# Human Wizard of Civic Wizardry — "The Right of Way"

**A caster who decides where the fight happens.** Human · Wizard · School of Civic Wizardry ·
Spell Substitution · shapes the ground with walls and difficult terrain that allow no saving throw,
then spends what is left of the turn taking the enemy's actions away.
Level 10 · Free Archetype · *Seven Dooms for Sandpoint*.

| | |
|---|---|
| Status | **VALIDATED** |
| Corpus index | `aon-20260802-141253` |
| Campaign | Seven Dooms for Sandpoint |
| Level | **10** — supplied |
| Role | Battlefield controller — denies ground and movement with walls and terrain, and denies actions with save-based spells, so that the party fights on a map of her choosing |
| Specialization | none — the request named a role, not a tactic |
| Rarity policy | **Common only**, with one declared exception: **Earthworks** (Player Core pg. 388) is `uncommon`, and it is granted by the **arcane school** class feature rather than chosen. Every other one of the 113 properties was audited by id and is `common` |
| Variant rules | Free Archetype |
| Wealth form | Item allotment |
| Party context | **standalone** — no claim below depends on an ally, and two options were rejected outright for requiring one |

## Sign-off

| | |
|---|---|
| Index id | `aon-20260802-141253` |
| Date | 2026-09-01 |
| Properties enumerated | **113** |
| `PASS` | **113** |
| `FAIL` | **0** |
| `GM RULING` | **0** |
| `NOT IN CORPUS` | **0** |
| Reconciles | 113 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 113 |
| Feasibility | **findings** — two, both recorded and **accepted** with their cost stated, in PART 4 § *Review layers* |
| Difficulty | **High** — tracks twenty prepared slots across five ranks, a one-point focus pool, up to ten staff charges, two once-per-day wands, five scrolls, two temporary scrolls, one Drain Bonded Item plus its Bond Conservation follow-up, and six familiar abilities re-chosen every morning; the opening round is a single irreversible three-action decision, and taking it in the wrong square wastes the build's best spell for the fight. Justified in full in PART 4 |
| Play strategy | **CLEAN** |

---

# PART 1 — THE BUILD

## 1.1 Level 10 statistics

| | |
|---|---|
| **AC** | **27** · **29** with the Spellguard Shield raised |
| **HP** | **118** |
| Fortitude | **+19** · Reflex **+19** · Will **+18** |
| Perception | **+17** |
| Speed | **30 ft** (base 25 ft, +5 ft from **Fleet**; **Explorer's Clothing** has no Speed penalty) |
| Staff | attack **+12** · damage **1d4** bludgeoning |
| **Spell DC** | **29** · Spell attack **+19** |
| Wizard class DC | **27** · Focus pool **1** |

**Attributes:** Str +0 · Dex **+4** · Con **+4** · Int **+5** · Wis **+3** · Cha +0
*(scores 10 / 18 / 18 / 20 / 16 / 10)*

**How each number is built.** Proficiency is `level + 2` when trained and `level + 4` when expert, so
at level 10 that is **12** and **14**. Ranks are read from the class's own advancement table
(Player Core pg. 192), not from the general pattern.

| Statistic | Terms | Total |
|---|---|---|
| AC | 10 + trained **12** (unarmored defense; *Defensive Robes* is level 13) + Dex **+4** (Explorer's Clothing, Dex Cap **+5**) + item **+1** (**Armor Potency**) | **27** |
| AC, shield raised | 27 + **+2** circumstance (**Spellguard Shield**, base **Steel Shield** — AC Bonus 2, Speed Penalty —, Player Core pg. 274) | **29** |
| HP | 8 (Human) + 10 × (6 class + **4** Con) + 10 (**Toughness**, "your maximum Hit Points by your level") | **118** |
| Fortitude | expert **14** (*Magical Fortitude*, level 9) + Con **+4** + item **+1** (**Resilient**) | **+19** |
| Reflex | expert **14** (*Reflex Expertise*, level 5) + Dex **+4** + item **+1** | **+19** |
| Will | expert **14** (level 1) + Wis **+3** + item **+1** | **+18** |
| Perception | expert **14** (**Canny Acumen**, level 3 — the class's own *Perception Expertise* is level 11) + Wis **+3** | **+17** |
| Staff attack | trained **12** + Str **+0** | **+12** |
| Staff damage | 1d4 B (Staff, Tian Xia Character Guide pg. 127) + Str **+0**; *Weapon Specialization* is level 13 | **1d4** |
| Spell DC | 10 + expert **14** (*Expert Spellcaster*, level 7) + Int **+5** | **29** |
| Spell attack | expert **14** + Int **+5** | **+19** |
| Class DC | 10 + trained **12** + Int **+5** | **27** |
| Speed | 25 ft (Human) + 5 ft (**Fleet**) | **30 ft** |
| Focus pool | one focus spell known (**Earthworks**); "the maximum number of points in your pool is equal to the number of focus spells you know or 3, whichever is lower" (Player Core pg. 298) | **1** |

**Arcana** is **+21** (master **16** + Int **+5**) — the highest skill on the sheet, and the
prerequisite for four of the five skill feats.

## 1.2 The thesis

**Omitted — this build has no specialization.** The request named a **role** and no tactic, so there
is no single operative number for the level-10 block to carry and no enabling chain to separate from
the supporting choices. The header's *Specialization* field says `none` for the same reason. What
would have gone here — how the role is served and what it cost — is in the defenses in 1.3 and in
PART 4's review layers.

