Magus for PFS...suggestions and helpful tips welcome!


Advice


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Magus
Half-Elf
Silver Crusade
Archetype 1: Hexcrafter
Archetype 2: Bladebound
st 16(10) dx 12(02) cn 14(05)
in 17(07) ws 10(00) ch 7(-4)
+2 racial to int

HP 13
traits
abendego spellcaster +2 concentration checks
reactionary +2 init

alternate racial traits
ancestral arms (lose skill focus, gain ewp)
drow blooded (lose low-light gain darkvision 60, daylight blindness)

feats
EWP Rhoka (style choice)
Toughness

skills
craft +7, know(arc/dun/planes) +7, spellcraft +7
concentration +6

Spells
All magus cantrips, default level 1 loadout:
0-acid splash, det magic, read magic
1-shieldx2 or frostbitex2 (if no arcane, 2x color spray instead)

Progression(all favored class bonus to elf +1/6 magus arcana)
03-Blind-fighting, Black Blade
04-Fly Hex
05-Combat Expertise, Bonus feat (???)
06-Magus Arcana (Slumber), Bonus Magus Arcana (???)
07-Moonlight Stalker
09-Magus Arcana (Accurate Strike), feat (???)
10-Fighter Training
11-Bonus feat (???), feat (???)
12-Magus Arcana (Ice Tomb), Bonus Magus Arcana (???)

Lots of options here...could go for Frostbite+Rime Spell or Shocking Grasp+Intensify for a more traditional build, Arcane Strike for some extra damage (though it eats a swift every round)...even pick an odd hex or two to increase his utility.

Took Toughness at first because of all the times I've had lowbie toons one-shotted before they could act. And with crappy AC and d8 hit points...want to pad his defenses a little, at least at the low levels.

Went half-elf for more story reasons...Yes he does not have the +2 concentration(alt racial), +2 spell pen awesomeness that is the elf, but he doesn't have that -2 con either.

Suggestions, tips, changes? Scrap him all together?

Thanks in advance!


Looking pretty solid, but I do have a few observations. Drow Blooded for darkvision isnt PFS legal. Pretty much all the drow-related options are illegal in pfs due to drow being universally irredeemably evil on Golarion.

Any particular story reason for the Rhoka? It's a cool weapon, but it's pretty esoteric and generally only seen in the hands of Urdefhan. If that'll work with what you have in mind or give you ideas, awesome. If not, I believe the Urumi is mechanically almost identical, which is also a pretty interesting weapon.

If you really like the elven bonus to concentration and beating SR, there's a feat in the ARG that can nab it for a half-elf.

Silver Crusade

"How high are you planning on taking this character?" Is the first question I would ask with a magus when planning a build. If you are just planning on getting to 7-8 or so, you will be fine with just intensified, magical lineage shocking grasps. If you are planning on trying to take him all the way and want to focus on Spellstrike builds with Frostbite or Shocking Grasp, then you will need to find some way to 1. Deal with Spell Resistance, and 2. Deal with Energy Resistance/Immunity. If you don't, you will find yourself often feeling weak unless you are fighting nothing but humanoids with class levels.

An admixture wizard dip would take care of 2, but it's somewhat less useful for non-kensai and it will hit your already lackluster BAB and spell progression. If you really have your heart set on 10d6 *insert energy type here* grasps, it's probably the way to go.

For the spell resistance issue, you have a few options. If you have the feat room, you can just take Spell Penetration and Greater Spell Penetration. Alternatively, you could grab Piercing Spell. It's only a +1 adjustment, so you can counteract it with Magical Lineage. A 5d6 shocking grasp that connects is better than a 10d6 one that fizzles.

And...*sigh*...if you want to be really cheesy, you could get Magical Lineage and Wayang Spellhunter and do piercing, intensified, shocking grasps.

Alternatively, you can go kensai and build yourself so that you are more of a fighter with spells at higher levels, gradually shifting to more buffing/utility spells as you level.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Thanks for the tips so far...argh didn't know darkvision options for elves were banned. *grumble* :)

More later...

The Rhoka was a story/flavor choice...he was the offspring of a drow demon-worshipping priestess and some hapless sacrifice...but now that he cannot be part drow have to rework his story a bit. Also I just really wanted something different than the ubiquitous scimitar. Also why I did not go cookie-cutter frostbite rime spell/intensified shock grasp at start either. Thinking I want something different. Like the buffing idea...do not need to fuss with spell pen if focus on buffing and if he needs offense, have hexes or use SR no spells.

Also toyed with the idea of a tiefling...they are more thematic...but they're *everywhere*...well maybe not as much as Aasimar. :D


I'm not sure what kind of one-shotting you're talking about here; do you mean you eat 10+ points of damage and get KO'ed for the duration of the fight, or do you mean you eat 20+ points of damage and actually die?

If the former is your problem, consider the following...

Replace one of your traits with Adopted (Wereboar-kin), and take the Boar Resilience trait. Then swap out Toughness with Diehard. If the point is simply to avoid unconsciousness, Diehard will do the job better than Toughness, at least at the lower levels. On the flipside, some people point out that PCs more likely to be killed off if they're up and fighting at negative hit points than on the ground and unconscious - your millage (as well as your DM's benevolence in such matters) may vary. Toughness is also arguably better than Diehard as a long-term investment.

As an aside, I'd say you can still claim to be half-drow. (There's no PFS rule saying you can't even claim that storywise, is there?) You just won't get darkvision or any of the other mechanical goodies aside from the unusual hair and skin coloration.

Dark Archive

Yeah, being -half drow- is more a story decision and your valid excuse to -not- have the typical half-drow traits is simply genetics; as a half-elf, you happened to inherit more of your human side's traits then your drow side's. Genetics is random like that, and thus it is safe to assume that while -most- half-drow have the standard half-drow traits some outliers don't.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

@Az: death. Though last time hp didn't matter, it was a sleep aura plus sleep on every hit. Yes at tier 1.

Dunno if pfs even allows any drow fluff due to the whole "evil irredeemable" thing. Will have to check.

But to main focus: what else to do with my magus? With the extra open feats he could be a backup evoker...dunno spreading too thin maybe. Shocking grasp is just so prevalent. :)


I think you're pretty good to go then - your half-elf immunity to sleep should cover any "sleeping problems" your character might have, and Toughness should keep him standing longer. If bleeding out is a concern, the Never Stop Shooting trait will make it so you automatically stabilize (even if you can't take actions), but you should probably be good with just Toughness alone (or the situation is such that even having that trait wouldn't have saved you). (I'd suggest the Brand cantrip, but that's not going to be useful to you until you hit 2nd level...)

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