Nothing up my sleeves: Hat Magic

[Burley]

I've got a small campaign coming up and, while I don't have most details until Session 0, I know it's gonna be pirate-y, and, while I don't wanna be a pirate, I do wanna be useful.

So, I'm building a Hat Magician, a thematic combination of E-merl from Guilded Age and Cubby from Erfworld. Basically, he has several spell foci, trinkets that facilitate his casting while being useless baubles to others. The magic was inside him all along, don't you see?

So, because I don't even know what level(s) we're playing at, I've only gone and made a 1st level Conjuration Wizard. The good "pull something out of my hat" spells aren't really available at 1st level, like Create Food and Drink or any of the Conjure [Creature Type] spells.

What I'm coming for is great ideas to pull out of my hat, once I've got the spell slots for it. I'd love to get my DM to agree to a Hat of Holding and be able to pull anything out of my hat, but I don't want to get too ahead of the Session 0 (may not be a magic item campaign).

[Unoriginal]

I've got a small campaign coming up and, while I don't have most details until Session 0, I know it's gonna be pirate-y, and, while I don't wanna be a pirate, I do wanna be useful.

So, I'm building a Hat Magician, a thematic combination of E-merl from Guilded Age and Cubby from Erfworld. Basically, he has several spell foci, trinkets that facilitate his casting while being useless baubles to others. The magic was inside him all along, don't you see?

So, because I don't even know what level(s) we're playing at, I've only gone and made a 1st level Conjuration Wizard. The good "pull something out of my hat" spells aren't really available at 1st level, like Create Food and Drink or any of the Conjure [Creature Type] spells.

What I'm coming for is great ideas to pull out of my hat, once I've got the spell slots for it. I'd love to get my DM to agree to a Hat of Holding and be able to pull anything out of my hat, but I don't want to get too ahead of the Session 0 (may not be a magic item campaign).

Sorry I can't help with the spells right now, but your OP made me think of three things:

1) The concept makes me think of Presto the Magician, from the old D&D cartoon.

2) There is a Common magic item, the Hat of Wizardry, which can be used as a spell focus and also let you pull any Wizard cantrip out of your hat once per day. Can be worth looking into it if you wish so.

3) On the other hand, the "he has several spell foci, trinkets that facilitate his casting while being useless baubles to others. The magic was inside him all along, don't you see?" makes me think of an Artificer more than a Wizard.

[Corran]

Hat magician. Summoning. Hmmm. Why, you could summon this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcxKIJTb3Hg)!

Alternatively, you could reflavor your conjure X spell to be conjuring humanoids, and be a Harengon.

[RogueJK]

The Prestidigitation cantrip will tide you over at Level 1, with its ability to create a nonmagical trinket that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.

Then starting at Level 2, a Conjuration Wizard gets the Minor Conjuration ability:
Starting at 2nd level when you select this school, you can use your action to conjure up an inanimate object in your hand or on the ground in an unoccupied space that you can see within 10 feet of you. This object can be no larger than 3 feet on a side and weigh no more than 10 pounds, and its form must be that of a nonmagical object that you have seen. The object is visibly magical, radiating dim light out to 5 feet.

[Mastikator]

If you can convince your DM to let you get/buy a Hat of Wizardry then you can use it as an arcane focus. You can flavor your somatic components for spells as pulling things out of the hat. Why limit yourself to conjuration with pulling things out of your hat? Any spell that produces a visible localized effect can be pulled out of your hat.

[Psyren]

As an alternative to the Conjuration Wizard, you could do something similar with a Creation Bard too

[animorte]

The Prestidigitation cantrip will tide you over at Level 1, with its ability to create a nonmagical trinket that can fit in your hand and that lasts until the end of your next turn.

This was my first thought. Minor Illusion can also be used in a very similar fashion. Think turning the hat upside down on the ground then lift it up over a lamp post or a sword stuck in the ground, something that isn't moving or "in your hand" so that it still easily follows the parameters of the spell.

[Greywander]

Prestidigitation and Minor Conjuration will pull a lot of weight here. Keep in mind that the things you make with Prestidigitation are real, not illusions (though you can also use it to make illusions), and they can persist for at least a few seconds (until the end of your next turn). I think the things they had in mind were stuff like pulling a bird out of a handkerchief and then the bird flies away (and stops existing as soon as you draw the crowd's attention back to yourself), or pulling a flower out of thin air, or a coin from someone's ear. Basic stage magic stuff. Minor Conjuration is an upgrade to this specific effect, allowing you to conjure something that will persist for longer. Likewise, Minor Illusion can also make more persistent illusions or sounds. And you can have all three up at the same time, and Prestidigitation can even have three different effects up at a time, in addition to Minor Illusion and Minor Conjuration.

TBH, Minor Conjuration is a really cool ability, I'm just not as interested in the rest of the Conjurer subclass. Hmm, perhaps I should look into various classes that have similarly neat abilities available in the first few levels. Echo Knight is another good one. Pact of the Chain is really great. Maybe Wild Shape? I'm sure there are others. I wonder if I could build something that would compete with a more optimized or focused build, while still getting a bunch of such features?

[Burley]

As an alternative to the Conjuration Wizard, you could do something similar with a Creation Bard too

I'm pretty sure there's already a bard and, to be honest, this group is hard to bard for. They're... unpredictable. I'm hoping that Conjure X can be more effective, with my summons taking hits instead of me trying to heal the rogue that dove into a crowd.

[Burley]

I'm hoping this is thread conjuration and not thread necromancy (third page is ok, right?)

Anyway, I've written out my Hat Magician's backstory and the tl;dr version is that he has a lisp and can't make some of the necessary verbal components for some spells and, therefore, he couldn't get into wizard school. He's a self-taught wizard who reads and learns everything he can and then keeps what he's able to cast through his speech impediment. Some spells, like Fireball, are just impossible for him. "Fiewbaww" doesn't produce results.

Example: Cloud of Daggers becomes "Fog of Knives." The spell fits with his street performer style, as he pulls some knives from his hat and makes like he's gonna juggle, but they just hover in the air.

When he casts Sending, he clears his throat loudly, conjures a wand from his hat, taps it on the brim, and then drops a rolled-up parchment message and the wand in the hat. "It's all in the wwist."


I've bailed on the idea of having multiple spell foci, and its pretty much just his hat. (We're on a pirate ship, so, having a bunch of baubles to sort through on deck would be hokey.) I just wanted to share this and, if anybody has any suggestions for how to use my hat for spells or how to avoid l/r in spells, I'd love to read them. No pressure, though. (Just excited about my character, I guess.)

[Psyren]

I'm hoping this is thread conjuration and not thread necromancy (third page is ok, right?)

The cutoff is 45 days (~6 weeks) so you're good.


Anyway, I've written out my Hat Magician's backstory and the tl;dr version is that he has a lisp and can't make some of the necessary verbal components for some spells and, therefore, he couldn't get into wizard school. He's a self-taught wizard who reads and learns everything he can and then keeps what he's able to cast through his speech impediment. Some spells, like Fireball, are just impossible for him. "Fiewbaww" doesn't produce results.

Example: Cloud of Daggers becomes "Fog of Knives." The spell fits with his street performer style, as he pulls some knives from his hat and makes like he's gonna juggle, but they just hover in the air.

When he casts Sending, he clears his throat loudly, conjures a wand from his hat, taps it on the brim, and then drops a rolled-up parchment message and the wand in the hat. "It's all in the wwist."

I've bailed on the idea of having multiple spell foci, and its pretty much just his hat. (We're on a pirate ship, so, having a bunch of baubles to sort through on deck would be hokey.) I just wanted to share this and, if anybody has any suggestions for how to use my hat for spells or how to avoid l/r in spells, I'd love to read them. No pressure, though. (Just excited about my character, I guess.)

"Avoid l/r?" Do you mean choosing spells that lack liquid phonemes based on your character's speech impediment?

I would probably choose spells normally and whichever ones you don't want / don't feel like he'd be able to cast, blame their lack on the impediment. For example, Fireball might be a bridge too far for your character, but Black Tentacles ("Bwack Tentacuws?") might be juuuust close enough to function despite containing two of them. If nothing else, the other players at your table might enjoy some gentle ribbing at your expense. In other words, don't worry too stringently about commitment to the "bit."

[Burley]

The cutoff is 45 days (~6 weeks) so you're good.



"Avoid l/r?" Do you mean choosing spells that lack liquid phonemes based on your character's speech impediment?

I would probably choose spells normally and whichever ones you don't want / don't feel like he'd be able to cast, blame their lack on the impediment. For example, Fireball might be a bridge too far for your character, but Black Tentacles ("Bwack Tentacuws?") might be juuuust close enough to function despite containing two of them. If nothing else, the other players at your table might enjoy some gentle ribbing at your expense. In other words, don't worry too stringently about commitment to the "bit."

Oh, it's too late, Psy. I done been bit committed. My characters always have a bit and I always commit to it. :smallbiggrin: My warforged refers to itself as "This Unit" instead of "I," and considers itself to be a "thing" rather than a "person."

I'm really not trying to do damage spells. Like, I've got Ice Knife and "Fog of Knives," but most of his magic is meant to be stage-y. Like, Hold Person, Rope Trick and Web are all going to be tied-together hankies. I'm using the impediment as an excuse to stay away from the damage spells, I guess, rather than picking my spells around it. So, nothing with "ray" or "fire" or anything. Also, we're on a pirate ship, so, several damage spells could potentially damage the ship.
And, I'm not completely avoiding the letters, either. My familiar is a rat named Beret (actually all the rat on the ship, but one at a time as the fey spirit just takes over a rat body) and, as assistant to the boatswain, I'll be on the hunt for lemons and limes. "The othews compwain about not having any women or wine on boawd; I'm mowe concewned with wemons and wimes." He's not embarrassed by the impediment at all. There's just a lot of spells with verbal components that won't work without those certain sounds.
I am taking anything that can be ritual cast, though, on principle. "Suwe, I can puww a wabbit fwom my hat. I just need a few minutes. It's actually weawwy hawd to do, if you haven't twied it."

Black Tentacles is a thematically appropriate spell for a pirate ship, though. "Chapeau reaches into his hat and pulls the hole from it. He throws it on the ground, where it spreads to the area before tentacles erupt from it and go slappin' and grabbin'. 'Bwack Tentacwes!' he shouts. When asked later, 'Squids don't speak common, so, I can say whatevew I want. I owiginawwy cawwed it 'Umbwaw Swappews.' Stiww wowked.'"

[Psyren]

Sorry I wasn't clear. By all means commit to the bit :smallsmile: but if there's a spell you weawwy wike that will sound funny in character, well that gives you an excuse to sound funny in character.

(Especiawwy since you have the added westwiction of avoiding ones that could damage the boat awweady wimiting your sewection.)

[Joe the Rat]

Sorry I wasn't clear. By all means commit to the bit :smallsmile: but if there's a spell you weawwy wike that will sound funny in character, well that gives you an excuse to sound funny in character.

(Especiawwy since you have the added westwiction of avoiding ones that could damage the boat awweady wimiting your sewection.)

Remember, boats are immune to Poison and Psychic damage!
Also, see if your DM is amenable to "Ice Beats Fire" - as big a risk as fire is on sailing vessels, having a way to put out fires would be a very useful trick.