Wizard

# Wizard Class Details

Clad in the silver robes that denote her station, an elf closes her
eyes to shut out the distractions of the battlefield and begins her
quiet chant. Fingers weaving in front of her, she completes her spell
and launches a tiny bead of fire toward the enemy ranks, where it erupts
 into a conflagration that engulfs the soldiers.

Checking and rechecking his work, a human scribes an intricate magic
circle in chalk on the bare stone floor, then sprinkles powdered iron
along every line and graceful curve. When the circle is complete, he
drones a long incantation. A hole opens in space inside the circle,
bringing a whiff of brimstone from the otherworldly plane beyond.

Crouching on the floor in a dungeon intersection, a gnome tosses a
handful of small bones inscribed with mystic symbols, muttering a few
words of power over them. Closing his eyes to see the visions more
clearly, he nods slowly, then opens his eyes and points down the passage
 to his left.

Wizards are supreme magic-users, defined and united as a class by the
 spells they cast. Drawing on the subtle weave of magic that permeates
the cosmos, wizards cast spells of explosive fire, arcing lightning,
subtle deception, and brute-force mind control. Their magic conjures
monsters from other planes of existence, glimpses the future, or turns
slain foes into zombies. Their mightiest spells change one substance
into another, call meteors down from the sky, or open portals to other
worlds.

## Scholars of the Arcane

Wild and enigmatic, varied in form and function, the power of magic
draws students who seek to master its mysteries. Some aspire to become
like the gods, shaping reality itself. Though the casting of a typical
spell requires merely the utterance of a few strange words, fleeting
gestures, and sometimes a pinch or clump of exotic materials, these
surface components barely hint at the expertise attained after years of
apprenticeship and countless hours of study.

Wizards live and die by their spells. Everything else is secondary.
They learn new spells as they experiment and grow in experience. They
can also learn them from other wizards, from ancient tomes or
inscriptions, and from ancient creatures (such as the fey) that are
steeped in magic.

## The Lure of Knowledge

Wizards’ lives are seldom mundane. The closest a wizard is likely to
come to an ordinary life is working as a sage or lecturer in a library
or university, teaching others the secrets of the multiverse. Other
wizards sell their services as diviners, serve in military forces, or
pursue lives of crime or domination.

But the lure of knowledge and power calls even the most unadventurous
 wizards out of the safety of their libraries and laboratories and into
crumbling ruins and lost cities. Most wizards believe that their
counterparts in ancient civilizations knew secrets of magic that have
been lost to the ages, and discovering those secrets could unlock the
path to a power greater than any magic available in the present age.

Creating a wizard character demands a backstory dominated by at least
 one extraordinary event. How did your character first come into contact
 with magic? How did you discover you had an aptitude for it? Do you
have a natural talent, or did you simply study hard and practice
incessantly? Did you encounter a magical creature or an ancient tome
that taught you the basics of magic?

What drew you forth from your life of study? Did your first taste of
magical knowledge leave you hungry for more? Have you received word of a
 secret repository of knowledge not yet plundered by any other wizard?
Perhaps you’re simply eager to put your newfound magical skills to the
test in the face of danger.

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As a wizard, you gain the following class features.

**Hit Points at Higher Levels:** 1d6 (or 4) + your Constitution modifier per wizard level after 1st

### Proficiencies

**Armor:** None
**Weapons:** Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaffs, light crossbows
**Tools:** None
**Saving Throws:** Intelligence, Wisdom
**Skills:** Choose two from Arcana, History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, and Religion

### Equipment

You start with the following equipment, in addition to the equipment granted by your background:

* (a) a quarterstaff or (b) a dagger
* (a) a component pouch or (b) an arcane focus
* (a) a scholar’s pack or (b) an explorer’s pack
* A spellbook

### Spellcasting

As a student of arcane magic, you have a spellbook containing spells that show the first glimmerings of your true power. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the wizard spell list.

