Fixing Class Capstone Features: D&D 5e Level-20 Revisions

Featured image for fixing D&D 5e class capstones is “Adventuring Party” by Ralf Heuls, CC License.
This article contains affiliate links that will add gold to our coffers!

Reaching level twenty is an exciting achievement for a D&D 5e player. It’s the culmination of much time and dedication to playing an exciting game. Each class has what’s referred to by the D&D community as a “capstone feature” at level twenty. Capstones are supposed to feel powerful and transformative, but many of them fall short of that dream.

When a capstone feature is weak or middling, players feel inclined to multiclass. Players who multiclass will still reach level twenty, but they won’t receive a capstone feature. Doesn’t that feel sad? Not for everyone.

For many D&D groups, class capstones could be recklessly overpowered and it still wouldn’t matter to them. I say that because many campaigns end long before level twenty. Multiclassing at early levels doesn’t feel like missing out on a capstone if the campaign doesn’t have capstones on the metaphorical table. My revisions in this article clearly won’t impact gaming groups that will not reach level twenty.

Regardless of how often capstones are obtained, I want to remedy the issues I have with them for anyone reaching level twenty.

Summarizing and Fixing Class Capstones

I’ve gone through each official D&D 5e character class and explained why their capstone features are or are not substantive enough for an aspiring adventurer. I’ll review what the capstone does, share my thoughts, then offer my revision or seal of approval.

Character classes are listed in alphabetical order. I’m covering official classes from the PHB and TCoE. Some of the class sections include an additional feature idea for anyone who thinks I was too conservative. This will help readers to get creative with their own revisions and spark ideas for how they’d build on my ideas or go in a different direction.

Color Coding: My versions of capstones are italicized. Blue text indicates bits of a feature that I did not change. Purple text indicates my new or altered aspects of a capstone feature.

You can click a class in the list below to skip ahead to the class capstone you’re interested in:

Artificer level 20
Bard level 20
Barbarian level 20
Cleric level 20
Druid level 20
Fighter level 20
Monk level 20
Paladin level 20
Ranger level 20
Rogue level 20
Sorcerer level 20
Warlock level 20
Wizard level 20
FEEDBACK POLL!

---

Artificer Level-Twenty Capstone: Soul of Artifice

Each magic item you’re attuned to gives you a +1 bonus to all your saving throws. Additionally, you can end one of your Artificer Infusions as a reaction to keep one hitpoint when you would be reduced to zero hitpoints.

Thanks to the Artificer’s level-eighteen Magic Item Master feature, Soul of Artifice has the potential to boost all saving throws with +6. This bonus isn’t tied to proficiency bonus or stats, so it stacks with any other bonuses the Artificer already gets to saving throws.

The ability to end an Infusion to avoid dropping to zero hitpoints is cool, but it is less helpful against enemies that are attacking multiple times. You only get one reaction per round, so you can only protect yourself from a single damage source per round. This may be defensively sufficient, depending on the situation, but it will be nearly useless against a barrage.

Making ‘Soul of Artifice’ Better

Each magic item you’re attuned to gives you a +1 bonus to all your saving throws. Additionally, you can end one of your Artificer Infusions as a reaction to keep one hitpoint when you would be reduced to zero hitpoints.

Your Magic Item Adept feature expands to include rare magic items.

I figure we can lean further into the Artificer’s magic item crafting prowess here by allowing rare magic items to be crafted at a quarter of the time and half the cost. You’re a level-twenty Artificer, so there should be additional ability to craft magic items beyond what others can do.

---

Barbarian Level-Twenty Capstone: Primal Champion

At 20th level, you embody the power of the wilds. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.

Rage can be used an unlimited number of times.

I already love Primal Champion, but the Barbarian is a sitting duck to many high-level spells that could take a Barbarian out of a fight without the courtesy of a saving throw. Increasing your stats won’t help against killjoys like Force Cage. I don’t want to directly counteract spells like Force Cage because it feels like a clunky change, but I think we can empower Barbarians to retaliate against pesky spellcasters.

Making ‘Primal Champion’ Better

At 20th level, you embody the power of the wilds. Your Strength and Constitution scores increase by 4. Your maximum for those scores is now 24.

Rage can be used an unlimited number of times.

