Introduction
Your choice of Arcane School grants you a Focus Spell, 2 known Cantrips, 21st-Rank Spells known, and then 1 new spell known each time you gain a newSpell Rank (every odd-numbered level from 3 through 17) except 10th Rank. Inaddition, each day you can prepare 1 Cantrip from your school’s Curriculumplus 1 additional spell slot for each Spell Rank except 10th which you cancast which must be used to prepare one of your school’s spells.
Because your Arcane School gives you so many spells known and because you’relocked into preparing spells from your school in some of your spell slots,your school will dictate many of your spellcasting options each day. Beinglocked into a school with spells that don’t work for you will cause problems.Keep in mind that you can also Heighten your school spells, so if yourschool’s Curriculum has gaps where you don’t like the spell options, you canHeighten lower-Rank spells to fill those spell slots.
Because Arcane Schools draw their options from the Arcane Spell List, Iencourage you to see ourRemastered Arcane Spell List Breakdownfor detailed advice regarding specific spells. We’ll offer additional advicebelow where the specific context justifies more information.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Disclaimer
- Curriculum Spells
- Wizard Arcane Schools
- School of Ars mGramatica(PC1)
- School of Battle Magic(PC1)
- School of Civic Wizardry(PC1)
- School of Mentalism(PC1)
- School of Protean Form(PC1)
- School of the Boundary(PC1)
- School of Unified Magical Theory(PC1)
Disclaimer
RPGBOT uses the color coding scheme which has become common among Pathfinder build handbooks.
- Red: Bad, useless options, or options whichare extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- Orange: OK options, or useful optionsthat only apply in rare circ*mstances. Useful sometimes.
- Green: Good options. Useful often.
- Blue: Fantastic options, often essentialto the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
Curriculum Spells
There is a bit of confusing language in how Curriculum Spells works, so let’stake a quick look and sort out what the rules mean.
“At 1st level, you add a cantrip and two 1st-rank spells of yourchoice.”
The rules for how the Wizard’s spellbook works give you 10 Cantrips, 51st-Rank Arcane spells from the whole Arcane spell list, plus 2 additional1st-Rank spells from your curriculum. There appears to be a discrepancybetween that text and the Curriculum Spells rules text, and the issue has notbeen addressed by errata as of this writing.
In my opinion, players should get the additional cantrip from theirCurriculum. If a school were to include a spell not normally on the Arcanespell list, that cantrip could be part of the curriculum but not available tothe Wizard to learn. It would also allow wizards to completely ignore theirArcane School’s cantrip options, which can’t have been Paizo’s intent heresince the Wizard is locked into learning ranked spells from theirCurriculum.
“A superscript “U” indicates an uncommon spell.”
Some curriculum spells are Uncommon. Uncommon denotes that a thing isn’tcommonly available, and you might need to select specific character options togain access, or you might need GM permission. If your Arcane School’scurriculum includes an Uncommon spell, you have access to that spell.
“Your GM might allow you to swap or add other spells to your curriculum ifthey strongly fit the theme.”
There is no hard rule on how to handle this. It’s left entirely up to you andyour GM. I can’t assume that you’ll be allowed to swap, so I’m going to actlike this text doesn’t exist.
Wizard Arcane Schools
School of Ars mGramatica(PC1)
While not flashy, impressive, or destructive, School of Ars Grammatica isconsistenly useful. Since your spells aren’t entirely focused on blowing stuffup, you can be effective in a wide variety of situations, making ArsGrammatica a good contributor in any party and in any game.
Curriculum: No direct damage options andfew directly offensive options, but a lot of excellent utility options andsome good buffs. The spell list as whole isn’t amazing, but you’ll always haveuseful options, espeically if you Heighten low-Rank curriculum spells.
- Cantrips
- Message
- Sigil
- 1st Rank
- Command
- Disguise Magic
- Runic Body
- Runic Weapon
- 2nd Rank
- Dispel Magic
- Translate
- 3rd Rank
- Enthrall
- Veil of Privacy
- 4th Rank
- Dispelling Globe
- Suggestion
- 5th Rank
- Sending
- Truespeech
- 6th Rank
- Repulsion
- 7th Rank
- Planar Seal
- 8th Rank
- Quandary
- Unrelenting Observation
- 9th Rank
- Detonate Magic
Initial Spell – Protective Wards:Mathematically similar to using a Parry weapon or a buckler, and since this isa Status bonus it will stack with Circ*mstance bonuses from options like Parryor Raise a Shield. However, the radius is tiny and grows slowly, oftencompelling you to be much closer to danger than a wizard should be.
