Level 10: The Adventure / Test
They are gonna run an old good "4 encounters a day" dungeon.
An Easy Trap (CR 8), 2xAverage Encounters (CR 9), 1 Challenging Encounter (CR 10) and 1 Epic Encounter (CR 12)
The Ninja has been using his skills (Bluff and Sense Motive) to get new quests for the party and reliable patrons. However the party isn't very good for information gathering.
The patron tells them where to go, but doesn't tell all the truth. The Ninja succeeds at the Sense Motive roll, the patron finally says that demons have been seen there.
The cleric casts Protection from Energy (fire), Magic Vestment, Freedom of Movement and Greater magic weapon on himself before gettin close to the old ruins near the mountains.
*** First Encounter (Average CR 9): 2xBabau (CR 6) and Shadow Demon (CR 7).
The party enters in the dungeon, the Ninja goes first, using Stealth and trying to see the enemy before they see him, so the party gets more information (he can't use invisibility for this because it doesn't last enough)
The Ninja rolls 3 (for total 22) in Stealth, and the enemies see or hear him. In the surprise round the ninja uses Invisible Blade (1 daily free use, he doesn't know that Babaus can See Invisibility) and flees, the demons try to summon more creatures, but only 1 Babau appears.
The shadow uses Sprint and casts Fear over the party (Will Save DC 18), the Ninja rolls 1. The cleric can't see the Ninja, thus he can't help the ninja casting Remove Fear. The cleric uses Holy Lance to make his Morningstar Holy. The fighter deals 15 damage to the Shadow, then one Babau casts Darkness.
The next round the shadow uses Shadow Evocation to cast Cone of Cold, the cleric takes 2 damage, the fighter 13. The Cleric casts Daylight and the area returns to dim light. The Ninja had run, now he looses this round drinkin a Remove Fear potion. The fighter is defending the 2 square wide corridor and two babau attack him, one babau tries to dispel Daylight, but fails the check. The fighter hits one babau.
Then the shadow casts a Shadow-Fireball, the Fighter takes 16 damage, Protection from Energy protects the Cleric (absorbs 6 points). The cleric hits a babau and gets hit. The fighter kills that babau. The Ninja returns. One babau dispells Daylight.
The shadow moves and casts a shadow-Cone of Cold. The fighter takes 6 damage and the Ninja uses Evasion. The cleric deals 12 damage to the Shadow. The fighter is lucky with rolls, with one hit and a critical he kills one babau.
The shadow deals 21 damage to the fighter (touch attacks). The cleric deals 13 damage to the Shadow. The Ninja hits the shadow many times but his weapons can't beat the creature's DR and darkness prevents Sneak Attack. The fighter fails his attacks. The babau deals 26 damage to the Ninja. The cleric's weapon is no longer Holy.
The shadow deals 20 damage to the fighter. The Ninja retreats, the cleric fails its attacks. The fighter deals 12 damage to the shadow. The babau deals 25 damage to the cleric.
The shadow deals 10 damage to the fighter, the fighter finally kills the shadow. The babau deals 9 damage to the cleric.
The fighter deals 54 damage to the babau, then the Babau flees.
Summing up: Ninja 26 damage, Fighter 86 damage, Cleric 46 damage. The Ninja used the free use/day of Vanishing Trick, and 1 Remove Fear Potion. The Cleric used Holy Lance and DayLight. The cleric uses 2xChannel Energy and 12 wand charges to heal the party.
Notes about the Ninja: "Fear" got the Ninja out of combat half of the encounter, however darkness+see invisibility+incorporeal foes+DRs would make him almost useless in this encounter.
*** Second Encounter (Average CR 9): Huge Earth Elemental (CR 7) and Succubus (CR 7)
The survivor babau from the previous encounter warns the Succubus and she uses Detect Thoughts and Stealth, trying to detect the party before the party detects her.
The ninja is exploring too, the ninja rolls 4 for Stealth (total 23) and the Succubus see him. The demon rolls 20 in Stealth. The Succubus falls back, tries to summon a babau but fails. The Ninja sees the Huge Elemental and returns to alert the party. The cleric casts Shield of Faith on himself. The cleric fails his Knowledge check for elementals.
