School of Incantation Fluff (AD&D: Cult of the Dragon)

The School of Incantation
The Forgotten Realms are home to numerous practitioners of magic and many variations of the more common wizard and rogue spellcasting professions, including spellsingers and shadow walkers (detailed in Wizards and Rogues of the Realms). Numerous specialist wizards of different schools of magic practice their Art in the Realms, although all are rarer than the mage or bard. This appendix details a school of magic unique to the Realms whose rare practitioners are near legend in the lore of the Realms: the school of incantation.

Spells of the school of incantation affect the casting of magic. (This school subsumes the category/school of metamagic, briefly discussed in the Tome of Magic). Such spells may enhance or reduce the effectiveness of other spells (as do those of metamagic), disrupt the magic of other spellcasters, banish summoned creatures from other planes, or shield the spellcaster from magical attack. Although the school of incantation has a fairly limited spell selection of low-level spells, such spells are very effective when used in battle with other spellcasters. The school of incantation magic can be subdivided into four categories of spells, and only the spells copy and the Simbul's synostodweomer fall outside of these classifications.

These groups are:
Metamagic Spells: This group includes spells that enhance or reduce the effectiveness of other spells such as alacrity; augmentation I & II; dilation I & II; far reaching I, II, & III; extension I, II, & III; greater malison; maladweomer; minor malison; Mordenkainen’s celerity; Rary's mnemonic enhancer; Rarys spell enhancer; Rarys superior spell enhancer; and squaring the circle.
Incantatrixes (specialist wizards in the school of incantation) have developed reversed versions of the augmentation, dilation, far reaching, and extension spells that can be used to minimize the effectiveness of an opponent's magic (a successful saving throw vs. spell negates the spell, and the range is 10 feet per level).

Disruptive Spells: This group includes spells that disrupt magical wards and a spellcasting opponent's ability to cast spells such as curse of forgetfulness, dispel magic, dispel possession, disruption, draincone, dweomer vortex, feeblemind, forget, knock, maze, Mordenkainen's involuntary wizardry, Otto's chime of release, power word stun, ruby ray of reversal, steal enchantment, stealspell, and unbinding.

Banishment Spells: This group includes spells that banish summoned creatures back to their own plane of existence such as banishment, dismissal, and power word banishment.

Shielding Spells: This group includes spells that shield an incantatrix from the magic of other spellcasters such as Bigby's interposing hand, Drawmij's marvelous shield, forcecage, globe of invulnerability, minor globe of invulnerability, minor spell turning, mystic shield, mystic sphere, prismatic sphere, prismatic wall, Rary's mind shield, shield, spell turning, wall of force, and weirdshield.

The Incantatrix
Incantatrixes (or incantatars, the infrequently encountered male form) are specialist wizards in the school of incantation. Incantatrixes have been discovered only in western Faerûn, and rarely more than a handful are well-known in any generation. Currently there are only seven widely known living incantatrixes and two suspected incantatars (male incantatrixes) in the Realms, but probably a few hundred total labor in relative anonymity.

An incantatrix is a mysterious type of wizard who is weaker in many ways than some mages but is adept at countering and negating the magics of other spellcasting creatures and individuals and at dealing with creatures who exist simultaneously on more than one plane (such as certain undead beings). At the same time, incantatrixes are severely limited in their choice of offensive magics and are woefully weak in physical combat of any sort.

Incantatrixes tend to act independently, but because they have similar aims and interests, they sometimes join together in loose coalitions to combat common foes - notably those individuals who use magic in a dangerous, irresponsible manner. An incantatrix seeks to police the unrestrained use of magic about her abode, or challenge (not always openly) such uses that she observes elsewhere, much like a druid protecting his or her forest and other forests in the region. Incantatrixes seem to particularly dislike those who often create gates (or portals) or otherwise compel or allow creatures to enter the Prime Material Plane from other planes, and they thus often oppose specialist conjurers and elementalists.

Because of the large number of opposition schools barred to an incantatrix and the relatively small scope of the school of incantation, particularly at low levels, lowlevel incantatrixes rarely actively adventure, preferring to study, and may thus be more useful as NPCs. Incantatrixes who do adventure typically seek out only specific types of foes against whom their abilities are particularly suited. A few such spellcasters adventure with powerful groups of fighters and priests who can shield the incantatrix from physical combat, allowing the incantatrix to employ her skills against enemy spellcasters and creatures who exist simultaneously on more than one plane.