Advanced Spell – Rune of Observation:Clairvoyance takes a full minute to cast and lasts 10 minutes; Vigilant Eyetakes an Action to cast, lasts an hour, and can be extended if you have FocusPoints available when the spell’s duration ends. It’s not always useful, butyou can use this to keep watch while your party Refocuses and does otherpost-combat stuff, or you could use it to lay ambushes.
This was called “Vigilant Eye” prior to the Remaster.
School of Battle Magic(PC1)
School of Battle Magic is excellent in combat, but that is the only placewhere it adds value. Outside of combat, you’ll need to fall back on yourskills and your other spellcasting. Of course, wizards are really good atspellcasting and have plenty of skills, so that’s hardly a problem. You’ll begreat in combat, but you’ll only be effective in other ways if you bringskills and spells that help in other situations.
Curriculum: Great options at almost everySpell Rank, and no Spell Ranks where you’re forced to pick poor options. Themajority of your spells also benefit from being Heightened in a meaningfulway, so you have a huge variety of effective options and can pick yourfavorites.
- Cantrips
- Shield
- Telekinetic Projectile
- 1st Rank
- Breathe Fire
- Force Barrage
- Mystic Armor
- 2nd Rank
- Mist
- Resist Energy
- 3rd Rank
- Earthbind
- Fireball
- 4th Rank
- Wall of Fire
- 5th Rank
- Howling Blizzard
- Impaling Spike
- 6th Rank
- Chain Lightning
- Disintegrate
- 7th Rank
- Energy Aegis
- True Target
- 8th Rank
- Arctic Rift
- Desiccate
- 9th Rank
- Falling Stars
Initial Spell – Force Bolt: The damageisn’t great, but it’s a 1-Action spell. Compare Force Bolt to a cantrip. Thedamage dice scale at the same rate, plus Force Bolt has a 1-Action castingtime compared to 2 for typical attack cantrips. You can have at most 3 FocusPoints, which means potentially three extra cantrips worth of damage early ina fight when a little extra damage can be the most impactful.
Advanced Spell – Energy Absorption: Thebiggest problem with temporary damage resistances is that you typically needto guess what type of resistance you need. This removes that challenge, andthe damage resistance is both good and scales with level, so this will remaina great option at any level.
School of Civic Wizardry(PC1)
School of Civic Wizardry is a really fun concept, but the spellcasting is noteffective enough to make it a good subclass. The highest point of the schoolis the Focus Spells, and they’re not enough to make up for the poorCurriculum.
If we get better low-level summon options for Summon Construct, I could seeraising this to green becuase you can fillyour low-Rank curriculum spell slots with Summon Construct.
Curriculum: Most of the options are onlysituationally useful, and in a campaign where survival mechanics aren’temphasized and ambushes while resting are unlikely, some of your spellsoutright won’t matter. Most schools can fill gaps in their Ranked Spells byHeightening low-Rank spells, but School of Civic Wizardry’s low-Rank spellsare among its weakest.
- Cantrips
- Prestidigitation
- Read Aura
- 1st Rank
- Hydraulic Push
- Pummeling Rubble
- Summon Construct: Currently thereare very few constructs which you can summon with this, whichdramatically limits the effectiveness of the spell. If we later get somegood low-level contructs to summon, this will become more useful. Giveit time.
- 2nd Rank
- Revealing Light
- Water Walk
- 3rd Rank
- Cozy Cabin
- Safe Passage
- 4th Rank
- Creation
- Unfettered Movement
- 5th Rank
- Control Water
- Wall of Stone
- 6th Rank
- Disintegrate
- Wall of Force
- 7th Rank
- Planar Palace
- Retrocognition
- 8th Rank
- Earthquake
- Pinpoint
- 9th Rank
- Foresight
Initial Spell – Earthworks: This is greatfor choke points like hallways, but just putting the effect between you and anenemy might keep them just outside of melee reach, so even casting this with asingle Action may be enough to achieve the desired effect.
This was called “Warped Terrain” prior to the remaster, and it was anillusion spell.
Advanced Spell – Community Restoration: Ifyou like to cast buffs of any kind on your party, you can use thisconsistently. The amount of temporary hit points is pretty good, too.
School of Mentalism(PC1)
Combining illusions and mind-affecting offensive spells, School of Mentalismprovides a combination of utility and offensive options. You’ll do very wellagainst most creatures, but you’ll need to fall back on other spells to handlemindless enemies.