The Elemental uses Tremorsense to detect the enemy, so the Ninja, the Succubus and the Elemental get a surprise round. The Ninja uses 1 Ki point to become invisible, in order to avoid AoOs (elementals are inmune to SA). He doesn't know that this elemental has tremorsense, the GM rules that tremorsense works as Blindsight (it makes invisibility useless). However it helps him against the Succubus he hasn't seen yet.
The Ninja can't deal much damage to the elemental, he does 6 damage with two hits and fails two hits with natural 1s. The fighter moves and the succubus uses Vampiric Touch against him, 24 damage and +24 temporal hps for the succubus.
The Ninja attacks the succubus, but the succubus has DR. The Ninja deals 26 damage with two SA's, plus Bleed 5 and -1 Str. The fighter deals 18 damage to the Elemental. The Succubus uses Vampiric Touch on the fighter again, 24 damage again. The cleric gives "Bit of Luck" to the fighter. The elemental deals 17 damage to the fighter, its attack to the cleric fails.
The Ninja deals 48 damage to the succubus with 3 sneak attacks, plus -3 Str. The fighter deals 48 damage to the Elemental. The succubus drains 19 hps to the fighter using Vampiric Touch. The cleric casts defensively a 4th level cure spell on the fighter (uses Greater magic Weapon), heals 33.
The Ninja deals 42 damage to the succubus with 4 SA's, and -4 Str. The fighter deals 41 damage to the elemental with 2 attacks, the elemental dies. The succubus drains 25 hps from the cleric. The cleric uses Touch of Good.
The Ninja deals 62 damage with 4 SA's, killing the Succubus.
Summing up: Ninja no wounds, Fighter 49 wounds (after combat healing), Cleric 25 wounds. The ninja used 1 Ki point. The cleric used 1 x 4th level spell, 1xBit of Luck and 1xTouch of Good (btw, BL and TG were useless). The cleric uses 2xChannel Energy and 4 wand charges to heal the party.
Notes about the Ninja: The damage written already has the DR10 applied (but doesn't take in mind temporal hps), otherwise it would deal 77 damage per round (average for this encounter). The ninja didn't help in defensive tasks, attacking the ninja with vampiric touch made no sense, and in most cases the fighter and/or the cleric were giving him cover from the elemental attacks.
*** Third Encounter (Challenging CR10): 2xHill Giant (CR 7) and Stone Giant (CR 8)
The dungeon has an entrance to a cave, it leads to a small valley, 15 minutes later they have an encounter with giants.
The babau has alerted them, but the giants aren't very intelligent and expect the succubus to kill the intruders and don't prepare any ambush.
The terrain is rocky, the ground is full or loose small stones and there is few cover or concealment. It is considered difficult terrain.
The ninja uses 1 Ki point to become invisible and uses Light Steps to move (the enemy is 75' away). The fighter moves. The cleric casts Shield of Faith on himself and moves. The giants throw rocks, but the cleric and the fighter have too high ACs.
The ninja moves silently close to a giant, he wins the Stealth vs Perception check, the hill giants fail the DC 20 check to know that there are invisible creatures in the area, but the stone giant makes it. The fighter and the cleric keep moving. The giants keep throwing rocks without effect. When one of the Hill giants throw a rock it provockes an AoO from the adjacent Ninja, 6d6+3 damage (SA), deals 28 plus Bleed 5.
Now the Ninja performs a full attack against the Hill giant, 4 hits for a grand total 89 damage (plus -4 Str), enough to kill the Hill giant. The cleric moves. The fighter moves and attacks other Hill giant using Vital Strike and Power Attack, critical hit that deals 56 damage. With lucky rolls (20 and 19) the hill giant scores a critical hit on the fighter (45 damage). The Stone giant moves.
The Ninja moves and attacks the hill giant: 25 damage and Bleed 5. The fighter kills the hill giant and moves, provocking an AoO. The cleric deals 7 damage to the stone giant. The giant deals 15 damage to the cleric.
The Ninja moves and attacks once, 24 damage and Bleed 5. The fighter does 49 damage with two attacks. The giant does 13 damage to the fighter, also tries to hit the invisible ninja, but fails the miss chance roll.
