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Hedge magic is a derogatory term used by wizards to refer to arcane magic practices developed outside of the conventional strictures of magical teaching. A common conception is that practitioners of such homebrewed disciplines tend to come f rom the countryside where proper wizardly schooling is less available or non-existent. Te term also implies the superiority of a “properly” schooled mage, whether they learned their art in one of the relatively recent magic schools or through the more traditional system of apprenticeship apprenticeship.. Among those who practice hedge magic magic are hedge wizards, wizards, who are self-taught self-taught and generally considered considered capable only only of lesser magics, minor charms and enchantments beneath all but the most lowly of apprentices. In truth, hedge wizards may be perfectly competent individuals, just as some traditionally schooled wizards, in spite of possessing the intelligence to learn magic, may still turn out to be buffoons. Since they do not or cannot take advantage of the combined knowledge of wizards past, past, hedge wizards do have their work work cut out for them retreading ground that other wizards may have explored centuries ago, But schooled wizards forget that all wizardry had to start somewhere somewhere and that the great masters masters they revere once practiced the very same trial and error methodology as any hedge wizard. Hence, a hedge wizard may in fact come far closer to remarkable discoveries or innovation than a wizard who merely relies relies on the knowledge knowledge of past masters. masters.
Tis work contains contains material that is copyright Wizards of the Coast and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild. All other original material material in this work work is copyright 2016 2016 by Ross David Dexter Wilkin (unless specified otherwise in the credits), and is published under the Community Content Agreement for Dungeon Masters Guild.
C Hedge Wizard Tradition by: RDD Wilkin Layout and Formatting: RDD Wilkin Graphics and Images: layout elements by and © Corey Johnston, some art © Patrick Patrick Pullen, fantasy objects by by © Daniel F. Walthall (found at: http://drivethrurpg.com/ product/181517, available under a CC BY 4.0 license: http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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H W “I may not have a fancy degree from one of your colleges, and I may not have trained under a gr eat master, but none of my knowledge was handed to me. I taught myself every step of the way, and forged my own path to magic – in so doing I learned things even your masters do not.” —Abalon Conrad, Hedge Wizard
O A A Hedge Wizard is one who has not been taught by either institutionalized wizardry or the traditional master-apprentice system. Te name derives f rom the perception that such self-taught practitioners often come from rural areas where opportunities to learn “true” wizardry are slim. Tey are generally seen as dabblers with only the most rudimentary grasp of the secrets of the arcane. In many cases this is true, but schooled wizards forget that the first wizards had no teacher but themselves, and the great masters from early history could all be considered Hedge Wizards by today’s definition. Tere exist among modern Hedge Wizards some few capable of the same sort of genius that was possessed by the very wizards who formalised their magic and gave rise to organized wizardry. Any player character Hedge Wizard is most certainly one such. More charitable consideration of Hedge Wizardry, then, is that it is simply the path of the self taught. Depending on one’s point of view it is either strictly speaking not an arcane tradition at all, or else the oldest tradition of them all.
U P A self-taught practitioner of magic, a Hedge Wizard has to learn for themselves much of what has already been discovered and formalised by wizards of the past. In practice, much of their magic is cast in just the same ways and with the same components as any other wizard. However, the accepted form of a spell is not always the only way to achieve a given effect, and a Hedge Wizard can often surprise a formally schooled practitioner by their ability to accomplish an effect with entirely different magical forms and components. Sometimes this is an overly complicated work around for what with a little more understanding could have been a simple effect. Just as often, however, the solution of a Hedge Wizard is equally elegant, or even more efficient, than the standard accepted magical forms. In seeking power from sources that other wizards do not explore, Hedge Wizards can also become practiced in areas of magic that schooled wizards neglect.
and Rangers. Indeed, they often get along far better with these agents of the natural world than they do other Wizards. Mastery over the properties of the natural world opens up to the Hedge Wizard some capabilities that are out of the reach of even the greatest of schooled wizards. For instance, their knowledge of natural magic and herbal properties allows them to learn limited healing techniques. While their abilities will never surpass the divine gifts of a Cleric, a Hedge Wizard is nevertheless a boon to a small village, and is assured the respect and goodwill of the local folk for whom they are often the only help available.
H W Tere is no school for hedge wizardry - each practitioner of this “tradition” masters their magic in their own way, and through much trial and error. As a hedge wizard you are looked down on by your more privileged peers, but you know you can be proud of all you have accomplished on your own. Because by default every magical breakthrough is new to you, you are skilled at thinking outside the box and improvising solutions — it’s second nature to you.
