Incarnum Cantrips
M
agic—wonderful, awesome, terrible magic. It shapes and reshapes the world to the whims and wills of those who wield it. But in many worlds, magic is more than just spells and incantations, but underlies the structure of reality, existing in even the most ordinary of objects, waiting for someone to set it free. When a spellcaster awakens the magic of an object, it becomes known as focus, and powerful varieties of foci, often painstakingly constructed from rare or dangerous materials are often among the most prized possessions of spellcasters of every stripe.
In such worlds, **Cantrips** are not spells. They cannot be found in spellbooks, they cannot be transcribed into scrolls. Instead, they are a highly personal kind of magic, an intimate expression of the bond between a spellcaster and a focus.
### What is a Spellcasting Focus?
A spellcaster's focus is an object with a degree of inherent magic such as a wizard's wand, a bard's instrument, a cleric's holy symbol, or a warlock's rod.
You need an appropriate arcane, divine, or primal focus in order to cast cantrips of that type. Specific properties of foci are detailed at the end of the section, but in general, a focus can be any mundane or magical object, though certain objects serve the purpose better than others.
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**The Best of Both Worlds**
**Incarnum cantrips** are generally more versatile than their traditional counterparts, however, if you discover a cantrip which is not available in your class's Cantrip Categories but is available for your class, you can choose to take it normally. This cantrip counts against your total number of cantrips known as normal, but does require a focus to cast.
If a class, race, or other feature grants you a specific cantrip, you learn that cantrip as normal. If it allows you to pick a cantrip, with your DM's approval, you can choose an appropriate Incarnum cantrip domain instead.
For a spellcaster, finding a suitable focus is often a task which is just as important as studying spells. For where a specific spell may allow a spellcaster to bring forth and control a powerful feat of magic, cantrips allow spellcasters to express their will directly.
Even though cantrips are not spells, they are still magic and can be *counterspelled*, may require concentration, and their lasting effects can be *dispelled*.
### Learning Cantrips
There are many different kinds of spellcasters, each with wildly different ways of accessing their magical powers. These differences determine the kinds of cantrips for which a particular spellcaster has access, as well as the kinds of foci they can use.
When you are given the option to learn your choice of cantrip from a spellcasting class, you can instead choose to learn an Incarnum cantrip from the list of available domains for that spellcasting class.
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### Attuning to a Focus
Certain materials are strong innate sources of magic (such as true materials). In addition to the cantrips you learn as a spellcaster, it is possible to cast cantrips that you have not mastered yourself, as long as you have focus to which you have become attuned which can do so. By spending a short rest to attune to a spellcasting focus (which counts towards the maximum number of magic items to which you can attune) you learn what cantrips (if any) the item can cast and can cast those cantrips while attuned to and holding the focus. In general any focus that is a *strong* focus for your style of casting will have the ability to cast one or more cantrips. Though, regardless of the strength of the focus, becoming attuned to a focus has a variety of benefits which depend on your style of spellcasting.
### General Powers of a Focus
All foci, no matter how incompatible its magic is with yours, can act as basic conduits for your magic. Once attuned to a focus, as an action, you can create any one of the effects listed below, which last for your cantrip effect duration (see *Cantrip Duration* in the next section). You may have no more than three different effects active at one time.
#### Arcane Magic
- You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as a shower of sparks, a puff of wind, faint musical notes, or an odd odor.
- You instantaneously light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
- You instantaneously clean or soil an object no larger than 1 cubic foot.
- You chill, warm, or flavor up to 1 cubic foot of nonliving material for 1 hour.
- You make a color, a small mark, or a symbol appear on an object or a surface for 1 hour.
- You create a nonmagical trinket or an illusory image that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.
#### Divine Power
* Your voice booms up to three times as loud as normal for 1 minute.
* You cause flames to flicker, brighten, dim, or change color for 1 minute.
* You cause harmless tremors in the ground for 1 minute.
* You create an instantaneous sound that originates from a point of your choice within range, such as a rumble of thunder, the cry of a raven, or ominous whispers.
* You instantaneously cause an unlocked door or window to fly open or slam shut.
* You alter the appearance of your eyes for 1 minute.
#### Primal Power
- You create a tiny, harmless sensory effect that predicts what the weather will be at your location for the next 24 hours. The effect might manifest as a golden orb for clear skies, a cloud for rain, falling snowflakes for snow, and so on. This effect persists for 1 round.
