Role: Iron mages are not content to fling spells from shy safety, protected by more stalwart guardians. They are the bold guardians, the front-line warriors, at home in the heart of a fray. They survive through martial training, but wield an arcane arsenal.
Starting Gold: 5d6x10.
Starting Age: As wizard.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die / BAB: d10 / Full.
Good Saves: Fortitude, Will.
Class Skills: Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (engineering) (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, cantrips, school focus, witching 1
2nd: Counter-threat, school power, warding 1
3rd: Focused study
4th: Arcane conversion, school spell
5th: Warding 2, witching 2
6th: Fluency
7th: Focused study, school spell
8th: School power, warding 3
9th: Fluency, improved counter-threat
10th: School spell, witching 3
11th: Focused study, warding 4
12th: Fluency, greater warding
13th: School power, school spell
14th: Warding 5
15th: Fluency, focused study, witching 4
16th: Greater witching, school spell
17th: Warding 6
18th: Fluency
19th: Focused study, school power, school spell
20th: Dire witching, 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: An iron mage gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat at 1st level. Though he pursues highly specialized techniques which slow his mastery of spellcasting, an iron mage studies the same craft as a wizard. He 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. He also qualifies for the Spell Mastery feat.
Cantrips: Iron mages can prepare one cantrip, or 0-level spell, each day. This spell is cast like any other spell, but is not expended when cast and may be used again. At 4th level an iron mage can prepare 2 0-level spells per day.
School Focus: Every iron mage selects a primary school of arcane magic which he studies more extensively than the others. His school of focus determines the effects of his witching and warding abilities, and grants several additional powers. He may choose to focus on Abjuration, Evocation, Necromancy or Transmutation. This choice is made at 1st level, and cannot be changed.
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; though the two classes' spells are distinct when prepared, they are recorded identically and need only be learned once.
An iron mage begins play with a spellbook containing the spells arcane mark, prestidigitation and read magic, plus one 0-level spell from his school of focus. 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.
Witching (Su): An iron mage imbues his weapons with arcane power, granting a damage bonus and causing his attacks to count as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, 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 gaining this benefit on every attack he makes, without needing to spend the swift action normally required to activate Arcane strike. In addition, the iron mage's weapons are imbued with an effect determined by his school of focus. The witching effect is linked to carefully cultivated arcane patterns in the iron mage's own magical aura, and is ineffective when used against targets more than 30 feet away.
Counter-Threat (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, as part of the action used to cast a spell or activate a spell-like ability, an iron mage can designate one opponent he threatens in melee. The current action does not provoke attacks of opportunity from that opponent. This ability is not limited to spells and spell-like abilities gained from the iron mage class.
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 rank improves by 1.
Focused Study: Confronted with the necessity of maintaining two very different skill sets, an iron mage seeking to expand his abilities frequently focuses on a single, narrow goal, allowing him to more easily concentrate on the concepts and techniques involved. At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, he gains a new benefit from these studies, selected from the list below. An iron mage cannot select an individual study more than once.
- Distant Witching: The iron mage's witching effects apply to attacks at any range, rather than being limited to targets within 30 feet.
- Familiar: The iron mage obtains a familiar. This ability functions like the wizard arcane bond ability, using the iron mage's class level as his effective wizard level. If the iron mage already has a familiar, his class level stacks with levels from any other class which grants a familiar to determine his effective wizard level. An iron mage may not select the bonded item benefit of the arcane bond ability, and cannot select this study if he already possesses a bonded item.
- Fully Fortified: The iron mage gains proficiency with heavy armor and tower shields. His spells ignore any arcane spell failure chance from worn armor or shields.
- Greater School Focus: The iron mage's class abilities and spells from his school of focus gain a +2 bonus to the DCs of any saving throws they generate. This ability does not stack with bonuses granted by the Spell Focus, Greater Spell Focus or Ability Focus feats.
- Handy Trick: The iron mage can activate his dampening field, expedience, forcecube or stifle ability as a swift action, and he can use that ability 2 additional times per day.
