Clever Featwork: Magic Initiate

Combining different species, classes, and backgrounds with proficiency and feat selection allows most people to make characters close to their original vision. But, sometimes, a character concept is original, or complex, and requires a unique look at character options to build it. There are often many ways to build characters with similar abilities, and finding the best option(s) to choose can be challenging, but challenging can be fun and rewarding. In the Clever Featwork features we will look at ways to use Feats (Origin and Regular) to not only provide benefits but also flavor and distinctiveness to your characters. Sometimes it may be a different way to look at them, others it will be ways to combine them. These explorations won’t be to optimize characters to do the most damage they can, but to develop interesting and unique characters with the abilities you want them to have.

This time we will look at the Magic Initiate (MI) Feat(s). On their surface they provide access to spells, and often will be taken by people who want some that don’t normally get access, or sometimes to get more spells than you have access to (like classes that only get 2 Cantrips.) But gaining access to ‘spells’ can be looked at in many different ways.

The Magic Initiate Feat has three different versions or selections: Cleric, Druid, or Wizard—giving you access to the appropriate spell list of the pertinent class: Cantrips and 1st-Level Spells. It allows you to select two Cantrips and one 1st-level spell. This may not seem like a lot, but depending on what you want to do with those new or additional spells, it can mean a lot to building your character to match your fantasy of their abilities. It can give classes without any spells access to some, give a spellcaster more spells to select from, and spells from a different class. Most importantly, you get to select the spellcasting ability for attack rolls and saving throws so you can use your best ability: like a druid getting wizard spells and using their already high Wisdom versus Intelligence. This increases their usefulness.

More Cantrips Please!

The first use of Magic Initiate is for a spellcaster simply to gain more spells, namely Cantrips, of your own or another class. Bards, Druids and Warlocks get 2; Clerics and Wizards get 3; Sorcerers get the most at 4. Rangers and Paladins don’t get any Cantrips. Especially for those that only get two cantrips, getting two more can greatly improve your repertoire. Rangers and Paladins could pick up Cleric or Druid cantrips.

One more 1st-level spell may not seem like a lot, but at low levels having a bigger selection can give the character more flexibility to help the party out. Because you get to choose your spellcasting ability modifier, they still act like spells from your own list so even though Bard, Sorcerer, and Warlock are not options, those classes selecting spells from another list will act as if they are. Plus, you can use your 1st-level once per Long Rest without expending a spell slot, for spellcasters this is like an extra spell slot.

‘Multi-classing’ and Custom Classes

The second way to use Magic Initiate is to sort of ‘multi-class’ without having to spend a level. You get access to spells that might not be on your spell list, both Cantrips and 1st-level. A spellcaster without healing could get healing spells from the Cleric or Druid list. The Wizard list, besides its obvious offensive spells, also includes spells like Mage Armor and Shield unavailable to many other spellcasters.

Similarly, a way to diversify or reclassify a character’s abilities by selecting Magic Initiate can allow you to design a sort of custom class or subclass. Looking to make a shaman? Make a sorcerer or warlock (depending how you view the source of the shaman’s powers) and then take Magic Initiate: Cleric or Druid to get some more spiritual spells.

Just as subclasses can give access to spells outside the normal spell list, MI can as well. Of course subclasses give more spells at multiple levels, but just getting some Cantrips (which scale) you don’t have and even one 1st-level spell can be enough to add flavor or flair to your character.

And of course, as always, these use the spellcasting ability you select, so a Paladin for example could pick up Cleric spells but use their Charisma instead of Wisdom. In many cases it might not matter, but if you do select spells that require an attack roll or save, or that add the modifier to effects, it can be a big deal.

Examples/Recommendations

• Bards who don’t want to wear armor can use MI: Wizard to get Mage Armor, or pick up Shield. From MI: Cleric they could get Bless to add to their buffing abilities.

• Clerics can get more offensive spell options especially Cantrips by taking MI: Wizard (and they would use WIS not INT if you multi-classed into Wizard). Trickery Domain Clerics could get more illusion type spells from MI: Wizard. In the 2024 Core Rules they don’t have Nature domain (yet?), but… you can take MI: Druid and add some nature flavor with cantrips like Shillelagh, Starry Wisp and Thorn Whip and 1st-Level spells like Animal Friendship, Entangle, Goodberry, and Speak with Animals. Similarly, there is no Arcana domain, so take MI: Wizard for wizard spell access.

• Druids, like Clerics, could get more offensive options from Wizard, including ‘elemental’ types that they don’t have Cantrips like Acid Splash, Fire Bolt, Ray of Frost, Shocking Grasp; True Strike can be an option instead of Shillelagh to use weapons besides a club or quarterstaff—and surprisingly they don’t have Light or Dancing Lights—or 1st-Level spells like Burning Hands, Expeditious Retreat, False Life, Feather Fall, Grease, Sleep and Witch Bolt not to mention the famous Magic Missile for automatic hits.

