Arcane Spellcasting

See also: Spellcasting.

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By drawing power from the arcane weave, an arcane spellcaster can redraw and bend reality to its will. With the use of specific gestures and sounds a spellcaster can interact with the weave, commanding it and telling it what to do. These maneuvers takes years upon years to master, are often long and tedious to cast and perform and can be almost impossible to remember without a spellbook.

While a few arcane spellcaster can cast spells that are fixed in their mind, even in the most dire circumstances, most arcane spellcasters circumvent that problem with an arcane focus. Arcane Spellcasting Ability

Arcane Spellcasting Ability

Arcane spellcasters use Intelligence as their spellcasting ability modifier. You use your Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasitng ability. You are always proficient with your own spellcasting, and the proficiency bonus is level-based, as described above in the Proficiency introduction.

Arcane Spellcasting Ability = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

Learning & Preparation

Arcane spellcasters learn spells that they then must prepare. Each time you learn an arcane spell from either a class feature, feat or other feature, you know it by heart. When you prepare your arcane spells, you prepare them from the spells that you have learned.

Preparing your arcane spells requires time spent studying, practicing and memorizing the incantations and gestures you must make to cast the spell, as well as storing arcane functions within a focus.

You can change your prepared spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of spells requires you spend at least 5 minute per spell level for each spell on your list. Mental Preparation

Mental Preparation

An arcane spellcaster can prepare a number of arcane spells in their mind from their known spells equal to the total arcane spell level of their Intelligence score. Each spell level counts as one level higher for preparation purposes, such that a level 1 spell counts as a level 2 spell and cantrips, which are level 0 spells, count as level 1 spells.

Mentally Prepared Arcane Spells = (your total sum of preperation spell levels)2 / 2 (rounded up) = your Intelligence score

Arcane Focus

An arcane focus is a special item used by manipulators of the arcane weave to more easily cast their spells. They come in many variations: orbs, rods, staves, wands, or some similar item - designed to channel the power of arcane spells, but tying them all together is the use of a crystal.

Crystals are used by their wielders by imprinting arcane functions into its crystalline structure. This takes time and preparation, but lets their wielders more easily prepare and remember spells. The arcane functions works as a shortcut to the weave, repeating complex patterns, gestures and other arcane components.

Arcane Focus Prepared Spells = the sum of your prepared memory spells + your prepared width spells

Crystals however are not all the same, different structures and bonds have different strengths and weaknesses. These strengths and weaknesses are scored by the Conductivity, Memory and Width factors. Depending on the wielder of the arcane power, their focus and choice of crystal may vary. The following are the factors each crystal have.

Crystal Structures

Conductivity
You gain a bonus to spell attack rolls and to the contested check DCs of your arcane spells.

Degree / Quality	Simple	Martial	Masterwork
Low	-2	-1	+0
Medium	-1	+0	+1
High	+0	+1	+2

Memory
You can prepare a number of spells from your known spells up to a sum of total spell levels.

Degree / Quality	Simple	Martial	Masterwork
Low	8	16	24
Medium	12	24	36
High	16	32	48

Width
You can prepare a number of spells from your known spells of a spell level equal to or lower than (1/3/5), determined by the quality of the crystal: (Simple/ Martial/ Masterwork).

Degree / Quality	Simple	Martial	Masterwork
Low	0	0	0
Medium	8	16	24
High	16	32	48

The three main types of crystals

Salt Crystals

Salt crystals are foci used primarily for use when wielding a wide arsenal of simple spells. Casters who use these crystals are often specialists that have to be ready for anything. They generally do not have the capacity for high level magic, but rather many low level spells.

	Simple	Martial	Masterwork
Conductivity [Medium] Spell bonus	-1	+0	+1
Memory [Low] Number of Memory spells	8	16	24
Width [High] Number of Width spells (Max. spell level)	16 (1)	32 (3)	48 (5)

Metal Crystals

Metal crystals are used mainly in warfare by wielders focused on a few destructive spells, like warmages or spellswords, or by specialized magicians that focus only on very specific spells, like forge-mages and transmuters.

	Simple	Martial	Masterwork
Conductivity [High] Spell bonus	+0	+1	+2
Memory [Medium] Number of Memory spells	12	24	36
Width [Low] Number of Width spells (Max. spell level)	0 (1)	0 (3)	0 (5)

Gem Crystals

Gem crystals are a wide range of arcane crystals that also is the most common type of focus for most mages. These crystals main advantage is their large memory and capacity to store arcane functions. For those not worried about being the most accurate and effective, but rather varied in both high level and low level magic, gem crystals are perfect.

	Simple	Martial	Masterwork
Conductivity [Low] Spell bonus	-2	-1	+0
Memory [High] Number of Memory spells	16	32	48
Width [Medium] Number of Width spells (Max. spell level)	8 (1)	16 (3)	24 (5)