Arcanist (Vocation)

An Arcanist is the most pure of the mage types. They are not studious nor do they pollute their magic with mundane items. Instead an Arcanist drinks deeply of the mana that flows around them. They open their bodies to the natural flow of mana found all around them, using their bodies as the conduit between the shadow realms and their current location. This may seem to outsiders to simply allowing the magick to follow its own nature, but the subtle changes provided by the Arcanist is what really determines the final result. For this reason when an Arcanist succeeds they often get superior results, while failures can be spectacular events. To reflect them an Arcanist gets a +1 CritDie on success and a -1 CritDie on failures when casting or targeting a spell.

Because of the nature of an Arcanist's magick they cannot make the same use of physical devices or foci as they interfere in the Arcanist's feeling of the natural flow of magick. They can still create themselves a focus, but instead of a separate physical object it is represented as a magical mark on their body. This mark allows them to focus their minds on the task at hand. The mark cannot be taken away, but it can be damaged while still of their body which causes the Arcanist to suffer the same results. All other rules remain the same, including the materials expended.

Because an Arcanist deals with the purest form of magical energy failing to successfully cast a spell can have dire consequences. If an Arcanist fails to successfully cast a spell then they must make a Willpower check against the table below to see the consequence of their failure.

Willpower CritDie Effect
Success 10+ Arcanist can attempt to target the spell again
Success 6-9 Spell is dispelled without any effect
Success 1-5
Failure 5-10 xx
Failure 2-4 xx
Failure 1 xx

Skills

Primary Secondary
Arcanist Craft Basic Magick - Fire Method
Laws of Magick Basic Magick - Water Method
Spell Research Illusion Method
Transmutation Method Plant Method
Arcane Method Summoning Method
Basic Magick - Air Method Meditation
Wards Method Faerie Lore
Word of Guard Aura Lore
Willpower Mage Speech (spoken)
Spell Enhancement Any background skills

Magic Resistancee

Sphere MR Adjustment
Elemental Air -1
Elemental Earth +1
Elemental Fire +0
Elemental Water +0
Arcane -3
Command +1
Divination +2
Illusion +0
Plant +0
Summoning +0
Transcendental +3
Transmutation -2
Wards -1