The Ninja does a full attack: 2 hits and one Critical, total 82 damage and -3 Str, actually the first hit was enough to kill the giant.
Summing up: Ninja 0 wounds, Fighter 58 wounds, Cleric 15 wounds. The ninja used 1 Ki point. The cleric used Shield of Faith. After combat the cleric uses Bless, Divine Favor, Lesser Restoration and 10 wand charges to heal the party.
*** Trap: Camouflaged Spiked Pit Trap (CR 8)
The valley leads to an old temple in the rock, 5 minutes later they are here, the entrance is a long corridor, the ninja goes ahead using Stealth.
The Ninja rolls 9 in Perception (total 23), the trap's Perception DC is 25. The ninja triggers the trap (the GM has got doubts about how Light Steps works with Stealth, and it ignores many traps). The Ninja makes the saving throw, no damage.
Notes: It was a mechanical trap, he could disable it.
*** 4th and Final Encounter (Epic CR 12): 4xOgre Mage
Alerted by the Babau and the sound of triggered traps the Ogre Mages are already invisible, and their chamber is covered by magical darkness (they cast darkness and invisibility at will). The ninja rolls 35 Stealth, gets near the chamber, sees the unnatural dark area and hears some sounds (after rolling Perception DC20).
The ninja returns. The cleric thinks that it is another encounter with babaus and casts Align Weapon-Good at the Ninja's main weapon, True Seeing on the Ninja and Bull's Str on himself. Finally the party goes to the chamber.
Now, with True Seeing, the Ninja can see the Ogre Mages, the Ogre Mages can see the party too, and there's a surprise round.
Surprise round: 1 Mage Ogre casts cone of cold, the cleric is out of range, the Ninja uses Evasion and the fighter takes 15 cold damage. The Ninja becomes invisible using 1 Ki Point, warns the party about the ogres and moves. Other Magre Ogre casts another cone of cold, the Ninja uses Evasion and the fighter takes 38 damage. The other two Mage Ogres move because they haven't line of effect.
1st round: One Ogre Mage deals 17 damage to the Ninja. The Ninja deals 117 damage with 4 successful hits (plus Bleed 5, -3 Str), killing that Mage Ogre. Another Ogre casts Cone of Cold, 14 damage to the fighter. Other ogre fails the miss chances attacking the invisible Ninja. The last Ogre begins to cast "Deep Slumber" (1 round spell). The cleric moves and casts Dispel Magic against Darkness, succeeds, Ogre Mages are no longer invisible because they have attacked already. The fighter moves and attacks with Vital Strike, 1 critical for 50 damage.
2nd round: The Ninja does 1 critical and 2 hits, then uses 1 Ki point for the extra attack, another hit, total 99 damage, Bleed 5, -3 Str, enough to kill the Ogre Magre. An Ogre ends casting Deep Slumber on the fighter, he makes the saving throw, then casts Darkness again. The last Ogre rolls 20 and 17, a critical hit on the fighter for 39 damage, the fighter falls unconscious (-6), with the second attack the Ogre tries to kill the fighter in the ground (attacking the invisible Ninja is too hard) but rolls 4 and the full plate saves the fighter's life. The cleric moves to the fighter's square and casts the quicken cure light wounds spell on the fighter body, he succeeds rolling the miss chance and heals 3.
3rd round: The Ninja hits the Ogre Mage 3 times, total 70 damage, Bleed 5, - 2 Str, killing the Ogre Mage (it had 50 wounds from a previous fighter attack). The remaining Ogre Mage moves and attacks the cleric, 18 damage. The cleric moves out of the area with the fighter's body, provocking an AoO, 20 damage.
4th round: The Ninja is alone with the Ogre Mage, hits him 4 times, 83 damage, Bleed 5 and -3 Str. The Ogre Mage hits the Ninja once, the critical hit is avoided by just 1 point of AC, 19 damage to the Ninja. The cleric uses Restoration to cast Cure Critical Wounds on the fighter, heals 25.
5th round: The Ninja kills the last Ogre Mage.
Summing up: Ninja 36 wounds, Fighter 78 wounds (after combat healing), Cleric 38 wounds. The Ninja used 2 Ki points. The cleric used Align Weapon, True Seeing, Bull's Str, Dispel Magic, Quicken cure light wounds and Restoration.
