Role: Iron mages are warriors first and foremost, but they use magic to supplement their attacks and bolster defenses. Though individual specialties might vary, any iron mage is a stalwart ally in battle.
Starting Gold: As fighter (5d6x10).
Starting Age: As wizard.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die / BAB: d10 / Full
Good Saves: Fortitude, Will
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (dungeoneering) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Swim (Str)
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier
Spell progression as Paladin/Ranger.
1st: Arcane initiate, prestidigitation, school focus, witching 1
2nd: Warding 1
3rd: School power
4th: Read magic, weapon component
5th: Warding 2, witching 2
6th: Spell fluency
7th: School power
8th: Warding 3
9th: Spell fluency
10th: Witching 3
11th: School power, warding 4
12th: Spell fluency
13th: Greater warding
14th: Warding 5
15th: Spell fluency, witching 4
16th:
17th: Warding 6
18th: Spell fluency
19th: Greater witching
20th: High arcana, warding 7, witching 5
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Iron mages are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with light and medium armor and shields (except tower shields). An iron mage does not incur the normal arcane spell failure chance from wearing light or medium armor, or from wearing a shield. Like any other arcane spellcaster, an iron mage wearing heavy armor incurs a chance of spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass iron mage still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Arcane Initiate: Though they progress slowly and never master high-level spells due to their pursuit of specialized techniques, iron mages study the same craft as wizards. An iron mage draws his spells from the sorcerer/wizard list and is considered to have full access to that list, granting him the ability to use spell completion and spell trigger items containing sorcerer/wizard spells of any level.
Prestidigitation (Sp): An iron mage with an Intelligence score of at least 10 can use prestidigitation, the neophyte wizard's practice spell, at will. Unlike most spell-like abilities, the spell's normal components are required, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use this ability in heavy armor.
School Focus: Every iron mage selects a primary school of arcane magic from which he draws the majority of his power. He may choose Abjuration, Evocation, Necromancy or Transmutation, and gains the benefits of the Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats when casting iron mage spells from that school. When casting a spell from his school of focus, an iron mage gains a +3 bonus to his caster level (effectively causing his caster level to become equal to his iron mage level for spells of that school). At 3rd, 7th and 11th levels the iron mage gains additional powers from his school of focus.
Witching (Su): At 1st level, an iron mage gains Arcane Strike as a bonus feat. The extra damage this feat generates is equal to the iron mage's witching rank, initially 1, instead of being based on his caster level. In addition to its normal effect, the iron mage's Arcane Strike imbues his weapon with an effect determined by his school of focus. For every 5 levels he attains, the iron mage gains another rank of witching.
Warding (Su): A 2nd level iron mage learns to weave magic into potent defenses. As a free action, he can raise a warding of the first rank which lasts for one round, gaining an effect depending on his school of focus. At 5th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, the iron mage's warding improves by one rank, increasing its effects; see the individual school descriptions for details. At 2nd level he can use this ability for a number of rounds per day equal to 6 + his Intelligence modifier. For each level he gains after 2nd, the iron mage can raise his warding for 2 additional rounds.
Read magic (Sp): At 4th level, an iron mage with an Intelligence score of at least 10 can use read magic at will. Unlike most spell-like abilities, the spell's normal components are required, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use this ability in heavy armor.
Spells: Beginning at 4th level, an iron mage gains the ability to cast a small number of arcane spells which are drawn from the sorcerer/wizard spell list. An iron mage must choose and prepare his spells in advance.
To learn, prepare or cast a spell, the iron mage must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an iron mage's spell is 10 + the spell level + the iron mage's Intelligence modifier.
Like other spellcasters, an iron mage can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on (see Table: Paladin). In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score. When (see Table: Paladin) indicates that the iron mage gets 0 spells per day of a given spell level, he gains only the bonus spells he would be entitled to based on his Intelligence score for that spell level.
An iron mage may know any number of spells. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of sleep and spending 1 hour studying his spellbook. While studying, the iron mage decides which spells to prepare.
Through 3rd level, an iron mage has no caster level. At 4th level and higher, his caster level is equal to his iron mage level – 3.
Spellbooks: An iron mage must study his spellbook each day to prepare his spells. He cannot prepare any spell not recorded in his spellbook. A character with levels in both iron mage and wizard can use a single spellbook, and does not need to keep track of which class a recorded spell belongs to.
