The inevitable Warmage – one of the first concepts many people try in D&D. It was certainly one of my first character concepts, and I’ve been fond of it ever since. This take on it focuses on tactics and strategy. The thinking soldier, as it were.

 

Check the dossier below for everything about the School of War!

School of War Wizard

 

As a Warmage, your chief role on the field of battle is as a living, heavy arcane artillery. You rely on your sword to protect you personally while bombarding nearby creatures with devastating spells. One chief design decision is that you don’t get Extra Attack – you’re a spellcaster, no amount of attacks is ever going to be worth a 6th level fireball.

 

FEATURES:

• As part of your education learn to use armor and weapons! You can also choose how much you learn, substituting one of your new spells when you level for a proficiency!
• Sculpt spells, but with a twist! You can freely cast in melee range and also protect nearby allies (and yourself) from your spells!
  
• Rather than wasting an action with melee attacks, just follow up your spells with a nice slice! Later on, it doesn’t even take a bonus action!
• Push your body to the limit and dash through the battlefield!
• Finally, respond to attacks by riposting and teleporting to strike from behind!

 

DESIGN NOTES:

• One key design point to establish early is how this subclass is meant to relate to the Eldritch Knight subclass. The Eldritch Knight is a fighter subclass, and so has access to a high Hit Die (d10), tons of good armor and shields, and also features like Indomitable and Second Wind. So they’re about 50/50 when it comes to offense vs defense. The idea with the Warmage is for it to be a 75% – 25% split between offense and defense respectively, thus acting as a glass cannon.
• I also wanted this subclass to be mobile. Many spellsword/gish homebrews have teleportation features, but I chose to go with a dash instead. I feel like it makes more sense, and it brings the power of the concept down a bit.
• One thing I am unhappy with is the absence of real “tactics” in the subclass. While the movement abilities certainly establish the potential for tactical decision-making… there’s not really anything about war tactics. There was originally a feature for backing out of combat and surveying the field, but it proved too hard to implement. If I could, I would love to bring that back.

 

So, let me know what you think, and if you have any suggestions for improving it! Thanks!