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: School power, warding 1
3rd: Arcane mark, Craft Magic Arms and Armor
4th: Arcane conversion, 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: Greater witching
17th: Warding 6
18th: Spell fluency
19th: School power
20th: 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 pursue highly specialized techniques which slow their mastery of spellcasting, 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.
Through focused study, an iron mage learns a number of spells by rote, treating them as spell-like abilities. Unlike most spell-like abilities, all such abilities granted by the iron mage class require the spell's normal components, and the iron mage suffers a chance of failure if he attempts to use these abilities in heavy armor.
Prestidigitation (Sp): An iron mage with an Intelligence score of at least 10 can use prestidigitation, the neophyte wizard's practice spell, at will.
School Focus: Every iron mage selects a primary school of arcane magic from which he draws the majority of his power. This choice is made at 1st level, and cannot be changed. He may choose Abjuration, Evocation, Necromancy or Transmutation, and his choice determines the effects of his witching and warding abilities. At 2nd, 7th, 11th and 19th levels the iron mage gains additional powers from his school of focus.
When casting a spell from his school of focus, the iron mage gains a +3 bonus to his caster level (see spells, below) and also gains the benefits of the Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats, adding +2 to the DC of saving throws against such spells. These benefits also apply to spell-like abilities granted as iron mage school powers, but do not apply to spells or spell-like abilities not gained from the iron mage class.
Witching (Su): An iron mage imbues his weapons with magic, as if using the Arcane Strike feat. The damage bonus granted by this ability is equal to his witching rank, initially 1 and increasing by 1 every 5 iron mage levels. He does not need to spend the swift action required by Arcane Strike, instead gaining the benefit on every attack he makes.
In addition to this passive effect, the iron mage can further increase the potency of his attacks certain number of times each day, causing his weapons to gain a special enhancement determined by his school of focus. This is a free action, and the effect persists for one round. At 1st level an iron mage can activate his witching for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + his Intelligence modifier. At each level after 1st, he can activate his witching for 2 additional rounds per day. The total number of rounds of witching per day are renewed after resting for 8 hours, although these hours do not need to be consecutive.
Whether they arise from one iron mage or several, witching effects with a duration are treated as multiple applications of the same spell for the purpose of determining how and whether they stack.
Warding (Su): A 2nd level iron mage learns to weave magic into potent defenses. As long as he is conscious, he gains the rank 1 warding benefit from his school of focus. At 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter, his warding improves by one rank. The iron mage may suppress or resume his warding as a free action.
Arcane Mark (Sp): A 3rd level iron mage with an Intelligence score of at least 10 can use arcane mark at will.
Craft Magic Arms and Armor: Iron mages gain Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat at 3rd level, ignoring the normal caster level prerequisite. For the purpose of satisfying prerequisites when crafting enhancement bonuses to armor and weapons, iron mage level can be used in place of caster level.
Arcane conversion (Su): As a free action, an iron mage can sacrifice a memorized spell to activate his witching, adding the sacrificed spell's level to his witching rank for one round. Using this ability does not count against the iron mage's normal rounds per day of witching. The sacrificed spell is expended as if it had been cast.
Read magic (Sp): At 4th level, an iron mage with an Intelligence score of at least 10 can use read magic at will.
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. The +3 bonus to caster level granted by the iron mage's school focus effectively makes his caster level equal to his class level for spells of that school.
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. He may suppress or resume this effect as a free action.
Greater Witching (Su): At 16th level, if an iron mage activates his witching and uses the standard attack action, he performs a greater witching which causes additional effects depending on his school of focus.
Abjuration
Your specialize in hindering the enemy's offense, both magical and physical.
Witching: Creatures damaged by your attacks suffer a penalty equal to your witching rank to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, CMB, and the DC of any saving throws caused by their spells or abilities. This penalty lasts for one round. Additionally, your weapons count as all alignments for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
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 deflection bonus to AC equal to your warding rank.
Greater Warding: You gain spell resistance equal to your iron mage level + 12.
School powers:
- Dampening Field (Su): At 2nd level, as a swift action, you can emanate a 10-foot-radius zone of protective magic that lasts for 1 round. Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire or sonic; all creatures in the area gain resist energy 5 against that energy type. For every 2 additional iron mage levels you gain, the amount resisted increases by 5. Using this ability counts as using 1 round of witching.
