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For those who have been following / participating, please help out by adding your thoughts for this archetype at the following threads:
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I think that this is the step that most of us are probably interested in (and will likely have differences about). Until we have more participants, it’s beginning to look like that this archetype will be going toward a build of:
- BAB ¾
- HD 8
- Saves: Cleric/Druid/Paladin [Fort Good, Ref Poor, Will Good]
- Skill Ranks: 2 + INT modifier
- Caster Level Progression: Bard
- Primary Stat: INT
- Caster Type: Spontaneous
- Spells Gained: Learn/Known
If you are in the minority and you have not participated thus far, refer to those threads I mentioned above and throw in your two cents as to how you imagine this archetype. If your concept remains in the minority, it doesn’t mean that you need to exclude yourself from this point forward as there’s always room for flexibility / improvement that can be addressed through the class talent options.
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Let me start right off that I think it is going to be a no-brainer that this class should have simple and martial weapon proficiency, shield proficiency (except tower), and at least light armor proficiency.
I feel that this class should also have medium armor proficiency at first level as well, but some may suggest differently. Thoughts?
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One of the most important arsenal in this archetype’s offensive capabilities is to be able to channel magical energies through his chosen weapon which inflicts greater damage upon his opponent.
- Just about everyone should be familiar with the duskblade’s arcane channeling which allowed him to use a standard action to cast any touch (there may be a debate as to whether this is melee only or if it should include range. RAW is open to interpretation, but I believe the general consensus for RAI is melee touch only) spell he knows and deliver it through the weapon with a melee attack and not provoke an attack of opportunity – beginning at 3rd level. At 13th level, he’s able to do this as part of a full attack action and the spell affects each target hit in melee combat for that round and discharges at the end of the round. Also, beginning at 5th level, he is able to cast one spell each day as a swift action (i.e. Quicken) as long as the casting time is 1 standard action or less. As levels progress, the number of time the ability can be done each day increases. Then at 6th level, he is able to overcome SR with a successful melee attack by gaining a +2 bonus to his caster level check. The modifier increases as the class advances in level.
An issue involved with this class is that it is a 3.5 product that is not part of the d20/OGC and some people feel that his access to spells may have been overpowered and/or ill-suited. It is my opinion that the duskblade is the originator when it comes to providing an arcane base class for 3.x for those wanting their ‘gish fix’.
- In Adamant Entertainment’s Tome of Secrets, we were introduced to the Spellblade.
Spoiler:Anyone who has read it should be aware that this archetype does have bard spell level progression, has a HD 8 and full BAB, and 2 + INT modifier per level for skill points. He is also a INT-based spontaneous caster who has access to all SOR/WIZ spells and has to learn new spells for each level progression.
He is able to channel arcane energy into his melee weapon as early as 1st level, which essentially makes it a magic weapon for purposes of overcoming SR. Beginning at 4th level, he is able to infuse bonuses cumulatively by increasing his AB w/ a magical weapon so as long as the maximum does not exceed half of his class level. Beginning at 3rd level, he may infuse special abilities to his weapon as if it were magically enchanted (i.e. bane, keen, flaming, etc.).Issues with this class are the abundance of ‘dead’ levels and that there is a ceiling limitation for the attack bonus in its infusion whereas in some campaigns, a character of a certain level may be in possession of a magical weapon that is greater than the spellblade can infuse himself. Also there have been suggestions that he should be accessible to some type of bonus combat feats to increase his weapon training (attack and/or dmg bonuses). Finally, this build may have been considered a bit pre-mature as it was made available concurrently with the release of the PF core rule book and could have been more in spirit with the availability of options made to the core base classes.
- There are other builds floating around in the Paizo forums. One example I’d like to address is tejón’s, who put up an interesting variant which enabled his archetype to be able to use the Arcane Strike feat (Complete Warrior, p.96) at 1st level without meeting the prereqs for the minimum spell casting level (3rd level arcane) and BAB (+4). Whenever arcane strike is used to attack an opponent, his weapon can be imbued with special abilities throughout the class’ level progression based on his ‘wizard’ school focus.
Issues that could be addressed is that the Arcane Strike feat is not OGC and may need to be redone to make it more compatible with OGC. Some may be put off by the available of spell progression to be that of a Paladin and thus not so much available at 1st level like the duskblade (or the bard). In his defense, since this build does have a full BAB and HD 10, that places it fairly on the field comparable to its divine warrior counterpart. Finally, one could opine that the class is limited to only three schools (abjuration, evocation, and necromancy) and that the list should be expanded.
- Some folks would like to see this archetype form some sort of an arcane bond with his melee weapon similar to what the wizard is capable of doing with an object. To expand on this further, it could also be possible that his weapon has its own legacy of sorts that the archetype was able to forge based on craft ranks and the appropriate item creation feat.
- Finally, there’s the thought of adding some magical maneuvers similar to Tome of Battle: Book of the Nine Swords (aka BO9S). Louis Porter Jr. tried to do that in his Undefeatable Series for Fighters, but some people found it a bit ‘wonky’ or not suited for a fighter. Not having seen the product myself, some of the ‘feats’ might actually be suitable for maneuvers for this particular archetype.
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This is what I have compiled thus far with regard to the archetype’s melee weapon attack. This thread will be focused mainly on the melee weapon and spell channeling functions. [Future steps will come up with regard to feats and other class talents that should be made available]. Feel free to open up the discussions on primarily this topic and if there seems to be a building consensus (at least three or more) that agrees on something, I’ll log it in to my excel spreadsheet and then refer back to that when picking our favorite option(s).
I look forward to reading how you envision your archetype!
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Quick note: The Tome of Secrets has an errata HERE- the Spellblade uses 3/4 BAB.
...now back to lurking.
Quick note: The Tome of Secrets has an errata HERE- the Spellblade uses 3/4 BAB.
...now back to lurking.
Ah! Thanks for the errata update; I'll have to grab it when I'm home.