The section number is kept so that a reader who knows where the thesis sits in one guide in this
repository knows where it sits in all of them.

## 1.3 Core choices

| | Choice | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Ancestry | **Human** — two free boosts, and two extra feats at level 1 | Player Core pg. 62 |
| Heritage | **Versatile Human** — a free general feat, spent on **Toughness** | Player Core pg. 63 |
| Background | **Scholar** — Intelligence plus an unconstrained free boost | Player Core pg. 88 |
| Class | **Wizard** — the arcane school's five extra prepared slots per day | Player Core pg. 192 |
| Arcane school | **School of Civic Wizardry** — **Wall of Stone** is a curriculum spell | Player Core pg. 199 |
| Arcane thesis | **Spell Substitution** — re-prepare one slot per 10 minutes | Player Core pg. 195 |
| Free Archetype | **Familiar Master** — for **Familiar Conduit** | Player Core 2 pg. 200 |

**Defenses.**

> **Human.** Chosen over **Dwarf**: **Natural Ambition** and **Versatile Human** are two extra feats
> at level 1, and this build converts them into the **Familiar** and **Toughness** — neither of which
> it could otherwise afford. Dwarf would have done better on the chassis: **10 ancestry HP** and
> darkvision against Human's 8 and none. It lost on **Speed 20 feet**, which is one Stride short on a
> character whose own **Wall of Stone** and **Earthworks** make the ground it has to cross worse.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-ancestry.md § Dwarf`

> **Versatile Human.** Chosen over **Skilled Human**: a free general feat becomes **Toughness**,
> **+10 HP** at level 10 on the chassis with the fewest in the game. Skilled Human would have done
> better by freeing a **skill increase** at level 5, which would have brought Stealth to expert four
> levels earlier.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-heritage.md § Skilled Human`

> **Scholar.** Chosen over **Hermit**: it is the only background in the field that gives
> **Intelligence and a genuinely free second boost**, and the free half goes to Dexterity, which is
> AC and Reflex on an unarmoured body. Hermit would have done better by supplying **Constitution**
> from the background, freeing a level-1 free boost for Wisdom — **+1 Will and +1 Perception** at
> every level — and it lost because taking that costs a point of Intelligence, which is a point of
> spell DC.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-background.md § Hermit`

> **Wizard.** Chosen over **Druid**: the **arcane school** grants "one extra curriculum cantrip and
> one extra curriculum spell of each rank you can cast", which at level 10 is **five extra prepared
> spells every day** — twenty against a druid's fifteen — and a controller's scarce resource is
> having the right wall for this room. Druid would have done better on durability: **8 HP per level**,
> trained in medium armor, **Shield Block** at level 1, and **Perception expertise at 3** against
> this build's 11.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-class.md § Druid`

> **School of Civic Wizardry.** Chosen over **School of Battle Magic**: it is the only school in the
> pin whose **5th-rank curriculum entry is Wall of Stone**, so the build casts a free wall of stone
> every day out of a slot that can hold nothing else — and its initial school spell, **Earthworks**,
> is a repeatable 15-foot burst of difficult terrain for one focus point. Battle Magic would have
> done better at damage, which this build does not have at all: **Fireball** and **Howling Blizzard**
> in free slots.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-subclass.md § School of Battle Magic`

> **Spell Substitution.** Chosen over **Improved Familiar Attunement**: ten minutes converts one
> prepared slot into any spell in the book, which is the only answer a prepared caster has to a room
> it has not seen. Improved Familiar Attunement would have done better by handing over the **Familiar**
> feat for free and stacking two more familiar abilities by level 10 — and it lost to a scheduling
> accident worth stating plainly: **Natural Ambition** already supplies a free 1st-level class feat,
> so this build buys the familiar without paying the thesis for it.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-subclass.md § Improved Familiar Attunement`

> **Familiar Master.** Chosen over **Sentinel**: it is the only archetype in the field whose ladder
> fills all five Free Archetype slots with feats a standalone build can use, and **Familiar Conduit**
> — "the spell uses the familiar as its origin point" — is the build's only answer to line of effect.
> Sentinel would have done better at the number the review layer flags: **+1 AC from level 2**,
> eight levels before the gear supplies it. It lost because its remaining ladder is one live feat
> and three dead ones — **Armor Specialist** is inert for a class that never gains expert armor
> proficiency. **Bastion**, which would have answered anti-synergy **A-01** exactly, requires
> **Shield Block** and is not legally available to a wizard at any level.
> — `research/build-7-controller-wizard/options-free-archetype.md § Sentinel`

