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I'm nowhere close to first-time poster or first-time player, but I confess to being interested in this as well.
It doesn't look that bad to me - it has some interesting and weird abilities beyond being unbreakable (including the ability to offer a rude shock to most forms of damage reduction, and at the very highest levels, the ability to restore arcane points in the vampiric fashion, and you say that's where and how it "drops off"), and the Black Blade even has its own arcane pool (however small) to buttress your own. What are you giving up - a base arcane pool of 4 at 12th level rather then 6? Flexibility in exchange for power, perhaps? Alertness and a bit more in exchange for an Arcana (which the Extra Arcana feat demonstrates to be considered the equivalent of a feat - we all know The World Needs More Lerts)? It all sounds fair to me.
The answer is a definite maybe. It depends on your preferences. If we break it down point for point, your arcane pool is 4 points smaller at 20th level, and it costs you an arcana. But wait! You can siphon two arcane points back from your blade during the day by 20th, reducing the overall difference to 2 arcane points. That's a feat, extra arcane pool. So the overall cost is equal to two feats, extra magus arcana and extra arcane pool. In exchange, you get:
-Alertness (Not a great feat, but still a feat)
-50,000 in sword-value
-Life Drinker, which is an AWESOME capstone and much better than the magus's actual capstone.
-Unbreakable and Teleport Blade, two great insurance abilities.
-Whatever uses you can come up with for a talking sword.
Depending on campaign, the 'minor' features of the blackblade can be incredibly useful. Imprisoned? Oh, I'll just teleport my sword to my hand, thank you. Have to leave your weapons at the door? Not so scary now. Low wealth campaign? That scaling weapon is going to be a huge asset.
The other thing is, there aren't a lot of good magus arcana. You can pick up arcane accuracy at 6th, accurate strike at 9th, and bane blade at 15th without trouble. You can't take the familiar arcana. So what are you missing, spell blending? If you took arcane accuracy at 3rd instead, you still can't pick up great spells taking spell blending at 6th unless you're a kensai who badly wants mage armor. And you've got an arcana floating at 12th to grab spell blending if you want.
Personally, I like the archetype. The only major drawbacks are that you can't take the familiar arcana, or use spell storing on your main weapon, at least in PFS play.
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The worth of bladebound magus depends almost entirely on how WBL limited you are likely to be. The free enchantments on the blade free up a % of your WBL which, in a low-magic game, can be quite substantial. However, if you are playing a high magic game with high WBL, chances are your blade is holding you back as a normal magic weapon will end up with access to more and more varied abilities given an equal charater level.
To put it another way, assuming standard WBL, bladebound gives you a delayed main weapon enhancement progression in exchange for not having to pay for that progression. The less gold you are earning, the more valuable that free progression becomes.
For me with a low wealth DM it is definitely worth it.
Alternately if you are in a high role-playing group it can also be really fun with the intelligent item aspect.
The unbreakable and later teleporting parts can be useful for groups where you encounter sundering, can expect to be captured/stripped of items, or other realistic scenarios where you don't always necessarily have 10 weapons and your entire adventuring backpack on hand at all times.
I liked it for flavor and story and i disagree with it not being good in the High end.But my BB magus often regrettet not having hos main weapon being adamantine.
Craft Arms and Armor is imo a more worthwhile feat than the whole archetype, since your weapon will be half as expensive (so you're paying half the gold on it a bladebound would normally get) but also customizable, AND you get cheaper armor, AND you apply that across your entire party (making the group more powerful and making them like you more as a +)
That's only if your DM allows crafting feats though (which they probably won't since it leads to party power creep).
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To put it another way, assuming standard WBL, bladebound gives you a delayed main weapon enhancement progression in exchange for not having to pay for that progression. The less gold you are earning, the more valuable that free progression becomes.
So where does Pathfinder Society stand in that regard (assuming there's a clear answer to be given)?
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The biggest drawback is not being able to get an Improved Familiar. If you don't plan to, then bladebound get's good.
People forget that the "delayed" progression is in no way a problem since by level 9 your weapon is already +6 thanks to your arcane pool ability, and any enchantment more than that have a greatly reduced efficiency.
Moreover, your saved up gold can buy you other offensive boost like more str/int or something like luckstone/pale green prism.
Also, black blade strike and energy attunment are great abilitys.
Bladebound is something you definitely have to discuss with the GM. You're bringing in an intelligent weapon at low levels, and that, even while the blade's ego is weak, is always a bit extra work for the GM.