- 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, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. You can use this ability twice per day at 15th level, and three times per day at 19th level.
- Prismatic Sphere (Sp): You can use prismatic sphere as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 19.
Evocation
Yours is the magic of raw energy and destruction, but also of controlled force.
Witching: Your weapons deal an extra 1d4 force damage per witching rank, and are considered to have the ghost touch enhancement.
Greater Witching: A wave of force follows your weapon, brutally impacting against any creature struck. This attack gains double your normal bonus damage from witching and 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 target flies away from you and falls prone. Unlike a normal bull rush, you cannot follow your target. 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.
Warding: A floating disk of force grants you a shield bonus to AC equal to your warding rank. This force shield also blocks all damage from magic missiles.
Greater Warding: Whenever you take damage from a physical attack, the impact triggers a burst of force which streaks back to the attacker, dealing damage equal to your warding rank. Any effect which absorbs or prevents damage from magic missile also affects your greater warding.
School powers:
- Force Bolt (Su): At 2nd level, as a swift action, you can unleash a force bolt that automatically strikes a foe within 120 feet. The force bolt deals damage equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. Any effect which absorbs or prevents damage from magic missile also affects the force bolt. Using this ability counts as using 1 round of witching.
- Spell channeling (Su): Beginning at 7th level, as a move action, you can imbue a weapon you are wielding with any evocation spell you have prepared which does not have a costly material or focus component. 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 or object struck is affected. If there is no meaningful way for the spell to affect the target, it is harmlessly discharged. 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, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. You can use this ability twice per day at 15th level, and three times per day at 19th level.
- Meteor Swarm (Sp): You can use meteor swarm as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 19.
Necromancy
You weave dire curses to confound your foes, and fortify your own body with negative energy.
Witching: Creatures damaged by your attacks suffer a penalty equal to your witching rank to AC, CMD and saving throws. This penalty takes effect immediately after your current turn ends, and lasts for one round. Additionally, your weapons count as piercing, slashing and bludgeoning for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction.
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 X/—, where X is your warding rank.
Greater Warding: You radiate a frightful aura of necromantic energy. Opponents within 30 feet must succeed on a Will saving throw with DC equal to 12 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier, or become shaken for a number of rounds equal to your warding rank. Creatures whose hit dice total no more than 1/2 your iron mage level are always shaken by your aura, and become frightened on a failed save. A creature which successfully saves against your fear aura automatically succeeds any further saving throws against it for 24 hours.
School powers:
- Stifling Touch (Su): At 2nd level, as a swift action, you can attempt a melee touch attack which causes the target to become fatigued for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. Using this ability counts as using 1 round of witching.
- 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, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. You can use this ability twice per day at 15th level, and three times per day at 19th level.
- Energy Drain (Sp): You can use energy drain as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 19.
Transmutation
Your subtle art manipulates time and matter, providing tactical advantages.
Witching: Creatures damaged by your attacks suffer a penalty to all of its movement speeds equal to 10 feet per witching rank you possess. This penalty lasts for one round, and cannot reduce a creature's movement to less than 5 feet. Additionally, you gain a bonus to attack rolls equal to your witching rank, and your weapons overcome any damage reduction which would be overcome by special materials (such as cold iron, silver or adamantine).
Greater Witching: A creature damaged by your attack becomes slowed for one round (as the slow spell). Your witching effect can reduce this creature's speed to 0.
Warding: You gain an enhancement bonus to natural armor equal to your warding rank.
Greater Warding: Your natural reach increases by 5 feet and you cannot be flanked.
School powers:
- Expedience (Su): At 2nd level, as a swift action, you can increase all of your 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. Using this ability counts as using 1 round of witching.
- Distortion (Su): Beginning at 7th level, as a move action, you can change the size of yourself or one creature within 30 feet of you, increasing or decreasing it by one size category. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. An unwilling creature is entitled to a Fortitude saving throw, DC = 12 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier. Except as noted above, this ability is equivalent to enlarge person or reduce person and does not stack with similar effects. You can use this ability once per day for every 4 iron mage levels you possess.