The adventure is over, the guys take the treasure, the cleric heals their wounds using the remaining spells. The Ninja still has 1 remaining Ki point.
Notes about the Adventure: None of the creatures had specially high ACs, most were around AC 21, which was nice for a TWF build, I don't know how good it would perform against creatures with AC 30.
Level 1: The Adventure / Test
They are gonna run an old good "4 encounters a day" dungeon.
2 Average encounters (CR 1/2) and 2 Challenging Encounters (CR 1).
First Encounter: Average (CR 1/2). 3xtrained and hidden Lizards (CR 1/6) near the entrance to the dungeon
The lizards surprise the party, it is an outdoor area so the Samurai can ride the mount. A lizard attacks the mount because it can't reach the samurai. The fighter looses 2 hps, the Cleric 2 hps and the Mount 1 hp.
Second Encounter: Challenging (CR 1). Inside the cave 3xMerfolk (CR 1/3) firing bolts from low water.
The mount is large, yet it could squeeze in order to move inside a dungeon, where rooms may have enough space for it to fight, note that the mount is an animal companion and you don't need to ride it if you want the mount to attack. It makes me think that the powerful mount feature isn't as circumnstantial as I thought.
Anyway, the Samurai leaves the mount behind.
The encounter begins with the merfolks at 50', they fire their crossbows. The low water is just difficult terrain that prevents charges.
The fighter moves first, the samurai fires it bow and moves, the cleric helps the party and tries to do some damage with the morning star.
The cleric used one Channel Energy, Bit of Luck and Touch of Good use in this encounter. The Samurai looses 9 hps, the cleric 8, the fighter 2.
After the encounter the cleric uses Channel Energy 2 more times, and uses Divine Favor to spontaneously cure himself. After this the Samurai is the only character wounded (5 damage).
Third Encounter: Average (CR 1/2). 2xMite (CR 1/4)
Two Mites ambush the party, the samurai uses one resolve point for "Resolute" when they cast doom over him. The Samurai looses 4 hit points, and the cleric uses "Bit of Luck" again.
Once the fight is over the cleric uses "Remove Fear" to spontaneously cure the Samurai, now he's got just one wound for 1 damage.
4th Encounter: Challenging (CR 1). 2xVegepygmy (CR 1/2)
The Vegepygmy ambush the party, the Samurai uses Challenge and regains his resolve point. The cleric looses 6 hps and uses Bit of Luck.
After the final encounter the cleric casts the last Channel Energy use to heal 5 hps, but there aren't more enemies left.
Notes:
The glaive build hasn't been as deadly as expected, most low level monsters already have few hps and the samurai wasn't lucky with d20 rolls.
The cleric was basically playing a support role, using his special abilities to buff the party.
The party lacks stealth and trap disabling abilities.
The question: to give default proficiency in Heavy Shields to Samurais or not.
____
IMHO:
I can understand that giving options to players in a good thing even if it's gamey, but it shouldn't ruin the flavor of the class.
I have seen or heard of historic or fantasy samurais using polearms, two handed and one handed katanas, two weapon fighting, wielding huge swords or using the scarbard to parry and using firearms. I have seen shield-like pieces that seemed bucklers or light shields in samurai armors, and I have heard arguments about some parts of the armor being used as ineffective shields.
Not heavy shields. Samurai warfare is famous for not using big shields (or shields at all), while shields were extremely popular in the rest of the world and I doubt they get any training in the correct use of big shields.
Now, we have a class that can use the bastard sword/katana one handed and can use heavy shields, with little incentives to become a switch-hitter or choose a two handed katana over a GreatSword or Naginata/Katana. Bastard sword + Heavy shield is too tempting.
I don't mind if someone wants a "western-like samurai" and uses a feat for the proficiency in heavy shields, or gets a level in fighter (which works well with the Weapon Expertise ability), it's character customization for a "rare" build.
But the standard Samurai shouldn't have proficiency in heavy shields. I would allow the buckler for bow+katana+buckler switch-hitter builds, and maybe the light shield as it is similar to the buckler, but not heavy shields. Alternatively a bonus when using the katana two-handed would do the trick too.