Upon gaining 4th level the iron mage obtains a spellbook containing one 1st level spell from his focus school, and an additional number of 1st level spells equal to his Intelligence bonus, which can be of any school. At each new iron mage level, he gains one new spell of any spell level that he can cast (based on his new iron mage level) for his spellbook. At any time, an iron mage can also add spells found in other spellbooks to his own.
Weapon Component: The iron mage carefully refines his martial techniques in tandem with spellcasting, working them into a single cohesive discipline. When wielding a melee weapon with which he is proficient, he gains the benefit of the Eschew Materials feat and can use the weapon in place of any non-costly focus component. Additionally, he can perform somatic components using the weapon as if it were a free hand.
Spell fluency: To more effectively utilize them in combat, an iron mage practices certain spells until casting them is second nature. At 6th level, he chooses one spell he knows. From that point on, he can prepare this spell without referring to a spellbook and does not provoke attacks of opportunity when casting it. When cast, this spell is treated as one level higher for all purposes. Finally, if he prepares it with metamagic other than Heighten Spell, the iron mage subtracts 1 from the final level of the spell slot required to cast the modified spell. (This benefit does not apply to metamagic which doesn't increase the spell's effective level.) He gains this benefit again at 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th levels.
Greater Warding (Su): A 13th level iron mage gains an additional benefit from his warding, as dictated by his school of focus.
Greater Witching (Su): At 19th level, the iron mage can perform a greater witching attack as a standard action. He makes a single attack which is imbued with Arcane Strike and his witching effect, plus an additional effect depending on his school of focus.
High arcana: At 20th level the iron mage's warding and witching become innate. His warding no longer has limited rounds of usage and is always active, except when suppressed by anti-magic. He gains the benefit of Arcane Strike, including his witching effect, on every weapon attack without needing to spend a swift action to activate it.
Abjuration
Your specialize in hindering the enemy's offense, both magical and physical.
Witching: For one round, the target suffers a -1 per rank penalty to attack rolls, to CMB, and to the DC of any saving throws generated by its spells or abilities. Additionally, your weapon overcomes any damage reduction based on alignment.
Greater Witching: A creature damaged by your attack finds itself pacified for one round. When so affected, it treats all other creatures as if they were protected by the sanctuary spell. The Will saving throw DC to overcome this protection is equal to 12 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier.
Warding: You gain a +1 per rank deflection bonus to AC.
Greater Warding: While your warding is active, you gain spell resistance equal to your iron mage level + 12.
School powers:
- Dampening Field (Su): At 3rd level, as a standard action, you can create a 10-foot-radius field of protective magic centered on you that lasts for five rounds. Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire or sonic; all creatures in the area gain resist energy 5 against that energy type. For every 4 iron mage levels you possess, the resisted amount increases by 5. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- Unfettered (Su): Beginning at 7th level, as a swift action, you can touch a creature to bestow the benefits of the freedom of movement spell for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. You can use this ability once per day for every 4 iron mage levels you possess.
- Greater Dispel Magic (Sp): You can use greater dispel magic as a spell-like ability once per day at 11th level, and twice per day at 18th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. This is considered an abjuration spell, meaning you use your full iron mage level as your caster level. Unlike most spell-like abilities, the spell's normal components are required, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use this ability in heavy armor.
Evocation
Yours is the magic of raw energy and destruction, but also of controlled force.
Witching: You deal +1d4 force damage per rank. Additionally, your weapon is considered to have the ghost touch enhancement.
Greater Witching: A wave of force follows your weapon, brutally impacting against any creature struck. This attack doubles your normal witching bonus (including the bonus damage from Arcane Strike), and grants you a free bull rush against the target with a circumstance bonus equal to your witching rank. If your bull rush is successful the subject flies away from you and falls prone. The target moves the full distance indicated by your bull rush result unless an obstacle prevents it, in which case it falls in the nearest square adjacent to that obstacle, and both your target and the obstacle take 1d6 points of damage. Unlike a normal bull rush, you cannot follow your target.
Warding: A floating disk of force grants you a shield bonus to AC equal to 1 + 1 per rank. This force shield also blocks all damage from magic missiles.
Greater Warding: Whenever you take damage from a physical attack while your warding is active, the impact triggers a burst of force which streaks back to the attacker, dealing 1d4 damage per warding rank.
