Arcane Intuition

Arcanists are born with an innate connection to magic, much like a sorcerer, granting them the inherent ability to produce magical spells. However, like wizards, arcanists take a structured, academic approach to the understanding of their magical power. Through their studies and experiences, arcanists develop a powerful intuition regarding the mechanics of magic. This comprehension of the underpinnings of magic grants arcanists greater control over their spells, allowing them to twist one spell to be more like another or even combine two spells together.

Versatile Magic

Combining their strengths, an arcanist's inherent connection to the arcane and their academic understanding of magic allow them to utilize their magical powers in surprising and novel ways. Expert arcanists are unmatched in their spontaneous magical versatility and their ability to produce new, unique spells. An arcanist is rarely caught off guard, able to use each one of their spells to overcome a myriad of challenges.

Arcanists frequently set out on adventure to seek out greater knowledge and understanding of their magical
power. In an adventuring party, arcanists serve as a
powerful source of adaptable magic, able to tailor their
spells to each challenge the group faces.

Creating an Arcanist

When you create your arcanist, consider two questions in parallel. First, where did you get your magical powers from? Were you blessed by some powerful being, or maybe magical power flows through your bloodline? Second, what did you do to study and master your arcane power? Did you join a college of wizards, learning to see your magic in an academic light? Or perhaps you immersed yourself in a study of gods and other powerful beings to try and discern the source of your power? In any case, consider the relationship between your magical abilities and your efforts to study and understand them.

Arcanists are known for their ability to tune spells to their liking and often have preferences for certain types of spells/magics. Look ahead at the branches of study you will choose from at 2nd level. Are you particularly dedicated to one school of magic or a few select spells? Maybe you have a vested interest in the magic surrounding the soul and the boundary between life and death? Or are you dedicated to a divine being or fiend who plays some role in your powers?

Lastly, consider your purpose in setting off on adventure. Are you seeking experience to grow your arcane power and gain greater expertise in spellcasting? Or, maybe you are curious about the origins of your magic and are seeking answers that cannot be found in a library. Perhaps some tragedy befell you or a loved one and you are trying to understand the cause?

Quick Build

You can make an arcanist quickly by following these suggestions. First, make Intelligence your highest ability score, followed by Constitution or Dexterity. Second, choose the sage background. Third, choose the firebolt, gust, light, and thunderclap cantrips along with the
1st-level spells mage armor and
burning hands.

Hit Points

• Hit Dice: 1d6 per arcanist level
• Hit Points at 1st Level: 6 + your Constitution modifier
• Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per arcanist level after 1st.

Spell Blending

Beginning at 3rd level, extensive study of your arcane power has granted you the knowledge needed to blend your spells in unique combinations. On your turn, you may use your action to cast two spells as if they were one. Both spells must have a casting time of one action, bonus action, or reaction, and only one of the spells can be a cantrip. The two spells used in the blended spell are referred to as "component spells" in the following paragraphs.

A blended spell counts has a level equal to the combined level of both component spells. If one of the component spells is a cantrip, the blended spell level equals the level of the other spell plus one. Casting a blended spell requires expending a spell slot of a level equal to or greater than the spell's level, in place of spell slots for each component spell.

A blended spell counts as casting one spell with the effects of both component spells. You choose the targets or areas of each component spell separately based on the normal ranges and targets of each component spell, and each retains its normal duration. In addition, you choose which component spell's effects occur first, if the order matters. Both component spells may require concentration, in which case both effects end if you lose concentration. Lastly, when you use the "tweak spell" feature to modify a blended spell, you may modify one or both of the component spell's effects.

As you gain arcanist levels, you gain further ways to blend the effects of your spells:

• Damage Type: At 5th level, when you blend two spells that deal damage, you may choose to change the damage type(s) of one of the component spells to match a damage type of the other.
• Range: At 9th level, you may change the range of one of your component spells to match the range of the other.
• Targets/Area: At 13th level, you may change the targets/area of one of your component spells to match the targets/area of the other. If this causes a spell that normally affects one target to affect multiple targets or gain an area of effect, the level of the blended spell increases by one.
• Hit/Save: At 17th level, you may replace the attack roll or saving throw required by one of your component spells with an attack roll or saving throw involved with the other component spell.
      If you replace a saving throw with an attack roll, the level of the blended spell increases by one, with one exception: If the original spell dealt half damage on a successful saving throw, the effect now deals full damage on a hit and no damage on a miss, and the blended spell's level does not increase by one.