My brother got a Warhammer big mini of Treant, it was painted years ago by a friend of him which is great at it and won and award.
Some weeks ago mother send the mini to the ground while cleaning the dust, and the mini is now broken.
Thanks god the colors are ok, only the glued parts are broken.
Now I have 3 metal pieces (body and two arms) that must be glued with care so the colors don't get ruined.
I have glue for plastic minis, but it doesn't work on metal surfaces unless you wait 24 hours.
I can take a 5' step the same round I use Spell Combat, that is clear.
The point is , when can I take the 5' step?
Afaik usually you can't move 5' in the middle of another action, unless it is a full round attack.
Spell Combat is a single full round action that allows you to make all your attacks (as in a full round attack) and then cast an spell (or viceversa).
Can I take a 5' step between the attacks and the spell casting? If I can do it I would save a lot of Concentration checks (attack, move, cast; or cast, move, attack if not adjacent)
It wasn't very important for the previous version of the Magus, because back then you were forced to cast defensively no matter the situation. However now I need to be sure how it works.
Level 1: The Adventure / Test
They are gonna run an old good 4 encounters a day dungeon.
3 Average encounters (CR 1/2) and 1 Challenging/Dificult encounter (CR 1).
Note: 1st level Magus tactics. This magus uses Combat Casting as much as possible, casting Daze. Otherwise uses the longsword two handed.
Encounter 1: Challenging (CR1). 8xCommon Bats (CR 1/8, Diminutive)
While walking towards the old ruined witch’s stronghold they are attacked by a bunch of enraged bats in a dark area of the forest. The bats are 40’ above their heads, in the trees.
Since there is a lot of weak enemies the Magus decides to not cast Daze and focus on hitting ‘em. She doesn¡t cast Shield because she thinks it is going to be easy.
The Magus kills 4 bats, the Fighter another 4. The Magus looses 11 hps! The Fighter 6 hps. The Magus also used 1 Arcane Pool point.
Encounter 2: Average (CR 1/2 ). 2xKobold (CR 1/4)
2 kobold guards are over the stronghold entrance, they can be seen easily, but the kobolds can see the area around, there is a cleared area around the entrance 90’ wide and they have cover.
There is no surprise, just initiative. The Magus cast shield and moves. The fighter runs. The kobolds fail the sling attacks. The second round the fighter moves and attacks one kobold. The Magus moves until it is close to the other kobold and uses another Arcane Pool point. A kobold rolls 19 and hits the Fighter for 4 damage. Finally the Fighter kills both Kobolds.
With 3 hps reamining each, both characters are in a very bad shape.
Encounter 3: Average (CR 1/2). 2xRat(CR1/4)
The Magus uses the light spell in order to raise the light level of the ruined stronghold.
2 hidden and enraged rats attack from behind a corner, surprising the party. The fighter looses 1hp and kills both rats, the Magus used 1 Arcane Pool point and failed a level 0 concentration check.
Encounter 4: Average (CR 1/2). 1xZombie (CR1/2)
The Magus goes ahead, sneaking, she wants to know if the dungeon is cleared out or there are still monsters wandering. She fails her stealth check and a zombie appears from a room. The zombie can’t charge but makes fleeing very difficult. The Magus casts Shield and uses an Arcane Pool point. The fighter gets into the corridor. Daze won’t affect the zombie, so Combat Casting won’t be used in this case. The zombie rolls 18 and the Magus falls unconscious, the fighter manages to kill the zombie. The Magus stabilizes.
Conclusions
When preparation is impossible for a Magus, things get difficult.
Without using spells she still can manage in combat, he doesn't need to burn his spells so often as other spellcasters, but those are needed in hard encounters.
Overall it is worse than a fighter in combat, but she gets other kind of advantages, a small ammount of advantages, to be honest. She doesn’t even get a good selection of knowledge skills that would be very handy when encountering monsters.
She didn’t use Spell Combat as often as I expected. For many reasons (movement, too many weak opponents, inmune to daze opponents..) it wasn’t a good option in many cases. However a weapon that would deal more damage would not be any advantage in many 1st level encounters as many monsters have 5 hps or less.
