The world is infused with magic. Powerful arcane pathways called leylines snake across the surface of the mortal world, unseen even by most spellcasters. Some, however, have learned to tap into this latent energy and shape it into powerful effects. Most of these practitioners can be found in druidic orders, but some have studied deeply into the nature of magic itself, gaining access to the bounty promised by the ley lines. As they train, leyline masters learn to use the magic of these leylines in more and more potent ways, eventually seeing the network of them as not merely a power source, but a transportation system as well.
Leyline masters tend to be even more invested in magic than a typical spellcaster, as they have gone outside the bounds of convention and taken on a lot of additional studies to gain what is often seen by others as a comparatively small edge.
Table: Leyline Master Features and Spells
| Level | Proficiency Bonus |
Features | Secret Studies |
Cantrips | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +2 | Spellcasting, Leyline Attunement, Secret Studies | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 2nd | +2 | Component Harvester, Rhythms of Magic, Nexus Points, Hardening Nexus | 1 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 3rd | +2 | Power Nexus | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | — | — |
| 4th | +2 | Ability Score Increase | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 5th | +3 | Line Walker | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | — |
| 6th | +3 | Nexus spell | 2 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | — |
| 7th | +3 | Overcharge | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 8th | +3 | Ability Score Increase, Magical Innovator, Line Jumper | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
As a leyline master you gain the following class features.
Hit Dice: 1d8 per leyline master level
Hit Points at 1st Level: 8 + your Constitution modifier
Hit Points at Higher Levels: 1d8 (or 5) + your Constitution modifier per leyline master level after 1st
Armor: Light Armor, Medium Armor, Shields
Weapons: Simple Weapons, scimitars, scythes
Tools: Alchemist’s supplies and herbalist’s kit
Saving Throws: Intelligence, Wisdom
Skills: Choose three from Arcana, History, Investigation, Medicine, Nature, Perception, Persuasion, Religion, and Survival
You begin the game with 115 gold which you can spend on your character’s starting weapons, armor, and adventuring gear. You can select your own gear or choose an equipment package from the druid or wizard class. Also consult the Suggested Equipment section of your chosen background.
Drawing power directly from the magical currents of the world, you can cast spells to produce a wide variety of useful effects. See Spells Rules for the general rules of spellcasting and the Spells Listing for the Leyline Master spell list.
At 1st level, you know three cantrips of your choice from the Leyline Master spell list. You learn additional Leyline Master cantrips of your choice at higher levels, as shown in the Cantrips Known column of the Leyline Master table.
The Leyline Master table shows how many spell slots you have to cast your Leyline Master spells. To cast one of these Leyline Master spells, you must expend a slot of the spell’s level or higher. You regain all expended spell slots when you finish a long rest.
You prepare the list of Leyline Master spells that are available for you to cast, choosing from the Leyline Master spells you know. When you do so, choose a number of Leyline Master spells equal to your Wisdom modifier + your Leyline Master level (minimum of one spell). The spells must be of a level for which you have spell slots.
Casting spells doesn’t remove them from your list of prepared spells.
You can change your list of prepared spells whenever you finish a long rest by meditating for at least 1 minute per spell level for each spell on your list.
Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for your Leyline Master spells. You use your Wisdom whenever a spell refers to your spellcasting ability. In addition, you use your Wisdom modifier when setting the saving throw DC for a Leyline Master spell you cast and when making an attack roll with one.
You can cast a Leyline Master spell as a ritual if that spell has the ritual tag and you have the spell prepared. You can also cast the find familiar spell as a ritual whether you have the spell prepared or not.
You can use an arcane or nature focus as a spellcasting focus for your Leyline Master spells.
As a Leyline Master, you have access to two spell lists: the Leyline Master Essential spells, which all Leyline Masters know and you can prepare from freely whenever you prepare spells, and the Leyline Master Extended Spells, which you must add to your spellbook. Each time you gain a Leyline Master level, you can add one Leyline Master Extended spell of your choice to your spellbook for free.
As you research magic and spells, you will add new spells to your spellbook. You might find spells during your adventures, such as spells from other spellcasters’ spellbooks, or spells recorded on scrolls.
Copying a Spell into the Book. When you find a Leyline Master Extended spell of 1st-level or higher, you can add it to your spellbook if it is of a spell level that you can prepare, and if you take the time to decipher and copy it.
