Arcane Tutor is a somewhat unique feat that allows an arcane spellcasting character to recruit wizards as apprentices. This page details how I handle this feat.
Your reputation as a powerful wizard and accomplished adventurer draws ambitious young mages who seek to learn the secrets of magic. These neophytes provide you with regular payments and assistance in the mundane portions of a wizard’s life in return for regular instruction in the arcane arts.
+, you must own a permanent base of operations that provides living quarters and workspace for your team of students.
This feat attracts a steady stream of loyal apprentices to you. These wizards act as followers and subordinates, carrying out tasks at your command and aiding your research into arcane studies. Unlike followers gained with the standard Leadership feat, these apprentices expect to pay you for your assistance.
Your apprentices are generally loyal and reliable retainers. Unlike ordinary NPCs, who have their own agendas and objectives, apprentices look to the character for direction and guidance. As a general rule, they will not betray you or deceive you unless they are severely mistreated, although in such cases they will usually simply abandon your service.
Unless the DM rules otherwise, apprentices never willingly risk their lives to fulfil your wishes. They enter your service to expand their magical skills, not serve as fanatical suicide soldiers.
You must pay all expenses your apprentices encounter while fulfilling missions you give them.
Apprentices may be designed by the player, subject to the DM's approval. Apprentices should be built using the standard array of ability scores (11, 11, 11, 10, 10, 10) or the nonelite array of ability scores (13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8) at your option. You may, if you wish switch back and forth between these two arrays for different apprentices. Apprentices can be any standard playable race, and are all wizards. When an apprentice enters the character's service, they will be equipped with equipment with a total value equal to the starting gear for a wizard. Any additional equipment must be provided by the player character.
Special Rules for Arcane Tutors with the Leadership Feat: If a character who has the Arcane Tutor also has the Leadership feat, their apprentice wizards be built using the elite array of ability scores (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8), subject to applicable racial modifiers. An apprentice may be any playable race, and may take advantage of any of the options available to player characters, including the 0-level rules, flaws, and traits. When apprentices enter the character's service, they will be equipped with equipment with a total value appropriate to an NPC of the apprentice's level (see
Table 4-23: NPC Gear Value on page 127 of the
Dungeon Master's Guide). Any additional equipment must be provided by the player character. These apprentices count against the total number of 1
st-level followers the character may have under the Leadership feat.
Apprentices enter the player's service with a spellbook containing the minimum number of spells for a wizard of their experience level. There is a 50% chance that any spell in the apprentice's spellbook is a spell that the player does not already know.
Apprentices refuse to undertake or complete any actions that would cause them to lose a level of ability.
Your arcane tutor score is your arcane caster level plus your Charisma modifier. In addition, apply the Leadership modifiers listed under the Leadership feat to this score. Your followers are all wizards. Arcane Tutor does not grant you a cohort and gives you far fewer followers than leadership, the apprentices offer you more flexibility and capabilities than the followers offered by the Leadership feat.
Benefits of Apprentices
Income: The most tangible benefits of taking on apprentices is the fees they pay to you in return for your instruction. The pay rate you receive depends on the level of your apprentice. The more experienced the apprentice, the less he is willing to pay. Younger mages stand to learn much more, and thus are willing to pay more, than a wizard who has already mastered the basics of magic.
| Apprentice Level | Monthly Income |
| 1st | 90 shillings |
| 2nd | 60 shillings |
| 3rd | 40 shillings |
| 4th | 30 shillings |
Bonus Spells: When an apprentice enters your service, you may add all of their spells to your books. In return, the apprentice gains 2 spells per caster level from your books. The DM determines which spells an apprentice selects. When an apprentice gains a level, you decide which spells they add to their books. You gain these spells in your books too. You must select spells that your apprentice is capable of casting.
Produce and Sell Items: If your apprentice has any item creation feats, you may have them create items that you may sell. You must buy spell components and raw materials necessary to make the item from your own pocket. An apprentice must normally meet the prerequisites, such as minimum caster level, feats, and spells known, to craft an item. An apprentice automatically refuses to produce items whose experience point cost would cause them to lose a level. Apprentices seek your aid to expand their skills, not working themselves to death in a magic item sweatshop.