The Spell Combat option to trade attack for Concentration bonus would have been useful to cast Shield, but at this level the bonus wasn’t still high enough to grant auto-success and the risk was just too much.
The interesting thing about the class at this level is that you have to save the level 1 spells for the proper situation, as happens with many level 1 spellcasters. However it isn't a complex class to play, yet (1st level Magus).
I’m worried about Greater Spell Combat, that high level ability makes the Concentration feat almost useless at level 18+, but you really want to have Concentration or the Concentrate Arcana at low level.
I’m gonna say that the 1st level of the class is ok; not great to be honest, I can see a Magus using too many money in backup scrolls; but many classes have it worse at first level.
I would say that the Magus should have the starting money of the fighter so she can buy some consumibles ASAP.
Spellstrike has been modified because it was confusing, however I still can't understand how exactly it works.
Quote:
At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts
a spell with a range of “touch” from the magus spell
list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is
wielding as part of a melee attack. If successful, this
melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the
effects of the spell. Instead of the free melee touch attack
normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make
one free melee attack with his weapon as part of casting
this spell. If used with spell combat, this does not grant
an additional attack.
That's what I would ask:
* 1. When I cast a quickened touch spell, do I get a free melee attack with the weapon AND can then perform a full round attack, cast another spell, etc...? (seems so, because usually you could cast a quickened touch spell and gain a free touch attack, actually It isn't a good question at all)
* 2. Related to #1. Could I cast a quickened touch spell, get the free melee attack, and then use a full round action for spell combat? (My guess is that it doesn't count as "used with spell combat", so yes, I could)
* 3. "If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell." What happens if the attack fails?
-Can I hold the charge in the weapon as I would do with a normal melee touch spell and my hand?
-Does the effect discharge?
* 4. Criticals for the spell damage. Only when rolling 20? Using the weapon's critical range? Should it be x2 or should it use the weapon's multiplier?
* 5. As happens with AoOs and other special attacks, I guess you can not use Vital Strike with the free melee attack.
* 6. Related to #3.
If I can hold the charge in the weapon, would it discharge if I cast another spell? (as happens when holding the charge of melee touch attacks)
Day 1 / Dungeon 1
First, they go into a dungeon, they will face 3 Average encounters (aprox. CR 1/2 each encounter).
Encounter 1: 3 x lizards. The lizards hide near the entrance to the cave, the PCs fail their Perception checks by far and get surprised. However it goes easy, each character loses 1 hp only.
Encounter 2: 1 x hobgoblin. The cave is in dim light, but the Magus uses his level 0 light spell to ignore the penalties. They encounter a hobgoblin guard, the Magus charges, so the hobgoblin can't flee. The hobgoblin is lucky, Deals 9 damage to the Fighter and 8 to the Magus. The Magus is forced to Fight Defensively. Finally the Fighter hits the hobgoblin hard and the Magus uses a ranged touch spell to finish the enemy.
The Magus gets a Longbow from the Hobgoblin, which is a good thing to use in the first round of combat now that he is low on hps.
Encounter 3: 2 x drows. The PCs hear voices in a room.
Being seriously injured the Magus uses all his spells now: Shield (+4 to AC) and Shocking Grasp. Shield raises his AC to 20 (the fighter got 19). Spellstrike allows him to store Shocking Grasp in his sword (1d6 extra damage for the first attack, no Save). He is not going to cast more spells, so he wields the bow now, he can change to the sword pretty fast.
They enter the room: 2 not-surprised drows. The drows win initiative. They cast Darkness.
The Magus can't use the bow or any ranged attack now. The 0-level light spell won't help against Darkness. The PCs are very low on hps and they decide to flee, that gets hard for the fighter, he moves 20' and the drows use crossbows.
The party flee and leaves the cave, defeated.
Another day
The party returns to the cave, they will try to get some information but they suspect that the drows and the treasure have moved to another location.
This day they will face a single Epic Encounter: CR 2
Ghoul + Zombie (human)
The drows have gone, but in the lower room they have left some kind of unholy altar and 2 undead guardians.
The zombie is stupid and slow, it needs two rounds to get near the PCs. The Ghoul is more inteligent, but he won't fight alone, he moves and readies an attack.
