Spell Masteries
I
n the worlds where most D&D games take place,
there are many unique spellcasters; a lich who
brought a whole kingdom under her wicked banner,
the infamous spell thief who can infiltrate the most
guarded archives, or the whispered druid guardian of
the jungle where no one dare tread. Whoever this
unique spellcaster may be, they deserve to have a
spellcasting flair as unique as their character. By default, the
detect magic spell cast by an archmage reveals the same
information as one cast by an apprentice; a firebolt hurled by
a demonic lord is only different in its potential for harm as
one hurled by a kobold shaman. Spell masteries presented
here give you a way to decorate a caster’s repertoire with
added flavor and function.
Using a spell mastery is very simple: if a character has
access to a mastery, they can just use the spell in its mastery
form at no extra cost. You can view masteries as addendums
or modifications to a spell's description. Of course, a
character can always choose not to use the mastery form of a
spell.
To maintain the uniqueness and balance of masteries,
when giving them to an NPC, consider their impact on your
story and the spellcasting ability in their stat block. The
average mage at a wizardry school probably shouldn't have
access to a mastery, but a diabolical cult leader of the same
caster level might have access to one mastery, perhaps
Firebolt: Hellfire. An archmage at the same wizardry school
as the aforementioned mage, however, might have access to
two or more masteries, given their extensive study of the
arcane over decades.
Awarding PCs with Masteries
While these spell masteries are more geared towards NPCs,
you can also use them as rewards for spellcasting PCs. Magic
items, potions, and scrolls are all fine rewards, but having a
unique spellcasting flair that sets them apart from the rest of
the game world can make your players more invested in these
characters. When using these as rewards, caution should be
exercised as some masteries provide powerful effects. Below
are some guidelines you can follow when awarding your
players with masteries.
Through Clever Use
This is the suggested approach for awarding masteries to
PCs. Players who play spellcasters tend to pick favorites from
their spell repertoire. Sometimes a spell becomes a favorite
because it is very useful or efficient and other times because
the player finds it fun. Especially for the latter case, as the
player experiments with a certain spell and finds clever or
unconventional ways to use it, you should consider awarding
their creativity with a spell mastery.
Although this approach requires organic development, for
balance purposes, a guideline here is to make the mastery
available three character levels after the base spell is
acquired for spells of 3rd level or lower, and two character
levels after for spells of 4th level or higher. If you need help
gauging players' cleverness in spell use, look for moments in
the game when they take you by surprise, illicit excited
reactions from their fellow players, get the party out of a
pinch, or do something that warrants invoking the Rule of
Cool.
Through Study
Another narratively sound way of awarding masteries is to
make them available through study. You can consider this
approach especially for classes like the wizard or for any
studious character, as it is a very appropriate downtime
activity for them. Be mindful though as this approach will
most likely require you to disclose to your players that you are
using spell masteries as a mechanic in your game and that
they can use their downtime to study for them. It may even
require you to disclose which spells you have masteries for.
This has the potential to change the way your players will
view their repertoire and hurt the creative nature of
spellcasting.
If you wish to use this approach, a quick guideline is to
award a mastery after four weeks of downtime spent studying
per level of the base spell. If the character has access to a
wealth of books and other such materials on spellcasting,
reduce this time to two weeks per level. If the character is
being taught by an NPC that already has access to the
mastery, reduce this time to one week per level. If the spell
being studied has a material component with a gold cost, the
character also has to make a gold investment. In this case,
assume that the character is using one of their slots of the
spell's original level each day to cast the spell. You can also
consider letting a character with more than one slot of the
spell's level hasten the process by casting the spell more than
once each day, adjusting the gold investment as necessary.
Through Material Means
You can also treat masteries like any other adventure reward.
A fun way of doing so is awarding a spell scroll that has the
additional effects of a mastery, revealed only upon casting. A
caster who reads the scroll learns the mastery, and if they can
already cast the spell or acquire it later on, they will have
access to its mastery form. If you award a mastery in this way,
include it in treasure where scrolls for spells of two levels
higher than the base spell could be found. Similarly, a spell
could also be found in its mastery form in a spellbook, where
the same guideline would apply. This approach isn't limited to
loot; quests or thorough investigation of large libraries could
yield masteries as rewards as well.