- Metafluency: The iron mage gains any one metamagic feat as a bonus feat. He must meet any prerequisites for that feat. When applying metamagic to a spell which he has selected for his spell fluency class feature, that spell is no longer automatically Hightened one level, but the final effective level of the spell is reduced by one (to a minimum of its original level). If he uses spell fluency to cast a spell spontaneously, he does not gain this benefit but instead can apply metamagic to that spell without increasing its casting time.
- Magewright: The iron mage gains Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat. He also gains a +2 bonus to Spellcraft checks made to create magic items with this feat.
- Martial Drill: The iron mage gains any one combat feat as a bonus feat. He must meet any prerequisites for that feat. For the purpose of meeting feat prerequisites, he is considered to have a number of Fighter levels equal to his iron mage level, in addition to any actual fighter levels he may possess.
- Remedial Wizardry: The iron mage no longer suffers a -3 penalty to his caster level for spells from schools other than his school of focus and the Universal school. He may prepare one additional additional 0-level spell per day, and immediately learns a number of 0-level wizard spells equal to his Intelligence modifier.
- Weapon Attunement: By spending an uninterrupted hour practicing with a melee weapon with which he is proficient, the iron mage can attune his reflexes to its particular heft and balance. When wielding that weapon, he gains the benefit of the Eschew Materials feat when casting iron mage spells, and can substitute the weapon for any spell focus item costing 1gp or less. He can also use a hand holding that weapon to perform somatic components. An iron mage can only attune himself to one weapon at a time.
Arcane Conversion: As a swift action, an iron mage can sacrifice one of his prepared spells of 1st level or higher to increase his witching rank by an amount equal to the sacrificed spell's level for one round.
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.
An iron mage's caster level is equal to his iron mage level. However, when casting spells or using spell completion items from schools other than his school of focus or the Universal school, he suffers a -3 penalty to his caster level (minimum 1st level).
School spell: At 4th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, an iron mage learns an additional spell from his school of focus, which can be of any level that he can cast.
Fluency: At 6th level, and every 3 levels thereafter, the iron mage learns one spell by rote. He selects a spell which is already in his spellbook. From now on, he can prepare that spell without referring to a spellbook, and can sacrifice a prepared spell of equal or greater level to cast it spontaneously. If prepared normally, the spell uses a slot of its normal level but is treated as Heightened by one level (or one additional level if it is already Heightened). He must select a different spell each time he gains this ability.
Improved counter-threat: An iron mage of 9th level or higher never provokes attacks of opportunity from foes he threatens when casting spells or using spell-like abilities.
Greater Warding (Su): An 12th 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 uses the attack action to make only a single attack in a round, he performs a greater witching which causes additional effects depending on his school of focus.
Dire witching: A 20th level iron mage can forego multiple attacks to devastate an enemy. When he uses the attack action, in addition to performing a greater witching, his witching rank is doubled for that attack.
Abjuration
Your specialize in hindering the enemy's offense, whether physical or magical.
Witching: A creature damaged by your attack suffers a penalty equal to your witching rank to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls, CMB, and the DC of any saving throws caused by its spells or abilities. This penalty lasts for one round. 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, 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 10 + 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 (Sp): At 2nd level, you can emanate an aura of protective magic which lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your Intelligence bonus. Choose acid, cold, electricity, fire or sonic; all creatures and objects within 10 feet of you gain resist energy 10 against that energy type. At 11th level your dampening field grants resist energy 20. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- Unfettered (Su): Once per day at 8th level, as a swift action, you can bestow the benefits of the freedom of movement spell to yourself or any creature within 30 feet for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level. You can use this ability twice per day at 14th level, and 3 times per day at 20th level.
- Greater Dispel Magic (Sp): You can use greater dispel magic as a spell-like ability once per day at 13th level and twice per day at 17th level.
- Prismatic Sphere (Sp): You can use prismatic sphere as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level.
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. Your weapons are considered to have the ghost touch enhancement.
Greater Witching: A wave of force follows your weapon, brutally impacting against any creature or object struck. You can make a free bull rush attempt 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 are hit with a successful weapon attack the impact triggers a burst of force which streaks back to the attacker, dealing damage equal to your warding rank. Ranged attacks trigger this effect only if the attacker is within 30 feet. Any effect which prevents or absorbs damage from magic missiles also affects your greater warding.
