TheExplorer’s Guide to Wildemountis now available, which means thatDungeons and Dragonsplayers can head off to the world of Exandria and explore the Biting North, the Menagerie Coast, and all the rest of Wildemount in new campaigns. In addition to tons of lore about the continent’s history and politics and an extensive Gazetteer detailing each region’s zones, the book also introduces a new type of magic and some exciting character subclasses that take advantage of these new powers.
As Critical Role fans are well aware thanks to Caleb’s extensive reading and research, some magic users in Wildemount are able to look forward in time at potential futures and use this information and energy to channel some very interesting spells. By playing around with both time and gravity, Dunamancers can become some of the most powerful spell-slingers in aDungeons and Dragonssetting.
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Although the book also includes a new Fighter subclass that takes advantage of Dunamancy and some guidance onhow to introduce these spells to other magic-users, the main path to Dunamancy in theExplorer’s Guide to Wildemountis through the two new Wizard subclasses.
When do Wizards get to unlock these powers?
For players who have never taken on the role of a Wizard before, there are a few things to know. Like most classes in D&D, Wizards make a choice fairly early in their leveling experience that sets them down a path for what type of specialization the character is going to have. Just like a Bard chooses their college, a Druid selects their Circle, or a Rogue selects an archetype; Wizards decide on their Arcane Tradition when they hit level 2. For many campaigns, this comes either during or just after the first session of play, so there isn’t much of a wait at all.
“The brightest minds of Wildemount often find themselves gravitating to the ancient and dangerous study of magic. Some train for decades within the halls and towers of academies, while others learn their craft in the shadows, keeping their discoveries to themselves.
At 2nd level, a wizard gains the Arcane Tradition class feature described in the Player’s Handbook. Chronurgy Magic and Graviturgy Magic are two new traditions available to wizards.”
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One of the primary hooks of the Wildemount setting is the new type of magic - Dunamancy. This magic has to do with looking forward at potential outcomes and branches of decision-making. Most of the powers related to messing with time or gravity. It’s a very interesting new toolset to play around with and most of the new spells introduced in this book connect to Dunamancy in one way or another.
Wizard: Chronurgy Magic
Focusing on the manipulation of time, those who follow the Chronurgy tradition learn to alter the pace of reality to their liking. Using the ramping of anticipatory dunamis energy, these mages can bend the flow of time as adroitly as a skilled musician plays an instrument, lending themselves and their allies an advantage in the blink of an eye.
At the early levels, this arcane tradition begins granting some flavorful bonuses thanks to the Wizards ability to peek into the future. The powers become even more impressive at later levels when the Wizard can actually cast a spell, capture it in a tiny bead, and hand it to someone else to unleash at a later time when it is most needed.
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Wizard: Graviturgy Magic
Understanding and mastering the forces that draw bodies of matter together or drive them apart, the students of the Graviturgy arcane tradition learn to further bend and manipulate the violent energy of gravity to their benefit, and the terrible detriment of their enemies.
The Graviturgy abilities immediately give the player access to make a target lighter and more nimble or heavier and more strong. This power feels incredibly flavorful and opens up some really fun RP opportunities. At later levels, the limits can be pushed even further and the Wizard finds ways to make its allies attacks stronger by adding extra weight to a weapon attack or making a falling creature hit the ground even harder.
Are these subclasses available on DnD Beyond?
Yes, but your dungeon master will have to allow Critical Role content for the campaign. Also, you’ll either need to own the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount or your DM will have to digitally own the book and have content sharing turned on for the campaign.
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What are the dunamancy spells like?
As Doctor Who would say, they’re a bit timey wimey. Dunamancy is all about tapping into the power of potential futures, so many of the spells associated with the subclasses play around with that sort of them. Obviously the powers and spells for Chronurgy Magic are more time-themed, but even the Graviturgy Magic powers are built off of the same general idea. The difference is that the Graviturgy Magic powers are much more focused on manipulating the weight of objects surrounding the Wizard.
AnyD&Dplayers who are also fans of the Sanderson Mistborn books might really get some enjoyment out of either of these subclasses. They both feel very similar to some of the powers available by metal-burning in that series and characters who wielded this sort of magic had some amazing ways to solve problems, defeat enemies, or get out of trouble.
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Can I use these subclasses outside of a Wildemount campaign?
The magic ofDungeons and Dragonsis you may basically do anything that your dungeon master agrees makes sense in their current campaign. Assuming the DM approves these subclasses, there’s no reason that you can’t work together to come up with a compelling story about why the powers exist in The Forgotten Realms, Theros, or any other D&D setting.
Be sure to check back in the near future for moreDungeons and Dragonsnews, updates, and strategy guides. Until then, roll well, adventurers!
Dungeons and Dragons: Explorer’s Guide to Wildemountis available now as a hardcopy or digitally on DnD Beyond.