When you land a critical hit with a melee weapon while raging, treat all damage dice rolled as if they had rolled their highest values. For example, rolling 4d12 would deal 48 damage.

Additionally, Rage damage increases to a +5 bonus.

With Rage damage increased +1 and the Strength stat increasing its modifier by +2, this capstone is now adding +3 to damage of melee weapon attacks with Strength while raging. If Strength becomes twenty-four, the total damage added to qualifying Rage attacks becomes +12. Successful attacks are guaranteed to deal at least thirteen damage (fourteen with a greatsword).

Barbarians already get more crit dice with Brutal Critical, so maxing those damage dice rolls is immensely helpful.

If you want to add even more to this feature, here are my other ideas that I like less:

While you are raging, you gain a reaction that triggers when a creature you can see targets you with an ability or spell that forces you to make a saving throw. If you succeed on the first saving throw against the spell, you can use your reaction to move up to twice your movement speed directly toward the provoking creature without provoking opportunity attacks. You can make a single melee attack against the provoking creature as part of the reaction if your movement brings you within range for your melee attack.

When you attack with advantage using Reckless Attack, and both rolls of the advantaged attack would successfully hit the target, you can choose to knock the target back five feet away from you or knock it prone.

---

Bard Level-Twenty Capstone: Superior Inspiration

At 20th level, when you roll initiative and have no uses of Bardic Inspiration left, you regain one use.

As a standard of full-caster spell progression, you receive an additional seventh-level spell slot at level twenty.

This capstone is extremely dull. I want to add something more substantial to it. Focusing on Bardic Inspiration seems appropriate. Even with a d12 Bardic Inspiration die, it’s possible to roll a one. Maybe we can mitigate that risk.

Making ‘Superior Inspiration’ Worth Obtaining

At 20th level, when you roll initiative, you regain two uses of Bardic Inspiration.

When you use your bonus action to give a creature Bardic Inspiration or use your Bardic Inspiration to target a creature in some way, you can instead target two creatures (such as giving Bardic Inspiration to two allies). You still expend only one Bardic Inspiration die as normal when doing this.

Additionally, you learn two cantrips and two spells from any class. They count as Bard spells for you, and they don’t count against your spells known or cantrips known.

Song of Ages: Your music empowers your allies as their spirits are lifted during battle. You may use your action to play a musical instrument with which you are proficient in order to grant allies who can hear you within 120 feet a bonus equal to your Charisma modifier to skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls. The song lasts for up to one minute as if concentrating on a spell (it requires concentration). Song of Ages ends early if you become incapacitated or stop playing your instrument (which you must play for the duration of the song). Once you use this feature, you cannot do so again until you complete a long rest.

I changed the original part about regaining one use to instead give two uses. Having two Bardic Inspiration dice will matter for my additions. I also altered the original capstone to recover two Bardic Inspiration dice instead of one and not rely on being depleted. Some subclasses use BI in different ways, so I opened it up to any ability that targets with BI.

I felt like we needed one more benefit, and I realized high-level combat might make a Bard feel limited by how much Bardic Inspiration it can dish out. Allowing that Bardic Inspiration to be given twice as fast seems like an extremely useful ability for a Bard at level twenty. It’s an improvement to Bardic Inspiration’s fit in the action economy.

The favorite Bard feature of D&D players (as far as I can tell) is Magical Secrets. I leaned further into this ability by granting more cantrips and spells to the Bard.

I added Song of Ages because I missed the old versions of Bards from the Baldur’s Gate games who could play a song to empower allies in combat. Song of Ages will raise questions about whether you can sing and cast spells at the same time, but I’m not sure how to treat that.

If I didn’t go far enough, here’s another idea I had:

Anytime your Bardic Inspiration dice are rolled, you can choose to add your Charisma modifier to the roll. Adding your Charisma modifier cannot increase the roll’s total beyond the maximum value on the Bardic Inspiration die, but it can cause the roll total to become that maximum value.

This adds reliability to the level-twenty Bard’s Bardic Inspiration. I’m not convinced it’d be enough incentive to not multiclass, but it’s a start. My first draft was to instill a minimum value of five on Bardic Inspiration rolls, but that didn’t seem good enough since it didn’t do anything for higher rolls.

---

Cleric Level-Twenty Capstone: Divine Intervention (Improved)

At 20th level, your call for intervention succeeds automatically, no roll required.

