Editing Arcanist (section)

==AD&D==
[[File: Arcanist Ravenloft.jpg|right|300px]]
The [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] version of the Arcanist appeared in the [[Ravenloft]] campaign sourcebook for that edition, "Domains of Dread", alongside the [[Avenger]], the [[Anchorite]] and the [[Gypsy]]. It was a thematic addition to the list of specialist [[wizard]] [[kits]], and was joined in that aspect by a version of the [[Elementalist]] kit; specifically, arcanists in Ravenloft represent wizards who focus on all manner of lore relating to the denizens of darkness and the creatures of the night. In a way, they're a spookier counterpart to the [[Bard]] in the field of the "loremaster class".

Requiring minimum [[Intelligence]] and [[Wisdom]] of 15+, these uber-specialized wizards gain the following traits:
* Must be a [[Human]] or [[Half-Vistani]] of Lawful [[alignment]].
* Cannot learn or cast spells from the schools of Evocation, Enchantment, Illusion or Transmutation, which leaves them access to the schools of Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, and Necromancy.
* Cannot use magic items that draw from the aforementioned schools.
* Suffer a -25% penalty to checks to learn spells that are not in the Necromancy or Divination school.
* Gain a +25% chance to learn spells from the Necromancy and Divination schools.
* Enemies suffer a -2 penalty to saving throws against Necromancy and Divination spells cast by an Arcanist.
* Arcanists gain a +2 bonus to saving throws against Necromancy and Divination spells.
* Can Turn/Command Undead if they were a [[Cleric]] of  equivalent level.
* 5% chance per experience level to know some relevant fact about a person, object or location that has some significance in the supernatural & macabre history of Ravenloft.
* +2 bonus to all Fear checks and Horror checks.
* Each time an Arcanist gains a level, they must attempt a Dark Powers Check with a failure chance of (5% per level possessed).

Now, you may be thinking that this class looks kind of gimped. Well, there are some '''big''' disadvantages, and you need to know a few facts about Ravenloft to understand it:
* Powers Checks, if failed, blight your character with steadily worsening curses, and ultimately cause you to become an NPC if you fail too many of them.
* There is no way to cure yourself of a failed Powers Check.
* Because necromancy is seen as an evil school, you have to take a Powers Check ''every time you cast a spell from that school''.
* In order to preserve the Gothic atmosphere of Ravenloft, divination spells ''don't work properly here''; some spells are outright useless (for example, Know Alignment), some can harm you (telepathy risks driving you insane if the target is something nonhuman), and at best they just have a chance to fizzle out.
* Conjuration spells have a drawback; anything you summon from another world is trapped here when the spell expires. This leaves them free of your control ''and very ticked off with you''. So, casting conjuration spells should be avoided unless it's something you can guarantee will get killed before your control over it ends.

So taking this class is, charitably, a huge challenge, and more realistically will probably get you killed or warped into a villainous NPC pretty quickly. There's reasons why Ravenloft failed to find a particularly deep audience in D&D fans, and the fact that the PCs tend to be so immensely screwed over for the sake of the setting is definitely a big part of that.