The fighter readies an attack too, in case the ghoul charges. The Magus uses those rounds to cast Shield and Shocking Grasp into the sword, he may also use the bow but the Ghoul looks like a tough foe (however knowledge-religion is not a class skill and he didn't put any rank in it, so no details about the monster).
Finally the Zombie is lucky and hits the Magus for 5 hp, the Magus also deals a good amount of damage and kills the zombie. The Ghoul fails to hit the Fighter, and the fighter kills the Ghoul using the readied attack and the attack of his round.
Conclusions
When preparation is possible the Magus does it better than any other caster at level 1, for 1 encounter per day of course, as most spellcasters.
Without using spells he still does well in combat, he doesn't need to burn his spells so often as other spellcasters.
Overall it is worse than a fighter in combat. However it gets more skillpoints (but few class skills), better Will Saves, and some useful spells. Furthermore, one free hand and better speed.
The interesting thing about the class at this level is that you have to save the level 1 spells for the proper situation, as happens with many level 1 spellcasters. However it isn't a complex class to play, yet (level 1).
Spellstrike allows you to better prepare for the next encounter, in combat it is less useful, because at level 1 using a ranged weapon is still a good option if you don't need to charge against the enemy.
I'm usually a pro-nerf GM, however I can find any good reason to take that magus arcana for any character.
Quote:
Spell Shield (Su): A magus with this magus arcana can
sacrifice one of his prepared magus spells as an immediate
action to grant himself a shield bonus to AC equal to the
level of the spell consumed until the end of his next turn.
Consuming cantrips in this way has no effect.
The problem is that the Magus can cast the 1st level Shield spell: +4 shield bonus to AC (even against incorporeal), negates magic missiles, last 1 min/level. And he prolly will use that spell often. The bonus from the shield spell and Spell Shield won't stack.
Spell Shield is an inmediate action, which is a good thing (Arcane Accuracy is a quick action). Altough an inmediate action takes the quick action of the current round or the next.
I'm tempted to say that the AC bonus should be an insight bonus, altough it would provide a huge AC boost at high levels.
3 people marked this as FAQ candidate. Staff response: no reply required.
Hello, I'm not a native english speaker and I have a problem understanding the meaning of this:
APG Fighter's Variant, Shielded Fighter
Quote:
Active Defense (Ex): At 3rd level, a shielded fighter gains
a +1 dodge bonus to AC when wielding a shield and fighting
defensively, using Combat Expertise, or using total
defense. This bonus increases by +1 for every four levels
beyond 3rd. As a swift action, he may share this bonus with
one adjacent ally, or half of the bonus (minimum +0) with
all adjacent allies, until the beginning of his next turn.
This ability replaces armor training 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Sharing means that he decreases his AC bonus to increase the allies AC bonus in that ammount, or he just grants this AC bonus to adjacent allies while still gaining it for himself ?
Hello.
I have that problem with creatures that reach 3,4,5 etc.. squares around, i don't know if it is supposed to be an squared area or a circular one (like spells).
I know that 2 squares is an excepction to how distances are measured, because the area is square, but I haven't seen any guideline for areas of bigger sizes.
Hello, sorry for the horrible english:
I'm having some trouble with magic shields and Pathfinder.
While Pathfinder states that magic armor gets its enhancement bonus applied to the armor bonus to AC (thus not to skill check penalties, etc..)and that magic armor must be masterwork (improving its skill check penalty), it says nothing about shields.
What's more, there's no mention about shields in the Magic Item Creation Section.
Since I have played 3.5 before I'm assuming that the same rules that apply to magic armor must be used with magic shields, but in Pathfinder both armor and shields are two different concepts.
The way enhancement bonuses are used in Pathfinder is also a bit of a mistery to me. In 3.5 there was a section that said that enhancement bonuses improved a property of an item or creature, I can't find that rule in Pathfinder. Instead Pathfinder says that the enhancement bonus of an armor improves its armor bonus (instead of being a bonus to AC) and makes reference to various rules about what stacks. Again it doesn't say the same about shields. I'm sticking to 3.5 rules about it (i.e. a heavy shield +4 gives just a +6 shield bonus, and I don't want to hear from my players about stacking it with the shield spell or any other idea that makes the game even more complicated), but more clarifications would be ok.