## 1.4 Per-level progression

| Lv | Class feat | Skill feat | General | Ancestry | Free Archetype | Boosts | Skill increase | Proficiency | Spells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Familiar** *(via Natural Ambition)* | — | **Toughness** *(via Versatile Human)* | **Natural Ambition** | — | Int, Con *(ancestry)* · Int, Dex *(background)* · Int *(class)* · Int, Dex, Con, Wis *(four free)* | — | initial proficiencies; Will expert | 10 cantrips + 7 spells enter the spellbook; 5 cantrip slots + 1 curriculum cantrip; 2 first-rank slots + 1 curriculum |
| 2 | **Reach Spell** | **Recognize Spell** | — | — | **Familiar Master Dedication** → grants **Enhanced Familiar** | — | — | — | +2 spells |
| 3 | — | — | **Canny Acumen** (Perception) | — | — | — | Arcana → **expert** | — | **2nd-rank spells**; +2 spells; +1 curriculum spell |
| 4 | **Linked Focus** | **Magical Shorthand** | — | — | **Familiar Conduit** | — | — | — | +2 spells |
| 5 | — | — | — | **Clever Improviser** | — | Int *(partial)*, Dex, Con, Wis | Crafting → **expert** | Reflex expertise | **3rd-rank spells**; +2 spells; +1 curriculum spell |
| 6 | **Split Slot** | **Quick Identification** | — | — | **Improved Familiar** → the familiar becomes a **Fey Dragonet** | — | — | — | +2 spells |
| 7 | — | — | **Fleet** | — | — | — | Arcana → **master** | expert spellcaster | **4th-rank spells**; +2 spells; +1 curriculum spell |
| 8 | **Bond Conservation** | **Quick Recognition** | — | — | **Mutable Familiar** | — | — | — | +2 spells |
| 9 | — | — | — | **Incredible Improvisation** | — | — | Stealth → **expert** | magical fortitude | **5th-rank spells**; +2 spells; +1 curriculum spell |
| 10 | **Scroll Adept** | **Battle Medicine** | — | — | **Incredible Familiar (Familiar Master)** | Int *(completes → +5)*, Dex, Con, Wis | — | — | +2 spells |

A `—` means the slot does not exist at that level; the wizard grants class and skill feats at even
levels, general feats at 3 and 7, ancestry feats at 1, 5 and 9, and skill increases at 3, 5, 7 and 9.
The Free Archetype column exists because that variant is in play, and it is filled at every even
level. **No slot that exists is left empty.**

Level 1 carries two entries no wizard normally has: **Natural Ambition** converts the ancestry feat
into a 1st-level *class* feat, and **Versatile Human** converts the heritage into a *general* feat.
Both are shown in the column of the feat they became, with their source in brackets.

## 1.5 Prerequisites

Checked against the prerequisite line **as printed** on the resolved document, not as summarised.
Feats with no printed prerequisite line are omitted from this table rather than shown as blank.

| Property | Prerequisite line, as printed | Met by, at what level | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Recognize Spell** | "Trained in Arcana, Trained in Nature, Trained in Occultism, or Trained in Religion" | Arcana, trained at **1** by the class | PASS |
| **Enhanced Familiar** | "a familiar" | **Familiar**, taken at **1** | PASS |
| **Linked Focus** | "arcane bond; arcane school" | Both are level-**1** wizard class features | PASS |
| **Magical Shorthand** | "Expert in Arcana, Expert in Nature, Expert in Occultism, or Expert in Religion" | Arcana → expert, skill increase at **3** | PASS |
| **Familiar Conduit** | "Familiar Master Dedication; able to cast spells" | Dedication at **2**; wizard spellcasting at **1** | PASS |
| **Quick Identification** | "trained in Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion" | Arcana, trained at **1** | PASS |
| **Improved Familiar** | "Familiar Master Dedication" | Taken at **2** | PASS |
| **Bond Conservation** | "arcane bond" | Level-**1** wizard class feature | PASS |
| **Quick Recognition** | "Master in Arcana, Master in Nature, Master in Occultism, or Master in Religion; Recognize Spell" | Arcana → master, skill increase at **7**; **Recognize Spell** at **2** | PASS |
| **Mutable Familiar** | "Familiar Master Dedication" | Taken at **2** | PASS |
| **Battle Medicine** | "Trained in Medicine" | Trained at **1**, from the six free skill slots | PASS |
| **Incredible Familiar (Familiar Master)** | "Enhanced Familiar" | Granted by **Familiar Master Dedication** at **2**, because a familiar already existed | PASS |

One more gate is not a feat prerequisite and is checked the same way. The **Fey Dragonet**
(Player Core 2 pg. 170) prints **Required Number of Abilities 5**; **Improved Familiar** makes that
"two lower than normal", so **3**, and **Enhanced Familiar** supplies **4** per day from level 2 —
so the familiar is legal from level **6**, which is the level it is taken.

## 1.6 Gear and affordability

**A note on grip, before the table.** The **Staff of Earth** occupies one hand and the **Spellguard
Shield** the other. That is legal and it is deliberate: the shield's rules say "you can't hold
anything with that hand and Raise a Shield" (Player Core pg. 274), which the staff hand satisfies,
and the **Manipulate** trait (Player Core pg. 458) requires that "you must physically manipulate an
item **or make gestures**" — **no free hand is required to Cast a Spell**. What the grip does cost is
an action, and that is anti-synergy **A-01**.

