Arcane Tradition: Discovery

Some wizards would rather experience the untold wonders of the world than rot away in a dusty laboratory. Many work to uncover ancient lore, seeking to shed light on the arcane mathematics that govern reality. Others tirelessly document the creatures, cultures, and magical phenomena they encounter in their travels.

Though their inclinations are broad, these wizards are united by their curiosity, their wealth of knowledge, and the wide range of practical skills they've developed.

Deft Scrutiny

Starting at 2nd level, you can quickly analyze and reverse engineer magical effects. You do so either as a reaction when a creature you can see within 60 feet of you casts a spell, or as an action when you investigate an ongoing magical effect within 10 feet of you. Make an arcana check with a DC equal to 15 + the level of the spell. On a success, you identify the spell and can memorize its formula if it's a wizard spell.

During a short or long rest, you can jot down notes about one of the formulas you have memorized. As long as you have those notes, you can copy the spell into your spellbook. Regardless, you forget all memorized spell formulas after you finish the rest.

Not all magical effects are created by spells, but the DM might allow you to uncover the formula for a spell that acts similarly to the effect. For example, studying a magical barrier might uncover the formula for the Wall of Force spell, and studying a displacer beast's displacement effect might uncover the formula for the Blur spell.

Universal Aptitude

Beginning when you pick this school at 2nd level, the gold and time it takes you to copy a spell into your spellbook is halved.

Mental Preparation

Keen memory, sharp mind, and a small pinch of magic allow you to take full advantage of past knowledge and experience. You gain two of the following features at 6th level, or one of the features twice, choosing different skills.

Insightful. Choose two skills. When you perform a check using one of those skills, you can choose to use Intelligence rather than the ability you otherwise would have used.

Breadth. You gain proficiency with two skills of your choice.

Depth. Choose two skills that you are proficient in. Whenever you make a check for one of those skills using Intelligence, your proficiency bonus is doubled for the check.

Revision

At 10th level, you learn how to adapt your plans on the fly. By spending ten minutes in study, you can replace one spell you have prepared with another spell from your spellbook of the same school of magic.

Magical Discovery

At 14th level, you can add four spells of your choice from any class to your spellbook. The spells count as wizard spells for you. Additionally, the number of spells you can prepare increases by four.