Copying a spell into your spellbook involves reproducing the instructions of the spell, as well as deciphering any notation or cipher used by the spellcaster who wrote it. You must also practice the spell until you comprehend any words, sounds, gestures, or materials required to use the spell. Finally, you transcribe the spell into your own spellbook, with any notation or cipher you wish to write it with.
For each level of the spell, the process takes 2 hours and costs 50 gold. The cost represents material components you utilize as you experiment with the spell to master it, as well as the fine inks you use to record it into your spellbook.
Once you have spent this time and money, you can prepare the spell like any other spell in your spellbook.
Replacing the Book. You can copy a spell from your own spellbook into another book, in the case that you want to create a backup copy of your spellbook. This is similar to copying a new spell into your spellbook, but simpler and quicker since you understand your own notation and already know how to cast the spell. You spend 1 hour and 10 gold per level of copying your own spells.
If you lose your spellbook, you can use the same procedure to transcribe spells that you have prepared into a new spellbook.
The Spellbook’s Appearance. Your spellbook is as unique as you want it to be, and can have its own decoration, including margin notes and addendums made by you. It could be a simple, leather-bound book, or it can be finely-bound, gilded, leaflets stored in a box, or made of other unique materials. Leyline masters often have more rough and rugged appearing spellbooks, as much of their work takes place out of doors.
At 1st level, you gain the ability to attune to leylines, which, in addition to fueling your spellcasting, allows you to sense various useful things about the world around you. While you are on the material plane and not wearing metal armor, you always know the following:
Also at 1st level you gain access to your first Secret Study. This feature allows you to take Secrets of Nature from the druid class or Elective Studies from the wizard class. You gain additional Secret Studies at levels 4 and 7.
At 2nd level, whenever you engage in the Gather Components journey activity you gain an expertise die on your check. In addition, you cannot critically fail the Gather Components activity, treating critical failures as normal failures instead.
Also at 2nd level, whenever you finish a long rest, choose one of the following schools of magic: healing, knowledge, or movement. Whenever you cast a spell of the chosen school, you may gain one of the following benefits:
You may only gain these benefits from one school of magic at a time.
Beginning at 2nd level, whenever you finish a long rest, you gain a number of nexus points equal to your proficiency bonus. Any remaining nexus points are lost when you begin a long rest.
Finally, at 2nd level, armor and weapons made of organic materials are more durable thanks to your connection with the magical rhythms of the world. When a weapon or suit of armor made primarily of bone, cloth, hide, leather, or wood would break, you may spend a nexus point to prevent the item from breaking.
Beginning at 3rd level, whenever you finish a short rest you may spend nexus points to regain used spell slots. Recovering a spell slot costs a number of nexus points equal to its level.
When you reach 4th level, and again at 8th level, you can increase one ability score of your choice by 2, or you can increase two ability scores of your choice by 1. As normal, you can’t increase an ability score above 20 using this feature.
Beginning at 5th level, while you are traveling, you can spend a nexus point to allow yourself and a number of companions equal to your Intelligence modifier (minimum 1) to travel at gallop speed for one hour, even if you don’t have mounts.
At 6th level, when you cast a spell of your current Rhythms of Magic school, you can spend a nexus point to increase the size of a single die type used by the spell by one step (increasing d4s in the spell to d6s, for example).
At 7th level, you can choose to overcharge a Leyline Master spell you know as you cast it, treating the spell as if you had cast it with a spell slot one higher than the one you actually used, to a maximum effective spell level of 9. Once you have used this feature, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest.
At 8th level, you become significantly better at uncovering obscure magical knowledge. When you perform the Spellcraft activity during downtime, you gain an expertise die on the roll and the time and materials costs are reduced by 25%.
Also at 8th level, as a bonus action, you can spend a nexus point to teleport to a location you can see within 120 feet.
To multiclass into the leyline master motif class, a character must meet both of the following prerequisites:
Multiclassing into Leyline Master grants the following proficiencies: light armor, simple weapons.
If you multiclass into druid, you may add together your Leyline Master and druid levels for the purposes of determining which druid spells you get access to.
If you multiclass into wizard, you may add together your Leyline Master and wizard levels for the purposes of determining which wizard spells you get access to.