Sword and board magus

[ekibus]

Hey all just curious if anyone ever tried a Skirnir Magus? Thinking about trying it with two weapon fighting, Skirnir hexcrafter magus.

[Malwing]

I don't think the main magus ability works if you have something in your other hand, namely casting spells while wielding.

[ArmouredMonk13]

Skirnir magus, while cool, isn't particularly strong. Nothing in the class says you have a free hand to cast with, so you can't unless the GM says you can. You could sacrifice a buckler's shield bonus to AC to cast a spell if you like, but you can't shield bash with it. Unless you start at 8th level in which case you can. Its unfortunate that the only shielded options for magus don't function most of the time.

[blackbloodtroll]

Straight Magus, with a Quickdraw Shield works.

[Malwing]

I just looked up this archetype. How is this supposed to work? It doesn't have spell combat but keeps spellstrike and until lvl 8 nothing says that you can cast with your shield arm. So I assume that you're supposed to go 'Captain America' because if you go Sword&Board you don't have a free hand to cast any spells let alone try to use spellstrike.

Is it intended for Sword&Board or Captain America?

[Kazaan]

I think the core concept for the Skirnir is that you start off with just the shield, using your free hand to cast or your shield to bash with. Later, you gain the ability to use your shield hand as your "casting hand" in Shielded Spell Combat and you'd be free to wield a weapon along with it if you so choose. If you go with a Heavy Shield, it counts as a 1-h weapon so you can use two hands on it to get 1.5x Str on shield bashes.

[ekibus]

At 1st level, skirnirs are proficient with all types of shields, including tower shields, and do not suffer an arcane spell failure chance when casting magus spells while using a shield.

Yeah just saw level 8 you get spell combat. Really was hoping but it doesn't seem very well designed

[SeeleyOne]

It looks to me like something to fix with some house rules. Wiggle your fingers behind your shield or something to cast spells. :)

[Honorable Goblin]

According to an old post by JJ, a spellcaster using a light shield can use that hand for somatic components, so unless that has been reversed/clarified (entirely possible given the age of the post), a skirnir could go S&B from level 1... well, except Shielded Spell Combat kind of implies JJ is wrong (either that or it actively makes the skirnir worse at using a light shield).

[EsperMagic]

I would suggest this as a guide build done by Ravingdork... Obrist

[Kazaan]

Honorable Goblin wrote:

According to an old post by JJ, a spellcaster using a light shield can use that hand for somatic components, so unless that has been reversed/clarified (entirely possible given the age of the post), a skirnir could go S&B from level 1... well, except Shielded Spell Combat kind of implies JJ is wrong (either that or it actively makes the skirnir worse at using a light shield).

Shield Spell Combat doesn't contradict JJ's statement. The ability states you can use your shield hand for somatic components. Sure, you could already do that with a light shield or a buckler, but you can't do that with a Heavy or Tower shield normally. SSC simply grants blanket allowance since it would take more wordspace to single out heavy and tower shields. It doesn't make the Skirnir "worse" at using a light shield, it just offers no additional benefit when he uses one; Heavy or Tower shields can be used for spellcasting while a Buckler lets you retain shield AC... light shield gets nothing special.

[Kolokotroni]

I've seen a skirnir in play, and it is really lack luster. I would steer clear of it if I were you.

On the other hand, if you are permitted 3rd party material, the New Magus Arcana by super genius games has an arcana called enruned shield that allows you to spend an arcana point to use a shield for somatic components and count the hand free for the purposes of spell combat. I'd use that if allowed.