School powers:
- Forcecube (Sp): At 2nd level, you can create a transparent but visibly shimmering cube of force measuring up to 5 feet on each side, occupying any empty space within 30 feet. The cube lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your Intelligence modifier, and otherwise has the same properties as a resilient sphere. At 11th level you can increase any your forcecube's dimensions up to 10 feet on each side. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier. If you attempt to create a forcecube in an occupied space it fails to appear but still counts against your daily usage.
- Spell Channeling (Su): Once per day at 8th level, as a swift 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. You must still overcome any spell resistance the target may possess, but you can substitute your successful attack roll for the caster level check to do so. 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 the imbued weapon within a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your iron mage level, the imbued spell is lost. You can use this ability twice per day at 14th level, and 3 times per day at 20th level.
- Forceful Hand (Sp): You can use forceful hand as a spell-like ability once per day at 13th level and twice per day at 17th level.
- Meteor Swarm (Sp): You can use meteor swarm as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level.
Necromancy
You weave dire curses to confound your foes, and fortify your own body with negative energy.
Witching: A creature damaged by your attack suffers 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. 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 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 10 + 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.
School powers:
- Stifle (Sp): At 2nd level, you can cause a creature within 30 feet to become fatigued for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your Intelligence bonus if it fails a Fortitude saving throw (DC = 10 + 1/2 your iron mage level + your Intelligence modifier). At 11th level a creature you stifle is exhausted for the duration if it fails its save, and fatigued otherwise. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- False Flesh (Su): Once per day at 8th 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 twice per day at 14th level, and 3 times per day at 20th level.
- Eyebite (Sp): You can use eyebite as a spell-like ability once per day at 13th level and twice per day at 17th level.
- Energy Drain (Sp): You can use energy drain as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level.
Transmutation
Your subtle art manipulates time, space and substance, providing various tactical advantages.
Witching: A creature damaged by your attack suffers a penalty to all of its movement speeds equal to 10 feet × your witching rank. This penalty lasts for one round, and cannot reduce a creature's movement to less than 5 feet. You gain a bonus to attack rolls equal to your witching rank, and your weapons bypass 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).
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 (Sp): At 2nd level, you can grant the effects of the expeditious retreat spell to yourself or another creature within 30 feet. At 11th level, you instead grant the effects of haste. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.
- Distortion (Su): Once per day at 8th level, as a swift 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 = 10 + 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 twice per day at 14th level, and 3 times per day at 20th level.
- Disintegrate (Sp): You can use disintegrate as a spell-like ability once per day at 13th level and twice per day at 17th level.
- Etherealness (Sp): You can use etherealness as a spell-like ability once per day at 19th level.
I think the special powers granted should enhance the class features, not give access to spells that, by all rights, require the dedication of a wizard.
While I don't have a problem with this, I have to admit that a 6th level spell-like ability (or an effect similar to a 6th level spell) and a 9th level spell-like ability (or an effect similar to a 9th level spell) are rather good compared to most powers/ability granted by other Class features/Bloodline/School/Domains of level 13th and 19th respectively...
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Love it! The powers are mostly very appealing and look useful without being overpowered. I especially appreciate how the different schools all use the same template for their granted powers, yet each in its unique way. I also applaud the choice of using the Ranger/Paladin spell progression, which keeps this class from attaining too much arcane power over its martial brethren. I don't care about the high-end powers much since I never play at that level, but I guess they could use some down-tuning. Maybe an 8th or 7th level spell would be enough? The Greater Warding and Witching powers already make an Iron Mage into a big combat threat.
Now let's try to get that into an official Paizo supplement! :)
The 6th and 9th level powers are really an example of "can't please everyone." ;) They weren't initially in the design. But a lot of people wanted something at high levels that really said, "this class is part wizard." And since the class is part wizard, I went ahead with it.
I could probably axe the 9ths. The 6ths I consider essential at this point; I could move them up higher, although they're already gained later than a sorcerer. But, consider a few things.
First, note that I deliberately did not pick disjunction, time stop or wail of the banshee. The 6th level choices are solid, but you don't see elemental body III, circle of death or chain lightning.
