It looks like the magus in my campaign is soon to acquire a new spellbook, and I want to add a few 'rare' spells by adapting some suitable spells from 3.5 that never made it into Pathfinder.
Any suggestions for 3.5 spells (or from even older editions) that might be a good fit for the magus?
Stating what level the Magus is and as to how many new spells you want intervaled into each level would be a great way to help narrow down the list.
That being said, a lot of 3.X spells are in Pathfinder, and there are even some Pathfinder spells not even in 3.X that are pretty good. Those that didn't make the cut for some oddball reason (my guess is powercreep) you can find in the Spell Compendium. If you're too lazy, I'll try to list off some very good and unique spells from the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list at each level, and you can cherry pick which ones you like. Give me some time to get that done though...
I am too lazy, and I look forward to your list with interest Darksol. :-)
The magus is 3rd level, so I'm particularly interested in the 1st to 3rd level range.
A couple I've been looking at are Blade of Blood (Player's Handbook II) and Swift Ready (Forge of War).
Here is what I thought were very good additions to the Magus spell list:
1st level
Benign Transposition (allows you to teleport 2 willing creatures up to 100 feet + 10 feet/level. You can make yourself as one of the targets.)
Corrosive Grasp (You get 'touch charges' per caster level, making each attack deal 1D8 Acid Damage; fits the flavor of Magus spells perfectly, since it works like Chill Touch more-or-less)
Lesser Orb of X (Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, or Sonic orb deals 1D8 (1D6 if Sonic) damage dice per 2 caster levels, varied on the type used, with a max 5D8/5D6. Decent damage dealer, and is ranged touch.)
Blood Wind (Able to make natural weapon attacks at a distance of 20 feet, doesn't work outside your turn for flanking or AoOs though)
Ray of Flame/Sonic Blast (1D6 Fire or 1D4 Sonic damage per 2 levels; former causes creature to ignite, latter causes deafness)
2nd level
Baleful Transposition (I believe this works as the above spell, except it doesn't need the targets to consent. They probably still get a save though. Great for getting the squishies to you so you can smash them to bits!)
Ray of Stupidity (1D4+1 Intelligence damage. Again, great anti-caster spell.)
Sting Ray (Major debuff, alternate version of Slow if you believe it)
Blast of Force (Ray spell that makes enemies fall prone on a failed save. Creatures that have increased CMD for size or against trip effects for having extra legs would add those bonuses to this saving throw. It's still force damage, though)
Combust (1D8 Fire damage/level, and target can catch fire)
Electric Loop (Want a Thundercleave spell? Here you go; can cleave up to 4 creatures adjacent to each other, plus can become stunned with a couple unlucky saves!)
Scorch (Same as above more-or-less, just fire damage plus ignite effects)
Slapping Hand (This is a funny spell, I think it creates a Force hand that makes a target enemy provoke an attack of opportunity from all enemies who threaten the squares he occupies. Great against giant enemies!)
Bladeweave (Successful attacks provide chances to make your enemies become dazed.)
Shadow Spray (Hate fighting shadows because of their Strength drain? Be like them, having an Aoe Strength damager that can also daze your enemies!)
Curse of Impending Blades (minor debuff that reduces enemy AC by 2; it is a Curse though, so Dispel Magic won't work on it)
Ray of Weakness/Ray of Sickness (Both spells reduce enemy effectiveness by granting either the Sickened condition, or a -2 to attack rolls and -10 to their effective movement speed.)
Belker Claws (Touch attack deals 2D12 untyped damage to the enemy, leaving a cloud that deals 2D12 damage for up to 4 rounds thereafter; great damage-over-time effect)
Sonic Weapon (makes weapon deal an extra 1D6 Sonic Damage with each hit)
Whirling Blade (You make a single weapon attack to each enemy in a 60 foot line; my personal favorite, and works great with the Magus' Spellstrike effect, or other damage add-on effects like Sonic Weapon or Bladeweave)
Wraithstrike (Melee attacks resolve as Touch Attacks for a round; Swift Action to cast I believe).
3rd Level: Acid Breath (Deals 1D6 Acid Damage/level in a cone)
Icelance (Semi-decent damaging spell that has a killer 1D4 Stun duration on a failed save. Great for locking down a caster early in the fight.)
Greater/Mass Mage Armor (I'm not sure if Magi get this on their spell list or not. If not, skip it. If so, having variants that grant either a +6 to AC instead, or normal Mage Armor effects for all your party members is fairly powerful. Mythic Mage Armor already does Greater Mage Armor bonuses and then some, so there is that...)
Unluck (Remember Misfortune from the Witch? How about a 3rd level spell version that lasts 1 round per level and affects all dice rolls.)
Ray of Dizziness (Not exactly worthwhile compared to Sting Ray, but eh, it's still a nice Staggered debuff.)
Chain Missile (A very cool amped version of Magic Missile, which deals 1D4+1 per CL to a primary target, max 10D4+10, the missiles then splitting off into single missiles targeting a single creature each, dealing 1D4+1 to them.)
