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Pool Strike (Su): The magus can expend 1 point from his
arcane pool as a standard action to charge his free hand
with energy. He can make a melee touch attack with that
hand as a free action as part of activating this ability. If
the touch attack hits, it releases the charge and deals 2d6
points of energy damage (acid, cold, electricity, or fire,
chosen when he spends the arcane pool point to activate
this ability). He can use this ability with the spellstrike
class feature. If he misses with this attack, he can hold the
charge for up to 1 minute before it dissipates. At 6th level,
and every three levels thereafter, the amount of damage
dealt by this attack increases by 1d6.

Pool Strike, Arcing (Su): The magus can expend 1
additional point from his arcane pool when using the
pool strike arcana. If his attack hits, the magus can target
a number of enemies within 15 feet equal to his Intelligence
modifier (minimum 0) with a ranged touch attack as a free
action. Those struck take the same energy damage as the
primary target of the pool strike, including increased
damage on a critical hit. The magus must be at least 12th
level and must have the pool strike magus arcana before
selecting this magus arcana.

I have been under the impression that pool strike ability for the Magus was pretty lack luster and I initially thought that the Arcing magus arcana would provide a small reason to make use of the pool strike ability but after reading it again I noticed that it uses a ranged attack role meaning that you have now provoked an attack of opportunity and paid an extra pool point for the privilege. I really want to like the idea of summing elemental energy that leaps from your blade to strike other enemies around you as you strike at a foe but honestly from a crunch point of view it seems like a poorly written arcana on top of a so so arcana. Making it a tough sell, but maybe I'm not seeing their true potential and wanted to see what others on the boards thought.

Pool Strike (Su): The magus can expend 1 point from his
arcane pool as a standard action to charge his free hand
with energy. He can make a melee touch attack with that
hand as a free action as part of activating this ability. If
the touch attack hits, it releases the charge and deals 2d6
points of energy damage (acid, cold, electricity, or fire,
chosen when he spends the arcane pool point to activate
this ability). He can use this ability with the spellstrike
class feature. If he misses with this attack, he can hold the
charge for up to 1 minute before it dissipates. At 6th level,
and every three levels thereafter, the amount of damage
dealt by this attack increases by 1d6.

Pool Strike, Arcing (Su): The magus can expend 1
additional point from his arcane pool when using the
pool strike arcana. If his attack hits, the magus can target
a number of enemies within 15 feet equal to his Intelligence
modifier (minimum 0) with a ranged touch attack as a free
action. Those struck take the same energy damage as the
primary target of the pool strike, including increased
damage on a critical hit. The magus must be at least 12th
level and must have the pool strike magus arcana before
selecting this magus arcana.

I have been under the impression that pool strike ability for the Magus was pretty lack luster and I initially thought that the Arcing magus arcana would provide a small reason to make use of the pool strike ability but after reading it again I noticed that it uses a ranged attack role meaning that you have now provoked an attack of opportunity and paid an extra pool point for the privilege. I really want to like the idea of summing elemental energy that leaps from your blade to strike other enemies around you as you strike at a foe but honestly from a crunch point of view it seems like a poorly written arcana on top of a so so arcana. Making it a tough sell, but maybe I'm not seeing their true potential and wanted to see what others on the boards thought.

On the chill touch spell it does not state that the charge can be held only that it effects x targets. On page 186 it states that Unless otherwise noted ranged touch attacks cannot be held until a later turn.

As I see it the spell would work fine as written for a touch attack since by their very nature they can be held but would act funky when altered to a ranged touch attack.

I could see a couple of possibilities. All ranged touches go off at once. First attack happens and the spell ends or I am just reading to much into this and it acts normal just at range.

I am currently playing a magus and want to get a feel for what others think before I even bother taking the feat and or using it with chill touch and similar spells.

I am recruiting for an ongoing Kingmaker campaign that has suffered some loses from attrition. It was originally run by Jörmungandr but I have taken on the DMing responsibilities when he found that he had over extended himself with other commitments. Currently in the party their are 2 players a Paladin and Ranger. They are at first level with only a few encounters under their belt. I am looking for at least 2 possibly 3 new players to round out the group. Use the following as guidelines for character creation.

* Only standard races from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook are allowed.
* Characters abilities will be based on a 20 point buy
* All classes from the Pathfinder core rules plus Advanced Player's Guide and Ultimate Magic as well as their alternatives from those books are allowed.
* No evil alignments
* Any feats from pathfinder materials are allowed however if I do not have the source you will have to provide a precise explanation of the feat and its source so I may purchase it if need be.
* 2 starting traits one of which must be from the Kingmaker's Player's Guide.
* Maximum hit points at 1st level.
* Characters will start with average gold for their class.

If their are any other questions concerning character creation by all means ask and I will try to answer
the links to the OOC thread is here
and the In Character link is here