School powers:
- Force Missile (Su): At 3rd level, as a standard action, you can release a force missile that automatically strikes a foe, as magic missile. The force missile deals 1d4 damage + 1 for every 2 iron mage levels you possess. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- Spell channeling (Su): Beginning at 7th level, as a move action, you can imbue your weapon with any evocation spell you have prepared. The spell is expended as if cast. The next successful attack made with that weapon delivers the spell's effects to the creature struck, allowing no saving throw or spell resistance. Regardless of the spell's normal targets or area of effect, only the creature struck is affected. If a successful attack is not made with that weapon within a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level, the imbued spell is lost. You can use this ability once per day for every 4 iron mage levels you possess.
- Forceful Hand (Sp): You can use forceful hand as a spell-like ability once per day at 11th level, and twice per day at 18th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. This is considered an evocation spell, meaning you use your full iron mage level as your caster level. Unlike most spell-like abilities, the spell's normal components are required, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use this ability in heavy armor.
Necromancy
You weave dire curses to confound your foes, and fortify your own body with negative energy.
Witching: The target suffers a -1 per rank penalty to AC, CMD and saving throws for 1 round. Additionally, your weapon overcomes any damage reduction based on the type of damage dealt.
Greater Witching: A creature damaged by your attack suffers a severe curse of unluck for one round. Any time the creature makes an ability check, attack roll, saving throw, or skill check, it must roll twice and take the worse result.
Warding: You gain DR 1/- per rank.
Greater Warding: During any round in which your warding is active, you can choose to radiate an aura of necromantic energy as a free action which causes all creatures within 30 feet to become shaken for one round unless they succeed on a Will saving throw with a DC equal to 12 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier. You can exclude a number of creatures equal to your warding rank from this effect, and you are immune to your own fear aura.
School powers:
- Grave Touch (Su): At 3rd level, you can make a melee touch attack as a standard action that causes a living creature to become shaken for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. If you touch a shaken creature with this ability, it becomes frightened for 1 round if it has fewer Hit Dice than your iron mage level. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- False Flesh (Su): Beginning at 7th level, as an immediate action, you can gain temporary hit points equal to twice your iron mage level. This ability can be activated in time to absorb the damage from an incoming attack or spell. These temporary hit points vanish at the beginning of your next turn. You can use this ability once per day for every 4 iron mage levels you possess.
- Eyebite (Sp): You can use eyebite as a spell-like ability once per day at 11th level, and twice per day at 18th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. You can activate Arcane Strike in the same round as you spend a swift action to target a foe with eyebite. This is considered a necromancy spell, meaning you use your full iron mage level as your caster level, and it gains a +2 bonus to its save DC from the Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats. (The total save DC is therefore 18 + your Intelligence modifier.) Unlike most spell-like abilities, the spell's normal components are required, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use this ability in heavy armor.
Transmutation
Your subtle art manipulates time and matter, providing tactical advantages.
Witching: All of the target's movement speeds are reduced by 5 feet + 5 feet per rank, to a minimum of 5 feet, for one round. Additionally, your weapon overcomes any damage reduction based on special materials.
Greater Witching: Your weapon momentarily passes through parallel planes as you attack, bypassing physical defenses. You ignore any armor, natural armor or shield bonuses to your target's AC, unless those bonuses arise from force effects. Critical hits threatened by this attack are automatically confirmed. On a successful hit, you cause the target to become slowed for one round (as the slow spell). This effect is applied after the speed reduction from your witching effect, and can reduce a creature's movement speed to 0.
Warding: You gain an enhancement bonus to natural armor equal to 1 + 1 per rank.
Greater Warding: Your natural reach increases by 5 feet and you cannot be flanked.
School powers:
- Expedience (Su): At 3rd level, as a free action, you can increase all of your base movement speeds by 5 feet per 2 iron mage levels you possess. This adjustment is treated as an enhancement bonus, and lasts for 1 round. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- Distortion (Su): Beginning at 7th level, once per day as a move action, you can change the size of yourself or one creature within 30 feet of you for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. You may increase or decrease the target's size by up to two categories. An unwilling creature is entitled to a Fortitude saving throw, DC = 12 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier. If you choose to enlarge the target and insufficient room is available for the desired growth, the creature attains the maximum possible size and may make a Strength check (using its increased Strength) to burst any enclosures in the process. If it fails, it is constrained without harm by the materials enclosing it. You can use this ability once per day for every 4 iron mage levels you possess.
- Mage's Lucubration (Sp): You can use mage's lucubration as a spell-like ability once per day at 11th level, and twice per day at 18th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. This is considered a transmutation spell, meaning you use your full iron mage level as your caster level. Unlike most spell-like abilities, the spell's normal components are required, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use this ability in heavy armor.