- Disintegrate (Sp): You can use disintegrate as a spell-like ability once per day at 11th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 16. You can use this ability twice per day at 15th level, and three times per day at 19th level.
- Etherealness (Sp): You can use etherealness as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level, so long as you have an Intelligence score of at least 19.
I like the detail of the 19 intelligence requirement for the capstone power. A very adroit way to prevent Int being used as a dump stat. ;)
Ugh, I still disagree. The abilities are neat, but the int requirements are obnoxious. With any even remotely effective stat build for combat (their primary focus), the only way an iron mage could use those abilities is while wearing a headband of intellect. Certainly they can afford such a thing by level 15, but can you think of *any* other core class abilities that are regularly unusable by characters who aren't equipped with magical items?
The primary spellcasting classes have those sorts of limitations on their magic, but they're supposed to pile all their resources into their primary stat. It's their main weapon, and doesn't have to compete with str or dex like it does for a primary combat class (barring wacky stuff like the melee sorcerer, etc., which we can hopefully agree is decisively suboptimal).
The two classes you want to compare this to are rangers and paladins, since they share the model of slow spellcasting and full BAB.
For their part, paladins have a whole host of abilities that make use of charisma. Smite, channel, and divine grace are all effective controls on paladin power because they provide ample reason for them to invest in cha in lieu of their physical ability scores *at all levels*.
Rangers, on the other hand, have literally no reason to invest in wisdom beyond the minimum score of 14. They need to cast their spells, but all the other benefits of a high wisdom are incidental to the class.
Now, it's obvious to me that of the two, rangers are a far closer likeness to the iron mage. Until level 11, the iron mage only needs an intelligence of 12, and without the the SLAs, they could conclude their career with an int of 14. Aside from two small abilities, the IM has almost no special incentive to raise his int.
Think about what you're trying to accomplish here, and whether it actually makes sense, or is just inconvenient to character progression. How many rangers *actually* dump wisdom as a stat, and make up for it with a headband? And if there's a few who do so and are even more terrible at spellcasting, who cares?
If you want to provide incentives for higher int, embed them in the class early as per paladin, and don't give them minimum ability thresholds. That's a dynamic for feats, not class abilities, and magic items should make class features better, not possible.
The difference is in the type of spells they cast. The wizard's spell list is full of offensive magic, and that means saving throws. Every school also has granted powers which allow saves. I've gone to great lengths to give this class the tools to have meaningfully difficult saving throws on their offensive abilities, assuming a reasonable investment in Intelligence (i.e., 14 + headband). Yeah, it's not spelled out in the class text like Smite, but it's a tangible benefit of pumping Intelligence, starting at 4th level. And right from 1st, your witching uses per day are also Intelligence-based. That becomes less important later as your level-based uses increase... but at the same time, you start getting some really good spells. Bonus spells are also more valuable to the iron mage than to either the paladin or the ranger, both because of those higher saving throws and also because of Arcane Conversion.
Requiring a minimum Intelligence score for spell-like abilities is not uncommon. Check gnomes for example, or a rogue's minor and major magic talents. In the case of this class, they're declared outright to be well-practiced spells, which makes it even more appropriate. I really don't feel right taking that mechanic out.
If you can suggest a more overt enticement to pump Int, I wouldn't mind hearing it. It just can't be too good, because the class really does get a lot out of Int already.
Edit: Also, expecting a headband seems perfectly reasonable to me. Two of the major themes of the class are item magic and arcane self-enhancement! Let me be clear, I would balk just as you do if I saw a high-Wisdom requirement on a ranger class feature. Far less so on a paladin. I guess I just think you picked the wrong class to liken it to. Until level 11, the paladin only "needs" a Charisma of 12... but it benefits significantly from having more.
Unrelated minor clarification: Spell Fluency is intended to also raise the spell's level for Arcane Conversion.
More syntactical observations about draft 7 here.
I like the new version of arcane initiate; it does save a lot of text. If I could propose a slight clarity tweak to the language:
The iron mage gains a number of spell-like abilities as he advances in level. Unlike normal spell-like abilities, those acquired from the iron mage class require material components, and risk arcane spell failure chance if used while wearing heavy armor.
I might also suggest omitting the part about material components entirely. It's cleaner, none of the spell-likes have costly components (I'm pretty sure) and the weapon component ability at level 4 means the iron mage isn't going to be using non-costly material components anyhow.
