School of Transmutation
Review by Sam West, Twitter:@CrierKobold
Alchemy: an ancient magic/science hybrid humans have attempted to master for milenia. Transmuting one form to another is a deeply magical, yet somewhat mundane thing we’ve been able to achieve visually with chemistry and learning over time. The School of Transmutation runs with these ideas, giving you the tools to take one form of matter and mix it around to another in meaningful and interesting ways. I really think this little subclass is underrated.
This school cares about Transmutation spells; for reference, here’s a full list of Cantrip through 9th-level Wizard spells of this school and the non-wizard options for multiclass considerations.
Wizard Transmutation Spells
Non-Wizard Transmutation Spells
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | Druidcraft, Magic Stone, Primal Savagery, Shillelagh, Thaumaturgy, Thorn Whip |
| 1st | Create or Destroy Water, Goodberry, Purify Food and Drink, Zephyr Strike |
| 2nd | Barkskin, Cordon of Arrows, Heat Metal, Spike Growth |
| 3rd | Elemental Weapon, Lightning Arrow, Meld into Stone, Plant Growth, Water Walk |
| 4th | Giant Insect, Guardian of Nature |
| 5th | Awaken, Reincarnate, Swift Quiver |
| 6th | Bones of the Earth, Wind Walk |
| 7th | Regenerate |
| 8th | Animal Shapes, Glibness |
| 9th | - |
See Also: Best Feats for Transmutation Wizard
2nd Level: Transmutation Savant, Minor Alchemy
Transmutation Savant provides the same passive benefit many tables opt to ignore entirely in its discount to adding spells to your spell book if they’re Transmutation. If you’re tight on gold, this gives you the incentive to invest in Transmutation spells you can find and copy, but realistically it's a ribbon most groups will immediately forget about. Most players tend to just use the spells they get for free on level-up, and those are more than enough.
Minor Alchemy produces an effect that is wonderfully magical and interesting to envision with few practical applications for the conditions it asks you to use. Transmuting stone to wood is normally the clearest path to using this during exploration, where you take a material that’s challenging to break and make it suddenly easy to burn or chop through. Beyond this case, finding value in transforming one material to another beyond swindling is a challenging task. Its still a pretty fun ability to mess around with, though, and absolutely sells the fantasy of being the magical scientist attempting to turn mud to gold.
6th Level: Transmuter’s Stone
Transmuter’s Stone has a lot of flexibility baked into it I really like. Proficiency in Constituion saving throws is univerisally great on full-casters who lack it, as it provides a boon to Concentration saves. That, on its own, justifies the feature. On top of that, though, you can take cheap transmutation spells like Expeditious Retreat to give it a bonus action method to switch between damage resistance, darkvision, or a speed boost as you need them. The damage resistance mode will come up the most, and you can swap back to Constituion saves as you cast a concentration affect you really want to maintain that’s transmutation like Haste.
You’re rarely going to want to give it out, but having the option is a nice little extra bit that makes it all the better.
10th Level: Shapechanger
Shapechanger does something I deeply love: it takes a busted spell, Polymorph, and offers you cool and interesting ways to use it in a far more fair manner, all while not limiting you to only using it in that way. The best use case for this is something like a Giant Owl which has Flyby, allowing you to fly without provoking attacks of opportunity, along with a 60 ft. fly speed. Should you escape, you’re an owl. Keep in mind, though, you get the mental faculties of the beast you turn into. A lot of these beasts are smart enough that you’ll still be coherent mentally with the knowledge that you’re transformed, but how this affects your character in play is going to vary table to table.
One bonus 4th level spell slot isn’t necessarily the best 10th level feature in the game, but still a pretty fun time and reasonable alongside the full-casting you’re working with as a wizard already.
14th Level: Master Transmuter
Master Transmuter closes out the School with four interesting effects you can consume your Transmuter’s Stone to achieve: Major Transformation, Panacea, Restore Life, and Restore Youth. Any one of them roughly equates to a 4th or 5th level spell, making the consumption close to a bonus spell slot of equal level.
Restore Life stands out as a tool that wizards otherwise lack, as does Panacea. Normally, clerics, druids, and bards are left to do the healing, but in a pinch, you can use your transmuters stone to get a heal that rivals Power Word: Heal.
I’m not all that excited by Major Transformation, but the effect is permanent, and the only conditions on the transformation is it’s nonmagical, and it’s equal or less value, leaving it open to potentially be the exact mundane item you need in the moment.
All together, this feature is sweet. Ending your Trasnmuter Stone’s passive is a high cost, but these effects tend to want to come out towards the end of an adventure anyway. Getting it once per long rest is superb; everything here sets Transmuters in an interesting space from their other wizard counterparts.
All Together
The School of Transmutation deserves more love. Every one of its features ranges from mediocre but interesting to interesting and excellent. It hits all the right notes for me flavorfully, and provides ample reason to cast spells you might not normally because they let you change up some passives on your Transmuter’s Stone. If any elements of the fantasy appeal to you, I highly recommend giving it a spin.
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