmage cares only for success on the battlefield, or, in some cases, in the series of smaller campaigns favored by adventuring companies.

Wizard

A few unintelligible words and fleeting gestures carry more power than a battleaxe, when they are the words and gestures of a wizard. These simple acts make magic seem easy, but they only hint at the time the wizard must spend poring over her spellbook preparing each spell for casting, and the years before than spent in apprenticeship to learn the arts of magic.

Wizards depend on intensive study to create their magic. They examine musty old tomes, debate magical theory with their peers, and practice minor magics whenever they can. For a wizard, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art.

Dragon Magic Wizard

Arcane spellcasters, even those who don't claim the blood of dragons as their own, often have a special link with dragonkind. One manifestation of this link is the caster's familiar, which can take on draconic characteristics.

Player's Handbook II Wizard

Other than having a single additional spell of each spell level, a specialist wizard functions like any other wizard. Your evoker's fireball spell deals as much damage as that of a conjurer, diviner, or necromancer, and doesn't look any different. By taking the immediate magic alternative class feature, you gain a useful trick that sets you apart from other specialists. Though giving up your familiar is a hardship, it means you have one less thing to worry about in a fight.

Gnome Illusionist

Gnomes are inherently drawn to the magic of illusion, and most gnome wizards choose to specialize in that school. As a gnome illusionist advances in level, her intimate familiarity with illusions allows her to cast certain illusion spells more easily than other wizards, to cast illusions that last longer than normal, and to make her spells harder to detect and dispel. These abilities make gnome illusionists the subtlest of all their kind and - some would argue - the most effective.

Elf Wizard

Elves are naturally enthralled by the study of magic, and many of history's most famous wizards were elves. Elf wizards typically prefer a general approach to magic, recognizing the value in versatility.

Domain Wizard

A wizard who uses the arcane domain system (called a domain wizard) selects a specific arcane domain of spells, much like a cleric selects a pair of domains associated with his deity. A domain wizard cannot also be a specialist wizard; in exchange for the versatility given up by specializing in a domain instead of an entire school, the domain wizard casts her chosen spells with increased power.

Some of the arcane domains described in Unearthed Arcana have the same name as a divine domain. Regardless of any apparent similarity, these domains have no connection to one another.

Unearthed Arcana Wizard 1

A wizard might desire a more durable companion to accompany him on excursions into the wilderness.

Unearthed Arcana Wizard 2

Some wizards trade their knowledge of magic and craft to improve their combat prowess.

Abjurer

Masters of protective magic, abjurers can fill many roles in a campaign, from bodyguard to battlemage to adventurer. Although it lacks offensive options, the school of abjuration provides some of the most effective combat spells in the game. An evoker or transmuter might find it easier to bring down large groups of foes, but an abjurer is much more likely to bring herself and her companions through a fight alive.

Conjurer

One of the most versatile schools of magic, conjuration offers its disciples an effective solution to nearly any task: simply summon the appropriate monster and let it solve the problem. In combat, high-level conjurers fight from behnind wave after wave of summoned foes, and in most battles they simply direct their summoned allies into the conflict. In addition to these vaunted summoning powers, conjuration provides effective combat spells and access to teleportation magic.

Diviner

Seekers of knowledge, hoarders of lore, and master spies, diviners are perhaps the most underrated specialist wizards. Because they must give up access to only one other school of magic, they are also the most versatile specialists. More than any other specialists, diviners excel at gathering information, and an adventuring party that includes a diviner is much more likely to prepare properly for an adventure.

Enchanter

Charmer, schemer, deceiver, pacifist: an enchanter can be all these and more. As a practitioner of one of the more subtle schools of magic, an enchanter might charm a guard into opening a well-defended gate that fifty warriors couldn't take by force. Good-aligned enchanters use their power to seek out truth and encourage others onto the path of good, while their evil counterparts bend others' minds at their whim and gather personal power as rapidly as possible.

Evoker

Masters of the raw power of magical energy, evokers can turn the tide of battle with a single powerful spell, leveling groups of foes faster than any other practitioner of magic. Where some wizards focus on careful spell preparation and protective spells to survive combat encounters, evokers simply blast away with powerful energy attacks. Their prodigious offensive abilities ensure that evokers become the center of an adventuring group's battle plan.

Illusionist

Illusionists control their surroundings by shaping, distorting, and deceiving the perceptions of others. To some their abilities seem weak, because they only distort and disguise rather than affecting true change, but those affected by an illusionist's spells know better, understanding that their own senses can be turned against them at any time.

Necromancer

Wrapped in mystery and burdened by reputations of evil, necromancers control dangerous energies that rob the living of strength and grant unlife to the dead. The most powerful necromancers command dangerous undead minions that threaten towns, cities, and sometimes even entire kingdoms with their power. Although necromancers make excellent villains and nemeses for a group of adventurers, neutral- and good-aligned necromancers who view themselves as the shepherds of the living and guardians of the dead can also prove valuable allies.

Transmuter

Masters of change, transmuters are among the most varied and versatile specialists. Transmutation spells, by their very nature, can change the environment and allow the spellcaster to solve nearly any problem.


Wu Jen

Wu jen are spellcasters with mysterious powers. They command the elements, spirit forces, and the powers of nature. They are seldom found living with the rest of human society. Instead, they live as hermits in the wilderness, purifying their bodies and minds to contact the various natural and supernatural powers of the world. From these entities they learn their spells - magical means to control the invisible forces of the world.