In 5th Edition , subclasses let players add some flair and personality to the standard classes. They are great for homebrewers, since they let players create character options with a strong theme without making a full class progression. However, there are certain things to consider when homebrewing subclasses for different classes. Here are some tips for making a wizard Ar🔴cane Tradition, either for personal use or publication.
Lots And Lots Of Spells
Wizards have the largest spell list of any class in the game. In addition, thanks to their ability to copy new spells into their spell books, wizards can potentially have many, many more known spells to choose from each day. This is because, while wizards lack the mechanical variety of other classes, t🦄hey make up for it wiꦡth versatile spellcasting that can be altered for any occasion.
However, this spellcasting is already as versatile as it can be without outclassing the other casters entirely. It may be tempting to build on the wizard’s strengths and add access to more spells, but this should be approachꦰed with caution.
Specification Encouragement
Wizards can do a ౠwhole lot of things, so one purpose of the wizard subclass is to urge the wizard towards a certain tไype of magic. There are two main ways to do this. One is found in the player’s handbook. This type encourages the use of one of the schools of magic by making them easier to copy into a spellbook and by having abilities that interact that school of magic. Creators will likely not be making this type of subclass, since there already exists a subclass for each school.
The other wizard subclasses are more complicated. They use a variety of abilities to encꦯourage a certain playstyle or t𓃲ype of spell use. For instance, the War Magic subclass has a variety of defensive abilities to encourage combat spells. In addition, creators who create a new category of spells can encourage the use of those spells, like what the subclasses in the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount do with dunamancy.
Non-Spell Magic
In addition to 💖encouraging a certain type of spell use, the subclass should have abilities that operate along the same theme as the encouraged spells. These abilities should offer utility that wizards cannot get from their spell list. They should seem like something other than just another spell. Passive benefits work well for this, as opposed to the active use of spells, but they are not the only option available.
At the same time, these abilities should not drastically shift the way that wizards are played. Wizards are primarily spellcasters, and shifting away from spellc🔴asting changes the natu💎re of the class. The subclass abilities should subtly alter the wizard playstyle while still keeping it fundamentally a wizard.
Creator🍌s should keep th❀ese guidelines in mind, and make they don’t make the subclass too strong or too weak at any given level. As for coming up with the flavor for the archetype, they’ll have to use their imagination for that.