Black Mage

Class Stat

Black magick, a potent magick of pure destructive force born forth by a source of unparalleled power. Those who learned to wield this instrument of ruin came to be called Black Mages, out of both fear and respect for their gift. Yet great power served to corrupt the judgment of mortal man, and so he unknowingly set out upon the path of ruin. Adventurers who take the black will become agents of devastation, capable of annihilating those who oppose them through little more than the force of their will.

Hit Points (HP)

Hit Dice 1d6 per level
HP at Level 1 6 + Constitution modifier
HP at higher levels 1d6 (or 3) + Constitution modifier per level

Proficiencies

Armour None
Weapons Daggers, darts, slings, staves, light crossbows
Tools None
Saving Throws Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills Choose two from Arcana, History, Insight, Medicine, Nature, and Religion

Black Mage Table

Spell slots per spell level
Level Proficiency Bonus Abilities Cantrips Known 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
1 +2 Spellcasting, Mist Recovery 3 2 - - - - - - - -
2 +2 Elemental Specialist, Potent Cantrip, Sculpt Spells 3 3 - - - - - - - -
3 +2 Cantrip Formulae 3 4 2 - - - - - - -
4 +2 Ability Score Improvement 4 4 3 - - - - - - -
5 +3 - 4 4 3 2 - - - - - -
6 +3 Elemental Mastery 4 4 3 3 - - - - - -
7 +3 - 4 4 3 3 1 - - - - -
8 +3 Ability Score Improvement 4 4 3 3 2 - - - - -
9 +4 - 4 4 3 3 3 1 - - - -
10 +4 Elemental Sword and Shield (1) 5 4 3 3 3 2 - - - -
11 +4 - 5 4 3 3 3 2 1 - - -
12 +4 Ability Score Improvement 5 4 3 3 3 2 1 - - -
13 +5 - 5 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 - -
14 +5 Pierce, Turbo MP (1) 5 4 3 3 3 2 1 1 - -
15 +5 - 5 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 -
16 +5 Ability Score Improvement 5 4 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 -
17 +6 - 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1
18 +6 Elemental Sword and Shield (2) 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1
19 +6 Ability Score Improvement 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 1 1 1
20 +6 Turbo MP (2) 5 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1

Equipment

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

Or, you could choose to start with 4d4 × 10 gp and purchase your equipment.

Class Abilities

Spellcasting

You have learned to draw on the raw forces of magick by manipulating the Mist using formulae and incantations that you've memorised. You have a Spellbook containing spells that show the first glimmerings of your true power.

Cantrips

At Level 1, you know three cantrips of your choice from the Black Mage Spell list. You learn additional Black Mage cantrips as shown on the Black Mage table.

Spellbook

At Level 1, you have a Spellbook containing six 1st Level Black Mage spells. Your Spellbook is the repository of the Black Mage spells that you know, except your Cantrips, which are fixed in your mind.

Learning New Spells

For every Black Mage level you gain, you can add two new Black Mage spells of your choice to your Spellbook for free. The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. On your adventures, you might find other spells that you can add to your Spellbook (see "Your Spellbook").

Spell Slots

The table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your spells of 1st level and higher. To cast one of these Black Mage 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.

Spells Known of 1st Level and Higher

You prepare the list of Black Mage spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the Black Mage spell list. When you do so, choose a number of Black Mage spells equal to your INT modifier + your Black Mage level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots. For example, if you are a Level 3 Black Mage, you have four Level 1 and two Level 2 spell slots. With a INT of 16, your list of prepared spells can include six spells of 1st or 2nd level, in any combination. If you prepare the Level 1 spell Fire, you can cast it using a 1st-level or 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 Black Mage Spells requires time spent studying your Spellbook and memorising 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 Black Mage spells, since the power of your magick relies on your memorisation of the complex formulae and incantations. You use your INT whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your INT modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Black Mage spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.

Spell save DC = 8 + your proficiency bonus + your INT modifier

Spell attack modifier = your proficiency bonus + your INT modifier

Ritual Casting

You can cast a Black Mage 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 as a spellcasting focus for your Black Mage spells.

Mist Recovery

You are able to regain some of your spent magickal energy from the Mist around you. 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 Black Mage level (rounded up), and none of the slots can be 6th Level or higher.

When you use this feature, you can't use it again until you finish a long rest.

For example, if you’re a 4th-level Black Mage, 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.

Elemental Specialist

At Level 2, choose a school of magick from either Aqua, Primal, or Storm. You become a specialist in this school of magick, and your choice affects the bonuses you gain for Sculpt Spells, Elemental Mastery, Elemental Sword and Shield, and Turbo MP.

Also, the following spells are automatically prepared for you and do not count towards your number of Black Mage spells prepared. If these spells were already in your spellbook, learn another spell for your spellbook.

Level Aqua Primal Storm
2nd Blizzard, Water Fire, Stone Aero, Thunder
3rd Ice Knife, Misty Step Flaming Sphere, Hammer of Kagarad Shatter, Windslash Cloud
5th Blizzara, Watera Fira, Stonera Aerora, Thundara
7th Bonefrost, Control Water Fire Wall, Stoneskin Howling Vortex, Wall of Lightning
9th Blizzaga, Waterga Firaga, Stonega Aeroga, Thundaga

Further, the gold and time you must spend to copy a spell from your school of magick into your spellbook is halved.