For reference, here’s how Divine Intervention works prior to level twenty:

Beginning at 10th level, you can call on your deity to intervene on your behalf when your need is great.

Imploring your deity’s aid requires you to use your action. Describe the assistance you seek, and roll percentile dice. If you roll a number equal to or lower than your cleric level, your deity intervenes. The DM chooses the nature of the intervention; the effect of any cleric spell or cleric domain spell would be appropriate.

If your deity intervenes, you can’t use this feature again for 7 days. Otherwise, you can use it again after you finish a long rest.

As a standard of full-caster spell progression, you receive an additional seventh-level spell slot at level twenty.

This is technically not a new feature as it is an upgrade to the tenth-level Divine Intervention feature; however, this is incredibly strong. It takes the core Divine Intervention feature with less than a 20% chance of success and makes it automatically successful. Divine Intervention suggests that the effect of a Cleric spell would be appropriate, but it’s ultimately up to the DM to pay off this ability. Let me know if your DM has ever cheated you on a successful Divine Intervention.

This improved version of Divine Intervention gets my seal of approval, but I received some feedback that others didn’t agree with me. I wouldn’t change it. Divine Intervention is extremely powerful as it functions like a Wish spell for Clerics without requiring a spell slot, so I added one more benefit.

Making ‘Divine Intervention (Improved)’ Worth Obtaining

At 20th level, your call for intervention succeeds automatically, no roll required.

Chosen One: Any spell slot you expend to cast a Cleric spell counts as a spell slot of one level higher.

The addition is inspired by the magic item called the Book of Exalted Deeds. I had a Cleric who had that item, and I loved it. Upcasting for free is super satisfying. Since Divine Intervention has a cooldown of seven days, I appreciate adding a perennial benefit at level twenty.

---

Druid Level-Twenty Capstone: Archdruid

At 20th level, you can use your Wild Shape an unlimited number of times.

Additionally, you can ignore the verbal and somatic components of your druid spells, as well as any material components that lack a cost and aren’t consumed by a spell. You gain this benefit in both your normal shape and your beast shape from Wild Shape.

As a standard of full-caster spell progression, you receive an additional seventh-level spell slot at level twenty.

Making Archdruid Worth Obtaining

Archdruid is an incredible capstone. However, it has a design flaw. It greatly favors the Circle of the Moon Druid subclass. New subclasses from Tasha’s have alternative uses for Wild Shape, remedying slightly this issue of favoritism. The Archdruid feature cheats the following subclasses: Circle of the Land, Circle of the Shepherd, and Circle of Dreams.

I suggest altering Archdruid depending on the subclass (like how Paladin capstones function). Here are the substitute Archdruid features I came up with for Druid subclass capstones at level twenty (the feature is still called Archdruid).

Making ‘Archdruid’ Better: Circle of Dreams Variant

You can use your Hidden Paths feature an unlimited number of times.

Anytime you cast Dream and choose to create a monstrous or terrifying messenger in the target’s dream (as explained by the Dream spell’s description), you can choose to deal additional psychic damage to the target. The additional damage is equal to five times the difference between your Wisdom and the target’s Wisdom (minimum five damage). You can deal this additional psychic damage once per long rest.

When you cast the Dream spell on a creature that is awake, that creature must make a Wisdom saving throw with disadvantage or magically fall asleep for the duration of the spell or until they wake up. Targets that are immune to charm or magical sleep are immune to this casting of Dream in this way. A creature gains no resting benefits from this instance of sleep. You can attempt to cast Dream on a creature that is awake in this way once per long rest.

Additionally, you can ignore the verbal and somatic components of your druid spells, as well as any material components that lack a cost and aren’t consumed by a spell. You gain this benefit in both your normal shape and your beast shape from Wild Shape.

Making ‘Archdruid’ Better: Circle of the Land Variant

You choose one additional land type for your Circle Spells feature.

You can use your action to undergo a transformation. For one minute, your appearance changes to reflect your bond with nature (such as horns of a mountain goat, or tree sap coating your skin) and you gain the following benefits:

• You can cast Druid spells as a bonus action if they would normally require one action to cast.
• At the start of each of your turns while you have at least one hitpoint, you regain ten hitpoints.
• You gain the benefits of the Barkskin and Stoneskin spells (no concentration required), and you cast Wrath of Nature centered on yourself (no concentration required) for the duration of your transformation. Wrath of Nature’s area moves with you at its center. These spells cannot be dispelled from you while you are transformed in this way.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a long rest. The transformation ends early if you reach zero hitpoints or die.