Two brief thought - Why Iron Mage? What if he wields a weapon that is not iron or his armor is made out of mithral? Semantics, I know.
Instead of addressing Arcane Strike as a free feat, come up with it as an ability with a new name and consider it a class option instead of a feat so you're not drawing from a product that isn't OGL and (potentially) OOP.
Instead of addressing Arcane Strike as a free feat, come up with it as an ability with a new name and consider it a class option instead of a feat so you're not drawing from a product that isn't OGL and (potentially) OOP.
You might want to check the Pathfinder RPG Core Rules. ;)
It's a totally different feat, too. If you're reading this with the CW version in your head, it probably seems a little OP...
And "iron mage" because it sounds cool! I've always thought class names should be what the peasants call you, not necessarily what you call yourself.
I will be using this version in my upcoming game. Its a couple weeks away because I am running a playtest one off for not. But I really like it.
Just glancing through, this appears to be interesting and well-done. I'm sure the detail analysts will be along with their fine-toothed combs later, but it certainly appears that you've put a lot of thought into it.
Of course, you did say it was the fourth-draft, so maybe the analysts have already beaten the concept about the head and shoulders a few times. ;)
You might want to check the Pathfinder RPG Core Rules. ;)
It's a totally different feat, too. If you're reading this with the CW version in your head, it probably seems a little OP...
*facepalms*
Yes, I did have the CW version stuck in my head. I retract my original remark, then. Thanks!
Minor tweak: to mitigate that last remaining dead level, move the second usage per day of the 11th level school powers down to 16th level. Combined with bumps to two saves, improved 3rd level power and extra use per day of the 7th level power, that should make it a pretty good level.
Just a question, but with spell fluency, "When cast, this spell is treated as one level higher for all purposes." Does this include the spell slot it uses? Seems like more of a penalty then a boon.
Just a question, but with spell fluency, "When cast, this spell is treated as one level higher for all purposes." Does this include the spell slot it uses? Seems like more of a penalty then a boon.
That's not how i understand it. I look at it like it stays at the same spell slot, but treated as a +1 with regard to caster level and everything else like you got a +1 stat bump.
I have to say this seems like a reasonable attempt at a balanced Gish class. Nice work putting it together tejon.
That said I do have a few concerns/questions (followed by a few opinions at the bottom).
Should the abjuration witching include 'per rank' someplace in it's description like the necromancy witching does?
Should the Arcane Strike ability be changed from 'the iron mage's Arcane Strike imbues his weapon' to 'the iron mage's Arcane Strike imbues his weapons'? This is how the feat is written and implies that one Arcane Strike imbues as many weapons as you're using (for two-weapon fighting and what not). I'm not sure if this contradiction is intentional or not. If it is it wouldn't hurt to specifically mention that.
Do the witching abilities stack? In other words can an Ironmage with the Abjuration or Necromancy witching and multiple attacks drop his enemies relevant abilities on each attack? -9 to AC and Saves even for one round is a pretty hefty penalty and I don't see it being to uncommon of an occurrence for a two-weapon fighting Iron Mage at level 10. As more attacks set in from BAB and feats this gets even worse, especially for a class that has access to haste (-15 to AC and Saves pretty easily at level 11!!!)
On that same note can two Ironmage's stack their witchings on a single target (the penalty is untyped so unless otherwise stated this would work)? As above this can lead to some very high penalties at moderate levels.
Does the evocation witching really need to give a free ghost touch enchant to every fighter willing to take a dip and sacrifice his swift actions? Could this ability work just as well if the force damage always struck incorporeal creatures even if the rest of the weapon damage missed?
Questions aside and moving on to opinion. I think changing the wardings to a swift or immediate action would add to rather then take away from the class. The reason for this is because it would force the player to make tactical decisions every round rather then burning their swift action solely on arcane strikes and getting to use wardings with free actions. Maybe even buff the wardings a bit to compensate because as they stand they're pretty boring and not much more really mechanically then a toned down, defensive, barbarian rage.
The greater wardings are pretty good though for the most part. I think the Evocation greater warding could just as well be the regular warding (it's pretty underpowered for a 13th level ability) and the transmutation and abjuration wardings are boring (but balanced for 13th level anyway).
"When cast, this spell is treated as one level higher for all purposes." Does this include the spell slot it uses?