• Fighters and Rogues could pick up spells without having to take a sub-class that gives them like Eldtritch Knight or Arcane Trickster.

• Monks can add to their abilities both offensive and defensive. Get Shield free once per Long Rest or Blade Ward. Want your Warrior of Mercy monk to have more healing? Take Cleric or Druid. Playing a Warrior of the Elements and want more options? Take Druid or Wizard for some elemental spells.

• Paladins could get Guiding Bolt for a powerful ranged attack, or Healing Word for a ranged heal, Inflict Wounds for a Vengeance Paladin; or Sanctuary all from Cleric using their Charisma.

• Rangers could get Druid cantrips (and a 1st-Level spell) without having to take the Druidic Warrior Fighting Style.

• Sorercers, Warlocks and Wizards can all get healing spells, or Bless, from Cleric or Druid. Plus they could get Shillelagh from the Druid list for the archetypal magician quarterstaffs which would use their INT or CHA.

Barbarians aren’t listed since their main ability of rage doesn’t allow for magic use. Of course, you could use magic our of combat so feel free to explore options.

Shaman
Mentioned previously, here is one ‘shaman’ build. There are many different ways to make something like this using either sorcerer or warlock. You could do wizard but the bookish way they learn and use spells isn’t quite in the fantasy of a shaman. A warlock with an Archfey or Celestial patron would work really well, as depending on your definition of shaman it might include having a patron plus you could get MI from an Invocation vs. background or species, but we are going to go with sorcerer as the starting class.
Start with a sorcerer, sub-class is unimportant but Wild Magic would work well thematically. MI: Druid is a great option to build a primal sorcerer, but I would go with MI: Cleric: mainly for Guidance and Bless. I think access to these spells is a great way to give the flavor of a shaman who can provide some spiritual assistance to their people. A healing spell for 1st level could be good instead of Bless. For the other cantrip Toll the Dead is a good way for them to call on spirits to attack their opponent. Pick up the Feat however you can either from the Guide or a custom Background or human species.

Innate Powers

Magic Initiate gives access to spells. But in a game of fantasy there is no need to confine their selection and usage as strictly spells. Instead they can be approached as innate abilities or powers that the character has. This can be for something like a custom species where you have different abilities (like an elf with different spell access than the existing ones), powers you inherited from a special lineage or fortuitous birth (born during a celestial event), or as a different type of power like psi-abilities. We will look at an example of a character with a custom lineage after the break. Elves and Gnomes; Dragonborn Goliaths, and Tiefling get lineages, ancestries, ancestors, and legacies in 2024 but dwarves don’t anymore and all orcs are just orcs.

Examples:

• Give dwarves lineages with spells or spell-like abilities like elves. Maybe they have lineages similar to each of the giant types. MI: Wizard could provide Shocking Grasp and Thunderclap plus Thunderwave to a ‘storm dwarf’. Or MI: Druid could provide Elementalism and Message plus Fog Cloud to a ‘cloud dwarf’, fire and first dwarves have fairly obvious spell choices.

• Create an orc pedigree that has primal, mystical abilities like other species. As a DM allow characters to select spells from take MI: Druid or you or the player come up with common ones like other lineages have. Maybe there are totem orcs that have animal spirits take Resistance and Primal Savagery and Animal Friendship or Speak with Animals.

• Make a fey gnome with MI: Druid to get Druidcraft and Starry Wisp plus Faerie Fire.

• Make a background that involves something that happened to the character granting them spell-like abilities, almost like super powers. An accident, experiment, or fortuitous birth. In a campaign we had a dwarf who was mining psi crystals when an accident made them explode and shards embedded in his flesh granting him psionic abilities. He is a dwarf fighter with MI: Wizard with Message and Mind Sliver and Shield without having to take Psi Warrior subclass (ot if he did additional psionic-like abilities). A character born when a comet passed through the sky could take MI: Cleric and get some combination of two of Light, Sacred Flame orWord of Radiance plus Guiding Bolt or a healing spell.

Vey - a wereavian ‘shifter’ human

Vey is a human female who inherited through her lineage the ability to manifest bird-like features and abilities like lycanthropes, in her case a black corvid similar to were ravens. She could be built with shifter as her species if you have access to MotM*. But many don’t have that resource, especially if you are limited to 2024 core rules (though they are in the ‘expanded’ rules options). Even if you are using MotM, you might not like the shifter options. But using the 2024 core rules, we can definitely make a character with those types of abilities at level 1.

As a human as selected species, she gets the Versatile trait which gives her an extra Origin feat so she doesn’t need to worry about it from her Background. She has Magic Initiate (Druid) and took the Cantrips Primal Savagery (to represent bestial claws, her bird-like talons, or her beak) and Guidance which she would usually use on herself plus the 1st-Level spells Jump to represent her ability to so limited flight with the wings she gets when she shifts.

The rest of her build is unimportant to this exploration of Feats, but we will likely see her in the future as she is a prominent character in the land of Taluma.

* Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse