project arcana

One of the initial drivers of Project Arcana – other than the frothing rage caused by Mirage Arcane – was the desire to be able to do more with the magic system. As we finished up Phase 1, we realized that in a lot of ways, casting magic is like martial […]

Project Arcana: Applied Magic – Adding the New Schools to ...

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
Ok, so a quick update on Project Arcana Phase I (this week’s focus for me is the 2050 Cybernetics rules, but I need to get this out there). Dad is crunching hard on finalizing the spell lists. We are nearly done with that, hopefully by the end of the week. […]

Weekly Dump: Project Arcana Phase I Update

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
For weeks now we’ve been chucking spells into Divinus without providing a solid discussion of the school. It’s time to fix that. Let’s start by stating that Divinus is more than just a school. Divine magic is fundamentally different from arcane magic. Sure, arcane magic is ‘magic’, but it’s magic with […]

Project Arcana: Divinus Spell List

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
Okay, let’s start with a quick recap of the school: Divination is all about knowing things that aren’t normally knowable. Most Divination spells reveal knowledge by extending the senses through the use of magic. In theory, this mechanic should allow all senses to be extended (Gene’s Enormous Tongue, anyone?), but in […]

Project Arcana: Divination Spell List

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
As we talked about in this initial take-down of Evocation, this school is all about energy: Adding it, subtracting it, flinging it, sucking it, making it tangible. Evocation spells magically manipulate energy to produce a desired effect. Some call up blasts of fire or lightning, others affect the weather, and […]

Project Arcana: Evocation Spell List

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
2
Only three primary schools left! Today, I’ll be hashing out the Transmutation spell list. As a school, transmutation seems like it should be one of the more obvious categories of magical mechanisms. It’s a pretty standard concept, turning one thing into another, yet a lot of complexity and nuance exist […]

Project Arcana: Transmutation Spell List

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
1
When we first took our stab at Vitae for Project Arcana, it was called Necromancy and it was a mess. But that’s okay, because we fixed it. The primary change we made to the school was to rename it to Vitae. This, we feel, made more sense for what the school […]

Project Arcana: Vitae Spell List

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
The Enchantment school analysis was one of the cleaner take downs we’ve done for PA. The description of the school’s focus in the 5e Player’s Handbook was concise and surprisingly functional. And, in the end, most of the spells listed as Enchantments are staying in the school, with a few […]

Project Arcana: Enchantment Spells

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
3
In the first discussion of Illusion, I worked hard to show that illusion is a magic that directly affects the mind instead of affecting the environment. In this installment of Project Arcana’s investigation of Illusion, I’m going to be analyzing Illusion’s spells to see how well they conform to that […]

Project Arcana: Illusion Spells

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / illusion / Magic / Pen and Paper / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by
2
Okay, so, the Conjuration list. This was the first school that we really knuckled down and chomped on. Truthfully, I think if was Conjuration magic that made Dad and I first decide to undertake Project Arcana. It seemed so straightforward (move stuff from point A to point B), yet there […]

Project Arcana: Conjuration Spell List

 in D&D / Project Arcana / RPG / Tabletop  tagged 5e / 5th edition / D&D / Dungeons & Dragons / Dungeons and Dragons / fifth edition / project arcana / RPG / Tabletop by