Additionally, you can ignore the verbal and somatic components of your druid spells, as well as any material components that lack a cost and aren’t consumed by a spell. This benefit effects you in both your normal shape and your beast shape from Wild Shape.

Making ‘Archdruid’ Better: Circle of the Shepherd Variant

You can use your Wild Shape feature an unlimited number of times.

You can ignore the verbal and somatic components of your druid spells, as well as any material components that lack a cost and aren’t consumed by a spell. This benefit effects you in both your normal shape and your beast shape from Wild Shape.

Additionally, when you summon an incorporeal spirit with your Spirit Totem feature, it gains the aura of all three options for your spirit types. You also gain the benefits of your Guardian Spirit feature, allowing the spirit’s aura to heal you. While you are in beast form with your Wild Shape feature, you can choose to heal your animal form or your true form when you’re healed by Guardian Spirit.

---

Fighter Level-Twenty Capstone: Extra Attack (3)

The Extra Attack feature is upgraded to three extra attacks when you use the attack action.

You previously had Extra Attack (2) at level eleven. The Fighter is the sole class to have Extra Attack upgraded during its progression.

It’s exciting to get so many attacks, but it comes with the scent of disappointment as it doesn’t feel like anything new to look forward to at level twenty. Fighters are already unique with the Extra Attack (2), so progressing to Extra Attack (3) is cool, but it’s dull compared to other class capstones.

Making ‘Extra Attack (3)’ Better

The Extra Attack feature is upgraded to three extra attacks when you use the Attack action

Warrior of Legend: You gain two more Fighting Styles of your choice.

If a creature hits you with two attacks during its turn, any remaining attacks that the creature makes against you during the turn will automatically miss unless they’re rolled with advantage.

Additionally, your combat prowess can overwhelm creatures as you rain down a whirlwind of attacks. Once per turn when you hit a single creature with four consecutive attacks during the turn, choose one of the following effects:

• You resist bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage dealt by the creature.
• You have advantage on the next saving throw the creature forces you to make.
• Your attacks against the creature are rolled with advantage.
• You have half-cover against the creature.
• The creature rolls attacks against you with disadvantage.
• The creature loses its reaction until the start of its next turn.

Unless specified otherwise, the chosen effect lasts until the start of your next turn.

This one went through several iterations before I was content. I like the four attacks, but I wanted more out of a capstone. I drafted many versions of this Warrior of Legend feature before I settled on this version. Previous drafts were disproportionally favoring particular subclasses of the Fighter, especially the Samurai because I was working with a mechanic that rewarded Fighters for having advantage on attacks and rolling well on both of the advantage d20s.

I considered optional attack benefits with this feature, such as knocking an enemy prone or knocking them back. It didn’t seem right since there are feats and multiclassing combinations that could gain those same benefits, and I want to make this capstone special. I’m fine with subclass features resembling other mechanics in the game, but I’m trying to make capstones better than multiclassing or simply taking a feat.

The bit about adding Fighting Styles and defending against multiple attacks felt thematic to a master of battle.

This Warrior of Legend feature, I believe, will make any Fighter more interesting to play. It feels like a proper mechanic for a Fighter to feel like it’s dominating an enemy while building upon the Fighter’s ability to launch a flurry of attacks.

Take the poll at the bottom of the article to tell me which class capstone revisions I was too weak, strong, or just right on. You can also vote to say the original capstone was fine or indicate you have no opinion on a particular class capstone.

---

Monk Level-Twenty Capstone: Perfect Self

At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.

The problem with ki is that it quickly depletes. Too many Monk abilities (subclasses included) are too reliant on ki.

Making ‘Perfect Self’ Better

At 20th level, when you roll for initiative and have no ki points remaining, you regain 4 ki points.

You no longer spend ki points when using Flurry of Blows, Patient Defense, Step of the Wind, or Deflect Missiles.

Additionally, your Constitution score increases by four to a maximum of twenty-four, and you select either Dexterity or Wisdom to also increase by four to a maximum of twenty-four.