| Item | Source | Verdict | Alternate |
|---|---|---|---|
| **Magic Wand** (4th-rank Spell — *wall of fire*) · item level 9 | GM Core pg. 282 | PASS | The same wand holding *confusion* |
| **Staff of Earth** (Greater) · item level 8 | Treasure Vault (Remastered) pg. 135 | PASS | **Staff of Elemental Power** (GM Core pg. 279) — cheaper, and a damage list instead of a terrain list |
| **Resilient** rune · item level 8 | GM Core pg. 226 | PASS | **None exists at this level** — nothing at or below item level 9 in the pin grants a broader bonus to saving throws |
| **Magic Wand** (3rd-rank Spell — *slow*) · item level 7 | GM Core pg. 282 | PASS | The same wand holding *haste* |
| **Spellguard Shield** · item level 6 | GM Core pg. 234 | PASS | **Sturdy Shield** (GM Core pg. 234) — more Hardness, no bonus to saves |
| **Armor Potency (+1)** rune · item level 5 | GM Core pg. 226 | PASS | **None exists at this level** — the only other +1 item bonus to AC is **Mystic Armor**, which is the same bonus type and does not stack |
| **Magic Scroll** (5th-rank — *wall of stone*) | GM Core pg. 262 | PASS | A 5th-rank *toxic cloud* |
| **Magic Scroll** (4th-rank — *wall of fire*) | GM Core pg. 262 | PASS | A 4th-rank *confusion* |
| **Magic Scroll** (4th-rank — *confusion*) | GM Core pg. 262 | PASS | A second 4th-rank *wall of fire* |
| **Magic Scroll** (3rd-rank — *slow*) | GM Core pg. 262 | PASS | A 3rd-rank *haste* |
| **Magic Scroll** (2nd-rank — *web*) | GM Core pg. 262 | PASS | A 2nd-rank *mist* |
| **Healer's Toolkit** | Player Core pg. 288 | PASS | **None exists** — **Battle Medicine** names the toolkit in its own requirements line |
| **Adventurer's Pack** | Player Core pg. 287 | PASS | Buying the contents separately, which costs more |
| **Explorer's Clothing** | Player Core pg. 273 | PASS | **None exists at this level** for a caster untrained in armor who wants a **Dex Cap of +5** |

**Affordability.**

| | |
|---|---|
| Wealth form | **Item allotment** |
| Permanent items | **1×lvl9 + 2×lvl8 + 1×lvl7 + 2×lvl6**, maximum item level **9** |
| Currency portion | 150 gp + 70 gp + 70 gp + 30 gp + 12 gp + 5 gp + 1.5 gp + 0.1 gp = **338.6 gp** |
| Budget | **350 gp** |
| Result | **11.4 gp under budget** — **PASS** |
| Numbers basis | `corpus-resolved` — `rules-2662` |
| Source | GM Core pg. 61 |

The allotment cannot be overspent by construction, so the currency portion is totalled separately
and explicitly — that is where an overspend would actually occur. The arithmetic above is copied
verbatim from the `evidence` field of property `affordability-001` in
[verdicts.json](research/build-7-controller-wizard/verdicts.json); it was not recomputed by hand.

---

# PART 2 — SECONDARY PIECES

## The familiar — a Fey Dragonet

| | |
|---|---|
| Kind | familiar |
| Granted by | **Familiar** — Player Core pg. 201, taken at level 1 through **Natural Ambition** |
| Specific familiar | **Fey Dragonet** — Player Core 2 pg. 170, from level **6** |
| Online at level | **1** as a plain familiar · **6** as a Fey Dragonet · **10** at six abilities |

**What it is.** A tiny dragon bonded to the wizard's magic. Mechanically a familiar is a **pet with
special abilities** (Player Core pg. 212): "You gain the Pet general feat, except that your pet has
special abilities." It cannot fight — a pet "can't take attack actions except to Escape or Force
Open" (Player Core pg. 259) — and that is not a limitation this build minds, because it is not
carried as a combatant. It is carried as **a place to cast from**.

That is what **Familiar Conduit** (Player Core 2 pg. 200) does: "If the next action you use is to
Cast a Spell that has a range, the spell uses the familiar as its origin point." A 25-foot fly Speed
that moves on its own initiative is therefore a 25-foot extension of every ranged spell the wizard
has, and a line of effect around corners, over the wizard's own wall, and into rooms she cannot see.

**How it acts.** This is the part a player hits in round one, so it is stated in full.

- It is a **minion**. On the wizard's turn, spending **1 action** to Command it gives it **2 actions**
  (Player Core pg. 259). No Nature check is required — the Pet feat replaces the usual effects of
  Command an Animal.
- On a turn nobody commands it, it normally does nothing — **except** that **Independent**
  (Player Core pg. 212) is one of the three abilities selected every day: "In an encounter, if you
  don't Command your familiar, it still gains 1 action each round." That single free action is what
  repositions the conduit's origin point without costing the wizard a third of her turn, and it is
  the ability that is never swapped out.
- Its actions are used for **Fly**, **Stride**, and **Interact**. It never Strikes.
- **Familiar Focus** costs the familiar 2 of its actions, so on the round it restores a focus point
  it must be Commanded (1 wizard action) or it will only have the one free action from Independent.

**What it can do.**

| | Capability | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | **Flier** — "Your familiar gains a fly Speed of 25 feet" *(granted by the Fey Dragonet)* | Player Core pg. 259 |
| 2 | **Darkvision** *(granted)* — the wizard has none | Player Core pg. 259 |
| 3 | **Manual Dexterity** *(granted)* — "use up to two of its limbs as if they were hands to perform manipulate actions" | Player Core pg. 259 |
| 4 | **Speech** *(granted)* — it can report what it sees | Player Core pg. 213 |
| 5 | **Touch Telepathy** *(granted)* | Player Core pg. 213 |
| 6 | **Independent** *(selected daily)* — 1 action each round with no Command | Player Core pg. 212 |
| 7 | **Familiar Focus** *(selected daily)* — "Once per day, your familiar can use 2 actions with the concentrate trait to restore 1 Focus Point to your focus pool" | Player Core pg. 214 |
| 8 | **Share Senses** *(selected daily)* — one action to sense through the familiar, once every 10 minutes | Player Core pg. 214 |

Items 1–5 are **granted** by the specific familiar and can never be swapped
(`category-page-155`, Player Core 2 pg. 170). Items 6–8 are the three free selections left over from
the six that **Incredible Familiar (Familiar Master)** provides, and they are **re-chosen at every
daily preparation** (Player Core pg. 212) — so they are a loadout, not a fixed part of the build.
**Mutable Familiar** additionally allows amphibious, burrower, climber, darkvision, fast movement,
manual dexterity, resistance and scent to be re-selected in a 10-minute exploration activity, which
is the same ten minutes **Spell Substitution** wants.

