Trap Magic - WIP

Created by Gabe Grimoire

Few arcane colleges specialize in training Wizards to prepare and ensnare their enemies. Trap Magic requires time and patience to prepare and cast, relying more on creativity and cunningness, than raw arcane power. Those that pursue such techniques of magic can often be the most frightening of enemies to encounter. Followers of this tradition are known as trap mages. They see magic as a tool that can be refined exponentially, if given the time needed to do so. It teaches techniques that empower a caster’s spells, whether that means making them deadlier, harder to detect, or something else. Their spells are hidden and powerful. When their spells activate, they are quick and deadly. What these Wizards drastically lack in durability, they make up for with spells that can either shift the tides of battle, or outright put an end to it.

Arcane Trapper

2nd-level Trap Magic feature
You have learned to weave your spells into a special arcane circle. Whenever you cast a spell, you can choose to store it onto a flat inanimate surface (such as a table or the floor) within 10 feet of you, as a 5-foot radius magic circle. If you do, it takes an additional 1 minute to cast, the spell being stored has no immediate effect, and you choose how a creature triggers the arcane circle. The trigger can be one of the following:

• Touching or standing on it.
• Removing another designated object covering it.
• Approaching within a certain distance of it, up to 60 feet away from it.
• Moving the surface it is on.
• Casting a spell that hits or affects the area around it, up to 10 feet away from it.

If you inscribe a spell that requires Concentration, you must maintain Concentration on it like normal, though the effects are only activated when the arcane circle is triggered. If you lose Concentration before the spell is activated, the spell and arcane circle are lost.
When the arcane circle is triggered, the stored spell is cast from the spot of the arcane circle, and the arcane circle is destroyed. If the spell targets a creature, it targets the one that triggered the circle. If the spell affects an area, that area is centered on where the arcane circle was. If the spell summons creatures or creates harmful objects or traps, they appear in the area(s) closest to where the circle was. If the spell does not have an appropriate target or way of casting, either (a) it is cast in an alternative way, as per GMs discretion, or (b) it fizzles and nothing happens. The arcane circle can be visually seen, though can be easily missed by the untrained eye. It requires a successful Intelligence (Investigation) check against your Spell Save DC to be found. You can have a number of arcane circles active at any time equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum of 1). If you create an arcane circle when you already have the maximum number of circles active, an older circle of your choice is destroyed. An arcane circle is automatically destroyed when you move more than 1000 feet away from it, or if it is moved more than 10 feet from the spot it was cast. You can use this feature a number of times equal to half your wizard level, rounded down. You regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

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Organic Surfaces

6th-level Trap Magic feature
Your abilities as an arcane trapper have improved. You can inscribe arcane circles onto any inanimate or living surface. If you inscribe an arcane circle on a non-willing creature, that creature makes an Intelligence Saving Throw, destroying the arcane circle on a success. The creature can take an Action on their turn to repeat the Saving Throw, destroying the arcane circle on itself on a success. A creature cannot have more than one arcane circle on them at any time.

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Delayed Spell

10th-level Trap Magic feature
Whenever you Ready a spell, you can choose to empower it. If you do and release it with your Reaction when the trigger occurs, you add one of the following effects to it:

• If the spell deals damage, it deals an additional 1d10 damage.
• If the spell has a range of Touch it’s increased by 5 feet. Otherwise, the range increases by 20 feet.
• If the spell uses your Spell Save DC, increase the DC by 1.

You can use this feature twice, and regain all expended uses when you finish a Long Rest.

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Surprise Practioner

14th-level Trap Magic feature
Your experience with arcane circles have evolved beyond the need for a perfect surface. You can now inscribe arcane circles onto any roughly flat surface 2-10 feet in length and width (up to your GMs discretion). Additionally, you can choose to inscribe your arcane circles in one of the following special ways:

• Air Circle. You inscribe your arcane circle into a spot in the air, which stays in place until activated or destroyed. Certain triggers may not be suitable for this arcane circle, as per your GMs discretion.
• Huge Circle. You inscribe your arcane circle onto a surface larger than 10 feet, up to 1000 feet. For every 10 feet above 10, you spend an additional hour inscribing the circle.
• Twin Circle. You inscribe two spells into a single arcane circle. Doing so takes 20 minutes to inscribe and expends both spell slots as usual. Only one of these spells can require Concentration. If the arcane circle activates, both spells are cast simultaneously, in the order you choose when you create the arcane circle.

Once you inscribe an arcane circle in a special way, you can't do so again until you finish a Long Rest.