|
I posted this in the Magus wishlist thread, but it seems to have been completely ignored by folks who have completely hijacked the thread to use to debate whether or not it should have a full BAB. So, since I spent some time working on this, am actually pretty happy with the results, and would like some feedback from my fellow Pathfinder players, I am creating this thread! I made this class as an exercise, really, to see if my idea for what a fighter/mage hybrid class should look like, were one to be made, would be viable and balanced. I showed it to one of my players, who currently has a paladin, and he liked it so much he says he is tempted to make a new character!
I used the bard chassis, stripped it of the bells and whistles, and added new, more appropriate bells and whistles. Some might argue that it should have better BAB, HD, or spell progression, but I feel that the part of a class that makes it truly interesting are the class features, and so I decided to keep them all medium so that I could fit more class features in and still maintain balance. I would rather have a magus with more features that allow him to blend magic and swordplay than one with less in exchange for a slightly higher attack bonus. Just my preference, my two cents.
So, please take a look at my class writeup and tell me what you think. I am not really interested in hearing about the topic I mentioned in the last paragraph, as I already read through a thread that is pretty much all about that. Instead I would love to hear your impressions about whether or not you think it is balanced and interesting. Would you, as a DM, allow it in game? Would you, as a player, enjoying playing it? Is there a concept you think should be represented that is not? (I could not think of a way to properly integrate a thrown weapon specialist or an unarmed specialist, for instance.) Advice and criticism is extremely welcome, and I would not turn down praise either. ;) If any of the Paizo staff gave their thoughts, positive or negative, I would truly feel wonderful.
Note that I did not really spend time working out a full spell-list, just a selection that shows the kind of theme I thought appropriate for the class. Ideas for new arcana would certainly be appreciated, and I am a bit iffy on the capstone. So, without further ado:
Alignment: Any
Hit Dice: D8
Class Skills: Climb, Craft, Fly, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (planes), Linguistics, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Swim
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Level BAB Fort Ref Will Special
1 +0 +2 +0 +2 Arcane strike, armored casting (20%), cantrips, weapon bond
2 +1 +3 +0 +3 Arcanum
3 +2 +3 +1 +3 Arcanum
4 +3 +4 +1 +4
5 +3 +4 +1 +4 Armored casting (25%)
6 +4 +5 +2 +5 Arcanum, inscribe rune 1/day
7 +5 +5 +2 +5
8 +6 +6 +2 +6 Armored casting (30%)
9 +6 +6 +3 +6 Arcanum
10 +7 +7 +3 +7 Inscribe rune 2/day
11 +8 +7 +3 +7 Armored casting (35%)
12 +9 +8 +4 +8 Arcanum
13 +9 +8 +4 +8
14 +10 +9 +4 +9 Armored casting (40%), inscribe rune 3/day
15 +11 +9 +5 +9 Arcanum
16 +12 +10 +5 +10
17 +12 +10 +5 +10 Armored casting (45%)
18 +13 +11 +6 +11 Arcanum, inscribe rune 4/day
19 +14 +11 +6 +11
20 +14 +12 +6 +12 Final arcanum
Level Spells per Day Spells Known
1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
1 1 - - - - - 4 2 - - - - -
2 2 - - - - - 5 3 - - - - -
3 3 - - - - - 6 4 - - - - -
4 3 1 - - - - 6 4 2 - - - -
5 4 2 - - - - 6 4 3 - - - -
6 4 3 - - - - 6 4 4 - - - -
7 4 3 1 - - - 6 5 4 2 - - -
8 4 4 2 - - - 6 5 4 3 - - -
9 5 4 3 - - - 6 5 4 4 - - -
10 5 4 3 1 - - 6 5 5 4 2 - -
11 5 4 4 2 - - 6 6 5 4 3 - -
12 5 5 4 3 - - 6 6 5 4 4 - -
13 5 5 4 3 1 - 6 6 5 5 4 2 -
14 5 5 4 4 2 - 6 6 6 5 4 3 -
15 5 5 5 4 3 - 6 6 6 5 4 4 -
16 5 5 5 4 3 1 6 6 6 5 5 4 2
17 5 5 5 4 3 2 6 6 6 6 5 4 3
18 5 5 5 5 4 3 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
19 5 5 5 5 5 4 6 6 6 6 5 5 4
20 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 5
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A magus is proficient with all simple and martial weapons. Magi are also proficient with light armor and shields (except tower shields). Magi have the limited ability to ignore arcane spell failure as detailed under the Armored Casting ability below.