The spell level increase is when cast, not when prepared. It's a free one-point Heighten, basically.
Should the abjuration witching include 'per rank' someplace in it's description like the necromancy witching does?
Err... it does, and in the exact same place. :)
Should the Arcane Strike ability be changed from 'the iron mage's Arcane Strike imbues his weapon' to 'the iron mage's Arcane Strike imbues his weapons'? This is how the feat is written and implies that one Arcane Strike imbues as many weapons as you're using (for two-weapon fighting and what not).
Good catch... yes, it's intended to affect all held weapons as normal for the feat.
Do the witching abilities stack? In other words can an Ironmage with the Abjuration or Necromancy witching and multiple attacks drop his enemies relevant abilities on each attack?
Magical effects from the same source never stack unless otherwise specified. The only witching that benefits from hitting the same target more than once is Evocation.
On that same note can two Ironmage's stack their witchings on a single target (the penalty is untyped so unless otherwise stated this would work)?
Again, no: they come from the same source, a supernatural class feature called "witching." It's the same as two hexblades trying to curse the same target, or for a core example, two wizards casting ray of enfeeblement. Two iron magi of different specializations could double-debuff a single target because they're applying penalties to different things, though: a necromancer and a transmuter could team up to make an enemy both slow and squishy.
Does the evocation witching really need to give a free ghost touch enchant to every fighter willing to take a dip and sacrifice his swift actions? Could this ability work just as well if the force damage always struck incorporeal creatures even if the rest of the weapon damage missed?
Hum. That's an interesting concern, and I'll have to think about it. In the first draft, witching showed up at second level so that wasn't such an issue. Obviously, it's a counterpart to the DR-overcoming effects the other classes get, and I'm not sure I like the idea of applying only the force damage... my visualization of it has been a sheath of force around your blade, which would seem to reasonably carry all the same impact as the actual weapon (being shaped exactly like it).
My initial hunch is that it's not such a big issue. Certainly no bigger than the option of taking one level of barbarian or travel-domain cleric (or both) for +10' movement. Even a fighter loses quite a bit by multiclassing in PF. I'd be interested to hear some other opinions on this, though.
I think changing the wardings to a swift or immediate action would add to rather then take away from the class. The reason for this is because it would force the player to make tactical decisions every round rather then burning their swift action solely on arcane strikes and getting to use wardings with free actions.
The inability to be a threat and be well-protected at the same time would cripple the class. The tactical considerations are that you have limited rounds per day of warding, and that witching eats your swift action. Hell, taking both of these restrictions away is the capstone, and I think it's a pretty good one!
That said, I could see the argument for cutting your daily warding rounds down to just level + Int mod. Dunno... anyone have personal experience on how often a high-level barbarian runs out of rage?
The greater wardings are pretty good though for the most part. I think the Evocation greater warding could just as well be the regular warding (it's pretty underpowered for a 13th level ability) and the transmutation and abjuration wardings are boring (but balanced for 13th level anyway).
Everyone has different opinions on which of the greater wardings are strong and which are weak, which makes me think I should wait for playtesting results to make any changes there. :)
Thanks for all that feedback, by the way. Even if I wind up making the same decision on a given point, having to think about it again is a good thing!
Hmm... I read abjuration twice and don't know how I missed it both times.
Where's the magical abilities from the same source never stack rule? I see bonuses of the same type don't stack and spells don't stack with themselves but that's spells and bonuses, not supernatural abilities.
Everything else was opinion after all so fair enough :)
I do really like the design overall and that's coming from someone who's very skeptical about gishes. If I get the chance to I'll playtest it and give you some feedback.
Where's the magical abilities from the same source never stack rule? I see bonuses of the same type don't stack and spells don't stack with themselves but that's spells and bonuses, not supernatural abilities.
While the individual stacking categories' rules texts all refer only to spells, the header is "Combining Magical Effects" and the lead-in paragraph makes it clear that the sub-rules apply to "spells and magical effects." Chopping it down to just "spells" for the category listings was undoubtedly a word count optimization.
Note that penalties in general no longer have types at all. Would you allow two applications of dust of appearance to stack for a -60 penalty to Stealth checks? Or again, two hexblade curses? It's the same question. Penalty stacking is called out as specifically allowed for some abilities, but I can't think of any examples where it's specifically disallowed; my interpretation of both the stacking rules and the published examples is that the default is to disallow it.
That said: yeah, it'd be nice to have official clarification on this one. The question is not obviously answered in the primary text.
