Source: Diamond Spheres: Magical Organizations
This section contains new wizard arcane discoveries, first introduced in Ultimate Magic. An arcane discovery may be selected by a wizard in place of a regular feat or wizard bonus feat. These arcane discoveries feature or focus around manipulating or modulating spells as a wizard is a master of their studies.
These arcane discoveries are largely themed on the primary spell schools in classic magic but easily convert using transparency to Spheres of Power.
Note - Spheres of Power: If using Spheres of Power, these arcane discoveries may use the wizard’s casting ability modifier instead of their Intelligence. By GM discretion, other arcane discoveries may similarly use the wizard’s casting ability modifier over Intelligence.
For the purposes of transparency, a non-cantrip spell is any sphere effect that costs 1 or more spell points and has been allowed to continue without concentration. Sacrificing a spell slot for a non-spell level based effect requires spending 1 spell point and is treated as creating a sphere effect.
Arcane Discoveries
Arcane Bond Amplification
Prerequisite: Wizard level 10th, arcane bond class feature.
Your arcane bond is modified as follows:
- Bonded Object: While your bonded object is “grasped”, your bonded object grants you a +1 bonus on Intelligence-based skill checks, Use Magic Device skill checks, concentration checks, and caster level checks. A bonded object is grasped when held in a hand capable of wielding a weapon as though it were a weapon (and not a lesser appendage, etc.). If your bonded object is a worn magic item, you may temporarily grasp that item (such as placing a hand on your ring, grasping your magic pendant, and so forth) to benefit from this bonus.
In addition, daily uses of your bonded object may now also be used as a free action to reroll Intelligence-based skill checks, Use Magic Device skill checks, concentration checks, and caster level checks. This decision is made after the roll is made and before the results are revealed. You must take the new result, even if it is worse. - Familiar: Your familiar may select a single familiar archetype for “free”, gaining the archetype’s abilities without exchanging or replacing its familiar abilities. This allows a familiar to potentially have two familiar archetypes that would normally overlap or allow a familiar to possess an archetype when otherwise unable (such as an improved familiar selecting a familiar archetype).
Author’s Note - Familiar Archetype Combinations: GMs may find certain familiar archetype combinations inappropriate, or too powerful. At GM discretion, certain archetypes cannot be combined using this arcane discovery.
Special - Arcane Bond Diversification: If you possess the arcane bond diversification arcane discovery, both of your arcane bonds gain the appropriate effects.
Arcane Bond Diversification
Prerequisite: Arcane bond class feature.
You gain an arcane bond selection you did not originally choose (i.e. selecting a bonded object when you already selected a familiar).
Crawling Curses
Your curses twist and pull away from their victims, seeking new vestiges.
Prerequisite: Wizard level 5th.
As a standard action, you may sacrifice a spell slot to cast a baneful curse against a single target within Close range. The baneful curse is a necromancy school curse effect that inflicts a -1 penalty to attack rolls and saving throws, -1 per 10 caster levels for 1 round per caster level.
As a swift action, you may cause a curse effect you created within Close range (25 + 5 per 2 wizard levels) to attempt to move the curse to a new target, making a ranged touch attack against a creature within 30 feet of the originally cursed target. If successful, the target is afflicted by the curse (as though they were an original target, removing the curse from the original target and resetting the curse’s duration on the new target as though it were a newly created effect). If the new touch attack misses, the curse is dispelled. This may allow a curse to be moved from a corpse to a new target.
Dominion Impressor
Your mind bending magics leave imprints when resisted, which you’ve learned to further manipulate.
You may hide spell manifestations as part of using the Sleight of Hand subtle action skill use (Spheres of Guile) by accepting a penalty to your Sleight of Hand check equal to twice the spell level being cast.
In addition, when a creature succeeds on a saving throw against your (charm) or (compulsion) effects, that creature is still marked by an emotional imprint for 1 minute per caster level of the effect (and may only be marked by a single emotional imprint at a time). You can expend an emotional imprint in the following ways:
- Emotional Twist: When you make a Charisma-based skill check against a creature with an emotional imprint, you may expend the emotional imprint to gain a circumstance bonus on that check equal to 2 + 1/2 your wizard level (minimum 1).
- Impulse Twist: When a creature with an emotional imprint makes an attack roll against you, you may expend the emotional imprint to force the creature to reroll their attack roll (Will negates, DC 10 + 1/2 your wizard level + your Intelligence modifier). Expending an emotional imprint this way is an immediate action and may be done after the attack is rolled.
