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Well the is Elric of Melnibone from Moorcock. I also remember an arcane warrior or two in the Witchworld books. A lot of arcane warriors appear in wirefu martial arts movies too.
Elric. How did I miss Elric? I am a huge Moorcock fan.
It could be said his sword is really what made him such a great fighter but I suppose it doesn't matter how he got there. Elric could make a good model for an arcane warrior. PErsonally I think such an idea could be played well with a bit of multiclassing and feat choices. Though it would be hard to replicate his unique magical skills. But the character could be used for inspiration. Perhaps a multiclass conjurer/fighter?
I have never read the Witchworld books so I definitely missed those.
On the other hand I have seen a lot of wire-fu movies and I guess I never equated those characters as fighter/wizards or sorcerers. But, that could be a failure for me to make a connection that others readily see. I will admit, unless I am running an Far Eastern game, I don't normally look to wire-fu or anime/manga for inspiration. Which is not to say they are not viable sources, it is just not something I think about often. Which is likely why I miss the connection.
Not that I look to purely medieval sources for traditional games either. I prefer to use the pulps as inspiration, which mixes the right amount of sword and sorcery exoticism with a pseudo-medieval tech level. That tends to hit the right spot for me and it might account for my blinders. :)
A case could be made for Rand Al'Thor.
Yes, that is a good point. He does mix magic and swordplay. I haven't really read anything past the first book so I am not entirely sure how he develops. The story didn't really appeal to me so I didn't get much further than that.
Mark that as another one that fell outside my experience but fulfills the role well. From what I have heard from others he could make a good model for the character type.
Good. I am actually happy to see there are some fictional models out there that can help inspire an arcane warrior. I ask out of ignorance, since I am not familiar with some of these characters (Wheel of Time and Witchworld), would they be best served with a base class or some combination of multi-classing and prestige classes?
Well the is Elric of Melnibone from Moorcock. I also remember an arcane warrior or two in the Witchworld books.
Skafloc, the main character from Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword (one of the inspirational works cited by Gygax) fits the bill dead on. The thing is, both he and Elric either fight or use magic -- never both at the same time (or, in other words, their magic has direct effects, rather than "buffing" them or enhancing their blows).
To a lesser extent, the character Lemminkainen from the Finnish Kalevala is a mean swordsman and something of a spell-singer as well.
Well the is Elric of Melnibone from Moorcock. I also remember an arcane warrior or two in the Witchworld books.Skafloc, the main character from Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword (one of the inspirational works cited by Gygax) fits the bill dead on. The thing is, both he and Elric either fight or use magic -- never both at the same time (or, in other words, their magic has direct effects, rather than "buffing" them or enhancing their blows).
To a lesser extent, the character Lemminkainen from the Finnish Kalevala is a mean swordsman and something of a spell-singer as well.
I must be able to stab and blast at the same time with the same power as I would if I were a fighter or wizard only!
Well the is Elric of Melnibone from Moorcock. I also remember an arcane warrior or two in the Witchworld books. A lot of arcane warriors appear in wirefu martial arts movies too.
Even though he's an outsider in OGL terms, I'd include Gandalf.
The main character in Kutner's Dark World also comes to mind.