Arcane Savant Spells

At 2nd level, when you select this branch of study, choose one of the following schools of magic: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, or Transmutation. The chosen school becomes your "specialty school", which affects the features granted by the arcane savant branch of study.

You learn extra spells from your specialty school, as shown in the following chart. These spells can come from any spell list.

Preferred Magic

Beginning at 2nd level, you have a strong inclination towards spells from your specialty school, making it easier to copy their attributes into your other spells.

When you use the tweak spell feature to copy a property from a spell that is part of your specialty school, you do not expend a use of tweak spell.

School Recognition

Beginning at 6th level, your familiarity with your specialty school becomes sufficiently strong that you effortlessly recognize related spells and effects. When you observe or are affected by a spell or effect from your specialty school, you immediately know the name and level of the spell and its effects.

Intuitive Blending

Beginning at 10th level, blending spells from your specialty school becomes second nature to you, making it less taxing to perform.

When you use the spell blending feature and one or both of
    the component spells come from your specialty school, you
    regain an expended spell slot up to half the level of the
        blended spell (rounded down).

Know Your Weaknesses

         Beginning at 14th level, your awareness of the
        weaknesses and limitations of spells in your specialty
        school allows you to more easily avoid and resist their
        effects. You gain the following benefits:

• You have advantage on saving throws to resist the effects of spells from your specialty school.

• Creatures have disadvantage on attack rolls to hit you with spells from your specialty school.

Second Passion

           By 18th level, you have expanded your expertise and
       picked up another focus for your arcane power. Choose a
       second specialty school. You gain the benefits of the
       "preferred magic", "school recognition", "intuitive
      blending", and "know your weaknesses" features for the
     new school.

Twilight Sage

Many mages throughout history have studied how magic interacts with the soul and death. Twilight sages know that magic permeates the essence of life itself, and they study how that magic persists following the death or "the twilight of life". If life and soul can be controlled and understood, the underlying twilight magic can be harnessed.

Twilight Sage Spells

Arcanist Level	Spells
2nd	False Life, Hex
3rd	Gentle Repose, Wither and Bloom
5th	Revivify, Vampiric Touch
7th	Blight, Death Ward
9th	Enervation, Raise Dead

Twilight Magic

Beginning at level 2, your soul itself becomes partially infused with the weave of magic, empowering it when you cast spells. Whenever you cast a spell, you gain temporary hit points equal to the level of the spell slot expended.

If you gain temporary hit points from a spell you cast, they are added to those you gain from this feature and treated as one pool of temporary hit points.

Soul Speaker

At 6th level, you learn to reach into the residual soul essence of recently deceased creatures to read their memories. Once per long rest, you may cast the spell speak with dead on the corpse of a creature that has died within 10 days, without expending a spell slot.

The spell acts differently when cast this way. Instead of allowing the corpse to speak, you hear the answers to your questions in your mind as you probe the lingering soul memories. The memories you find are generally brief and cryptic, but are also always true.

Siphon Death

           Beginning at 10th level, you can absorb the magical
             energies a creature releases on death to restore your
               own spellcasting power. When a medium or larger
            creature dies within 60 feet, you can use your reaction
          to recover spell slots with a combined level equal to or
       less than half your arcanist level (rounded down). Each
        spell slot recovered this way must be 5th-level or less.

    Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until
          you complete a short or long rest.

Persistent Soul

  Beginning at 14th level, the twilight magic flowing through
   your soul makes you unnaturally hard to kill and improves
  your ability to reunite souls and bodies. This grants you the following benefits:

• Whenever you make a death saving throw, you do so with advantage.
• The duration a creature can be dead and still be affected by spells like revivify or raise dead is doubled if you are casting the spell.
• You can be dead for up to ten times as long as normal and still be affected by spells like revivify or raise dead.

