Complete Arcane is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

. It expands upon and replaces an earlier soft-cover rulebook entitled Tome and Blood.

Contents

It presents additional rules and advice for the creation and use of character classes

Character class (Dungeons & Dragons)

A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by his or her chosen class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes in order to...

 which specialize in arcane (as opposed to divinely-inspired) magic. Arcane magic, within the framework of the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

 game system, represents magic that is learned through research or inherent power. It also provides a catchall for anything that doesn't fit into Complete Adventurer

Complete Adventurer

Complete Adventurer is a supplemental hard-cover rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game system published by Wizards of the Coast.-Contents:...

, Complete Divine

Complete Divine

Complete Divine is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast...

, Complete Warrior

Complete Warrior

Complete Warrior is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game, published by Wizards of the Coast. It replaces and expands upon an earlier rulebook entitled Sword and Fist.-Contents:...

, or Complete Psionic

Complete Psionic

Complete Psionic is a supplemental rulebook for the 3.5 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game published by Wizards of the Coast released in April 2006...

.

New classes

The Complete Arcane introduces three new base classes

Character class (Dungeons & Dragons)

A character class is a fundamental part of the identity and nature of characters in the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. A character's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses are largely defined by his or her chosen class; choosing a class is one of the first steps a player takes in order to...

 to the 3rd edition game.

Warlock

Closer to a sorcerer than a wizard, the Warlock

Warlock (Dungeons & Dragons)

The warlock is a playable character class in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It was introduced as a non-core base class in the supplemental book Complete Arcane for the 3.5 edition of Dungeons & Dragons...

 has been given supernatural powers. Either he or his ancestors made a deal with a supernatural being. A warlock has an innate magical ability called the eldritch blast, a damaging ray-like ability. The damage for this attack increases as the warlock gains levels. Instead of spells, warlocks gain a limited number of invocations, spell-like abilities with a distinctively sinister flavor. Most of these invocations may be performed at will, or have durations of 24 hours. Some invocations add effects to the warlock's eldritch blast, causing sicknesss, or blindness, or fright, etc.

Warmage

Warmages take the concept of "magical artillery" to its extreme. They specialize in direct-damage spells and can wear light armor (and later medium armor) without penalty to their spellcasting. Though they cast spells like a sorcerer, they have a very limited list of spells they can cast.

Wu Jen

Wu jen are arcane spellcasters with a distinct Orient

Orient

The Orient means "the East." It is a traditional designation for anything that belongs to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym that means various parts of Asia.- Derivation :...

al flavor. Wu Jen specialize in the casting of elemental spells. The five elements of Wu Jen magic are wood, fire, water, earth, and metal.

Prestige classes

Prestige classes are mainly updates from Tome & Blood.

• The Acolyte of the skin: forges a pact with demons or devils through bonding of a skin of a fiend to his own. The acolyte will eventually become an Outsider.
• The Alienist is a mage who studies & summons creatures beyond normal understanding, eventually becoming an Outsider.
• The Argent Savant is a mage who specializes in force spells.
• The Blood Magus, after being brought back from death, learns to evoke magic from the fluid that sustains their life.
• The Effigy Master masters the creation of magically animated constructs build in the form of other living creatures.
• The Elemental Savant focuses his studies on one of the four elements and its associated energy type.
• The Enlightened Fist combines magic with martial arts and development of the body.
• The Fate Spinner learns how to increase the probability of events in his favor.
• The Geometer is a master of runes, glyphes, sigils, and symbols.
• The Greenstar Adept is the master of the magic derived from green starmetal.
• The Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil can call up barriers of prismatic power, gaining the ability to produce a different layer of prismatic wall each level.
• The Mage of the Arcane Order is a member of an academy and guild known as Arcane Order.
• The Master Transmogrifist specializes in spells that changes his form.
• The Mindbender focuses on charms and compulsions.
• The Seeker of the Song wields the power of primal music.
• The Sublime Cord uses bardic music as a stepping stone to deeper insights into the song of creation.
• The Suel Arcanamach carries on the old tradition of the long dead Suel Empire and merge spell casting and sword play.
• The Wayfarer Guide specializes in magical transportation.
• The Wild mage is a master of chaotic magic.

Feats

Complete Arcane also introduces a number of metamagic feats and several others based on magic, including the Mage Slayer feat tree, which makes a character more dangerous to arcane casters.

Magic Items

Magic items

Magic item (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, a magic item is any object that has magical powers inherent in it. These may act on their own or be the tools of the character in whose hands they fall into. Magic items have been prevalent in the game in every edition and setting, from the...

 include variant forms for potions and scrolls such as ceramic tiles that are broken to cause a spell effect instead of liquids that must be consumed, as well as spellbook materials for the discerning (or paranoid) wizard.

Campaigns

The last chapter of the book details how arcane magic can affect a campaign world, including the uses and abuses of Enchantment spells, flight, teleportation, and invisibility, and how nonmagical people would react to bards, sorcerers, wizards, and warlocks.

Publication history

Complete Arcane was written by Richard Baker

Richard Baker (game designer)

Richard Baker is an American author and a game designer who has worked on many Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings.-Early life, education, and military:...

and published in 2004.