**Statistics at level 10.** A familiar's numbers are copies of its master's, so they are stated here
rather than pointed at.

| | |
|---|---|
| **AC** | **27** — "your pet's save modifiers and AC are equal to yours before applying circumstance or status bonuses or penalties" (Player Core pg. 259). The Spellguard Shield's bonus is a **circumstance** bonus and does **not** carry over |
| **HP** | **50** — "your pet has 5 Hit Points per level" |
| Fortitude | **+19** · Reflex **+19** · Will **+18** — copied on the same rule |
| Perception | **+15** — "you can have your familiar use your spellcasting attribute modifier + your level instead of 3 + your level if it's higher" (Player Core pg. 212): Int **+5** + level **10** beats 3 + 10 |
| Speed | **25 ft**, **fly 25 ft** |
| Acrobatics · Stealth | **+15** each, on the same rule as Perception |
| Every other skill | **+10** — "just your level as its modifier for other skill checks" |
| Attacks | **none** |

## The bonded item, the focus pool, and the staff

This build runs three resource economies that a reader who has never played a wizard will not find
anywhere else on the sheet. All three are stated here in full.

**The arcane bond.** At each daily preparation the wizard designates one owned item as her bonded
item (Player Core pg. 192) — here, the **Staff of Earth**. That grants **Drain Bonded Item**
(Player Core pg. 197), a **free action**, once per day: "You expend the magical power stored in your
bonded item. During the current turn, you can cast one spell you prepared today **and already cast**,
without spending a spell slot."

Two feats extend it:

- **Linked Focus** (Player Core pg. 202) — "Once per day when you Drain your Bonded Item to cast one
  of your arcane school's curriculum spells, you also regain 1 Focus Point." At level 10 the
  curriculum spell that is worth draining for is **Wall of Stone**, so one turn buys a free 5th-rank
  wall **and** refills the focus pool.
- **Bond Conservation** (Player Core pg. 203) — a **single action**, usable only when "the last
  action you used was to Cast a Spell enabled by Drain Bonded Item": "You gain an extra use of Drain
  Bonded Item. You can use it to cast a spell 2 or more ranks lower than the previous spell, and must
  use it before the end of your next turn."

The whole chain, in order: **Drain Bonded Item** (free) → **Wall of Stone** (3 actions, free of a
slot) → Linked Focus returns 1 Focus Point. That turn is full. On the **next** turn, **Bond
Conservation** (1 action) grants a second Drain, spent on a 3rd-rank spell already cast — in practice
**Slow** (2 actions). Total across two rounds: two free castings and a refilled focus pool, for one
action of overhead.

**The focus pool.** One point, because "the maximum number of points in your pool is equal to the
number of focus spells you know or 3, whichever is lower" (Player Core pg. 298) and this build knows
one: **Earthworks**. It is refilled three ways — at daily preparation, by **Refocus**
(Player Core pg. 298, "You spend 10 minutes performing deeds… This restores 1 Focus Point"), and
once per day by the familiar's **Familiar Focus**.

**Earthworks** (Player Core pg. 388) is variable-action: "a 5-foot burst if you spent 1 action to
cast it, a 10-foot burst if you spent 2 actions, or a 15-foot burst if you spent 3 actions", and
"the ground in the area becomes difficult terrain". Focus spells are "automatically heightened to
half your level rounded up", so at level 10 it is cast at **5th rank**, which means its 4th-rank
clause applies: the barriers "float in the air, causing the spell to function as difficult terrain
**for flying creatures**".

**The staff.** A staff is prepared once a day and holds charges (GM Core pg. 278): "that staff gains
a number of charges equal to the rank of your highest spell slot" — **5** at level 10 — and, because
this is a prepared caster, "they can expend a spell slot to add a number of charges equal to the
rank of the spell", once, for a maximum of **10**. Casting from it costs charges equal to the
spell's rank, uses the wizard's own spell attack and DC, and is only possible for spells on her own
list — all four of the **Staff of Earth (Greater)**'s are arcane:

| Rank | Spell on the staff | Charges |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrip | *scatter scree* | 0 |
| 1st | *pummeling rubble* | 1 |
| 2nd | *expeditious excavation*, *pummeling rubble* | 2 |
| 3rd | *earthbind*, *shifting sand* | 3 |

Ten charges is therefore **three castings of a 3rd-rank terrain spell** in a day that costs no spell
slot at all — which is why the build can afford a spellbook with no damage tier in it.

---

# PART 3 — SPELLS

## Casting profile

| | |
|---|---|
| Source | class: **Wizard** |
| Tradition | arcane |
| Preparation | prepared |
| Pool form | spellbook |
| Spell attack | **+19** · Spell DC **29** |
| Focus pool | **1** — **Earthworks** (Player Core pg. 388), the initial school spell of the School of Civic Wizardry |

There is exactly one casting source. **Familiar Master** grants no spellcasting of its own, so no
second profile block is written.