Specialist Name: Incantatrix (female), incantatar (male).
The more common term incantatrix is used throughout this appendix to refer to both female and male specialists in the school of incantation. (Almost all known specialists in the school of incantation have been female, but this is not a requirement of the class.) Incantatrixes are occasionally referred to as metamages, but this term is not strictly correct.

Allowed Races: Incantatrixes must be humans or half-elves.

Ability Requirements: A minimum Intelligence of 13 and Wisdom of 12 are required to become an incantatrix because this school of magic demands strong intuition and exceptional willpower to police the unrestrained use of magic by other wizards and to confront creatures from other planes. If the subabilities from the PLAYER'S OPTION: Skills & Powers hardcover book are being used, a minimum Reason of 13, Intuition of 12, and Willpower of 12 are required.

Saving Throw Modifiers: The saving throws of all opponents are penalized by -1 when saving against an incantation spell cast by an incantatrix. An incantatrix receives a +1 bonus to her saving throws against incantation magic or magical devices duplicating these effects.

Oppositional Schools: An incantatrix cannot learn spells from the schools of Conjuration/summoning, invocation/Evocation, Illusion/phantasm, or Necromancy that are not cross-listed in either the school of incantation, alteration, and/or abjuration. They cannot cast any wild magic spells.

Bonus Spells, Acquired Powers, and Special Hindrances:
An incantatrix can memorize one extra spell at each spell level available providing that at least one of the memorized spells is from the school of incantation; thus a long as at least one is in the school of incantation. An incantatrix receives a bonus of +15% when learning spells from the school of incantation and a penalty of -15% when learning spells from all other schools (except the schools of abjuration and lesser divination, for which there is no bonus or penalty).

An incantatrix automatically gains one new spell from the school of incantation to add to her spellbooks each time she gains a new spell level. No roll for learning the spell need be made. When researching new spells from the school of incantation, an incantatrix has an easier time of it (as per the rules in the DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE and the COMPLETE WIZARD'S HANDBOOK), similar to other specialist wizards. An incantatrix gains the spellcraft proficiency as a bonus nonweapon proficiency. An incantatrix is not allowed to take any weapon style specialization proficiencies or weapon group proficiencies (as detailed in the COMPLETE FIGHTER'S HANDBOOK and PLAYER'S OPTION: SKILLS & POWERS hardcover books. An incantatrix never receives more than two weapon proficiencies total. An incantatrix is forbidden from taking "combat" nonweapon proficiencies such as blindfighting and tumbling.

At 3rd level, an incantatrix gains the ability to see ethereal creatures, including out-of-phase creatures and those employing temporary magics such as spells or magical items. This ability works so long as the incantatrix is on any plane that the Ethereal Plane permeates (such as the Prime Material), and the ethereal creature occupies an equivalent Ethereal Plane position within 30 feet of the incantatrix's location.

At 4th level, an incantatrix gains the ability to physically or magically attack creatures who are out of phase, ethereal, blinking rapidly about (as in the wizard spell blink and similar effects), and so on. For magical attacks of this sort, the incantatrix may use any spell except stealspell, ruby ray of reversal, or unbinding.

At 6th level, an incantatrix gains immunity to the level-draining powers of creatures employing energies from the Negative Material Plane, such as xeg-yi and many undead.

At 8th level, an incantatrix gains a +6 bonus to her spellcraft nonweapon proficiency checks.

At 20th level an incantatrix gains a still-mysterious ability to drain magic from an item or device that has charges and use the magical force to restore her own vitality. To use this power, the incantatrix must remain still and hold the item to be drained with her bare hand or hands for one round per charge drained. The power does not work on permanent items that have no charges, artifacts, or relics. It cannot be used to augment or restore spells or magical items possessed by the incantatrix, but only as a modified form of cure light wounds magic: One drained charge gains 1d8 hit points for the incantatrix.
An incantatrix can use this ability before combat to temporarily augment her hit points above her normal maximum, but this does not raise her level or Hit Dice for purposes of spellcasting, saving throws, and the like. These extra "phantom" hit points last for only 1 turn before their energy is forever lost, but any magical or physical damage suffered by the incantatrix during that turn diminishes and exhausts the phantom hit points before the incantatrix suffers any real hit point damage.

If the optional rules for training giving in the DUNGEON MASTER'S GUIDE are used, the incantatrix may find it extremely difficult to find an appropriate tutor. Although a senior incantatrix of at least one level higher than the new level is preferred, an incantatrix may be trained by a MAGE or ABJURER of at least three levels higher than the new level to be obtained by the incantatrix.