Spells: Magi cast arcane spells drawn from the magus spell list. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, a magus must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a magus’ spell is 10 + the spell level + the magus’ Intelligence modifier.
Like other spellcasters, a magus can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given below. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1–3).
The magus’ selection of spells is extremely limited. A magus begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st level spells of the magus’ choice. At each new magus level, he gains one or more new spells, as indicated below. (Unlike spells per day, the number of spells a magus knows is not affected by his Intelligence score.)
Upon reaching 5th level, and at every third magus level after that (8th, 11th, and so on), a magus can choose to learn a new spell in place of one he already knows. In effect, the magus “loses” the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and it must be at least one level lower than the highest-level magus spell the magus can cast. A magus may swap only a single spell at any given level and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that he gains new spells known for the level.
A magus need not prepare his spells in advance. He can cast any spell he knows at any time, assuming he has not yet used up his allotment of spells per day for the spell’s level. A magus may also choose to prepare a certain number of spells as runes in order to use them more quickly, as detailed below.
Arcane Strike: A magus receives the Arcane Strike feat as a bonus feat at 1st level.
Armored Casting (Ex): A magus reduces the arcane spell failure of any armor or shield he is wearing by the amount indicated. If the reduction brings the arcane spell failure chance to 0% or less, the magus may freely cast spells with no chance of spell failure. This reduction starts at 20% at 1st level, and increases by 5% at 5th level, and every 3 levels thereafter (8th, 11th, 14th, 17th) to a maximum of 45% reduction at 17th level. This ability only applies to spells gained from the magus class; a multiclass character suffers normal arcane spell failure for spells gained from another class.
Cantrips: Magi learn a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, as indicated on the Spells Known chart above. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they do not consume any slots and may be used again.
Weapon Bond (Ex): At 1st level the magus forms a bond with a weapon of his choice with which he is proficient. He begins play with a masterwork quality weapon of the chosen type at no cost. The weapon gained in this way is not made of any special material.
The magus gains the following benefits when wielding his bonded weapon:
A magus gains a +1 competence bonus on all attack rolls with his bonded weapon. This bonus increases to +2 at 5th level and by a further +1 every 5 levels. (+3 at 10th, +4 at 15th, +5 at 20th).
A magus wielding his bonded weapon is always considered to have a free hand for the purposes of spellcasting.
A magus gains the benefits of the Defensive Combat Training feat against attempts to disarm or sunder his bonded weapon.
If a bonded weapon is damaged, it is restored to full hit points the next time the magus recovers his spells. If the bonded weapon is lost or destroyed, a new weapon can be designated to be bonded after 1 week in a special ritual that costs 200 gp per magus level, plus the cost of the masterwork weapon if another weapon is not already provided. This ritual takes 8 hours to complete. A magus can also choose to voluntarily change his bond to a new weapon even if he still has the old one. This functions in the same way as replacing a lost or destroyed weapon except that the ritual only costs 50 gp per magus level. Any weapon can be bonded in this way as long as the magus is proficient in its use.
Arcanum: A magus is more than simply a spellcaster who knows how to swing a weapon; they gain access to powerful secrets known as arcana, or arcanum in the singular form, that allow them to blend the magical and martial arts into one. At 2nd level, a magus gains one arcanum of his choice. He gains an additional arcanum at 3rd level and for every 3 levels attained after 3rd level, as noted above. A magus cannot select an individual arcanum more than once, unless otherwise noted.