Saving ki in this way will enable the Monk to use ki points on abilities that they haven’t been using since level two. This change enables level-twenty Monks to use Stunning Strike, Empty Body, and other useful features more often. As someone who hoards and rations my characters’ equipment (especially potions), I would love to free up my legendary level-twenty Monk to be brazen with martial artist coolness.

This remedies one of the fundamental design flaws with Monk subclasses: they need to use ki points when the base Monk class already needs ki points to do Monk things. My version of Perfect Self allows the level-twenty Monk to feel like a Naruto character when the plot doesn’t conveniently deplete their chakra. Basic Monk features should come freely to the seasoned master Monk, so I’m extremely happy with this new Perfect Self (eager to hear if it’s enough).

The Barbarian inspired me to use a stat boost for Monk characters. Monks and Barbarians depend on multiple ability scores, but they lack additional ASIs like Fighters and Rogues get to bolster their ability scores. Monks need several stats to increase so they can be effective. It’s tough to make room for feats since stat boosts are so critical to Monks.

I believe the Monk class needs a revision, and I’d change this capstone depending on the revision. I was delighted that a YouTuber named Treantmonk released a video revising the Monk during the same week I was writing this article. His Monk revision is worth a look. His revision to the capstone was a stat boost similar to my proposition, so I’m not alone! Here is his video.

---

Paladin Level-Twenty Capstone: Sacred Oath Feature (Depends on Subclass)

This is the only class whose capstone at level twenty varies for each subclass. The capstone is subclass-specific, and most of them are really strong transformations. I have friends who treat the Paladin capstones as the standard for what other class capstones should seek to match (they consider the Druid capstone to be too strong). Since the Paladin capstones are innovative in that they are subclass-specific and powerful, I’m going to keep them as they are.

---

Ranger Level-Twenty Capstone: Foe Slayer

At 20th level, you become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make against one of your favored enemies. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.

I’m surprised this is limited to your turn when other class features like the Rogue’s Sneak Attack can trigger during other creatures’ turns. Foe Slayer sucks! I’m going to get rid of it entirely.

Making ‘Foe Slayer’ Better

Instinctual Focus: You can’t be forced to roll concentration (Constitution) saving throws when concentrating on Ranger spells. You can concentrate on up to two Ranger spells at a time. You cannot concentrate on more than one instance of the same spell at the same time.

You become an unparalleled hunter of your enemies. Once on each of your turns, you can add your Wisdom modifier to the attack roll or the damage roll of an attack you make against one of your favored enemies. You can choose to use this feature before or after the roll, but before any effects of the roll are applied.

I changed the name of it because Foe Slayer didn’t match what I imagined for my rework.

Is your mind racing to figure out if double concentration is ok? There are subclass spells to consider, but I’m ok with them. Several Ranger subclasses get Banishment, and one gets Greater Invisibility. Rangers have greater access to summoning spells after TCoE, so there’s that to consider, too. After considering all these points, I think this is a fine Ranger capstone. After all, many Rangers are already multiclassing, and this is a level-twenty capstone.

A capstone ideally opens up a new world of possibilities and playstyles for classes, and Instinctual Focus does that.

I kept the old Wisdom bonus part of the feature because it’s fine to tack on. It can be helpful to use each turn.

There’s a poll at the bottom of the article so you can tell me which class capstone revisions I was too weak, strong, or just right on. You can also vote to say the original capstone was fine or indicate you have no opinion on a particular class capstone.

---

Rogue Level-Twenty Capstone: Stroke of Luck

At 20th level, you have an uncanny knack for succeeding when you need to. If your attack misses a target within range, you can turn the miss into a hit. Alternatively, if you fail an ability check, you can treat the d20 roll as a 20.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

This is an ace up your sleeve for those moments when you absolutely need to succeed but you roll poorly. It’s notable that you don’t need to be proficient with the weapon of your attack or the ability check you’re rolling for. Arcane Tricksters can use Stroke of Luck to automatically succeed on Counterspell or Dispel Magic ability checks.

While this feature is great, the Rogue already has high stats, Reliable Talent, and Expertise setting them up for success. Rogues commonly multiclass 1-3 levels, so we need to incentivize them to stick with Rogue the capstone! What can we give my beloved Rogues at level twenty?

Making ‘Stroke of Luck’ Better

At 20th level, you have an uncanny knack for succeeding when you need to.