## Slots by rank

| Rank | Slots |
|---|---|
| Cantrip | **6** — 5 from the table + **1 curriculum cantrip** |
| 1st | **4** — 3 + **1 curriculum** |
| 2nd | **4** — 3 + **1 curriculum** |
| 3rd | **4** — 3 + **1 curriculum** |
| 4th | **4** — 3 + **1 curriculum** |
| 5th | **4** — 3 + **1 curriculum** |
| 6th | — |
| 7th | — |
| 8th | — |
| 9th | — |
| 10th | — |

The 3-per-rank column is read off the class's own Wizard Spells per Day table at level 10
(Player Core pg. 192). The extra slot at every rank is the **arcane school**: "one extra curriculum
cantrip and one extra curriculum spell of each rank you can cast". A curriculum slot may hold **only**
a spell from the School of Civic Wizardry curriculum, which is why those rows are labelled.

## The complete pool, by rank

Everything in the spellbook, not a selection from it. There is no **Signature** column: signature
spells belong to a repertoire, and this is a prepared caster with a spellbook.

| Rank | Spell | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrip | **Detect Magic** | Player Core pg. 323 |
| Cantrip | **Shield** | Player Core pg. 356 |
| Cantrip | **Electric Arc** | Player Core pg. 328 |
| Cantrip | **Telekinetic Projectile** | Player Core pg. 363 |
| Cantrip | **Daze** | Player Core pg. 322 |
| Cantrip | **Tangle Vine** | Player Core pg. 362 |
| Cantrip | **Message** | Player Core pg. 343 |
| Cantrip | **Light** | Player Core pg. 340 |
| Cantrip | **Prestidigitation** | Player Core pg. 351 |
| Cantrip | **Read Aura** | Player Core pg. 352 |
| 1st | **Grease** | Player Core pg. 333 |
| 1st | **Fear** | Player Core pg. 331 |
| 1st | **Force Barrage** | Player Core pg. 332 |
| 1st | **Dizzying Colors** | Player Core pg. 326 |
| 1st | **Mystic Armor** | Player Core pg. 346 |
| 1st | **Hydraulic Push** | Player Core pg. 336 |
| 1st | **Pummeling Rubble** | Player Core pg. 351 |
| 1st | **Sleep** | Player Core pg. 357 |
| 1st | **Summon Construct** | Player Core pg. 360 |
| 2nd | **Web** | Player Core 2 pg. 255 |
| 2nd | **Mist** | Player Core pg. 344 |
| 2nd | **Dispel Magic** | Player Core pg. 325 |
| 2nd | **Darkness** | Player Core pg. 322 |
| 2nd | **Revealing Light** | Player Core pg. 353 |
| 3rd | **Slow** | Player Core pg. 357 |
| 3rd | **Wall of Wind** | Player Core pg. 368 |
| 3rd | **Shifting Sand** | Divine Mysteries pg. 259 |
| 3rd | **Earthbind** | Player Core pg. 327 |
| 3rd | **Haste** | Player Core pg. 335 |
| 3rd | **Safe Passage** | Player Core pg. 355 |
| 4th | **Wall of Fire** | Player Core pg. 367 |
| 4th | **Confusion** | Player Core pg. 321 |
| 4th | **Fly** | Player Core pg. 332 |
| 4th | **Translocate** | Player Core pg. 363 |
| 4th | **Vision of Death** | Player Core pg. 366 |
| 4th | **Unfettered Movement** | Player Core pg. 365 |
| 5th | **Wall of Stone** | Player Core pg. 367 |
| 5th | **Toxic Cloud** | Player Core pg. 363 |
| 5th | **Banishment** | Player Core pg. 317 |

**Twenty-nine spells and ten cantrips**, against **twenty** spell slots and **six** cantrip slots.
The gap is deliberate and it is what **Spell Substitution** spends: ten minutes converts one prepared
slot into any name on this list.

## Recommended daily preparation

| Rank | Slot | Prepared |
|---|---|---|
| Cantrip | 1 | **Detect Magic** |
| Cantrip | 2 | **Shield** |
| Cantrip | 3 | **Electric Arc** |
| Cantrip | 4 | **Telekinetic Projectile** |
| Cantrip | 5 | **Tangle Vine** |
| Cantrip | curriculum | **Prestidigitation** |
| 1st | 1 | **Grease** |
| 1st | 2 | **Fear** |
| 1st | 3 | **Force Barrage** |
| 1st | curriculum | **Pummeling Rubble** |
| 2nd | 1 | **Web** |
| 2nd | 2 | **Mist** |
| 2nd | 3 | **Dispel Magic** |
| 2nd | curriculum | **Revealing Light** |
| 3rd | 1 | **Slow** |
| 3rd | 2 | **Shifting Sand** |
| 3rd | 3 | **Wall of Wind** |
| 3rd | curriculum | **Safe Passage** |
| 4th | 1 — Split Slot | **Wall of Fire** |
| 4th | 1 — Split Slot | **Confusion** |
| 4th | 2 | **Fly** |
| 4th | 3 | **Translocate** |
| 4th | curriculum | **Unfettered Movement** |
| 5th | 1 | **Wall of Stone** |
| 5th | 2 | **Toxic Cloud** |
| 5th | 3 | **Banishment** |
| 5th | curriculum | **Wall of Stone** |

**A strict subset of the pool above.** Every prepared name appears in the pool table, and **thirteen
pool entries are not prepared at all** — four cantrips (**Daze**, **Message**, **Light**,
**Read Aura**) and nine spells (**Dizzying Colors**, **Mystic Armor**, **Sleep**,
**Summon Construct**, **Hydraulic Push**, **Darkness**, **Earthbind**, **Haste**,
**Vision of Death**). That gap is the point of carrying a spellbook.