Of course, another way of acquiring a spell mastery through
material means is to pay for it. When determining costs, you
can treat a spell with a mastery as if it's one level of rarity
higher than the base spell (consult the Spell Scroll table on
page 200 of the DMG). Caution is strongly advised when
using this approach. If your players decide to spend their
hard-earned money on masteries, that is fine and won't break
the game. However, if most scroll vendors have them on sale,
the uniqueness of masteries is diminished. It is up to you to
determine how accessible these are in your world, but it is
recommended to make them premium items out of reach of
the average spellcaster at the very least.
List of Masteries
Aganazzar's Scorcher: Pyrochasm
The line of flame leaves a blazing path in its wake that lasts
until the start of your next turn. During this time, a creature
that enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its
turn there must make a Dexterity saving throw. It takes 2d8
fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a
successful one.
Detect Magic: Scholar's Eye
When you sense magic with this spell, if the magic is the
result of a spell you know or can prepare, you know which
spell created the effect.
Dimension Door: Pull
When you cast this spell, instead of teleporting yourself, you
can teleport one creature of your size or smaller that you can
see within range. The target appears in an unoccupied space
on the ground within 5 feet of you. An unwilling creature
must make a Charisma saving throw to avoid the effect.
Feather Fall: Glide
When you cast this spell, in addition to slowing down a
chosen creature's rate of descent, you also give it spectral
wings that let it glide. As a creature with these wings is
falling, it has a flying speed of 10 feet. They can use this
speed only to move horizontally; they can't move upwards or
adjust their rate of descent. The wings disappear when the
spell ends.
Firebolt: Hellfire
When you deal fire damage with this spell, you can convert
half the fire damage to acid damage. You must declare this
choice before making the damage roll.
Grease: Combustion
When you cast this spell, you can change the nature of the
grease you create to be combustible. Grease created in this
way will ignite when it comes into contact with fire. This ends
the spell's original effect. A creature in the area when the
combustion happens must make a Dexterity saving throw.
It takes 2d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much
damage on a successful one. The grease then keeps burning
until the start of your next turn. During this time, a creature
that enters the area for the first time also has to make this
saving throw.
Gust of Wind: Forecast
When you cast this spell, you can make the wind fixed in
source and direction. When cast in this way, this spell doesn't
require your concentration and you can no longer change the
wind's direction using a bonus action. The wind extends 60
feet from the point where you were when you cast the spell, in
the direction you chose.
Light: Flash
When you cast this spell, a bright flash appears for a split
second in a 10-foot radius around you. If an invisible creature
or object is caught in the flash, the invisibility effect on that
creature or object is suspended until the start of your next
turn.
Lightning Bolt: Ball Lightning
When you cast the spell, you can travel with the line of
lightning, passing through creatures in the line and appearing
at the end of the line. If you do so, the spell deals an
additional 1d6 lightning damage and you take 1d6 force
damage for each creature in the line.
Mage Hand: Helping Hand
You can cast this spell without its somatic component. For
the duration of the spell, the spectral hand can perform the
somatic components of spells you cast in your stead. This
doesn't change where the effects of a spell cast this way
originate from.
Misty Step: Leap
You can cast this spell as an action, teleporting up to 60 feet
instead of up to 30 feet.
Scorching Ray: Focused Fire
If you target the same creature with all the rays created by
the spell and you hit with two or more rays, the final ray that
hits deals an additional 2d6 fire damage.
Shield: Retaliate
When you use this spell when you are targeted by the magic
missile spell, or when you are targeted by the magic missile
spell while the effect of this spell is active, the missiles are
reflected back to the caster, damaging it instead.
Tenser's Floating Disk: Servant
The disk is no longer immobile while you are within 20 feet
of it. Instead, you can use a bonus action to move it up to 20
feet. However, you can't move the disk further than 20 feet
away from you when you do so.