Second, I would argue that Improved Quarry is as good as any of those 9th level spells in terms of how much and how frequently it will impact a character's contributions to the party.
Third, the iron mage can cast any of those spells off a scroll!
Third, the iron mage can cast any of those spells off a scroll!
Yes, or from a staff, or any spell completion item since they ARE wizards after all.
I'd leave them in. Eyebite 1/day at 13th level is nothing to sneeze at, but its not something that will cause me as a DM to throw my arms in the airs saying "I quit!"
As for the 9th level spell, I'd be much more afraid of a pure 19th level wizard, or pure 19th level fighter for that matter. I actually have some doubt as to how the I-M stands above 15th level compared to other classes. The I-M has a lot of tricks up its sleeve, but most of them are time consuming. Time works against the I-M and he doesn't have a lot of big kabooms, until 19th level.
The transmuter I-M has disintegrate, which gives him significantly more offensive power than other foci, but again i wonder if he can make a DC that makes the spell really frightening (without turning him into a one trick pony). Nevertheless, the transmutation focus is still my least favorite one in terms of game balance...
'findel
The transmuter I-M has disintegrate, which gives him significantly more offensive power than other foci
I definitely disagree with that statement. :) It gives him one burst of heavy firepower, once a day. Compare eyebite, which can meaningfully disable a small mob of opponents (and stacks with all the necromancer's other afflictions); or greater dispel, which can be even more crippling to NPCs and other gear-users, not to mention having occasional out-of-combat utility; or even forceful hand, which doesn't care about saving throws and can split up the enemy which is functionally almost as good as just killing one outright (and once you've killed one, you can re-direct it).
Meanwhile, the evoker is doing more damage in general, the necromancer is helping everyone else do more damage, and the abjurer is making it matter less that enemies aren't dead yet. If there's one specialization I'm a little worried about being slightly unbalanced, it's not the transmuter, it's the necromancer. His personal numbers are a bit lower and he has the weakest warding, but his debuffs are beastly.
I expect a sword wizard to use spells to complement fighting with a sword. Not to cast fireball them charge. They have someone to throw spells around, the wizard.
"I expect a sword cleric to use spells to complement fighting with a sword. Not to heal party members then charge. They have someone to heal party members, the cleric."
Not trying to mock your statement, just pointing out the parallel. A paladin can frequently fill in for a cleric, whether the party doesn't have one or he's simply busy with something else. The iron mage is designed to do the same thing for the wizard's role. He's not nearly as good at it, but if he's all you've got, he can still do the job.
Edit: A few refinements:
- Evocation's Greater Witching is now precisely copied from the Awesome Blow monster feat (which it was based on), except that no maneuver is required, just a successful attack. Basically the same thing, just always 10 feet.
- Evocation's channeling ability no longer does anything special about spell resistance, you must overcome it as normal. Given a choice between clunky and overpowered, might as well default to vanilla.
- Dire Witching lets you use your Greater Witching on all attacks. Hey, it's a capstone.
Laurefindel -- I've run plenty of spreadsheets so I'm confident that on average, the iron mage is in a good place as far as personal combat prowess relative to his peers. But you're right that there may be a dead zone in the high teens, and clean-room numbers are never the whole story anyway. I don't suppose I could impose upon you to test him out in a few real scenarios at that level? Fact is, I too am one of those folks who never really plays that high, so I don't entirely trust my own testing. :P I don't really care about solo combat or class vs. class death matches; rather, what happens if you take a Fighter/Rogue/Mage/Cleric party and replace the Fighter? And for comparison, what if it were a Paladin in that spot?
I have a co-player that would probably be willing to try this in RL in a campaign But she is not really that good at optimizing so do you have some suggestions to make an easy but effective Iron-Mage so that she does not feel gimped and we can see how it performs compared to some more optimized characters.
Sure! I need to do similar things anyway for the published version. Iconics, sample characters, etc.
Does she have an idea about the basics of the character yet? Race, personality, motivations, preferred combat style? Does she particularly like any of the school focus themes?