Meanwhile: I'm still curious whether anyone can tell me, from actual experience, at what point a barbarians (or bard's) rounds per day cease being a functional limitation. Haven't played either to high level since that mechanic was implemented.
Thanks for that interpretation. Looking over several abilities in the Bestiary I'm inclined to agree that the rules are written using that assumption.
Playtest says: no way in hell should warding's rounds per day be reduced; lower levels would just suck. But there might as well be something to do with the excess at high levels, and I can fill that last dead level while I'm at it...
Sudden Warding (Su): At 16th level the iron mage can activate his warding as an immediate action, fast enough to guard against an incoming attack. This ability can be used even when flat-footed, but not during a surprise round in which the iron mage does not act. Sudden warding lasts only until the beginning of the iron mage's next turn, and counts as using 4 rounds of warding.
An immediate action or a swift action? Those two closely resemble each other that it's hard to recall from memory the nuances between the two action types...
I'm running a dwarven iron mage with transmutation focus in a friends CotCT campaign. We hit 3rd level at the end of last session, so I get to play with sudden bursts of speed starting next session. No spells yet.
So far: the class feels pretty solid mechanically. I've had a run of poor attack rolls, so the times when my witching would have been really useful, it never actually got applied... but it would have been really useful. ;) That said, I worry that it's not nearly as universally applicable as the other schools' effects. Bonus to hit would be school-appropriate might not step on the necromancer's toes too much, but is it too strong? Necro only gets that bonus after he hit legitimately in the previous round; but then, he also grants it to all his allies.
2nd level was a little bit dry; I think the wardings all need some secondary utility, preferably something that can be used out of combat. A couple of built-in rage powers, basically. Either that or the 3rd level school feature needs to come down to 2nd, with something else filling the gap.
Eagerly looking forward to that 3rd-level power, though. That's gonna be all sorts of fun. Curious whether I'd think the same of all three schools... evocation looks the least interesting to me, followed by abjuration. Necromancy's solid, I think.
Edit: Okay, I think I know what I'm going to do... the 3rd level school powers will move to 2nd level. They will all be free actions once per round, but rather than having their own usage allotment they will consume one round of warding. At 3rd level, the class gains Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat, using full class level in place of caster level to meet enhancement bonus prerequisites.
Still torn over transmutation's witching. An untyped bonus to attack just seems too good (notably, it's a hair above fighter weapon training), but I can't think of anything else appropriate. :P
Edit 2: Ahh crap, High Arcana nukes the "use warding rounds to power other abilities" idea, doesn't it. Hum. Maybe High Arcana should go away. A final point to both warding and witching is a pretty solid capstone in the first place.
Okay... after many hours of math, transmutation definitely needs to add witching to attack rolls. Iron mages have a minor case of MAD, and without that bonus the transmuter can't keep up with a barbarian, never mind a fighter.
My test was comparing fairly well optimized builds to the expected stats of CR-appropriate enemies per monster creation rules, and creating a win/loss ratio based on average damage per round in both directions. I did this at levels 1, 5 and 10; I would have done 15 except I should have been in bed four hours ago. ;)
Fighter won every time, weapon training and fighter-only feats are just that damn good. Closest contender was the abjurer, due to sheer longevity. (And I like that. Sucks at hurting stuff, but really good at making everyone survive.) After accounting for various class features, the rest were all pretty well matched. Necromancer was a hair behind in solo comparison, but he's such a benefit to the rest of the party that I think it works out.
- 3rd level abilities moved up to 2nd level. They are all now free actions once per round, and consume a round of warding rather than having their own uses per day. Most were adjusted slightly to reflect this change (see below).
- Craft Magic Arms and Armor added at 3rd level, using full iron mage level to meet prerequisites for enhancement bonuses.
- Evocation's force missile no longer does the base 1d4, only fixed 1/2 level damage.
- Abjuration's dampening field reduced to 1-round duration.
- Necromancy's grave touch renamed to stifling touch, now makes target fatigued instead of shaken.
- Transmutation's witching now adds rank to attack rolls.
- Transmutation's warding back down to 1 per rank, no extra +1.
- Transmutation's distortion can only adjust by one size category, not two.
Unfortunately, I'm a bit lazy, and have many posts to make. So I won't be giving a review really of this class. Especially since it seems you have all the posts you need, and I doubt that any aid I could offer would be minimal if existent at all.
Aside from that, it seems very well made/put together and all that.
Good work.