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Esoteric Warmage Tricks

A tiefling warrior with weapons made of shimmering magenta energy on the cover of this PDF supplement.

Get all 12 subclasses in the Complete Warmage!

Warmage Tricks
Comments from the Finger: These warmage tricks are legacy options that might not be balanced with the current iteration of the warmage from Valda’s Spire of Secrets

Esoteric Warmage Tricks

Arrows of Light
Prerequisite: 5th level, sacred flame cantrip
When you cast sacred flame, you can loose a number of arrows made of light against your foes instead of the spell’s normal effects. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 radiant damage, or 1d10 radiant damage if the creature is a fiend or undead.
The spell creates more than one arrow when you reach higher levels: two arrows at 5th level, three arrows at 11th level, and four arrows at 17th level. You can direct the arrows at the same target or at different ones. Make a separate attack roll for each arrow.

Blade Cyclone
Prerequisite: 5th level, sword burst cantrip
When you cast sword burst, you can choose to concentrate on the spell for up to 1 minute. If you do so, the damage die of the spell decreases from a d6 to a d4, and it affects any creature that enters the spell’s area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn within that area.

Brothers in Arms
Prerequisite: 5th level, friends cantrip
You can cast the spell charm person without using a spell slot. You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, and regain all expended uses following a long rest.

Cloud of Bugs
Prerequisite: 5th level, infestation cantrip
When you damage a target with infestation, that creature’s vision is heavily obscured until the start of your next turn.

Decoy
Prerequisite: 5th level, minor illusion cantrip
You can use minor illusion to create near perfect replicas of yourself, which can make simple, threatening motions or gestures. A creature that sees one of these replicas must make an Intelligence saving throw; on a failure, the creature fully believes that the decoy is you and that the decoy is extremely hostile, and it goes out of its way to attack the decoy.
A decoy has an AC of 10, and has 1 HP. Once it is damaged, it vanishes in a puff of smoke. Once a creature destroys a decoy or succeeds on its saving throw against this ability, it cannot be affected by this ability for 24 hours.
You can maintain a number of active decoys equal to your Intelligence modifier.

Elemental Crafting
Prerequisite: 5th level, control flames, gust, mold earth, or shape water cantrip
You can use your control of the 4 basic elements to craft arms, armor, and simple items. When you cast control flames, gust, mold earth, or shape water, you can summon a single weapon, piece of armor (suit or shield), or bundle of 50 pieces of ammunition made of the respective element instead of the spell’s normal effects.
A weapon or piece of ammunition created by this ability appears in your hand, and deals damage according to the spell used to summon it: Fire damage for control flames, lightning damage for gust, acid damage for mold earth, or cold damage for shape water. A suit of armor or shield created by this ability appears fitted to your body. Other constructs created by this ability must be relatively simple in nature (such as a length of rope or a flask) and may have minor beneficial abilities at the DMs discretion (a cooking pot made by control flames may be able to cook food without having a proper fire present, for example).
Any item created by this ability lasts for 1 hour, after which it vanishes. You may have a number of constructs created at one time equal to your intelligence modifier.

Flash Ward
Prerequisite: 5th level, blade ward cantrip
You can cast blade ward as a bonus action. When you do so, you gain resistance to either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage for the spells duration, instead of all three.

Infinite Variation
Prerequisite: 5th level, prestidigitation cantrip
You have become exceptionally skilled at using the prestidigitation cantrip to mimic larger, more powerful effects. When you cast prestidigitation, you can use it to emulate the effects of any other cantrip. To do so, you must succeed on a DC 17 Intelligence (Arcana) check, otherwise the spell fizzles and does nothing. A cantrip cast using this trick uses your Intelligence modifier as the spellcasting modifier.
When you create the effects of a cantrip using this ability, you cannot alter those effects with your warmage tricks or other warmage class features.