Arcane Push (Su): As a move action, the magus may emit a ring of force from his person, initiating a bull rush against all adjacent creatures. The bull rush follows normal rules for the combat maneuver, except that it uses the magus’ caster level plus Intelligence modifier instead of CMB, the magus does not move with any creature that is pushed, and it does not provoke an attack of opportunity. All creatures pushed in this manner move directly away from the magus. Additionally, as a free action, the magus may expend an available spell slot to add a +3 competence bonus to the check for every level of the expended spell. Feats and abilities that apply to normal bull rush attempts, such as Improved Bull Rush, do not apply to this ability.
Bonded Touch (Su): The magus may use a standard action to cast a touch spell and deliver the charge through his bonded weapon with a melee attack. Casting a spell in this manner does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The spell must have a casting time of 1 standard action or less. If the melee attack is successful, the attack deals damage normally; then the effect of the spell is resolved. If the attack misses, the magus may hold the charge per the normal rules for doing so, and may attempt to deliver through his weapon again until he discharges it, stops holding the charge, or is no longer holding his bonded weapon.
If the magus’ bonded weapon is a ranged weapon, he may instead use this ability to deliver ray spells through his weapon. This functions as above, but the spell must be a ray spell, and the effective range becomes that of the weapon.
When cast in this manner, a spell may only be discharged once. If a spell normally allows for multiple touch attacks or rays, the extra uses are lost.
Dispelling Strike (Su): Upon a successful strike with his bonded weapon, a magus may expend some of his own magical power in an attempt to dispel a magical effect currently affecting the opponent attacked. Activating this ability is a swift action that can only be performed immediately after successfully hitting an opponent with the magus’ bonded weapon. The magus expends an available spell slot, then makes a dispel check as per the spell dispel magic, but any spell of a higher level than the spell slot expended by the magus is unaffected. The magus must be at least 9th level to learn this arcanum.
Extra Combat Training: The magus has decided to focus on the more mundane aspects of fighting instead of arcane secrets. He may choose Armor Proficiency (Medium), Armor Proficiency (Heavy), or any combat feat as a bonus feat. He must still fulfill any prerequisites before taking a feat. This arcanum may be taken more than once.
Improved Bonded Touch (Su): The magus may now cast a touch or ray spell as part of a full attack action, and the spell affects each target he hits with his bonded weapon that round. The spell discharges at the end of the round, and the charge cannot be held. In all other ways this ability functions as Bonded Touch. The magus must be at least 12th level and know Bonded Touch to learn this arcanum.
Spell Channeling (Sp): As a swift action, the magus may sacrifice an available spell slot to gain a luck bonus to attack rolls and an elemental damage bonus of extra dice equal to the spell level sacrificed. The bonus damage type can be chosen every time the ability is activated, and is not dependent on the magus’ spells known. If the type chosen is acid, cold, electricity, or fire, the extra damage dice are d6’s. If the type chosen is force or sonic, the extra damage dice are d4’s. The bonuses last for a number of rounds equal to the magus’ intelligence modifier, and only one spell may be channeled at a time. This arcanum may be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the magus’ intelligence modifier.
Stutter Step (Su): As a swift action, the magus can now teleport short distances as the spell dimension door. He can step up to 10 feet per magus level he possesses per day. This distance may be split up into multiple steps as he wishes, but each step counts as at least 10 feet, even if the distance traveled was less than that. The magus must be at least 6th level before learning this arcanum.
Two-Weapon Bond: Once this arcanum has been selected, a magus may designate two light or one-handed weapons (or one of each), or a single double weapon as his bonded weapon, and gain all associated bonuses for wielding a bonded weapon with each of them. Furthermore, the magus acts as if he had the Two-Weapon Fighting feat when wielding both of these weapons (or the one double weapon). At 8th level he acts as if he had Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, and at 12th level as if he had Greater Two-Weapon Fighting. These bonus feats function even if the magus lacks the normal prerequisites for them, but only as long as he is wielding his bonded weapons.