Two rows need reading carefully. **Wall of Stone** occupies two rows because it is prepared twice —
once in a normal 5th-rank slot and once in the curriculum slot, which at 5th rank can hold only
**Wall of Stone** or **Control Water**. And the two 4th-rank rows marked *Split Slot* are one slot:
**Split Slot** (Player Core pg. 203) prepares two spells in a single slot below the top rank, and the
choice between **Wall of Fire** and **Confusion** is made when the slot is spent — after the room is
visible. The unchosen one "dissipates as though you hadn't prepared it at all".
---

# PART 4 — STRATEGY

## Review layers

Each layer was run independently and records its own verdict. A layer that was not run would not be
`CLEAN`; all three were run.

**Feasibility** — **findings**, two, both **accepted** with their cost stated below.

*Action economy.* Every turn loop this guide states was costed from the resolved documents and
compared against three:

| Loop | Steps and their printed action costs | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Opening — the wall | **Wall of Stone** (Three Actions) | **3** |
| Opening — no wall worth casting | **Earthworks** (Three Actions, for the 15-foot burst) | **3** |
| Loop A — deny an action at range | **Familiar Conduit** (Single Action) + **Slow** (Two Actions) | **3** |
| Loop B — hold the line | **Raise a Shield** (Single Action) + **Confusion** (Two Actions) | **3** |
| Loop C — nothing to shape | **Shield** cantrip (Single Action) + **Electric Arc** (Two Actions) | **3** |
| Loop D — the drain turn | **Drain Bonded Item** (Free Action) + **Wall of Stone** (Three Actions) | **3**, plus a free action |
| Loop D, round after | **Bond Conservation** (Single Action) + **Slow** (Two Actions) | **3** |

No stated loop exceeds three actions, and no loop spends more than one reaction — the only reaction
in the build is **Recognize Spell**, and from level 8 **Quick Recognition** makes it a free action
once per round instead.

> **Finding F-1 — feasibility.** The build's own opening consumes the entire turn, so on round 1 the
> **Spellguard Shield cannot be raised** and even the **Shield** cantrip does not fit: 3 + 1 = 4.
> The character spends the round in which she makes herself the most conspicuous object on the map at
> **AC 27 and no bonus to saves against targeted spells**, rather than **AC 29** and +2.
>
> **Closure: accepted.** The reason: the wall *is* the contribution, and a round-1 wall is worth more
> than two points of AC — a wall cast on round 2 is a wall the enemy has already walked past.
> **What the player gives up:** −2 AC and −2 to saves against spells that target her, for one round,
> every fight that opens with a wall. Recorded as anti-synergy **A-01** in
> `research/build-7-controller-wizard/synergies.md`.

*Defence holes at level 10.* The build's five defensive numbers are **AC 27**, **Fortitude +19**,
**Reflex +19**, **Will +18**, **Perception +17**. The lowest save is **Will**, and it is the one with
no remaining source of improvement in the build.

> **Finding F-2 — feasibility.** **Will +18** is the lowest of the three saves and the build has no
> way to raise it further: Wisdom is +3 and every general feat is spent. **Canny Acumen** could have
> been pointed at Will instead of Perception, which would have made it **+20**.
>
> **Closure: accepted.** The reason: both general feats that could have taken Will went to abilities
> that act *before* a save is rolled — **Canny Acumen (Perception)** for initiative, because the
> whole build depends on shaping the ground first, and **Fleet** for reaching the square it is shaped
> from. **What the player gives up:** roughly one in ten Will saves. A stone wall does block line of
> effect, so the mitigation in play is positional rather than numerical — put the wall between
> yourself and the caster. **A table that meets more mental effects than this one expects should swap
> Fleet for Canny Acumen (Will);** that is the first change to make.

**Difficulty** — **High**.

*What is tracked, by name.* Twenty prepared spell slots across five ranks, of which one is a
**Split Slot** holding two spells at once and two hold the same spell (**Wall of Stone**); **one**
Focus Point and its three separate refills (daily preparation, **Refocus**, **Familiar Focus**);
**5 to 10** charges on the **Staff of Earth**, which depends on whether a spell slot was expended
into it that morning; two once-per-day **Magic Wands**; five **Magic Scrolls**; the two temporary
scrolls **Scroll Adept** creates each morning and which expire at the next preparation; **Drain
Bonded Item** once per day and the extra use **Bond Conservation** grants, which must be spent
"before the end of your next turn" or is lost; and **six** familiar abilities re-chosen every morning
from a list of dozens.

*How many decisions the turn holds.* Two, and one of them is real. The first is which loop — A, B or
C — and it is decided by whether anything on the field is worth denying. The second is genuinely
conditional and arrives on the round the 4th-rank **Split Slot** is spent: **Wall of Fire** or
**Confusion**, decided with the room in front of you and unrecoverable once chosen.

*What goes wrong when a step is missed.* Casting the wall from the wrong square is the expensive
mistake: a 120-foot wall placed on the wrong side of the enemy line divides the party instead of the
enemy, costs the fight's best spell, and cannot be dispelled by its own caster without spending
**Dispel Magic**. Missing the **Bond Conservation** window loses a free 3rd-rank casting outright.
Forgetting to Command the familiar on a **Familiar Focus** round means the familiar has one action
from **Independent** and the ability needs two, so the focus point does not come back that round.