- You instantly make a flower blossom, a seed pod open, or a leaf bud bloom.
- You create an instantaneous, harmless sensory effect, such as falling leaves, a puff of wind, the sound of a small animal, or the faint odor of skunk. The effect must fit in a 5-foot cube.
- You instantly light or snuff out a candle, a torch, or a small campfire.
## Cantrip Effects
### Scaling Effects
Cantrips can improve in two ways, the first is by increasing your spellcaster level. When you gain a total combined spellcaster level of 5th level (as if you were determining spell slots for multi-classing), the reach, range, duration, and damage of your cantrips increases by a level. This occurs again at 11th and 17th levels.
The second way is by using a more powerful focus (for example switching to a *strong* focus from a *weak* one).
#### Cantrip Damage
Your cantrip damage is the damage dealt by damage cantrips that you cast (see *Damage Cantrips*).
The die rolled for a cantrip is determined by your focus and your chosen cantrip domain, but generally follows the following pattern: 1d4 for a *poor* focus, 1d6 for a *weak* focus, 1d8 for a *standard* focus, 1d10 for a *strong* focus, and 1d12 for a *perfect* focus.
The number of times this die is rolled is determined by your spellcaster level. The default number of dice rolled is 1. This increases to 2 at 5th level, 3 at 11th level, and 4 at 17th level.
#### Cantrip Duration
Your cantrip duration is the length of time that effects that you create with a cantrip persist.
The default duration for your cantrip effects is 10 minutes. This increases to 1 hour at 5th level, 8 hours at 11th level, and 24 hours at 17th level.
#### Cantrip Range
Your cantrip range is analygous to the range of a ranged weapon and denotes from how far away you can perform a ranged spell attack with it.
The default range for a cantip is 30/60 ft. This increases to 60/120 ft at 5th level, 90/180 ft at 11th level, and 120/240 ft at 17th level.
#### Cantrip Reach
Your cantrip reach is analygous to the reach of a melee weapon and denotes from how far away you can perform a melee spell attack with it.
The default reach for a cantrip is 5 ft. This increases to 10 ft at 11th level and 15 ft at 17th level.
### Damage Cantrips
Though any cantrip could conceivably deal damage in the context of a particular situation (like starting an avalance by destabilizing rocks), some cantrips domains specifify the type of damage intended to be dealt by that domain directly. To use these cantrips to deal damage, you choose one of the options listed below.
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| Action | Description |
|:-------|:------------|
|**Strike.**| Make a melee spell attack against a creature within your cantrip reach. Deal damage equal to your cantrip damage plus your spellcasting ability modifier.|
| **Bolt.** | Make a ranged spell attack against a creature within your cantrip range. Deal damage equal to your cantrip damage. Using this option may also apply an additional effect depending on the cantrip domain.|
|**Spray.** | Choose up to two targets within 5 feet of one another within your cantrip's normal range. They each must make a saving throw (the type determined by your cantrip domain) or take damage equal your cantrip damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one.|
|**Trap.**| Using this option requires you to use your concentration. Choose a 5-ft space within your cantrip's normal range. Creatures in that space must make a Dexterity Saving Throw or take damage equal your cantrip damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. While you maintain concentration, a creature must also make the saving throw when it enters the space for the first time on a turn or ends its turn there. The space is difficult terrain.|
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### Ad Hoc Effects
You can use cantrips for a variety of tasks and applications beyond those explicitly given in either the General Properties of a Focus or the Damage Cantrips sections. In general these effects cannot extend outside a 5 ft cube centered on an area in your cantrip's range and do not replicate the effects of 1st-level or higher spells.
Additionally, specific cantrip domains may allow for more powerful ad hoc effects at higher levels. The domain will specifiy if it does so.