Sculpt Spells

At Level 2, you can create pockets of relative safety within the effects of your area of effect spells. Whenever you cast a spell from the school of your specialisation that affects other creatures that you can see, you can choose a number of them equal to 1 + the spell's level. The chosen creatures automatically succeed on their saving throws against the spell, and they take no damage if they would normally take half damage on a successful save.

Whenever you cast a spell from the schools of your specialisation that you did not choose that affects other creatures that you can see, you can instead choose up to two creatures to receive this benefit.

Potent Cantrip

Starting at 2nd Level, your damaging cantrips affect even creatures that avoid the brunt of the effect. When a creature succeeds on a saving throw against your cantrip or the attack roll of your cantrip misses the creature, the creature takes half the cantrip's damage (if any) but suffers no additional effect from the cantrip.

Cantrip Formulae

At 3rd level, you have scribed a set of arcane formulae in your spellbook that you can use to formulate a cantrip in your mind. Whenever you finish a long rest and consult those formulas in your spellbook, you can replace one Black Mage cantrip you know with another cantrip from the Black Mage spell list.

Ability Score Improvement

At Levels 4, 8, 12, 16, and 19, 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 skill.

You can forgo taking this feature to take a Feat of your choice instead.

Elemental Mastery

At Level 6, you can add your Intelligence modifier (minimum of +1) to one damage roll of any Black Mage spell that you cast. Furthermore, you get one of the following bonuses based the school of your specialisation.

Aqua

You learn to masterfully harness the chilling and oppressive nature of ice and the healing properties of water.

Whenever you cast a Black Mage spell of 1st Level or higher that deals Ice damage or imposes a negative effect on a creature (e.g. Sleet Storm or Bonefrost), all creatures who take damage or who are affected receive 1 level of

Brittle
until the end of their next turn.

Whenever you cast a Black Mage spell of 1st Level of higher that deals Water damage or otherwise manipulates water (e.g. Control Water), you can target one creature within 20m of you. They regain HP equal to 1d4 + the spell's level + your Intelligence modifier.

Primal

You learn to masterfully harness the raw power of fire and earth.

Whenever you cast a Black Mage spell of 1st level or higher that deals Fire damage or otherwise manipulates fire (e.g. Thermal Shield), fiery magick erupts from you, which you are able to manipulate to strike out at a creature. One target of your choice that you can see within 20m of you takes Fire damage equal to half of your Black Mage Level (rounded up) and they are set

Ablaze
for 1 minute.

Whenever you cast a Black Mage spell of 1st Level or higher that deals Earth damage, all creatures who take damage must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be

Stunned
until the start of its next turn.

Storm

You learn to masterfully harness the destructive power of the storm.

When you deal Lightning damage to a Large or smaller creature, you can also push it up to 2m away from you. Once per long rest, when you roll for Lightning and/or Sonic damage for a Storm spell of 3rd Level or lower, you can choose to deal maximum damage.

Whenever you cast a Black Mage spell of 1st Level or higher that deals Wind damage, all creatures who take damage become

Deafened
until the end of their next turn, and you can push them up to 4m (in addition to any push already imposed by the spell). The direction of the push is dependent on the area affected by the spell, pushing creatures away from the point of origin.

Elemental Sword and Shield

Beginning at 10th Level, choose one of the elements from your chosen school of specialisation to be your sword, and one to be your shield. Whenever you complete a long rest, you can choose to swap these around. You gain the following effects depending on what you chose:

At 18th Level, you gain the following benefits:

Pierce

At 14th Level, your spells have become so powerful that they are able to pierce through protective effects. Whenever you cast a Black Mage spell, it ignores the effects of

Protect
,
Shell
and
Reflect
. Furthermore, it ignores the protective effects of spells that are of a lower spell level than the spell that you cast (e.g. if you cast a 7th-Level Black Mage spell, it ignores the effects of a 6th-Level Magick Shield spell).

Turbo MP

Starting at 14th level, you can increase the power of your simpler spells. When you cast a Black Mage spell of 1st through 5th level that deals damage, you can deal maximum damage with that spell. The first time you do so, you suffer no adverse effect. If you use this feature again before you finish a long rest, you take 2d12 DARK damage for each level of the spell, immediately after you cast it. Each time you use this feature again before finishing a long rest, the DARK damage per spell level increases by 1d12. This damage ignores all forms of Resistance.

At Level 20, through manipulation of the mist around you, you can increase the power of your spells even further. The initial DARK damage you take per level of the spell beyond the first use of this feature is now 1d12. Furthermore, because of your mastery with your school of specialisation, you can empower more powerful spells, and take less damage when you try to use this feature several times. The initial DARK damage per spell level when using this feature on a spell of your school of specialisation is 1d6, and this increases by 1d6 per spell level for each subsequent use. You can use this feature on a Black Mage spell of 6th through 8th-Level from your school of specialisation once per long rest.