Resonating Bolt (1D4/Level Sonic Damage Ranged touch attack)
Scintillating Sphere (Lightning version of Fireball, anyone?)
Sonic Lance (Pretty much same as above, except 1D8/Level Sonic Damage; weird, right?)
Mass Curse of Impending Blades (Already explained above, just multiple targets)
Mind Poison (Wisdom Damage Touch Attack? Yes please!)
Dolorous Blow (Think Bless Weapon from the Paladin spell list, except it works with the weapon you want, and it's not restricted by alignment or anything)
Steeldance (Need some extra melee pump or protection? Turn 2 basic daggers into lethal threats, dealing 1D4 + Intelligence + other relevant modifiers.)
Weapon of Energy (Applies any type of energy damage to your weapon. Unfortunately, most likely overshadowed by Sonic Weapon spell, though still nice when fighting against vulnerability creatures.)
4th Level
Orb of X (Same as the lesser versions, though reduced damage dice for other miscellaneous effects. Kind of useless to be quite honest with you.)
Translocation Trick (As Benign Transposition somewhat, except the appearance of you switching or being different is not apparent to your enemies; great PVE tactic!)
Wall of Sand/Wall of Water (Wall of Sand blocks all ranged attacks and becomes difficult terrain for anyone trying to pass through, Wall of Water simply becomes a vertical line of water. Woo hoo...)
Battle Hymn (Very powerful party buff that allows party members to reroll a Will Save every round)
Energy Spheres (Orbs that hover above you that can be used for offensive static damage or defensive resistance absorption. Nice versatility on this one.)
Explosive Cascade (A poor man's Selective Fireball, but is great for enemies who try to spread out, as this covers more distance than a traditional Fireball.)
Force Claw (A 20 foot area guarded by a magic claw that can move up to 60 feet each round, making attacks against any enemy who provokes in said area. A very powerful and very unique spell, though it lacks scaling.)
Force Missiles (A weaker form of Magic Missiles, though if enemies like to clump up, this deals more damage than simply casting Magic Missiles. It is still force damage, too...)
Stone Sphere (Think Flaming Sphere except it's untyped damage, has a larger cap, and it can actually be destroyed.)
Thunderlance (Hate Force Effects, like Mage Armor or Shield? Have a more fun way of dispelling them, using this 3D6 Electricity damage spell)
Vortex of Teeth (Powerful damaging crowd-control spell, sure to keep enemies out of an area, since it deals 3D8 Force damage per round, triggered at the start of your turn.)
Boiling Blood (cause enemy to take 2D8 damage per round, 1D8 Acid and 1D8 Fire.)
Backlash (A very powerful spellcaster shutdown spell, causing the target's next spell cast to instead be wasted and take 1D6/spell level in damage.)
Spell Enhancer (Cast as a Swift Action, provides a +2 Caster Level increase to the next spell you cast.)
Ruin Delver's Fortune (Grants several options. Can be cast as an Immediate Action usually involving increased saves, minor additional abilities, or temporary hit points equivalent to 4D8 + Charisma.)
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That's about all I need to highlight for now. If you need higher levels, feel free to let me know and I'll get on it...
Unless the spell was broken any spell on the 3.5 Duskblade list I would probably allow in.
Given the Magus' greatly improved combat abilities, I feel that their limited spell list is an important drawback to balance that out. I mean, if the Magus could just use any spells on the wizard spell list that he wanted, why ever play a wizard?
Shouldn't this be in the homebrew forum? Feels like it's going pretty far off the RAW reservation.
3.5 polymorph
@ Darksol; that's a great list, and very helpful. I very much appreciate the time taken putting it together, my sincerest thanks. :-)
@ Wheldrake. Fear not, no wizards were harmed in the posting of this thread.
Given the Magus' greatly improved combat abilities, I feel that their limited spell list is an important drawback to balance that out. I mean, if the Magus could just use any spells on the wizard spell list that he wanted, why ever play a wizard?
Shouldn't this be in the homebrew forum? Feels like it's going pretty far off the RAW reservation.
I simply used the Sorcerer/Wizard spell list to draw off examples that I thought were fitting for the Magus to be able to use. I also tried to expand a typical Magus' list a tad so as to give them unique spell utility, something which the OP was looking for.
Even some of the spells obviously magus-related (Especially the 2nd level spells) I personally think are very broken for a Magus to possess, and a Wizard gets access to spells not on my list that are probably even more broken than what I listed.
You also forgot another limiting factor, and that is that the Magus is MAD and has several focuses besides Spellcasting. Even if he gets Dexterity to Attack and Damage for melee, that's still 2 stats, plus two areas of expertise he has to focus on, whereas the Wizard can just pump Intelligence and casting full-stop and not care about the rest of his stats, meaning the Wizard will be leaps and bounds ahead of the Magus in the spellcasting department.