##### Cantrips

At 1st level, you know three cantrips
of your choice from the wizard spell list. You learn additional wizard
cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known
 column of the Wizard table.

##### Spellbook

At 1st level, you have a spellbook
containing six 1st-level wizard spells of your choice. Your spellbook is
 the repository of the wizard spells you know, except your cantrips,
which are fixed in your mind.

##### Preparing and Casting Spells

The Wizard table shows how many spell
slots you have to cast your wizard spells of 1st level and higher. To
cast one of these spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or
 higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long
rest.

You prepare the list of wizard spells
that are available for you to cast. To do so, choose a number of wizard
spells from your spellbook equal to your Intelligence modifier + your
wizard level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for
which you have spell slots.

For example, if you’re a 3rd-level
wizard, you have four 1st-level and two 2nd-level spell slots. With an
Intelligence of 16, your list of prepared spells can include six spells
of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination, chosen from your spellbook. If
you prepare the 1st-level spell magic missile, you can cast it using a 1st-level or a 2nd-level slot. Casting the spell doesn’t remove it from your list of prepared spells.

You can change your list of prepared
spells when you finish a long rest. Preparing a new list of wizard
spells requires time spent studying your spellbook and memorizing the
incantations and gestures you must make to cast the spell: at least 1
minute per spell level for each spell on your list.

##### Spellcasting Ability

Intelligence
 is your spellcasting ability for your wizard spells, since you learn
your spells through dedicated study and memorization. You use your
Intelligence whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In
addition, you use your Intelligence modifier when setting the saving
throw DC for a wizard spell you cast and when making an attack roll with
 one.

**Spell save DC** = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

**Spell attack modifier** = your proficiency bonus + your Intelligence modifier

##### Ritual Casting

You can cast a wizard spell as a ritual
 if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell in your
spellbook. You don’t need to have the spell prepared.

##### Spellcasting Focus

You can use an arcane focus (see the Adventuring Gear section) as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells.

##### Learning Spells of 1st Level and Higher

Each time you gain a wizard level, you
can add two wizard spells of your choice to your spellbook for free.
Each of these spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots,
as shown on the Wizard table. On your adventures, you might find other
spells that you can add to your spellbook (see the “Your Spellbook”
sidebar).

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### Arcane Recovery

You have learned to regain
some of your magical energy by studying your spellbook. Once per day
when you finish a short rest, you can choose expended spell slots to
recover. The spell slots can have a combined level that is equal to or
less than half your wizard level (rounded up), and none of the slots can
 be 6th level or higher.
For example, if you’re a 4th-level
wizard, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can
recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level spell slots.

### Arcane Tradition

When you reach 2nd
level, you choose an arcane tradition, shaping your practice of magic
through one of eight schools: Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination,
Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy, or Transmutation. The
School of Evocation is detailed at the end of the class description, and
 more choices are available in other sources.
Your choice grants you features at 2nd level and again at 6th, 10th, and 14th level.

### Ability Score Improvement

When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th, 12th,
 16th, and 19th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice
 by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As
normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Using the optional feats rule, you can forgo taking this feature to take a feat of your choice instead.

### Spell Mastery

At 18th level, you
have achieved such mastery over certain spells that you can cast them at
 will. Choose a 1st-level wizard spell and a 2nd-level wizard spell that
 are in your spellbook. You can cast those spells at their lowest level
without expending a spell slot when you have them prepared. If you want
to cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as
normal.
By spending 8 hours in study, you can exchange one or both of the spells you chose for different spells of the same levels.

### Signature Spells

When you reach 20th
 level, you gain mastery over two powerful spells and can cast them with
 little effort. Choose two 3rd-level wizard spells in your spellbook as
your signature spells. You always have these spells prepared, they don’t
 count against the number of spells you have prepared, and you can cast
each of them once at 3rd level without expending a spell slot. When you
do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.
If you want to cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.