Arcane Laboratory

Rank 4

A reinforced tower filled with equipment, reagents and arcane tools, ready for the casting and modification of spells. Arcane magic is a powerful tool, and with the right equipment arcane spells can be modified, enhanced and customized with enough willpower and skill.

Rank	Gold Cost	Benefit
1st	750 gp	One modified spell, -1 action to augment, up to 2nd level spells
2nd	1,500 gp	Two modified spells, -2 actions to augment, up to 4th level spells
3rd	3,000 gp	Three modified spells, -3 actions to augment, up to 6th level spells
4th	6,000 gp	Four modified spells, -4 action to augment, up to 8th level spells. Divine spellcasters can also access the Laboratory.

Spellcraft

Once the laboratory has been built and furnished, a spellcaster can spend their downtime there researching and experimenting on their spells, with unpredictable but powerful effects.A character who can cast arcane spells - using the wizard, sorcerer, warlock, bard or artificer spell list - can spend downtime actions and gold to research a modified version of a spell that they know, ending up with a modified spell usually named after its inventor. Anyone can cast *lightning bolt*, but Cerric's overpowering lightning bolt is something special.

To start, choose an arcane spell you can cast. You can modify this spell in two ways. An improved spell has an altered damage type, or an improved range, area of effect, or damage, while an augmented spell gains an unpredictable, powerful new effect, increasing the spell slot needed to cast it.
However:

A spell can only be modified in one way at a time

You can only know, or have in your spellbook, a number of modified (in any way) spells equal to the level of the laboratory

The maximum level of spell you can modify is equal to twice the rank of the laboratory

Improved Spells

If you want to improve a spell in some way, choose a spell, and spend one downtime action and 100gp to cover reagents, lab equipment and the inevitable cleanup afterward.
Make an Intelligence (Arcana) check at DC 15. If successful, you may choose one of the following modifications, as appropriate. If failed, roll a d6 and gain that improvement to the spell instead, rerolling results that don't make sense.

d6 Roll	Improvement	Effect
1	Harmful	A non-cantrip spell deals damage as though it were cast one level higher than normal, or deals 1 dice of extra damage on one of its damage rolls
2	Expanded	A spell that effects an area at least 10 ft across increases in size: A sphere or cylinder's radius by 5ft, a line's width by 5ft, a cube's side length by 10ft, a cone's length by 10ft
3	Reaching	A spell with a range of 5ft or longer doubles its range
4	Lasting	A spell that lasts for 1 minute or longer doubles its duration, up to 24 hours.
5,6	Elemental	A spell that deals fire, cold, lightning, acid, poison, radiant, necrotic or thunder damage can substitute that damage type for another on the list

The improved spell is complete. Give it a name - a *fireball* might become *ball lightning*, or you may decide you've researched *Popski's devastating chromatic orb*. If you wish, you may then immediately add it to your spells known list, replacing an existing spell (including the base spell you modified), or scribe it into your spellbook at no extra cost.

Augmented Spells

This is making real change, adding an additional powerful effect onto a spell. Choose any arcane spell you can cast to act as the base, and start the preparations.
To augment a spell, a caster must spend one downtime action for each level of the spell, minus one for each level of the laboratory.
Each time you spend a downtime action augmenting and inventing a spell, you must also spend an additional 100gp per level of the original spell, in reagents and equipment to cover your costs.
Once the required research time has been spent, make an Intelligence (Arcana) check:

Check Total	Result
14 or less	Random result
15 - 24	Choice between two results
25 or more	Choice between three results

Using tables adapted from the *Strongholds & Followers* supplement, the DM and player note the spell's targets and type, and roll on the spell effect chart for a result appropriate to the spell. With a good Arcana check, the player is offered multiple options to choose from, but they are always experimental, unpredictable and just a bit... weird.
For example,

• A spell that gives a bonus to one ally may become energized, adding your spellcasting ability modifier to all of their saving throws, or fated, allowing them to reroll damage dice for the duration.
• A spell targeting a group of enemies could become overwhelming, knocking all targets prone, defiling, draining 1d6 hit points from each enemy and giving it to the spellcaster, or dazzling, blinding all targets for a round.
• A spell that deals fire damage could become igniting, dealing ongoing fire damage, or blazing, setting the area alight to create a damage-dealing zone.
• A spell that makes an attack roll could become puncturing, scoring a critical hit on an 18 - 20, or stupefying, leaving the target able to attack or move, but not both, next turn.
• A spell that gives a bonus to a group of allies could become vengeful, allowing them to spend a reaction to make an attack when they take damage, or dashing, allowing them to move half their speed for free each turn.

Once the augment has been selected, the new spell is complete. It is now one level higher than the base spell - that is, starting with a 3rd level spell will augment it into a 4th level spell. Cantrips become 1st level spells after being augmented. Choose a name for the spell, traditionally including the name of its inventor and the name of the augment you discovered. You can also decide that the spell components needed are slightly different, such as a particular word of power or a changed material reagent.
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Finally, an augmented spell is unstable and untested. If the spell is more or less useful than anticipated, we can also alter its spell level or effects between games. And, once the spell is well studied and stable, it may become ready to scribe onto scrolls, share with other casters and copy into other's spellbooks.

Type

Tower, Mage

Parent Location

Beacon