Runecrafting
A homebrew wizard subclass by DragonZaid.
While many spellcasters rely on runes, small stones imbued with pure magical energy of a particular force, wizards of the arcane tradition of runecrafting use them to even greater effect. They devote their studies to learning how to create special, empowered runes out of the ambient magical energy in all things. These runes can then be used to supplement their spells with a variety of additional effects. The most expert of runecrafters can coax extra power out of their runes and even combine the effects of multiple runes simultaneously.
Runecrafting
At 2nd level, you have unlocked the secrets of crafting special empowered runes which can be used to augment and empower your spells. When you finish a long rest, you gain a number of runecrafting points equal to your wizard level which can be spent to create any combination of available runes of your choice. You can instantly craft any number of runes at the end of your long rest or use an action at any time to craft one rune. The next time you finish a long rest, any leftover runecrafting points you have are lost, and any remaining runes disappear.
When you cast a wizard spell on your turn, you can consume one rune to gain its effect for that casting. If the rune's effect targets an unwilling creature, that creature must have been hit with an attack or failed a saving throw to be affected. The rune's effect takes place just after the spell's instantaneous effects.
Basic Runes
At 2nd level, you can craft basic runes at a cost of 1 runecrafting point each, which produce the following effects:
Air Rune. You add a gust of air to the spell. Yourself or one target of the spell is pushed 5 feet in a direction of your choice. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.
Water Rune. Your spell splashes a target with ice-cold water. One target of the spell becomes drenched in water. The water extinguishes any uncovered flames on objects they are wearing or carrying and they have disadvantage on the next weapon attack they make before the start of your next turn.
Earth Rune. You manifest heavy and cumbersome stones which cling to one of your victims. One target of the spell is laden with stones which reduce their speed by 10 feet. The stones disappear after 1 minute or if any creature uses an action to remove them.
Fire Rune. You weave harmful flames into the spell. One target of the spell takes an additional 1d4 fire damage when you cast the spell and another 1d4 fire damage at the start of its next turn.
Mind Rune. You add an enchantment to the spell that sharpens the wit. Either you or one target of the spell has advantage on the next Charisma, Intelligence, or Wisdom saving throw they make within the next 1 minute.
Body Rune. You augment the spell with protective magic. Either you or one target of the spell gains 1d6 temporary hit points.
Advanced Runes
At 6th level, you can also craft advanced runes at a cost of 2 runecrafting points each, which produce the following effects:
Cosmic Rune. You weave an additional enchantment into the spell which temporarily enhances the target's equipment. Choose a weapon, armor set, or shield that either yourself or one target of the spell is wielding to receive the enchantment. The enchantment lasts 1 minute and grants a +1 bonus to the AC of a chosen shield or armor set or a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with a chosen weapon.
Chaos Rune. You strengthen the spell with chaotic magic. One target of the spell that took damage from it takes an additional 1d6 damage of one of the spell's damage types. If you instead choose to deal damage of a random type, the extra damage increases to 2d6.
Astral Rune. You enhance the spell with a magical vengeance effect. Choose either yourself or one target of the spell to receive the effect. The next time the chosen creature takes damage from an attack, the attacker receives half of the same damage.
Nature Rune. You add restorative nature magic to the spell. Either you or one target of the spell regains 2d6 hit points and their maximum hit points increases by the same amount for 1 hour.
Law Rune. You augment the spell with a short-range teleportation. Either you or one target of the spell teleports up to 15 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see.
Master Runes
At 10th level, you can also craft master runes at a cost of 3 runecrafting points each, which produce the following effects:
Death Rune. You weave powerful necrotic magic into the spell, hastening the inevitability of death. One creature targeted by the spell takes an additional 1d6 necrotic damage, and any hit points they regain for the next 1 minute are reduced by half.
Blood Rune. You augment the spell with blood magic, siphoning the life force of your target into an ally. One creature targeted by the spell takes an additional 2d6 necrotic damage, and you can then choose for another creature within 30 feet of the target to regain hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt by the rune.
Soul Rune. You enhance the spell to temporarily strengthen the bond between body and soul. Choose either yourself or one creature targeted by the spell. For the next 1 minute, when the chosen creature drops to 0 hit points, they are not knocked unconscious. They still must make death saving throws, and they suffer the normal effects of taking damage while at 0 hit points. However, if the creature would die due to failing death saving throws, they instead become unconscious and stable, and the effect ends.
Wrath Rune. You strengthen the spell with intense emotional magic. One target of the spell that took damage from it takes an additional 2d6 damage of one of the spell's damage types and the target becomes frightened of you for 1 minute. The target makes a Wisdom saving throw against your spell save DC at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Runeweaving
At 14th level, you have mastered two highly advanced methods of utilizing the runes you craft: runesplitting and combination runes. You can use only one of these effects at once when you cast a spell.
Runesplitting. You coerce even more power out of each rune you expend. If you consume a rune which affects one target of your spell, you can spend 1 runecrafting point to instead cause it to affect two targets of the spell.
Combination Runes. You fuse the magic of two runes together before unleashing a greatly empowered spell. When you consume a rune, you can consume one additional basic rune to also gain its effects for that spell against the same or another target. You cannot combine the effects of two of the same rune.