Mesmerizing Pattern
Prerequisite: 5th level, dancing lights cantrip
When you cast dancing lights, you can cast it as an instantaneous effect instead of its normal duration. If you do so, select a creature you can see within 30 feet of you; that creature must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the start of your next turn.
You can use this ability a number of times equal to your Intelligence modifier, and regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.

Second Opinion
Prerequisite: 5th level, guidance cantrip
When a creature rolls the d4 granted by a guidance cantrip you cast, it rolls that die twice, taking the better of the two results.

Combo Tricks

These high level tricks require much in the way of training, but allow a skilled warmage to manipulate her cantrips in truly astounding ways.

Mystical Armiger
Prerequisite: 10th level, force buckler cantrip, Mystical Armor trick 
When you cast the force buckler cantrip, you can do so as a bonus action. Additionally, when you cast mage armor, your AC equals 14 + your dexterity modifier.

Explosive Decoy 
Prerequisite: 15th level, Explosive Cantrip trick, Decoy trick
When a creature destroys a decoy you have created, all creatures within 5 feet of the decoy must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw or take 4d10 points of fire damage.

Field of Blades
Prerequisite: 15th level, Flurry of Daggers trick, Skilled Hand trick
While you have weapons summoned by your magic daggers cantrip available to throw, you can use an action on your turn to throw one weapon at each creature within 30 feet of you, making a separate attack for each weapon, up to the number of weapons you have available. Each attack deals additional damage to that creature equal to your Intelligence modifier. As well, thrown weapons return to your space at the end of your turn, only vanishing when you dispel the spell or its duration ends.

Force Savant
Prerequisites: 15th level, Blasting Cantrip trick, Blade Cyclone trick
You are exceptionally skilled at manipulating pure magical force. When you make a spell attack with a warmage spell that deals force damage, you can choose to make that attack with disadvantage. If you do so, you deal double the spell’s normal damage dice.
Additionally, if a creature would take no damage on a successful saving throw against a warmage spell you cast that deals force damage, it takes half damage instead.

Mystical Riposte 
Prerequisite: 15th level, Flash Ward trick, Unnering Accuracy trick
When an attacker that you can see hits you with an Attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack’s damage against you. When you do so, you gain advantage on the next attack you make against that creature.

Mystical Sculptor
Prerequisites: 15th level, Extended Range trick, Flexible Range trick, Select Fire trick
You are supremely capable at manipulating the size, shape, and scope of your cantrips. Whenever you cast a warmage cantrip that targets a single creature and requires a spell attack roll or saving throw, instead of the cantrip’s normal effect you can choose to generate one of the following effects:

  • A 15 ft. cone
  • A 60 ft. line
  • A 15 ft. radius circle, centered on you
  • A 10 ft radius burst, centered on a point you can see within 60 feet.

If you choose to do so, any creature caught in the area must succeed on a dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC or take that cantrip’s damage and suffer any additional effects, if any.

Searing Display
Prerequisite: 15th level, Blinding Light trick, Mesmerizing Pattern trick
Whenever a creature fails its saving throw against either your Blinding Light trick or Mesmerizing Pattern trick, that creature takes 4d8 points of radiant damage. As well, creatures no longer gain advantage on saves against your Blinding Light trick if they have succeeded on a saving throw against it already.

Cantrip Substitutions

The following wizard cantrips can be used as prerequisites for the listed tricks:

Cantrip Trick
booming blade Booming Cantrip
create bonfire Explosive Cantrip
frostbite Frigid Cantrip
green-flame blade      Explosive Cantrip
infestation Venomous Cantrip
lightning lure Electrified Cantrip
thunderclap Booming Cantrip
toll the dead Entropic Cantrip
sword burst Blasting Cantrip

Changelog

1/30/2018: Edited Mystical Riposte to not be OP.  Edited Explosive decoy to make sense.
2/8/2018: Edited Field of Blades, clarifying action requirements, Added new Combo tricks.
03/18/18: Edited Blade Cyclone and Mystical Armiger
07/11/18: Edited Blade Cyclone, Mystical Armiger, Field of Blades, and Infinite Variation.

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