Assist Item Creation: An apprentice may help you create an item that you could normally complete on your own. Your apprentice does not need to meet any of the prerequisites necessary to craft the item, though the more experienced the apprentice, the more help they can lend you. Only a single apprentice can help you create an item, as two or more apprentices simply get in your way and lengthen the process.
An apprentice splits the experience point cost of creating an item with you, reducing the experience point cost by 10% per level. An apprentice may never lose a level through the process of helping you create an item. If helping you would cause this to happen, the apprentice absorbs only enough total experience point loss to bring him to the minimum needed to attain his current level, leaving you to pay the remaining portion of his normal share. Your apprentice can also work on portions of the item creation process concurrently with your efforts, allowing you to cut down on the total time needed to complete the project. Reduce the time needed to produce the item by 1 day for each two levels of experience your apprentice has attained. You may never reduce the time necessary to produce an item to less than 1 day. The apprentice does not shoulder any of the experience point cost caused by casting spells necessary to complete an item unless the apprentice is the one who actually uses the spell. When an apprentice assists in creating an item, there is a chance that they may inadvertently spoil your efforts owing to his inexperience. See Research Mishaps below, under Drawbacks to Apprentices.
Finish Items: An apprentice can shoulder the burden of creating items that you have designed. You sustain the full experience point loss for completing the item, but your apprentice completes all mundane work and helps manage the arcane portions of item creation. You need only spend 1 day working on the item. Your apprentice handles the rest of the labor involved in finishing the item. In order to complete the item, the apprentice must have any item creation feats needed to create it. You may fulfill the minimum caster level and spells needed, but your apprentice must have the necessary item creation feats. If casting the spells necessary to complete the item would require more than 1 day of work, you must spend the time necessary to complete those spells before your apprentice can complete the item. If an apprentice lacks any of the prerequisites necessary to create an item, such as spells needed to produce it, or is below the required caster level, there is a chance the apprentice encounters a mishap in creating the item. Consult Research Mishaps, below, under Drawbacks to Apprentices.
Other Actions: An apprentice is capable of using the rest of his skills and abilities at your direction. You could have your apprentices use spells such as identify to pick through a pile of magic items uncovered on your last adventure. You could also order your apprentices to research a topic in a library using the rules presented in
Quintessential Wizard, allowing them to gain virtual skills and skill ranks that they subsequently use.
Drawbacks to Apprentices
Recruiting Apprentices: You must actively recruit spellcasters who could benefit from your instruction. You may gain apprentices in two ways. The DM may rule that an NPC wizard comes into your service based on your interactions with him over the course of an adventure. Otherwise you must advertise for and recruit neophytes. Make a recruitment check by rolling a d20 and adding your Charisma modifier and arcane caster level. The more engaging your personality and the more skilled you are with magic, the better your chances of attracting an apprentice. The size of the city in which you seek recruits modifies your ability to successfully find a willing student.
| Town/City Population | Recruitment Modifier |
| 400 - 1,000 | -2 |
| 1,001 - 2,000 | +0 |
| 2,001 - 5,000 | +2 |
| 5,001 - 12,000 | +4 |
| 12,001 - 25,000 | +6 |
| 25,001+ | +8 |
The base DC to recruit a 1
st-level apprentice is 5. For each 5 by which you beat this DC, you may opt to increase your new apprentice’s level by 1 or recruit an additional apprentice. You may combine these effects to recruit multiple wizards whose level is above 1. If your result is high enough to yield an apprentice but not good enough to attract one whose level is as high as you wish, you may always ignore the result of a recruitment check. You are under no obligation to accept potential apprentices.
You may make one recruitment check per day, spending 2d4 hours at libraries, wizard’s guild halls, and other places where spellcasters normally congregate. Regardless of the results of a recruitment check, you may never recruit more apprentices than allowed by your Arcane Tutor score. Apprentices are aware that a master can only spread himself among so many students and refuse to sign on with a tutor who already has an abundance of pupils.
Retaining Apprentices: When an apprentice signs on to work for you, they do not agree to a lifelong contract. Most apprentices stay with a master for a year at most before setting off on their own, either seeking out a new master to learn from or going it alone as an adventurer, researcher, or craftsman. A newly recruited apprentice remains within your service for 3d6 months, after which they leave your service for greener pastures.