In addition to this passive effect, the iron mage can further increase the potency of his attacks certain number of times each day, causing his weapons to gain a special enhancement determined by his school of focus.
Super picky, but I'd suggest changing this phrasing so it's clear you're getting a <time period> of better attacks, rather than a <counting number> of better attacks, even though its obvious from the rules text that follows.
Whether they arise from one iron mage or several, witching effects with a duration are treated as multiple applications of the same spell for the purpose of determining how and whether they stack.
Referring to spells is still a bit unclear here; the issue I was concerned about before was with stacking bonus types, rather than stacking spells, and your witching penalties are still untyped. Could we just say:
Witching effects of the same type (school) do not stack. In the event a creature is subjected to multiple ongoing witching effects of the same type, only the highest level witching's effects are applied.
... an iron mage can sacrifice a memorized spell to activate his...
Heh, I am forever slipping up on this one too. Memorized -> Prepared. Also, how does this interact with spell fluency's ability to raise a spell's effective level?
...He gains this benefit again at 9th, 12th, 15th and 18th levels.
I would clarify that you have to choose a different spell for this effect each time you pick it, as I assume that's what you intend. Stacking the bonuses onto a single spell seems like it could be abused (maximized Ray of Enfeeblement filling the level 1 spell slots seems pretty shady).
... and uses the standard attack action, he performs a greater witching...
I'd add a 'may' into that ability, just in case a player wants to do a regular witching, but doesn't want to knockback his target, etc. I'm sure that's what you mean to do, but it doesn't hurt to be explicit.
At 2nd level, as a swift action, you can unleash a force bolt that automatically strikes a foe within 120 feet. The force bolt deals damage equal to 1/2 your iron mage level
In a total about-face on the evoker, I keep looking at this ability and thinking 'man, that's almost too weak'. At level two its 1 measly point of damage!
It occurs to me that these swift abilities would be a good place to encourage greater investment in iron mage intelligence scores. You could have the force bolt deal damage equal to the IM's int mod, or int mod + 1/2 level. Abjuration's dampening field radius could equal int mod * 5 ft, their unfettered ability could last for int mod number of rounds, rather than 1/2 level...
Anyhow, it's an option to consider. I know it'd be a fairly dramatic rewrite of a lot of abilities, but I also think it would also be a better way to encourage diverse stat allocation than just the capstone SLAs.
Greater Warding: You radiate a frightful aura of necromantic energy. Opponents within 30 feet must succeed on a Will saving throw...
I'd either specifically reinsert the free action it took to activate this ability, or include other specific rules about when exactly creatures make the will save. I know that all wardings can be activated as a free action, but this one wants more particular attention because it appears to be an ongoing area effect. Do foes make the save halfway through charging the IM, when they come within 30 ft.? If you have it active, does it affect enemies you approach even out of combat? Do enemies make saves at the beginning of every round they start within the radius, and if so, what happens if they fail the first save and succeed on one in the next round? If it's activated as a free action multiple times in a single combat, does a creature who failed an initial save get to shorten the duration of the shaken status because a second save grants them immunity to the aura? These are all questions that should have clear answers.
I still like the class, of course. I'd play the hell out of the abjurer if I were playing games instead of running them :)
Heh, okay, some overlapping writing going on here.
The difference is in the type of spells they cast. The wizard's spell list is full of offensive magic, and that means saving throws. Every school also has granted powers which allow saves. I've gone to great lengths to give this class the tools to have meaningfully difficult saving throws on their offensive abilities, assuming a reasonable investment in Intelligence (i.e., 14 + headband). Yeah, it's not spelled out in the class text like Smite, but it's a tangible benefit of pumping Intelligence, starting at 4th level. And right from 1st, your witching uses per day are also Intelligence-based. That becomes less important later as your level-based uses increase... but at the same time, you start getting some really good spells. Bonus spells are also more valuable to the iron mage than to either the paladin or the ranger, both because of those higher saving throws and also because of Arcane Conversion.