Spirit and Body

Beginning at 18th level, you have mastered control over your own spirit and soul, granting you the following benefits.

Project Spirit

Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can separate your spirit from your body and become incorporeal for up to one minute, while temporarily transferring your corporeal body to a pocket of the ethereal plane. While in this form, you can pass through solid objects and have immunity to nonmagical bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage. In addition, while in your incorporeal form, when you hit a creature with a spell or a creature fails a saving throw to resist one of your spells, that creature takes 2d8 necrotic damage.

You can return to your physical form early as a bonus action. When your incorporeal form ends, you resummon your body to your current space and your spirit and body are rejoined.

If you occupy the same spot as a solid object or creature when your spirit form ends, you are immediately shunted to the nearest unoccupied space that you can occupy and take force damage equal to twice the number of feet you are moved.

Inhabit Corpse

If you die, you may have your spirit attempt to inhabit the corpse of a small or medium humanoid creature within 60 feet. The body must be sufficiently intact to sustain life. If you do so, you gain three levels of exhaustion. In addition, you have 0 current hit points and must make death saving throws to stabilize as normal.

If you stabilize, you successfully inhabit the new body. Your strength, dexterity, and constitution scores become equal to those the creature had in life (maximum of 20); these changes can affect your AC, hit points, etc. Your other statistics remain the same.

If you fail to stabilize, you die again and can only be restored to life by means of a true resurrection or wish spell.

Elemental Attunement

At 2nd level, you learn to attune yourself to the elemental planes, gaining the strengths of different elements as each situation requires. Once per short rest, as a bonus action, you can switch your elemental attunement to either air, earth, fire, or water. Each of these elements grants you different benefits as you gain arcanist levels.

You may change the damage of a spell to the associated damage type of the element you are currently attuned to, without expending a use of tweak spell. The damage types associated with each element are as follows:

• Lightning - Air Attunement
• Acid - Earth Attunement
• Fire - Fire Attunement
• Cold - Water Attunement

Elementalist Spells

Depending on your current elemental attunement, you gain access to some of the following spells. When you switch attunements, you lose any spells gained from the previous element you were attuned to.

Chaotic Protection

Beginning at 6th level, you are more resilient against the elements you attune to. While attuned to an element, you have resistance to the associated damage type.

Elemental Intensity

Beginning at 10th level, you draw upon the elemental planes to intensity your magic. When you cast a spell that deals the damage type associated with your currently attuned element, you may reroll a number of the damage dice up to your intelligence modifier (minimum of one). You must use the new rolls.

Energetic Form

At 14th level, your attuned element bestows magical changes to your form. You gain the following change to your movement according to the following chart:

Element	Movement
Air	You gain a flying speed equal to your current speed that you can use for up to 10 minutes (recharges on short/long rest).
Earth	You gain a burrow speed equal to half your current speed.
Fire	Your base speed increases by 10 ft.
Water	You gain a swim speed equal to your current speed and can breathe underwater.

In addition, once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can gain the benefits of one of the following investiture spells for 10 minutes depending on which element you are currently attuned to: Investiture of Wind (Air), Stone (Earth), Flame (Fire), or Ice (Water).

Elemental Apotheosis

At 18th level, you no longer need to choose which element you are attuned to. You are considered to be attuned to air, earth, fire, and water all at once, and gain the benefits associated with each element from the "elementalist spells", "chaotic protection", "elemental intensity", and "energetic form" features.

When you use the "energetic form" feature to gain the benefits of an investiture spell, you choose which spell to benefit from.

Divine Scholar Spells

Holy Magic

Beginning at 2nd level, you can beseech the divine to channel their powers in your magic. When your spellcasting feature lets you learn an arcanist spell, you can choose the new spell from the cleric spell list or the arcanist spell list. These are arcanist spells for you.