*Where it is hardest to run.* Levels 1 to 5, before the 3rd-rank slots arrive — the build has
**Grease** and **Earthworks** and very little else, and it plays like a much weaker character than
its level-10 form suggests. Then again at level 10, where four separate once-per-day resources come
online in the same band and none of them is on the character sheet's usual lines.

**Play strategy** — **CLEAN**. The opening, the loop, and the failure cases are all specified below.

## Turn loops

**The opening.** Round 1, in order:

1. **Read the room before rolling initiative** where the GM allows it. The wall is the whole first
   turn and it cannot be taken back.
2. **Wall of Stone** — Three Actions, range 120 feet. Place it to cut the enemy's line in half, not
   to shield the party: a wall that separates a melee enemy from its ranged support wins a fight that
   a wall in front of the party only delays. If the party has already engaged, place it **behind**
   the front rank to cut off reinforcement.
3. If the room is too open or too small for a wall to matter, the opening is **Earthworks** at three
   actions instead — a 15-foot burst of difficult terrain, cast at 5th rank so it hinders flying
   creatures too, and it costs a focus point rather than a slot.

**The loop.** Rounds 2 onward, one of four, and what selects which:

- **Loop A — a target worth denying, beyond 30 feet.** **Familiar Conduit** (1) + **Slow** (2). The
  familiar is the origin point, so the 30-foot range is measured from wherever it flew on its
  **Independent** action. Use this when the target is behind the wall, around a corner, or simply
  too far.
- **Loop B — a target worth denying, within 30 feet.** **Raise a Shield** (1) + **Slow** or
  **Confusion** (2). If something is within 30 feet of the wizard, the round wants the shield.
- **Loop C — nothing worth denying.** **Shield** cantrip (1) + **Electric Arc** (2). This is the
  honest floor of a build with no damage tier, and it will happen.
- **Loop D — the free wall.** **Drain Bonded Item** (free) + **Wall of Stone** (3), which returns a
  Focus Point through **Linked Focus**. Then next round: **Bond Conservation** (1) + a 3rd-rank spell
  already cast, usually **Slow** (2). Save this for the second serious fight of the day.

**When the plan fails.**

| Failure | What to do |
|---|---|
| **The target is immune to what you do.** A creature that burrows, teleports, or is mindless walks through the build's whole plan: a wall does not stop a burrower, **Confusion** and **Fear** do nothing to a mindless creature | Fall back to **terrain plus damage**: **Shifting Sand** and **Web** hinder anything with a Speed, and **Toxic Cloud** is a basic Fortitude save that does not care what the target thinks. Against a teleporter, accept it — switch to Loop C and let the party's damage do the work |
| **The tactic is out of range.** **Slow**, **Confusion**, **Grease** and **Web** are all 30 feet, which is the build's real range limit — not the walls, which reach 120 | **Reach Spell** (1 action) takes it to 60. **Familiar Conduit** (1 action) re-origins it at the familiar. They do not stack in one turn with a two-action spell, so pick one |
| **The flying enemy ignores the ground.** | **Earthbind** — Fortitude, brings it down — from a slot **or off the staff for 3 charges**. **Earthworks** at 5th rank already hinders flying creatures |
| **The enabling piece is spent.** No slots, no focus point, no charges | In this order: **Staff of Earth** charges (up to 10 a day), the two **Magic Wands**, the five **Magic Scrolls**, the two temporary scrolls from **Scroll Adept**, then **Refocus** for 10 minutes between encounters, then cantrips. The build has a longer tail than its slot table shows |
| **The check missed.** | A **wall allows no saving throw at all** — Wall of Stone, Wall of Fire, Wall of Wind and Earthworks cannot be resisted, only walked around. When a **Slow** or **Confusion** is saved against, re-target it next round: there is no penalty for re-attempting, and the wand or scroll copy exists so it can be attempted twice in the same fight |
| **You are grabbed or immobilised.** The failure state the build is built to avoid | **Unfettered Movement** is prepared in the 4th-rank curriculum slot every day for exactly this |
| **You are dropped.** No ally is assumed | **Battle Medicine** with the **Healer's Toolkit**, on yourself, once per target per day — this is the only healing a standalone build has |

## Notes

- **The wall is a two-edged object.** *Wall of Stone* creates "a 1-inch-thick wall of stone up to 120
  feet long, and 20 feet high" and it is a physical object: it blocks line of effect for the party as
  well as the enemy, and a section can be broken. Placing it is a positional decision, not a damage
  decision, and it is the only spell in the pool that can lose the party a fight if cast carelessly.
- **Ten minutes is the build's real resource.** Between encounters, ten minutes buys any one of:
  a **Spell Substitution** swap, a **Refocus**, a **Mutable Familiar** re-selection, or a
  **Magical Shorthand** Learn a Spell. Two of those overlap — the swap and the familiar
  re-selection are the same ten minutes — so plan the rest around what the next room looks like.
- **Prepare the staff every morning.** It is free, it is easy to forget, and it is worth **5**
  charges. Expending a 5th-rank slot into it makes **10**, which is the right call on a day expected
  to run long and the wrong call on a day with one hard fight in it.
- **The familiar is not a scout you can spend.** It has 50 hit points and AC 27 and it dies to one
  hit from a level-10 creature. Fly it to a corner, not into the room.