I know you've got the increased saves to make them a bit more dangerous, but just the same, I really don't see many of these fellows going in for the offensive magics. Even if my fireball has a DC of 16 + int mod instead of 13 + int mod, it was outclassed as an offensive spell three levels before I got access to it. Smart players will be choosing spells like Fly and Dispel Magic, not Lightning Bolt, because at level 11 it's way more important for a fighter type to clear a Black Tentacles or close to melee range with the baddie than dealing 30-odd damage to a few clumsy opponents. Evokers are the ones that have the most issues with saves, and they already have a way around that - channeling their spells into attacks.
Arcane conversion is certainly an edge, but I'm not positive it's as big a one as you're playing it up to be. The increased number of spells per day from high intelligence is pretty meager; even someone with a 20 int is only getting 3 spells more than the guy with a 14.
Requiring a minimum Intelligence score for spell-like abilities is not uncommon. Check gnomes for example, or a rogue's minor and major magic talents. In the case of this class, they're declared outright to be well-practiced spells, which makes it even more appropriate. I really don't feel right taking that mechanic out.
If you can suggest a more overt enticement to pump Int, I wouldn't mind hearing it. It just can't be too good, because the class really does get a lot out of Int already.
In both of those cases, though, it's an absolutely tiny bit of spellcasting. Gnome spells are almost wholly incidental to their power level, and the rogue talents are optional abilities - an uncharismatic rogue isn't getting stuck with something they can't use.
Monster SLAs often have no note about minimum ability score, or have ability scores far lower than the spells replicated (half-fiends need an 8 int to cast Destruction; all that's important is the 19-20 HD), so it's not like you *have* to include it. There is also plenty of precedent for changing spell levels between different classes, so you could simply open up the higher level spells as 3rd and 4th level ones for the iron mage, for the purposes of the capstone abilities. Not that I really like the latter option very much, but it's better than minimum ability scores.
At any rate, I did actually have a thought for further applications of int- the swift abilities the iron mages get at levels 2 and 7 could easily incorporate mechanics to reward higher int.
Edit: Also, expecting a headband seems perfectly reasonable to me. Two of the major themes of the class are item magic and arcane self-enhancement! Let me be clear, I would balk just as you do if I saw a high-Wisdom requirement on a ranger class feature. Far less so on a paladin. I guess I just think you picked the wrong class to liken it to. Until level 11, the paladin only "needs" a Charisma of 12... but it benefits significantly from having more.
I get the themes, I just... really don't like such total magic item dependency. A naked character should have access to all his class abilities, even if they suck more than they would normally. I'd be just as irritated at high charisma requirements for paladin abilities, not because I don't expect paladins to be as charismatic as they can possibly be, but because its just not how the classes are designed in the core book. You get your class abilities despite not fulfilling all the theoretically necessary prerequisites - look at all those bonus ranger and monk feats, for instance.
Unrelated minor clarification: Spell Fluency is intended to also raise the spell's level for Arcane Conversion.
So I'd wondered. Glad to have the clarification.
Damn, dude, are you bucking for editor credit? :) A lot of good suggestions, and they'll certainly influence the next draft one way or another.
A couple of things:
I might also suggest omitting the part about material components entirely. It's cleaner, none of the spell-likes have costly components (I'm pretty sure) and the weapon component ability at level 4 means the iron mage isn't going to be using non-costly material components anyhow.
The text right now is "the spell's normal components," which means exactly what it says - verbal, somatic, material and focus. That's why none of the spell-likes have costly material components, or a focus. Verbal and somatic are still required in any case.
The witching stacking text could reference school, and I thought about doing it that way. The one and only reason I didn't, is that I know DivineAspect won't be the only person who wants to see the other four schools... and what if a homebrew carries some penalties in common with an existing school, but not all of them? Yeah, so I instinctively built in a proactive compatibility patch... that's my Oblivion modder's instincts kicking in, heh. There is a specific core rule which I'm referencing with that text: "Spells that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and other attributes usually do not stack with themselves." (Penalties in PF never have a type, so that wasn't an option.) However, you're probably right that it's not as clear as it could be.
The evoker's 2nd level ability is (ditto about-face!) way better than it looks. Note that it's (Su) - no spell resistance. It's guaranteed damage, in addition to your normal attack routine.
You're whittling me down on the Int issue. I absolutely agree that it's better to entice than to punish. I'm not sure how much brainstorming time I can/should put in mid-Superstar, but it's something I'll have to take another look at before finalizing.