Inscribe Rune (Sp): At 6th level the magus learns how to inscribe a rune of power in order to hold one of his spells on the brink of completion to be released at a later time. The magus may scribe a rune of any spell he knows with a range of Personal and a casting time of no more than 1 standard action The rune is painted onto his bonded weapon, a process that takes one minute per level of the spell being inscribed. Once so scribed the magus may invoke the rune at any time as a swift action, causing the spell to be cast upon him as if he had cast a quickened spell, after which the rune simply fades away. As long as the rune is scribed the magus has one less spell slot of that spell level available to him, as the magical energy is invested in the rune. Any runes that have not been released fade away harmlessly the next time the magus refreshes his daily spell allotment. This ability may be used once per day at 6th level, and once more for every 4 levels beyond that, to a maximum of 4 runes per day at 18th level. A magus may have multiple runes scribed at once, up to his daily limit.
Final Arcanum (Su): Upon reaching 20th level the magus has unlocked the greatest secrets of his tradition. He gains DR 10/magic, ignores all arcane spell failure, and his bonded weapon becomes totally unbreakable as long as he holds it. Furthermore, he may now use the Arcane Strike feat as a free action.
Partial Spell List
0-Level Magus Spells
Dancing Lights
Detect Magic
Flare
Ghost Sound
Light
Mending
Prestidigitation
Read Magic
Resistance
1st-Level Magus Spells
Alarm
Endure Elements
Chill Touch
Enlarge Person
Expeditious Retreat
Feather Fall
Grease
Jump
Mage Armor
Magic Weapon
Mount
Obscuring Mist
Protection from Chaos/Good/Evil/Law
Ray of Enfeeblement
Shield
Shocking Grasp
Silent Image
True Strike
2nd-Level Magus Spells
Acid Arrow
Bear’s Endurance
Blur
Bull’s Strength
Cat’s Grace
Continual Flame
Darkness
Darkvision
Fog Cloud
Fox’s Cunning
Ghoul Touch
Invisibility
Levitate
Make Whole
Minor Image
Mirror Image
Protection from Arrows
Pyrotechnics
Resist Energy
Scorching Ray
See Invisibility
Web
3rd-Level Magus Spells
Arcane Sight
Blink
Daylight
Dispel Magic
Displacement
Fly
Haste
Heroism
Keen Edge
Magic Circle against Chaos/Good/Evil/Law
Magic Weapon, Greater
Major Image
Protection from Energy
Ray of Exhaustion
Sleet Storm
Stinking Cloud
Vampiric Touch
4th-Level Magus Spells
Black Tentacles
Dimension Door
Dimensional Anchor
Elemental Body I
Enervation
Fire Shield
Freedom of Movement
Globe of Invulnerability, Lesser
Invisibility, Greater
Solid Fog
Stoneskin
5th-Level Magus Spells
Cloudkill
Dispel Magic, Greater
Dismissal
Elemental Body II
Heroism, Greater
Interposing Hand
Overland Flight
Persistent Image
Sending
Telekinesis
Teleport
Wall of Force
6th-Level Magus Spells
Acid Fog
Antimagic Field
Contingency
Elemental Body III
Forceful Hand
Globe of Invulnerability
Permanent Image
Programmed Image
Repulsion
Shadow Walk
Transformation
True Seeing
PS. The tables absolutely refuse to format correctly, but I am sure you can all read them easily enough. :)
Very good, but armored casting is probably not going to happen with the real version. I don't think they simply throw away the feats created for it, and even if u do keep your class, 45% is too much to ignore in my opnion.
|
I would give the Arcane Armor Training feats as bonus feats, and then maybe give an ability that, if you have both feats, then you can ignore an extra 10% or something like that.
I also think that the arcanum is spaced a little to erratically. Space it out at every even level or something, then at 10th level, like Rogue Talents, make advanced Arcanum to give a little extra to go for.
I like the Inscribe Rune ability, though what if you made it a certain number of spell levels?
I do agree that the Capstone is a little generic. What if instead, he becomes one with magic... gains SR, energy resistance, and something... I dunno...
|
|
Thank you for the feedback! I am under no delusions that Paizo will use even a small part of my class, though maybe when the playtest starts I will lobby for a few of my favorite features. I am finding the design process itself rather fun, though, a challenge of sorts.