An apprenticeship is a two-way street. While your apprentice works for you, you must also take time to instruct them in the mystic arts. You must spend 2 weeks out of every 2 months tutoring your apprentices. If you fail to meet this requirement, reduce each apprentice’s period of service by 3d6 months. If this reduces any apprentice’s tenure to 0 or less, they immediately leave. Any projects they were working on remain unfinished. Your apprentices expect instruction and aid in return for the work they do and the cash they pay you.
Upkeep: A portion of the money an apprentice pays you goes to room and board. You must own or provide a permanent structure where your apprentices may live and work. You must pay 5 shillings per apprentice level per month to provide them with food, clothes, and other basic necessities. If you fail to meet this payment, reduce the fees from each apprentice by half. Stung by your skinflinted ways, your apprentices withhold their payments to you and instead use their money for food and shelter.
Work Rates: While apprentices spend much of their time in your service, they also have their own personal projects and studies. Each apprentice allocates two weeks per month to working on magic items, research, and other projects you assign to them. They spend the rest of their time studying their spellbooks, practicing their skills, and completing scrolls and other magic items for their own use. During this free time, each apprentice gains 1d6 x 100 experience points through adventures, work, and research.
Apprentice Recruitment Table
| Number of Apprentices per Level |
| Arcane Tutor Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
| 1 or less | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 14 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 15 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 16 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 17 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| 18 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| 19 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 20 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| 21 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 22 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 23 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| 24 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| 25+ | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 |
Apprentice Retention Table
Every month after the third of each apprentices tenure under the character's tutelage, roll 1d20. A result equal to or below the retention roll figure means the apprentice has left the character's service and struck out on their own.
| Month | Retention |
| 3 | 0 |
| 4 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 7 | 4 |
| 8 | 6 |
| 9 | 8 |
| 10 | 10 |
| 11 | 12 |
| 12 | 14 |
| 13 | 16 |
| 14 | 17 |
| 15 | 18 |
| 16 | 19 |
| 17 | 19 |
| 18 | 20 |
Research Mishaps
When an apprentice helps finish creating an item you designed or helps you complete an item, there is a chance that your student’s efforts end in an arcane mishap. If your apprentice is involved in making an item whose prerequisites they do not completely fill, they must make a mishap check. Roll a d20 and add your apprentice’s arcane caster level and their Intelligence modifier. This check has a DC of 10 if your apprentice works to complete an item you initially designed or 8 if they help you throughout the process of making an item. A roll of 1 always fails this check. Increase the DC by 2 for each prerequisite the apprentice does not meet. If your apprentice fails this check, roll d100 and consult the arcane mishap table.
If a mishap effect refers to a worker, there is a 50% chance that you or your apprentice are affected by the result if the two of you work together on making an item. Otherwise, if you left the apprentice to work alone the mishap affects only them.
Arcane Mishap Table
d100 Result Arcane Mishap:
01 - 03 “I see. It needs steel, not lead.” Slight errors in production waste some materials. Increase the cost of producing the item by 25%. The item remains unfinished until you pay the price and spend an additional day working on the item.
04 - 06 “Oh dear. Where’d I put that diamond dust?” Moderate errors in production waste some materials. Increase the cost of producing the item by 50%. The item remains unfinished until you pay this price and spend an additional day working on the item.
07 - 09 “It was cracked when I found it.” Major errors in production waste some materials. Increase the cost of producing the item by 100%. The item remains unfinished until you pay this price and spend an additional day working on the item.
10 - 12 “So I misread pounds for ounces. How expensive can mithral be?” Traumatic errors in production waste some materials. Increase the cost of producing the item by 200%. The item remains unfinished until you pay this price and spend an additional day working on the item.
13 - 15 “Two for one beers don’t happen every night.” The apprentice wastes time and effort bungling your instructions. Increase the time necessary to produce the item by 1 day.
16 - 18 “Well, allowing it to soak for three nights didn’t hurt it.” The apprentice wastes time and effort bungling your instructions. Increase the time necessary to produce the item by 3 days.
19 - 21 “You wanted me to do what by when?” The apprentice wastes time and effort bungling your instructions. Increase the time necessary to produce the item by 1 week.
22 - 24 “Should it be bubbling like that?” An energy backlash during the item’s creation causes a minor explosion. Treat this as a
fireball cast by a 5
th level wizard centered on the apprentice’s work area.