Curriculum: Aside from a few gpas, youalways have one good option at each Spell Rank. That doesn’t leave much roomfor choice, unfortunately, but you have enough options to succeed.
- Cantrips
- Daze
- Figment
- 1st Rank
- Dizzying Colors
- Sleep
- Sure Strike
- 2nd Rank
- Illusory Creature
- Stupefy
- 3rd Rank
- Dream Message
- Mind Reading
- 4th Rank
- Nightmare
- Vision of Death
- 5th Rank
- Hallucination
- Illusory Scene
- 6th Rank
- Never Mind
- Phantasmal Calamity
- 7th Rank
- Project Image
- Warp Mind
- 8th Rank
- Disappearance
- Uncontrollable Dance
- 9th Rank
- Phantasmagoria
Initial Spell – Charming Push: A greatoption if you’re stuck in melee and need to safely escape, but since itdoesn’t prevent hostile actions against your allies it won’t always beuseful.
This was called Charming Words prior to the remaster.
Advanced Spell – Invisibility Cloak:Invisibility is a great option for a Focus Spell because it’s useful in nearlyevery adventure, and being able to cast it without a spell slot makes iteasier to justify casting. The gradually improving duration is nice, too.Eventually you can cast this, then remain invisible while you Refocus toregain your Focus Points.
School of Protean Form(PC1)
Of the published Arcane Schools, School of the Protean Form is the bestsuited to Polymorph spells. Much like a Druid built for Wild Shape, Wizardsplanning to rely on Polymorph should plan to do so from level 1, rather thanpicking up random Polymorph spells and hoping for the best. You’ll need goodphysical stats, lots of hit points, and equipment that looks more like a Monkthan a Wizard. Be prepared. Plan ahead.
That said, School of Protean Form can’t do anything polymorph-focused thatyou couldn’t do with any other school. There’s very little reason to play thisover School of Unified Magical Theory.
Curriculum: Some utility options andbuffs, but you don’t get polymorph spells until 5th Rank, at which pointyou’ve been surviving on your other spellcasting for 8 levels. Many of yourlow-Rank spells will become obsolete early in your career, leaving those spellslots to be perpetually unused.
- Cantrips
- Tangle Vine
- Gouging Claw
- 1st Rank
- Jump
- Pest Form
- Spider Sting
- 2nd Rank
- Enlarge
- Humanoid Form
- 3rd Rank
- Feet to Fins
- Vampiric Feast: Dangerous forwizards. Consider Reach Spell or delivering this through yourfamiliar.
- 4th Rank
- Mountain Resilience
- Vapor Form
- 5th Rank
- Elemental Form: Unless you’rebuilding for polymorph spells, avoid this. The 1-minute duration is notlong enough for this to be a utility spell, and any random wizarddoesn’t have the hit points to survive fighting while polymorphed.
- Toxic Cloud
- 6th Rank
- Cursed Metamorphosis
- Petrify
- 7th Rank
- Duplicate Foe
- Fiery Body
- 8th Rank
- Desiccate
- Monstrosity Form
- 9th Rank
- Metamorphosis
Initial Spell – Scramble Body: Sickened 1is a fine debuff, but you’ll quickly find that your leveled spells will bemore impactful unless you can guarantee a Critical Failure on the target’ssave.
This was called Call of the Grave prior to the remaster.
Advanced Spell – Shifting Form: The speedoptions and sense options are excellent. Even with the limited duration, youcan spare a single Action in combat to get yourself Scent when there areinvisible creatures around.
School of the Boundary(PC1)
Versatile, effective, customizable, and just a little bit spooky. The InitialSchool Spell is frustrating to use, but that’s the school’s biggest painpoint.
Curriculum: Strong options at nearly everyRank, and you can Heighten lower-Rank spells to fill the handful of gaps. Thespells also provide an variety of direct offense, utility, and summoningoptions, allowing you cater your Curriculum to your needs and preferences.