In addition, when you cast a spell that targets one or more creatures, you may choose to restore a number of hitpoints to those creatures equal to the spell slot expended to cast the spell. However, if a creature is at 0 hit points, this grants them one automatic success on a death saving throw instead of restoring hit points.

Divine Guidance

Beginning at 6th level, you can call upon guidance from the heavens to support you and your allies. Once per short
rest, when a creature you can see within 30 feet
(including yourself) fails an ability check, you can use your reaction to add 2d4 to their total, possibly changing the outcome.

Miraculous Healing

At 10th level, you have developed a connection with the divine and have been blessed with a supernatural ability to heal others. Once per long rest, as a bonus action, you can touch a creature and bless them with rapid healing. For the next minute, at the beginning of each of that creature's turns,
they regain Xd4 hit points, where X is half your arcanist
level (rounded down).

In addition, at the end of the one minute duration,
the creature is no longer blinded, deafened, paralyzed,
or poisoned, and is cured of disease.

Divine Knowledge

Beginning at 14th level, you are an expert at petitioning chosen deities for knowledge. You gain the following benefits:

• When you cast the borrowed knowledge spell, you gain proficiency in a second chosen skill for the duration of the spell.
• When you cast the divination spell, you may ask a second question after receiving your answer to the first as part of the same spell.
• When you cast the commune spell, you may ask questions that cannot be answered with a yes or no. Like the divination spell, answers are generally given as short phrases, cryptic rhymes, or omens.

Word of the Gods

Beginning at 18th level, your spells are imbued with ultimate divine knowledge originating from the creation of life.

Whenever a creature fails a saving throw to resist one of your spells, you may choose to additionally afflict them with the effects of the divine word spell. When cast this
way, the divine word spell does not force
celestials, elementals, fey, or fiends
back to their plane of
origin.

Occultist Spells

Dark Magic

Beginning at 2nd level, your magic is bolstered by the knowledge of ancient beings you study. When your spellcasting feature lets you learn an arcanist spell, you can choose the new spell from the warlock spell list or the arcanist spell list. These are arcanist spells for you.

In addition, you learn the eldritch blast cantrip and you learn to speak either abyssal or
infernal (your choice).

Lesser Invocation

At 6th level, you gain your first gift of power from a dark otherwordly being. From the list of eldritch invocations in the warlock class, choose one invocation that you meet the prerequisites for. You gain the benefits of the chosen invocation.

For this and the "greater invocation" features, when an invocation references your charisma, you may use your intelligence instead. Similarly, arcanist spell slots can be used in place of warlock slots for spells granted by invocations.

Fiendish Servant

Beginning at 10th level, you learn to summon a powerful servant of the being you covenanted with. You learn the summon fiend spell, which counts as an arcanist spell for you and does not require material components to cast.

Once per long rest, you can cast this spell at without expending a spell slot. The spell's level equals the level of the highest spell slot(s) you have at your current level (e.g. 5th level at arcanist level 10 or 9th level at arcanist level 17).

Greater Invocation

At 14th level, you are bestowed with even greater power as your connection to your dark patron grows. Choose two additional invocations that you meet the prerequisites for from the list of warlock eldritch invocations. You gain the benefits of the chosen invocations.

Hellish Master

Beginning at 18th level, you are an unwavering conduit of the will of your patron, allowing you to directly control the actions of fiends you summon. You gain the following benefits:

• Creatures you summon with the summon lesser demons and summon greater demon spells are always loyal to you and hostile only to creatures you choose.

• You can direct the actions of creatures you summon telepathically, requiring no action on your part.

• When you cast the summon lesser demons spell, you choose the result of the d6 roll as well as what specific type of demons you summon.

• When you cast the summon lesser demons, summon greater demon, or summon fiend
     spells, they are treated as if you cast them
          at one level higher.

Spell Specialist

Some arcanists believe that deep, tightly-focused specialization is the optimal approach to magic. To do so, these casters heavily emphasize a relatively small number of spells and develop an unrivaled mastery over them.

Known as spell specialists, these arcanists often seek to become an unparalleled virtuoso of their chosen spells, learning to use them better than any other caster can.