Damn, dude, are you bucking for editor credit? :) A lot of good suggestions, and they'll certainly influence the next draft one way or another.
Just lending a hand to what's clearly a worthwhile project. I've spent a lot more time reviewing and rewriting rules that I've got a lot less influence over (darn APG playtest). Plus, it's better than kicking myself over not taking the RPG Superstar entry seriously.
The text right now is "the spell's normal components," which means exactly what it says - verbal, somatic, material and focus. That's why none of the spell-likes have costly material components, or a focus. Verbal and somatic are still required in any case.
Oh yeah, all that finger-wavery mages are supposed to do. I completely overlooked it - 'components' is just linked more to 'objects' than 'gestures' and 'gibberish', in my head.
The witching stacking text could reference school, and I thought about doing it that way. The one and only reason I didn't, is that I know DivineAspect won't be the only person who wants to see the other four schools... and what if a homebrew carries some penalties in common with an existing school, but not all of them? Yeah, so I instinctively built in a proactive compatibility patch... that's my Oblivion modder's instincts kicking in, heh. There is a specific core rule which I'm referencing with that text: "Spells that provide bonuses or penalties on attack rolls, damage rolls, saving throws, and other attributes usually do not stack with themselves." (Penalties in PF never have a type, so that wasn't an option.) However, you're probably right that it's not as clear as it could be.
Well it's certainly very nice of you to leave the option open. It actually seems a little weird to include provisions for nonexistent rules concerns, but I guess a bit of compatibility foresight never hurt anyone. Personally, I'd say you're probably fine with something like:
Multiple witchings of the same school do not stack; a creature only ever suffers the penalties from the highest level witching of each school it has been affected by. In the event witchings from different schools penalize the same characteristic, the penalties stack.The evoker's 2nd level ability is (ditto about-face!) way better than it looks. Note that it's (Su) - no spell resistance. It's guaranteed damage, in addition to your normal attack routine.
It occupies a weird intersection of action economy, damage output, and daily ability use. A swift, unavoidable point or two of damage is pretty handy... but it comes at the expense of a full round of witching attacks for the day, which is an absolutely essential resource for the iron mage. At high levels, you'll have dozens of rounds of witching to throw away and the damage is enough to make for a relevant nova ability, but before level 8, I really can't envision using it often. Which is odd, since the ability comes at level 2.
The other schools have pretty clear strategic scenarios when they'd want to make sparing use of their swift abilities even at early levels, but I just don't see it as clearly for the evoker. I guess not all abilities can be created equal, though.
You're whittling me down on the Int issue. I absolutely agree that it's better to entice than to punish. I'm not sure how much brainstorming time I can/should put in mid-Superstar, but it's something I'll have to take another look at before finalizing.
I'd toss out some ideas for the abilities at 2 and 7, but I think I'm already hijacking enough of your work on this project :). Focus on superstar, we'll all be here after it's over.
All kinds of edits. Whee!
What do you think of these ideas?
2nd-level powers:
Alteration's radius becomes 5' per Intelligence bonus (minimum 5').
Evocation gains a similar radius; secondary targets get a Reflex save.
Necromancy and Transmutation durations = Int bonus (minimum 1).
7th-level powers:
Alteration, Evocation and Transmutation durations = Int bonus (minimum 1).
Necromancy adds 2x Int bonus to temporary hit point amount (minimum 2).
Thinking about it, Stifling Touch probably needs a save. It's a touch attack, but this is an armored full-BAB class which already has one save-free penalty! It would be the same 12 + 1/2 level + Int as the other school saves, which conveniently means all four 2nd-level powers still have something that scales at 1/2 level. Actually, maybe then it shouldn't be a touch attack... stifle, 30' range?
Wrestling with whether or not the Evoker should be able to voluntarily reduce (or just eliminate?) the burst. It loses its close-range utility otherwise. And if I do that, should the secondary damage be fire, as a thematic precursor to meteor swarm?
On top of all of this: I still feel uneasy taking the Int requirements off the spell-likes, because I want them to conform to spellcasting rules in every way other than slot usage. Is the above enough Int-related bonus stuff to make the top-end requirement more reasonable?