An emotional imprint is a subtle effect and can be detected by detect thoughts or thoughtsense, as though additional surface layer thoughts are present on the target, but is otherwise imperceptible by normal means.
Duality Caller
You carve through the planar veil, splitting black from white.
Prerequisite: Wizard level 5th.
When you summon a single creature with an alignment subtype, you may choose to instead summon two identical creatures, one as originally summoned and one with an opposite alignment subtype (i.e. good/evil or law/chaos). If the alignment subtype grants effects (such as the celestial template or the Planar Creature (type) talent, these are inverted to the opposite alignment as appropriate). The two summoned creatures last for the normal duration of the summoning effect, suffer a -2 penalty on all d20 rolls, and share daily resources (such as daily abilities, spell-like abilities, spell points, and similar).
You can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time at 10th level and every 5 levels thereafter.
Note: A summoning effect modified by duality caller cannot be further modified by effects that summons additional creatures, such as Superior Summoning.
Echoing Question
When casting a divination spell with a percentile chance of receiving a meaningful or accurate reply, you increase that percentile chance by +1 per wizard level (if your percentile answer certainty would exceed 100%, you are treated as though casting the spell an additional time and may ask new questions - such as a 110% percentile chance augury would have 1 question at 100% certainty and another question at 10% certainty, asked in order). Additional questions asked in this manner do not prevent those questions from being asked again with later castings of the same spell.
A number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier, if you have cast a spell within the past 24 hours that allows you to ask a question (such as augury, divination, and similar), you may ask 1 additional question as a swift action (provided it is related to a question asked during the original spell or directly related to answers granted by the original spell). When doing so, use the original spell’s percentile success chance when receiving the new answer (unmodified by this arcane discovery).
Mirror Aegis
Your mastery of protective magics distort hostile force, reflecting it to its source.
Prerequisite: Wizard level 7th.
While under the effects of a non-cantrip abjuration spell you cast (or other spell that grants a bonus to AC), you may dismiss that effect as an immediate action to gain spell resistance equal to 11 + your wizard level until the end of the current turn.
When a spell fails to overcome your spell resistance, and you are the sole target of that spell, as an immediate action you may reflect the spell back to its source (as spell turning). You can use this ability once per day, plus an additional time at 11th level and every 6 levels thereafter. This ability may be used simultaneously with the immediate action to dispel an abjuration spell and gain spell resistance.
Overchannel Flux
You momentarily disrupt the weave of energy in your evocation spells for great power at great cost.
Prerequisite: Wizard level 5th.
When casting an evocation spell that deals damage, you may choose to overchannel the spell. An overchanneled spell deals +1 point of damage per damage dice, but you take the minimum damage roll of the spell as untyped damage (including the flat bonus to damage from this ability, but not other sources of additional damage; you suffer no other effects of the spell). This damage occurs after the spell has been cast (and does not interrupt concentration or pose a risk of death until after the caster has finished the spell).
At wizard level 11th, you may choose to instead take half the damage of the spell as untyped damage (a minimum of the minimum damage of the spell plus the flat bonus damage from this ability). If you do, the spell staggers any creatures damaged by the spell for 1d4 rounds (Fortitude negates, DC equal to the spell’s DC), but also staggers you until the end of your next turn (Fortitude negates, DC equal to the spell’s DC).
Phantom Persistence
Whenever a creature successfully disbelieves an illusion you created, it lingers in the creature’s vision as a harmless-but-mocking phantasm. Despite no longer impeding vision or other senses, the target suffers a penalty on Perception and Sense Motive checks equal to 1 + the disbelieved illusion’s spell level. This penalty lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 + the spell level of the illusion disbelieved,
As a move action, you may end any non-cantrip illusion you created (that is not ongoing due to concentration) to become invisible (as invisibility) for 1 round, +1 round per 5 wizard levels.
Spellshifting Surge
Once per day, when you cast a transmutation spell targeting yourself, as a swift action you may alter the spell to also affect one willing creature within 30 feet of you (this allows you to share the effects of a personal range spell with an ally), plus an additional willing creature per 3 wizard levels you possess.
A spell effect shared this way has its original duration halved for any additional targets.
At 11th level, you can use this ability twice per day.