When you succeed or fail an attack roll or ability check, you can treat the roll as a 20 instead.

Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.

Additionally, your Proficiency Bonus increases from +6 to +7.

Opal and I had a healthy discussion about the Rogue capstone. It’s one of those capstones that isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s not good enough. I wanted something that would benefit all Rogues without favoring one subclass disproportionally. Opal and I toyed with the idea of a stat boost like the Barbarian capstone, but then I realized that the Proficiency Bonus was the way to go.

PB helps skills, saving throws, attacks, and even spell/ability save DCs. It lifts the effectiveness of the Rogue all around. A PB boost helps all Rogues with what they do best, including the Arcane Trickster’s spell DC, the Inquisitive’s Insightful Fighting contest roll, and so on. The PB bonus also doesn’t discriminate against Rogues who focus on Strength over Dexterity.

My first Rogue character had an Ioun Stone that increased his PB. It was immensely helpful, so I’m happy to pay homage to my first character with this alteration to Stroke of Luck. If you don’t think it matches the “Stroke of Luck” theme, give the PB bonus its own feature name or homebrew that the Rogue PB progression ends at seven instead of six like other classes (whatever makes sense to you).

I also took a hint from the One D&D Expert Classes UA and allow Stroke of Luck’s reroll to crit. I believe I improve on One D&D, however, by not requiring failure to trigger the ability.

If this still seems too conservative, here is another benefit I considered adding to the feature: “Your luck combines with your cunning to make you tough to pin down. When you use your Cunning Action to Hide or Dash as a bonus action, you may choose to gain the benefits of the Disengage action as part of that bonus action.”

---

Sorcerer Level-Twenty Capstone: Sorcerous Restoration

At 20th level, you regain 4 expended sorcery points whenever you finish a short rest.

As a standard of full-caster spell progression, you receive an additional seventh-level spell slot at level twenty.

Unless you’re short resting often, this will rarely help you. Four sorcery points can convert to first-or-second-level spell slots, so don’t use it that way. You’re better off using these sorcery points for Metamagic to enhance your remaining spell slots.

Making ‘Sorceroues Restoration’ Better

At 20th level, you regain 4 expended sorcery points whenever you finish a short rest.

When you use your Flexible Casting feature to convert sorcery points into spell slots, the sorcery point cost is altered to equal 1 + the level of the gained spell slot. You gain the ability to use Flexible Casting to create sixth-level spell slots. For example, gaining a sixth-level spell slot will cost seven sorcery points.

Additionally, you gain one more eighth-level spell slot.

I always found Flexible Casting’s costs to be odd, so I’m opening it up with cheaper conversions. I have not identified a reason for spell slots above third level to increase in cost at an accelerated rate, so I can comfortably change it at level twenty. After reviewing sixth-level spells on the Sorcerer list, I have no hesitation in allowing Flexible Casting to convert a sixth-level spell slot.

It makes sense to me that a Sorcerer will have one more high-level spell slot at level twenty. Having played high-level spellcasters before, I know how disappointing it can be to only have one eighth-level spell slot. I like Mind Blank, so I end up settling for casting that. It would be nice to cast two eighth-level spell slots as a grand Sorcerer.

If you have opinions on my revised class capstones, take the feedback poll at the bottom of this article to make your voice heard! I will adjust capstones that receive significant feedback one way or another. Thanks!

---

Warlock Level-Twenty Capstone: Eldritch Master

At 20th level, you can draw on your inner reserve of mystical power while entreating your patron to regain expended spell slots. You can spend 1 minute entreating your patron for aid to regain all your expended spell slots from your Pact Magic feature. Once you regain spell slots with this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.

This gives you back four level-five spell slots. That’s not bad! You effectively go from four level-five spell slots to eight of them. Depending on the Warlock specialties you’ve chosen and the playstyle of your group, you may not need to refresh your spell slots this frequently. Regardless, this capstone is fair.

You don’t gain additional spells known, cantrips known, spell slots, or Invocations known when you go from level nineteen to level twenty.

Making ‘Eldritch Master’ Better

At 20th level, you can draw on your inner reserve of mystical power while entreating your patron to regain expended spell slots. You can spend 1 minute entreating your patron for aid to regain all your expended spell slots from your Pact Magic feature. Once you regain spell slots with this feature, you must finish a long rest before you can do so again.