Draft of a Necromancy greater warding clean-up:
You emanate an unnerving aura of necromantic energy. This aura causes creatures within 30 feet whose hit dice total no more than 1/2 your iron mage level to become shaken, with no save. As a free action you can momentarily increase the intensity of this aura, giving yourself a frightful presence. When you do, all opponents within 30 feet must succeed on a Will saving throw with DC equal to 12 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier, or become shaken for a number of rounds equal to your warding rank. Creatures already shaken by your aura become frightened instead. A successful save makes that creature immune to your frightful presence for 24 hours, though weaker creatures are still automatically shaken by your aura.
The universal off-switch still lets you turn off the base fear aura. This is basically two weak monster abilities in one, but on the upside, the base mechanics of each of those abilities are unchanged.
I'm liking the rebuilt abilities :)
A little unclear on the rebuilt force bolt - does it hit everyone in a radius around that 120 ft. range target, or is it a burst centered on him? I actually kinda dig the idea of a int mod * 5' burst of 1/2 level in force damage to enemies. It wouldn't increase his targeted combat routine damage any further than it currently does, but it could chip away at surrounding hordes that he's too busy to swing at.
Given that necromancy and transmutation are going to 1 round/int mod durations, would it suit to adjust abjurer to that as well? It might be overusing the intelligence modifier to apply it to radius too, though. I'm conflicted, because it's a potent ability to bring up as an unprepared swift action, but keeping it up through a fight with a fire elemental will seriously eat a full day's worth of witching.
That's a funny sentence, out of context.
Anyhow, I like the idea of stifle at range - there's some elegance to giving each school one ability that's a personal/touch range sort of thing, and another that works at a distance. A save would be appropriate, too - I feel much better about a ranged thing as a swift action, rather than a touch attack. Perhaps call it Stifling Glance?
As for Meteor Swarm - I actually liked that the evoking iron mage, up to level 19, was entirely focused around doing the far-more-reliable force damage. Rather than go back and mandate fire damage, d'you think you could instead tweak Meteor Swarm to do force damage? It'd make it more powerful than the ordinary level 9 version, but it's a 1/day level 19 ability. It should be epic! A Balor should not laugh at it's tickle!
Ahem. Another alternative would be to have *all* of the evoker damage abilities do a type of energy damage chosen by him each day (during spell prep) from the normal batch - acid, cold, electricity, or fire. Exploitable vulnerabilities would make him more potent sometimes, but there's also a lot of random resistances and immunities floating around in the Bestiary as well. Eh, but then that version might be too versatile, or just too complex. Food for thought, I guess.
Necromancy's greater warding is perfect. Don't change a thing.
About the SLA int prereqs: I think with the added encouragement of the abilities functioning off of intelligence, any sensible iron mage is already hitting as high an int as he can afford. A transparent int requirement is just so much less oppressive than a stated one, and it maintains all the conventions established in the core PF book.
It's your call, of course, but why lead with the stick when you've already strewn so many carrots about?
Force bolt is currently intended to work at range, but I'm still a little uncertain how I want to handle that ability.
I don't think force damage is appropriate for any sort of blanket area effect. Force effects are solid objects, and every one I can find (in any core book, at least) picks out individual targets or literally works as an object. Shock waves are sonic. I actually thought about modifying meteor swarm to be all force, but balked at this same concern. (I'm also not sure it's appropriate in the first place. These guys are struggling to reach 9th level capacity around their martial studies; giving them free super-amazing metamagic is questionable at best. And I'd have to upgrade all the rest, to be fair.)
I also absolutely don't want to use any sort of choose-your-own energy effect; for a swift action power given to a melee class at 2nd level, that's just too much versatility. For similar reasons, I don't think I want any kind of "decide when you use it" effect, like turning an area effect on or off. If it were a standard action, maybe; but it's not, and it shouldn't be. Likewise, I don't think the evoker has time within that swift action to pick multiple targets. And that leads to a potential core problem with the area mechanic for that power: an evoker with Int 13 or less would create a 5' burst, which he could presumably center on the far corner of an enemy's square in melee, not hurting himself when a more intelligent iron mage would be in the burst. Backwards reward, there! So yeah, that one needs some more thought. I'm considering doing something with sonic damage, but all the existing examples have status effects attached, and I'm not sure that's appropriate.