U M Beginning when you select this school at 2nd-level, any time you select a new spell you may substitute one or more of its material spell components for any other appropriate component of the same value. When cast by you, the spell requires this alternative list of material components. Let your imagination run wild! Furthermore, select two of your known cantrips and one 1st-level spell from your spellbook. For each cantrip or spell, choose either Verbal, Somatic, or Material components. For you, the cantrip or spell does not require the component selected. If you choose Material components, you eliminate only those components with no gold piece cost, and must still provide any component with an actual gold piece value.
H’ L Starting at 2nd-level, Cure Wounds is considered a class spell for you, is automatically added to your spellbook, and is always considered prepared (it does not count against the number of spells you have prepared. You also learn the cantrip Spare Te Dying . Te cantrip doesn’t count against your number of cantrips known. Upon reaching 3rd-level in Wizard and gaining access to 2nd-level spells, Lesser Restoration is considered a class spell for you and is automatically added to your spellbook. Unlike Cure Wounds , it is not always considered prepared.
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Hedge Wizards seek knowledge and power everywhere, and are not too proud to seek it in humble places. Tey understand far better than any wizard that magic can be found in everything, and to harness it one needs only understand the workings of the world. Hedge Wizards make extensive study of plants, herbs, and beasts, and become experts on their properties and potential application. Because they grasp the power inherent in the natural world, Hedge Wizards respect and often get along well with Druids
At 6th-level, you become proficient in both Nature and Herbalism Kits. If you already have proficiency in one or both skills, you may select any alternative skill or tool – Hedge Wizards are all different, and many find it necessary to pick up very unusual talents.
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I M Beginning at 10th-level, your self-taught magic begins paying off with the ability to alter your spells on the fly. You gain two of the following metamagic options. You can use only one metamagic option on a spell when you cast it, unless otherwise noted. You may use Improvised Magic twice. Some metamagic options are powerful enough that they count as multiple uses. Once you have exhausted your uses of Improvised Magic, you cannot use this ability again until after a long rest.
C S (O U) When you cast a spell that forces other creatures to make a saving throw, you can protect some of those creatures from the spell’s full force. Choose a number of those creatures up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one creature). A chosen creature automatically succeeds on its saving throw against the spell.
D S (O U) When you cast a spell that has a range of 5 feet or greater, you can double the range of the spell. When you cast a spell that has a range of touch, you can make the range of the spell 30 feet.
E S (O U) When you roll damage for a spell, you can reroll a number of the damage dice up to your Charisma modifier (minimum of one). You must use the new rolls. You can use Empowered Spell even if you have already used a different metamagic option during the casting of the spell.
E S (O U) When you cast a spell that has a duration of 1 minute or longer, you can double its duration, to a maximum duration of 24 hours.
Q S ( U) When you cast a spell that has a casting time of 1 action, you can change the casting time to 1 bonus action for this c asting.
S S (O U) When you cast a spell, you can cast it without any somatic or verbal components.
S (O U) When you cast a cantrip or 1st-level spell that targets only one creature and doesn’t have a range of self, you can target a second creature in range with the same spell. You can modify a 2nd-level spell in the same manner, but doing so counts as two uses of Improvised Magic. o be eligible, a spell must be incapable of targeting more than one creature at the spell’s current level. For example, magic missile and scorching ray aren’t eligible, but ray of frost and chromatic orb are.
O M O If your DM approves other sources which include new metamagic options intended for the Sorcerer or any other class, you can select any new metamagic option the source makes
available. However, you may not select a metamagic option that costs more than two sorcery points. A metamagic option that costs a Sorcerer two sorcery points instead costs as two uses of Improved Magic.
I I M At 14th level, you may select a 3rd metamagic option, and you may now use Improvised Magic three times per long rest. Heightened Spell is now available to you.
H S ( U) When you cast a spell that forces a creature to make a saving throw to resist its effects, you can give one target of the spell disadvantage on its first saving throw made against the spell.
O M O If your DM approves other sources which include new metamagic options intended for the Sorcerer or any other class, you may now select any metamagic option from that source that costs three sorcery points. When using any such metamagic option, it costs three uses of Improved Magic.
M Improvised Magic: A Hedge Wizard can use this feature to apply metamagic to a spell from any other class they possess. Regardless of the class the spell belongs to, doing so still costs one or more uses of Improvised Magic Improvised Magic and Sorcery Points: A character that has both Improvised Casting and Sorcery Points should track Metamagic uses gained f rom Improvised Casting separately to their use of sorcery points. Uses of Improvised Casting cannot be converted into spell slots.
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