- Cantrips
- Telekinetic Hand
- Void Warp
- 1st Rank
- Grim Tendrils
- Phantasmal Minion
- Summon Undead
- 2nd Rank
- Darkness
- See the Unseen
- 3rd Rank
- Bind Undead
- Ghostly Weapon
- 4th Rank
- Flicker
- Translocate
- 5th Rank
- Banishment
- Invoke Spirits
- 6th Rank
- Teleport
- Vampiric Exsanguination
- 7th Rank
- Eclipse Burst
- Interplanar Teleport
- 8th Rank
- Quandary
- Unrelenting Observation
- 9th Rank
- Massacre
Initial Spell – Fortify Summoning: A +1bonus for a full minute will make a difference for a summoned creature, butthe action economy here is hard. Augment Summoning only takes one Action, butyou likely spent 3 Actions to summon the creature, then you’re probablyspending an Action to Maintain the Spell which summoned the creature you’retargeting on the turn in which you cast Fortify Summoning. So unless you haveQuickened Casting or Effortless Concentration, you’re left with a singleAction on your second turn.
That probably means that you won’t be casting another spell since so fewspells have a 1-Action casting time. Unless your summoned creature cancompletely replace you in a fight (which is possible) or the fight is going tobe extremely long, you probably can’t afford the Action to cast this.
This would be great if you could cast is a Free Action when casting asummoning spell or when Sustaining a summoning spell, but the designers likelyfelt that a persisten +1 on all of your summons was too powerful.
This was called “Augment Summoning prior to the remaster.
Advanced Spell – Spiral of Horrors Decentradius, and effective debuff, and no save.
This was called Dread Aura prior to the remaster.
School of Unified Magical Theory(PC1)
Rather than a curricculum which provides additional spells known and spellslots, the School of Unified Magical Theory grants a 1st-level Class Feat, asingle additional 1st-level spell known (on top of the 5 that you normallyselect), and an upgraded version of Drain Bonded Item.
Unified Magical Theory’s biggest selling point is the ability to performrepeated “Cascades” via Drain Bonded Item and the Bond Conservation feat. Thisallows you to perform a series of spells which starts with a high-Rank spelland works its way down the ranks. Planning your spells to support this is animportant part of optimizing School of Unified Magical Theory, but it’s hardto overstate the value of doing so. If you’re worried about bringing thistactic into combat, focus on long-duration buff and utility spells and performyour cascades outside of combat when you have the luxury of time.
Because cascades are such a central part of playing School of Unified MagicalTheory, if you look at them and think some version of “that looks unpleasant,”the school is still great. And maybe once you’re comfortable with yourcharacter you can give cascades another look.
1st-Level Wizard Class Feat: More ways tocustomize your wizard. The Wizard’s 1st-level feats aren’t so stunninglyimportant that you’ll suffer without them, but more feats are always good.
Drain Bonded Item Improvement: While youcan’t prepare as many spells as other wizards, the ability to use Drain BondedItem once for each rank means that you start the day with all of your preparedspells available at least twice without needing to prepare them twice. Youroptions narrow as you cast spells just like any other wizard, but you are moreable to adjust your daily options than other wizards.
Be sure to take the Bond Conservation feat so that you can maximize thebenefits of Drain Bonded Item.
Initial Spell – Hand of the Apprentice:This spell has some serious design issues. First: the damage is garbage, andit falls behind cantrips almost immediately. Most cantrips will deal 2d4 atfirst level, which will match Hand of the Apprentice with any weapon thewizard is Trained with (short of feats, etc.) before you account for thingslike multiple targets, persistent damage, etc. from a cantrip. At 3rd level,3d4 will match one-handed martial weapons. At 5th level, 4d4 will matchtwo-handed weapons.
Second: There’s no restriction on the weapon, so as-written you could use anyweapon you’re capable of holding. Find a greataxe, lug it around, andmagically hurl it at people. As a GM, I would limit this toappropriately-sized weapons in which the caster is at least Trained to avoidabuse, but then the spell immediately stops being useful beyond low levelsexcept possibly for multiclassed martial characters.
The only way to make this viable long-term is to use a big weapon and to putStriking runes on it. Even then, you’re spending a lot of gold and a free handfor something you might do once or twice in each fight, and unlessyou’re spending a ton of gold and using a big weapon, the damage will stillquickly fall behind your cantrips. Why make that investment?
Prior to the remaster, wizards were required to spend a Class Feat to learnthis.
Advanced Spell –Interdisciplinary Incantation: At firstglance, this appears to only be useful when you run into enemy spellcasters,but it can absolutely work when your allies cast spells, allowing you to castspells that you don’t have prepared, including those from other traditions.
The only problem with this is that its effectiveness depends entirely on whatother spellcasters are doing around you. You might use this repeatedly togreat impact, or you might never use it at all. Talk to your fellow playersbefore you take this and see if you can coordinate some spells.