One fun complication, by the way, is that a ranged touch attack inherently provokes AOO and so isn't an option. :P
Re: carrots and sticks - problem is, it's not my stick. :) The flavor is that these are the exact wizard spells, learned by rote; their spell-like status is an alternate slot mechanic, nothing more. In all other ways, they conform to every requirement of spellcasting. Mechanically, 19 Intelligence is part of that bundle, and I don't want to shave it off "just because" even though I agree with your design perspective. It's system baggage; changing it would essentially be wedging in a house rule. There are a few other places where I've sacrificed "how I want to" for "how Paizo did," because when you're working in someone else's system, sometimes conformity trumps elegance.
You do make a good observation about force effects; I end up lumping together sonic and force effects, but pretty much all of the AOE ones are sonic. Shoot.
The precedent I was looking at for the choose-your-energy effect was actually the Arcane Archer prestige class. As they memorize spells, they choose what elemental/elemental burst effect to tie to each arrow they shoot for the next day. Ergo, it wouldn't be a situation where the IM whips out whatever energy happens to work best against his current opponent, but rather one where he has to plan ahead - just like his wizard spell training suggests. Result would be a very elementally-themed martial class, of course, but they *are* evokers...
The ranged-multiple-creature force bolt certainly has it's weaknesses. On the other hand, if you *did* go with a straight burst centered on the IM (elemental damage, since force doesn't make sense) you could at least evade the issue of picking multiple targets with the swift action. You'd have to worry about hitting allies, but that's pretty par for the course for anyone who's ever tossed a fireball. A feat like Selective Channeling to skip targets wouldn't be amiss, in that case.
Regarding the ongoing SLA discussion: I guess what's getting to me is that normal SLAs have no requirements at all, and welding on restrictions to make them more proximate to traditional spells, while solid for flavor, isn't required by the system, and is actively detrimental to class functionality.
I dig your reasons for it, but rogues are literally the only class I can think of with the ability requirements on spell-likes, and those are optional abilities. Even for them, since there's no mention of rogues needing components or risking spell failure for those abilities, it's clearly a fairly trivial flavor requirement rather than a serious one meant to be applied in any blanket fashion. For their part, Iron Mages already break spellcasting rules to let them cast in medium armor (hello, mithril full plate) and ignore material components.
On the other hand, clerics, sorcerers, wizards, and even shadowdancers all have (Sp) abilities that specifically mimic higher-level spell effects, with no mention of requirements for them. Casters have embedded class stat requirements due to their spellcasting, but 'dancers definitely don't. I know, flavor's wrong, but so are class abilities you can't use without a headband.
I'm starting to feel overly pedantic on the topic, though, so I'll end my little crusade here and leave the rest to your design judgment :)
Iron Mages already break spellcasting rules to let them cast in medium armor (hello, mithril full plate)
Just wanted to touch on this before looking between my fingers at the Superstar monster reviews... that's one of the specific places where I've held back from writing in my personal ruling, and instead used boilerplate Paizo text despite a horrible disagreement with a common interpretation. To me, because the text about casting in armor is in the proficiency section of the class, and mithril does not reduce the armor's weight class for the purpose of proficiency, that's invalid. Bards can't freely cast in a mithril breastplate, iron mages can't in mithril full plate. This makes sense conceptually: the ability to move freely in the armor is less about its weight than where the stiff parts are, which doesn't change. It also has some pretty major balance implications: with full plate not only is one extra AC point available, but the same AC is available with 3 less Dex which is pretty huge.
But, that's my reading of the rules, and if Paizo's going to leave it up to the DM to go one way or the other, so am I. The core is the core.
Eh, an adamantine breastplate gets my point across just as well. And with less rules debate, too!
Although you remind me, I need to get around to building a sorcerer with those arcane armor training feats. I rather fancy a full caster clad in mithril breastplate and heavy shield.
Wall of force, 5' square per 2 levels, duration = Int mod? Is a 5' wall too good at 2nd level? My game's next weekend, I've got a player testing the evoker (currently 3rd level, close enough). Let's see how it goes...
If I do that, Abjuration will keep the fixed radius and have duration = Int mod as well.
I'm really liking the wall idea, so pending proper testing, let's call it official.
Draft Eight notes: