Eldritch Emeritus
Level 17Attacks
Abilities
Trigger A creature casts a spell the eldritch emeritus has prepared.
Effect The emeritus expends a prepared spell to counter the triggering creature's casting of that same spell. The emeritus loses their spell slot as if they had cast the triggering spell. The emeritus then attempts to counteract the triggering spell.
Frequency once per day
Trigger A creature attacks or uses a spell or ability that would affect the eldritch emeritus
Effect A masterpiece of complex spellwork instantly takes shape, casting Fire Shield, Mislead, and Mountain Resilience on the eldritch emeritus, each as an 8th-rank arcane spell.
1 to 3
Requirements The eldritch emeritus has seen a creature Cast a Spell of 7th rank or lower during the previous round, that spell takes between one and three actions to cast, and that spell is on the arcane spell list
Effect The eldritch emeritus mastered that spell 30 years ago, and is happy to show how a real master does it. The emeritus Casts the same Spell but heightened to 8th rank. Didactic Arcanism uses the same number of actions as the original spell took to cast.
If a reaction would disrupt the eldritch emeritus's spellcasting action, the eldritch emeritus attempts a DC 15 flat. On a success, the action isn't disrupted
To outsiders, the eldritch emeritus looks something like a joke—a befuddled old scholar, their mind so stuffed with obscure theorems and abstract metaphysics that concerns about mere daily reality fade away. Those who know them, however, know that the eldritch emeritus wrote more treatises of spells than most wizards have had hot dinners, and if sufficiently annoyed, is entirely capable of providing a brief, thorough, and fatal demonstration.
True power comes from knowledge—the power to shape the growth of kingdoms by mere whispers, stay three steps ahead of adversaries, or even know which flora is best for creating untraceable poisons.