I was waffling back and forth between bladebound and soul forger for my current campaign, and I chose soul forger. It is not as raw powerful, but i feel the insane level of magical crafting down the line (with the ability to craft for the entire party, not just yourself) will far outpace the blade bound. IT helps that we are running a low loot city based home-brew, with downtime rules in place, so the utility of a master craftsman is something that has already at 2nd level started to come into play.
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Being Bladebound is what turned my magus from a glass cannon to a glass cannon covered in lightning and surrounded by the eviscerated corpses of a thousand DR-covered enemies. That freaking free sword let her defensive gear skyrocket, let her bedazzle herself with magical jewelry, metamagic rods, and scrolls, outpace the enchantment of nearly every other player's weapon (especially when combined with arcane pool).
It is a swiss army broadsword. It is a one-weapon tool of mass destruction. And all it costs you is roughly the equivalent of a feat.
When our (non-mythic) group was battling in the Worldwound in Pathfinder Society, during a special scenario, the GM put down a mythic Vrock at the table and started kicking our collective asses with its DR/epic and nigh-unbeatable SR.
My magus grabbed her sword, turned its blade into FORCE, made the lightsaber sound effect, and flew into battle and cleaved it apart. Same for the other two mythic Vrocks which followed one round after the previous one's death.
Black Blades are crazy-good, man, and super fun.
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Craft Arms and Armor is imo a more worthwhile feat than the whole archetype, since your weapon will be half as expensive (so you're paying half the gold on it a bladebound would normally get) but also customizable, AND you get cheaper armor, AND you apply that across your entire party (making the group more powerful and making them like you more as a +)
That's only if your DM allows crafting feats though (which they probably won't since it leads to party power creep).
Crafting feats are not allowed in PFS.
Craft Arms and Armor is imo a more worthwhile feat than the whole archetype, since your weapon will be half as expensive (so you're paying half the gold on it a bladebound would normally get) but also customizable, AND you get cheaper armor, AND you apply that across your entire party (making the group more powerful and making them like you more as a +)
That's only if your DM allows crafting feats though (which they probably won't since it leads to party power creep).
Crafting feats are not allowed in PFS.
That may be, but this is not the PFS forum. In a real campaign, crafting weapons and armor for an entire party is going to win out over the Black Blade alone. The Soul Forger (with it's Master Smith ability) can end up being more important than a BladeBound.
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Also, take a look at Hexcrafter. You are allowed to take multiple archetypes as long as they do not overlap class ability replacement. Bladebound and Hexcrafter are stackable.
As is the Kensai, which is what I was inclined to be.
Actually, most other presently-extant Magus Archetypes coexist just fine with Bladebound (if not otherwise with each other), though some (such as the Staff Magus, Mymidarch, or Soul Forger) would work with it poorly, if at all. Other Archetypes that could work well and be quite interesting alongside Bladebound would be the Kapenia Dancer, Greensting Slayer (which does modify the Arcane Pool feature, but in a completely different way than the Bladebound does), Skirnir (likewise), and Spire Defender.
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A Black Blade has to be a sword-cane, rapier, or "one-handed slashing weapon" - do dagger pistols count? That's an honest question, and one worth raising here anyways: It says "one-handed slashing weapon," but do they mean that in the sense that excludes "light" weapons (like the dagger)?
Also, I was more observing that one thing the Myrmidarch gets is Weapon Training in several different categories of weapon, which kind of shortchanges anyone who fixates on a single weapon.
The combination weapons is not really well described regarding how you make them magic in general. So there you will have to ask your GM or expect table variation if it is PFS.
Btw
Idk if/how this works, but
Wyroot special material on a high crit weapon
Especially useful if you can knock people out
Very easy to refill arcane pool with this
If your dm lets you have why root on whatever, scimitars are nice for black blades
Well, if you discount dagger pistols because the dagger part is "light", although the dagger pistol itself is listed as one-handed, you could use the axe musket instead, as the battle axe is a one-handed weapon (although the axe musket is a two handed firearm).
The problem with using a musket is that unless you dip Gunslinger(Musket Master) you won't be able to full attack with Ranged Spellstrike.
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That may be, but this is not the PFS forum. In a real campaign, crafting weapons and armor for an entire party is going to win out over the Black Blade alone. The Soul Forger (with it's Master Smith ability) can end up being more important than a BladeBound.
In a real campaign, the first crafting feat you grab is Craft Wondrous Item.
You mean there are "real campaign" where crafting feats are actually allowed? Must be the same DM who allow leadership.
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And there are such things as "real campaigns" in which no one takes up crafting feats at all.In a real campaign, the first crafting feat you grab is Craft Wondrous Item.
That may be, but this is not the PFS forum. In a real campaign, crafting weapons and armor for an entire party is going to win out over the Black Blade alone. The Soul Forger (with it's Master Smith ability) can end up being more important than a BladeBound.