When you complete a long rest, you may select one Warlock spell you know from your Pact Magic feature that has a casting time of one action. Until you complete another long rest, you can cast that spell at ninth level without expending a spell slot. When you do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. You may swap out your spell choice to select a different spell for this feature each time you complete a long rest.

Additionally, you gain two Warlock Invocations of your choice. They do not count against your Invocations known.

One of the coolest aspects of the Warlock, in my opinion, is how Pact Magic encourages upcasting. I leaned further into this aspect for my revision. Allowing a player to upcast without passing up an actual ninth-level spell feels amazing. I wish the game had more instances of upcasting without spell slots. This also fits the Pact Magic theme of upcasting spells as the Warlock levels up instead of keeping low-level spell slots.

I love this concept because it makes my mind race with creativity. I considered a short rest for recharge, but I didn’t want Genie Warlocks machine-gunning ninth-level Armor of Agathys in rapid iterations (among other possible unbalances I perceived). Upcasting is one of the coolest spellcasting mechanics of D&D 5e, and this altered feature allows a Warlock to upcast a spell to the highest degree as it truly taps into its patron’s power in a burst of Pact Magic spellcasting.

If you believe my change is too conservative, try adding this (which I’m stealing from the Jinchūriki, Killer Bee, of the Naruto series): “Your patron can temporarily intervene to help you shake off a harmful debilitation. When you become stunned, paralyzed, or magically put to sleep, you can choose to take ten force damage at the start of your turn to end one such effect on yourself.”

---

Wizard Level-Twenty Capstone: Signature Spells

When you reach 20th level, you gain mastery over two powerful spells and can cast them with little effort. Choose two 3rd-level wizard spells in your spellbook as your signature spells. You always have these spells prepared, they don’t count against the number of spells you have prepared, and you can cast each of them once at 3rd level without expending a spell slot. When you do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

If you want to cast either spell at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.

As a standard of full-caster spell progression, you receive an additional seventh-level spell slot at level twenty.

Unlike Spell Mastery at level eighteen, your signature spells aren’t swap-able when you rest. Signature Spells are forever, so select two third-level spells that you know you’ll be casting often. Since you’d probably have your signature spells prepared any way, this capstone essentially gives you two additional spells prepared and two limited third-level spell slots.

You’re not technically using spell slots for the signature spells once per rest when you cast them at third level for free. Remember this detail if you’re using an item, ability, or other feature that requires you to use spell slots. The Abjuration Wizard’s Arcane Ward recharges by casting spells (no spell slot required). On the other hand, the Divination Wizard’s Expert Divination triggers when a spell slot.

Making ‘Signature Spells’ Better

When you reach 20th level, you gain mastery over five powerful spells and can cast them with little effort. Choose two 3rd-level wizard spells, two 4th-level wizard spells, and one 5th-level wizard spell in your spellbook as your signature spells. You always have these spells prepared, they don’t count against the number of spells you have prepared, and you can cast each of them once at their base levels without expending a spell slot. When you do so, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest.

If you want to cast one of your Signature Spells at a higher level, you must expend a spell slot as normal.

This capstone wasn’t bad at its core, but it needed to push further for what it was trying to do. I tweaked it to include two spells of level four and two spells of level five. This feature effectively gives +5 to spells prepared and +5 spell slots that are limited in their use. This feels much more substantial for a level-twenty Wizard to look forward to.

I enjoy this feature’s simplicity. It opens up a Wizard to experiment with non-signature spells. I say that because when I played a high-level Wizard, it was tough to learn spells that I never felt like I had room to prepare. Preparing my list of core spells that I always thought were necessary would cause me to pine for the day when I could make my less useful spells shine. Taking my core spells and using them with Signature Spells enables me to always have those routine spells ready while preparing other spells I haven’t tried.

---

Conclusion and Feedback Poll (see below)

Capstones should be crowning achievements for characters. I endeavored to substantially improve them with my revisions, hoping to make them exciting and powerful. My intent was to add just enough to them to achieve my goal without over-tuning.

How did I do? Take the poll below to mark the class capstones you think I got right. You can also cast Message in the comments section below to share your thoughts. More brains are better than one, so maybe I can improve these capstones with further feedback.

You can read more of my revision articles for D&D 5e by following this link. Have a hearty adventuring day!