##### Incarnum Cantrip Domains
| Damage Type | Cantrip Domain | Description | Classes |
|:---------------|:------------|:-------|:----|
| Acid | Corrosive | Manipulate Acid. Corrode things. | Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Cold | Frigid | Manipulate Cold. Freeze things. | Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Fire | Caloric | Manipulate Heat. Melt things. | Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Force | Eldritch | Manipulate Force. Shove things. | Warlock |
| Lightning | Voltaic | Manipulate Electricity. Shock things. | Druid, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Necrotic | Necrotic | Manipulate Necrosis. Enervate things. | Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Poison | Toxic | Conjure Poison. | Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard |
| Psychic | Hypnotic | Read, influence, and damage minds. | Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| Radiant | Holy | Invoke signs of Faith. | Cleric, Druid |
| Thunder | Sonic | Manipulate Wind. Create sounds/silence.| Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard |
| – | Cognitive | Enhance and focus minds. | Bard, Warlock |
| – | Formative | Manifest physical objects. | Cleric, Warlock |
| – | Illusory | Create tricks and illusions. | Bard, Sorcerer, Wizard |
| – | Kinetic | Move physical objects. | Bard, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| – | Morphic | Manipulate essences of things. | Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard |
| – | Prescient | See the past, present and future. | Bard, Cleric, Sorcerer, Warlock, Wizard |
| – | Radiant | Manipulate Illumination. | Bard, Cleric, Druid, Sorcerer, Wizard |
| – | Vital | Manipulate growth and developement | Druid |
##### Combining Domains
| Constituent Domains | Cantrip Domain | Description |
|:---------------|:------------|:-------|
| Electromotive | Voltaic, Kinetic | Control currents and magnetic fields. |
##### Incarnum Domains by Class
| Class | Available Domains |
|:---------|:------------------|
| Bard | Psychic, Sonic Cognitive, Illusory, Kinetic, Prescient, Radiant |
| Cleric | Necrotic, Holy, Formative, Prescient, Radiant |
| Druid | Frigid, Caloric, Voltaic, Toxic, Holy, Morphic, Radiant |
| Sorcerer | Corrosive, Frigid, Caloric, Voltaic, Necrotic, Toxic, Hypnotic, Sonic, Illusory, Kinetic, Morphic, Prescient, Radiant |
| Warlock | Corrosive, Frigid, Caloric, Eldritch, Voltaic, Necrotic, Hypnotic, Cognitive, Formative, Kinetic, Prescient |
| Wizard | Corrosive, Frigid, Caloric, Voltaic, Necrotic, Toxic, Hypnotic, Sonic, Illusory, Kinetic, Morphic, Prescient, Radiant |
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##### Example Focus Material Properties
| Material | Arcane | Divine | Primal | Exceptions | Innate Domains |
| :--------------------- | :-------- | :-------- | :-------- | :------------------------------------- | :-------------- |
| Adamantine | Strong | Normal | Poor | | – |
| Cold Iron | Strong | Weak | Poor | Attack rolls against Fey (+1) | – |
| Copper | Weak | Poor | Poor | | Voltaic |
| Darksteel | Strong | Normal | Poor | | – |
| Darkwood | Normal | Normal | Strong | | Vital |
| Diamond | Strong | Normal | Strong | | Radiant |
| Dragon Bone | Normal | Normal | Normal | Dragon breath type (+1) | Corrosive, Frigid, Caloric,
Voltaic, Toxic (depending
on dragon type) |
| Electrum | Normal | Weak | Weak | | Voltaic |
| God Glass | Weak | Strong | Normal | Radiant (+1) | Holy, Radiant |
| Gold | Normal | Normal | Poor | | Caloric |
| Hell Steel | Poor | Strong | Poor | Fire (+1), Necrotic (+1) | Caloric, Necrotic |
| Immortal Blood | Normal | Strong | Perfect | Divination (+1) | Necrotic |
| Mithral | Strong | Normal | Weak | | Frigid |
| Petrified True Timber | Strong | Perfect | Poor | Necromancy (+1) | Necrotic |
| Plaguewood | Poor | Normal | Strong | Poison (+1) | Toxic |
| Platinum | Strong | Normal | Weak | | Prescient |
| Psicrystal | Strong | Normal | Weak | | Cognitive |
| Quicksilver | Weak | Normal | Poor | Transmutation (+1) | Morphic |
| Shadow Silk | Normal | Strong | Normal | Illusion (+1) | Illusory |
| Silver | Normal | Weak | Normal | | Hypnotic |
| True Clay | Strong | Strong | Perfect | Conjuration (+1) | Formative, Morphic |
| True Ice | Strong | Perfect | Strong | Cold (+1), Thunder (+1), Fire (-5) | Frigid, Sonic |
| True Iron | Perfect | Strong | Poor | Evocation (+1) | Voltaic, Kinetic |
| True Silver | Perfect | Strong | Strong | Abjuration (+1), Enchantment (+1) | Eldritch, Hypnotic |
| True Timber | Strong | Strong | Perfect | | Vital |
Additional Rules brought to you by [NASA](http://www.reddit.com/u/ImFromNASA).
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