And we were talking in the context of taking crafting feats.
I'm one of those DM's who obviously does not run a "real campaign" because I don't allow the leadership feat. I DO allow cohorts to be gained through roleplay, but they remain NPC's with minds and desires of their own.
The squire and leadership feats are not outs to get away from role-playing. To me, the feats are a tax to offset the benefits of the cohort, they do not conjure one from the abyss to serve you. To get someone to follow you without the appropriate feat is of course possible, but it is harder, and more expensive. By focusing on improving your leadership and/or tutoring abilities, you would be able to have someone tag along with you just for the benefit of your experience. THAT is what the leadership feat is. This is the same reason intern's work (slave) for free.
A feat that gives you an entire character to work with and customise is hardly what I call a "tax".I'm one of those DM's who obviously does not run a "real campaign" because I don't allow the leadership feat. I DO allow cohorts to be gained through roleplay, but they remain NPC's with minds and desires of their own.The squire and leadership feats are not outs to get away from role-playing. To me, the feats are a tax to offset the benefits of the cohort, they do not conjure one from the abyss to serve you. To get someone to follow you without the appropriate feat is of course possible, but it is harder, and more expensive. By focusing on improving your leadership and/or tutoring abilities, you would be able to have someone tag along with you just for the benefit of your experience. THAT is what the leadership feat is. This is the same reason intern's work (slave) for free.
It gives you less of a character than another player would. In my playstyle, RPG's aren't competitive. 'Power Level' is only relative to the enemies power level. CR vs. APL still works with cohorts in the mix. And as was brought up by others, this isn't a 'free character' for the player to toy with, this is an NPC, that is tutored by the player. For this reason, I have only ever created cohorts as a team between player and GM, and then the player is able to GUIDE the advancement (as he would as the de facto tutor). The cohort is under less PC control than a intelligent weapon, and we seem to have no problem letting the GM alter the weapon's behavior to suit his needs. A cohort is smarter than an animal companion or familiar, so is more likely to realize when his loyalty is being abused. All of these things come into play. That is a lot of limitations placed on this single feat - but it is up to the GM and players to recognize and honor these limitations.
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this isn't the place for this leadership discussion
please drop it
we have all heard it before
its up to the GM whether leadership works or not, and that's all we should really say about it
Any campaign run by real people, in reality, is real. The only alternative to a real campaign is a fictional campaign.
FWIW, I really like the Bladebound archetype, my Whip Kensai is bladebound (a whip is a one-handed slashing weapon!) It's a legitimately a blast to play, particularly if the GM is going to have fun with the intelligent weapon thing. Fair warning, check with the GM to see if he or she is cool with having to run an intelligent weapon, since it does make more work for the GM and you never want to court the resentment of the person in charge. If your GM is cool with it, then run with it even if it's not the most powerful choice, since it does ooze flavor.
I'd like to re-iterate how powerful changing the damage type on your Black Blade is.
Consider a wood golem. You just hit 5, and the DM slaps one of these down (with some other stuff around too of course). Pretty much any martial is going to be poking the thing for -5dmg. In addition it has spell immunity, rendering it immune to good ol' shocking grasp and most other magi approaches. Good thing you can turn your blade into fire and deal 50% additional damage, while negating that -5!
It let's you bypass any DR, and much of the time let's you essentially "empower" your melee damage.
I'd like to re-iterate how powerful changing the damage type on your Black Blade is.
Consider a wood golem. You just hit 5, and the DM slaps one of these down (with some other stuff around too of course). Pretty much any martial is going to be poking the thing for -5dmg. In addition it has spell immunity, rendering it immune to good ol' shocking grasp and most other magi approaches. Good thing you can turn your blade into fire and deal 50% additional damage, while negating that -5!
It let's you bypass any DR, and much of the time let's you essentially "empower" your melee damage.
That is a great feature, but it is only marginally better than the default magus being able to make the weapon a flaming weapon.
Ignoring strength modifiers:
Base Magus using a +2 longsword Against DR5/fire
- Spend 1 point from arcane pool, add 'flaming' to sword.
- A hit deals 1d8+2-5DR slashing + 1d6 fire (averages 1.5 slashing and 3.5 fire - total average of 5 damage)
- This 1 arcane pool point effect lasts for 1 minute (2 minutes with the Bladed Magic trait).
BladeBound Magus using Lvl 5 Black Blade
- Spend 1 point from Blade's arcane pool, atune weapon to fire.
- A hit deals 1d8+2 fire. (averages 6.5 fire damage)
- This 1 arcane pool point effect lasts for 1 ROUND.