25 - 27 “Should smoke be coming out of it?” An energy backlash during the item’s creation causes a moderate explosion. Treat this as a
fireball cast by a 7
th level wizard centered on the apprentice’s work area.
28 - 30 “Don’t worry, that’s normal. Now, let’s add lamp oil to it.” An energy backlash during the item’s creation causes a tremendous explosion. Treat this as a
fireball cast by a 9
th level wizard centered on the apprentice’s work area.
31 - 33 “Will it ever stop growing? Please say yes.” A worker’s nose grows to one foot in length, causing them 1d6 points of permanent Charisma damage. If the damage heals, the victim’s nose slowly returns to normal.
&nsbp; 34 - 36 “Well, wizards don’t need muscles anyway.” An arcane backlash wracks a worker’s body, shriveling his muscles and causing 1d6 points of permanent Strength damage.
37 - 39 “I-i-i-i-i-t c-c-c-c-c-could b-b-b-b-be w-w-w-w-w-worse.”Bolts of electricity arc from the item, leaving a worker with a variety of nervous tics, shakes, and unsteady hands. The worker takes 1d6 points of permanent Dexterity damage.
40 - 42 “Wait a second. How do those cantrip things work again?” A temporary fold in space causes an astral parasite to take root in a worker’s brain, causing 1d6 points of permanent Intelligence damage.
43 - 45 “I have seen the light!” A rogue bit of divine energy seeps into the creation process, causing a bizarre magical effect that forces the apprentice to become a fanatical adherent of a deity appropriate to his alignment. He leaves your service to become a cleric. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted. A
restoration spell returns him to normal.
46 - 48 “. . .” A massive backlash of enchantment magic causes the apprentice to slip into a deep catatonic state. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted. A
restoration spell returns him to normal.
49 - 51 “Back in my day, apprentices didn’t screw up so badly!” A critical mistake in this item’s creation causes a time warp, causing a worker to leap to the next age category. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
52 - 56 “What is that thing?” A creature falls through an astral rift and attacks. Treat this as a creature called by a
summon monster III spell cast by a 17
th level wizard. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
57 - 60 “I didn’t summon that. Did you summon that?” A creature falls through an astral rift and attacks. Treat this as a creature called by a
summon monster V spell cast by a 17
th level wizard. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
61 - 62 “What a fascinating creature. Let’s try to communicate with it.” A creature falls through an astral rift and attacks. Treat this as a creature called by a
summon monster VII spell cast by a 17
th level wizard. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
63 “Oh, gods, run. RUN!” A creature falls through an astral rift and attacks. Treat this as a creature called by a
summon monster IX spell cast by a 17
th level wizard. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
64 - 66 “Ribbit.” A slight flaw in the process used to shape the magical energy imbued into the item causes transmutation magic to flood the area. Treat this as a
baleful polymorph cast by an 8
th level sorcerer that turns a worker into a frog. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
67 - 70 “I’m shrinking!” A magical disturbance causes a bizarre fluctuation in the properties of dimensional space. A worker begins to shrink rapidly. He immediately becomes two size categories smaller.
Greater restoration removes this effect. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
71 - 72 “Everything’s shrinking!” Material space stretches and bends in the immediate area of the experiment. A worker immediately grows two size categories larger.
Greater restoration removes this effect. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
73 - 75 “Strange. That wasn’t supposed to produce a sudden whiff of brimstone.” A dimensional gate opens to the outer realms, allowing a horde of demons with a total Encounter Level of 10 to pour into the laboratory area. Money and experience points spent to produce the item are wasted.
76 - 96 “There! Perfect!” A critical mistake during the item’s production permanently warps the magical properties, resulting in a cursed item. The exact nature of the curse depends on the type of item produced. Weapons, armor, shields, rings, rods, staves, wands, and wondrous items gain 1d3 cursed item traits. Potions turn out as a randomly determined ingested poison, while scrolls either fail to function, cause the opposite of the intended spell, or target the caster in the case of damaging spells.
97 - 99 The apprentice forgets to inscribe proper protective runes. The energy matrix inscribed in the item runs rampant. A worker is subject to
disintegrate as if cast by an 11
th level wizard.
100 Roll twice on this table, rerolling this result if it comes up again.
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