Here is my reasoning for why I did what I did with the armored casting: it already seems that these feats are meant for sorcerers and wizards. Bards have a built-in ability that is just plain better, since it does not require a swift action to use, and can actually ignore up to 35% if using a chain shirt and heavy shield. This is what I wanted to emulate, mostly because I wanted them to be able to combine it with Arcane Strike, though I suppose the only time it would come up in the same round would be when using the Bonded Touch arcanum. Hmm... As for the eventual high percentage, I was trying to allow for as many concepts as possible, even a heavy-armor arcanist. I did it by percentage instead of by armor category for the sake of flexibility. As written, an 11th level magus could be a skirmisher with chainshirt and heavy shield, a footman with chainmail and light shield, or an arcane knight in full plate. This ability to fit multiple concepts was something I was striving for.
All that said, mechanics aside, do you think that it would be overpowered for them to be able to cast in heavy armor, period? Note that they would have to spend two feats, or two arcanum, or one of each, to get the necessary proficiencies as well, so it is not like they would not be giving something up for the added protection.
I hear you on the spacing of the arcana. I did that partially to prevent dead levels, partially thinking of balance (if it was every even level they would get 10, instead of 7, so each one would have to be balanced for such), and partially just because I could not think of enough different powers to fill that many choices! As is I have 7 slots and only 8 choices (and one of them is not really an arcanum, it is just a choice to throw one away in exchange for a feat), so as written there is not much "choice" to the matter except what order you take them in. So, first off do you think 'dead levels' are a big enough deal to need to be filled? Do you have any ideas for new arcana I could add? And for that matter, do you think the arcana I currently have seem balanced? I know it is hard to know for sure without playtesting, just asking for an eyeballing.
Hmm... number of spell levels per day on the Inscribe Rune could work just fine, I think, though I think I still would only allow one to be active at a time, which means, given the minute/level prep time, one per encounter. What do you think would be appropriate numbers?
SR, resistances? Good idea, but I still have not had any lightning flashes on how to construct it. I will think on it some more though; the capstone is the hardest part, and I don't just want to steal the EK's.
Oh, and Xum, I am completely behind your campaign to add your name to the iconic magus. That was my preferred name from the beginning and I am glad it was the one picked, so congrats on being the first to suggest it!
Oh, and Xum, I am completely behind your campaign to add your name to the iconic magus. That was my preferred name from the beginning and I am glad it was the one picked, so congrats on being the first to suggest it!
Heeeeyyy! Thanks man! It would be great wouldn't it? But I didn't even get a Thank you note yet... so I'm not keeping my hopes up... :(
The support is apreciated though, thanks a bunch :)
I would think a magus would be along the line of a paladin, but the focus would be light armor which is magically enchanced, and they would use auras akin to your arcane push, since they have abundant training to use magic at its most basic level to enhance combat and control the battle field. So a new path, like using auras would be a nice change and include some type of bonded weapon or armor with different features, to further distinguish the class.
But I know some will only accept a fairly decent spell progression table (like a bard), so it will be interesting to see how the class matures into a final concept.
|
|
What if instead, when you first get it, you can inscribe only up to 1st lvl spells, once per day. Then later up to 2nd lvl spells, but still once per day, etc, etc. Then you can space the Inscribe Rune ability out a little more, filling dead levels. When he can do it twice, he can inscribe one on his weapon, one on his armor or shield.
As for the armor, I would limit him to Medium Armors myself, because you can still be pretty nasty in Breastplate with full casting. Though, I can see what you mean about wanting to make the Lich King kind of look, though you could always go the route of a prestige class for heavy armor magus. Perhaps you give the Arcane Armor Training feats as bonus feats, and at a certain level, it no longer requires the use of a swift action to do, OR requires an arcanum to do.
I think the dead levels thing was an important thing that the PF guys wanted to avoid, so we should look at a way to do that as well. I think little things like bonuses to Concentration checks, or something to that effect should be considered, maybe as arcanum or maybe as class features.
Just thoughts, I would have to sit and really think about it to come up with some new things, but I am sure it could be done...