project arcana


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These Monday Dumps are supposed to be an opportunity for us to get an opinion off our chests, maybe even vent about something bugging us in the rules. So, of course, I get to do none of that today, because one of our readers’ comments spiraled Dad and I into […]

Weekly Dump, Vol. 5: Connective Magic – Why Project Arcana ...


So, we’ve finished analyzing the individual schools, now what? We’re going to finish Phase I by completely reorganizing the spells in each school based on the underlying magical mechanism of that school (i.e.: Life = Vitae, Energy = Evocation, Mind = Enchantment, etc.). So, we need to start building the […]

Project Arcana: Abjuration (Neutrum) Spell List


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Matthew : Necro ended up pretty short. Can you give it a once over, please? Shawn : Need better form names. Hmm… Not ‘better’, so much as the same language part. Anyway, we’ve got ‘Soul’, ‘Lifeforce’, and ‘Necromancy’. Necromancy is a given, so the other forms need to have ‘-mancy’ […]

Project Arcana Weekly Dump: Chat Dump, Vol. 3



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Divination is all about knowing things that aren’t normally knowable. Most Divination spells reveal knowledge by extending the senses through the use of magic. In theory, this mechanic should allow all senses to be extended (Gene’s Enormous Tongue, anyone?), but in practice it’s generally specifically limited to sight and hearing, although […]

Project Arcana: Divination – in Sensurround!


If you’ve been following along with our Project Arcana work so far, you know that I’m not super happy with the way the powers-that-be have decided to sort the spells. That’s okay, we’re fixing that. However, while some of the organizational decisions are somewhat baffling, none are more so than […]

Weekly Dump, Vol 3: 5e Healing Is Borked…


Well, I’ve done it. This is my final article of the school breakdowns for Project Arcana (next week’s Divination piece is all Dad). I’ve got to say that it’s been a roller coaster of hatred, frustration, and sheer bafflement. Ultimately, I keep asking the same question: “Oh FFS, why!?” Transmutation, […]

Project Arcana: Transmutation



Ah yes, the “dark art” of Necromancy. Why the quotes? Because once upon a time, the Necromancy was also a school that dealt with life, not just rotting undead things. However, let’s not put the cart before the horse. Here’s 5e’s description of the school: Necromancy spells manipulate the energies of […]

Project Arcana: Necromancy


Evocation… I’m evoking something. Like memories of a summer day, or laughter from children, or a bright streak that flashes from your pointing finger to a point you choose within range and then blossoms with a low roar into an explosion of flame! So, not pleasant memories of a happier time […]

Project Arcana: I’m Gonna Rock Down To Evocation Avenue.


So, I mentioned in the Project Arcana discussion of the School of Illusion that, as a magic that works on the mind, Illusion is a close cousin to Enchantment. With that in mind, and feeling froggy, I decided to take a look at the School of Enchantment next. As we […]

Project Arcana: Oh, Enchantment!



We expect that Project Arcana will take several weeks, with two posts per week; Wednesday and Saturday. On Mondays, we’re going to dump out the more interesting and relevant pieces of our chat log from the previous week. Clearly this is a work in progress and under due consideration. What are, […]

Project Arcana: Weekly Chat Dump, Vol. 1