Of course it's also important to know how you're determining base stats, and whether you're starting at 1st level or something higher.
Barcaii, I started a new thread to develop that character. I figure this one should stay focused on the actual class design.
Hello.
I have been following this class for a while now like two three weeks, and let me say i am impressed and shall be making use of this class extensively in an upcoming campaign. FYI, its a very high magic world so base fighters to me would be fairly rare.
So i was thinking for a focus study, maybe make one that takes the evocation witching and turns it from 1d4 force damage to 1d6 elemental damage, not certain if it should be limited to only one element or maybe when they prepare spells in the morning they can chose to change they element type. what do you guys think
You could also do something similar for the others but as for what i am at a loss.
Either way, awesome class and can't wait to see it fully polish when ever that is. Though i think it is close.
Oblivionsdebate -- That's far too weak to be a focused study. I see no problem with just letting the player have that ability, and pick the energy type daily. Take away the free ghost touch to compensate.
Speaking of studies, Magewright still isn't quite what I want it to be. I'm thinking of changing to this:
You gain Craft Magic Arms and Armor as a bonus feat. Choose one of Craft (armor), Craft (bows) or Craft (weapons): you gain Skill Focus for that skill as a bonus feat.
Two feats for a study is pushing it, though Skill Focus in a craft is a rare selection. But those three skills can substitute for Spellcraft when creating items of their type, and that's the flavor I'm really looking for here... seasoned warriors know how to maintain their tools, and some take that one step further and learn to make their own. For an iron mage, this would naturally extend to magical enhancements.
Still need a few more studies to really flesh out the list. Any ideas?
Barcaii, did you catch my comment above with the link to a new thread for your friend's caracter?
The AoO idea is interesting... I'll have to see if I can do anything with that.
Some text added to Fluency:
If a 0-level spell is chosen for fluency, the iron mage can cast it spontaneously without needing to sacrifice a prepared spell.
A few more studies:
- Bonus Feat: The iron mage gains a bonus feat, for which he must meet any prerequisites. This feat must be a combat, item creation or metamagic feat, or Spell Mastery.
- Cram Session: The iron mage gains an additional application of his fluency class feature, and gains Spell Mastery as a bonus feat.
- Twin Style: When wielding a melee weapon with which he is proficient and keeping at least one hand empty and unrestrained, the iron mage can use touch spells in tandem with physical attacks. As part of a full attack action he can cast and deliver a touch spell (or deliver the charge from a held touch spell) without suffering penalties for two-weapon fighting. When making an attack of opportunity he can cast and deliver a touch spell in place of a melee attack. In either case, the touch attack is made at a -5 penalty. The iron mage's spellcasting does not provoke attacks of opportunity from a creature against which he is currently making an attack of opportunity, but otherwise provokes as normal. Spells with a casting time of more than 1 standard action cannot be cast in this way.
Okay... I think it's done. Not posting the "final draft" just yet for a few reasons, but I'm happy with it.
I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who's contributed to the development of this class. The end result is definitely much better than what I would have come up with on my own. I've learned a lot from this process, and I think the quality of my future work will be improved as a result.
Would be a great addition for Ultimate magic.
For the record, if Paizo wants to buy this off me, I'll accept whatever they offer. :)
But barring that happenstance, yes, I do have independent publication plans. Ducks aren't quite in the requisite row, but it's on the way.
Now is the time to suggest anything you'd like to see in terms of support material, by the way! Quick NPC builds, favored class benefits (I'm thinking elf, half-elf and human), that sort of thing... both sides of the curtain, what would be handy?
Not sure if you are still interrested at this point, but the class looks very good - definitely ready to publish. Some of the things below are questions that could arrise if its published.
One thing, why not pusch scribe scroll to a higher level? Currently the class is just to awesome for a level 1 dip for witches and sorcerers willing to go EK.
Some questions:
Witching:
I guess it is not intentional for the arcane strike feat to stack with witching, but the way i read it you could take the feat as well.
Martial Drill:
After getting this ability, can the character take fighter feats as if he were a fighter equal to his Iron Mage level?
Arcane conversion:
Seems tough especially considering that some witchings are quite tough.
Abjuration school:
The wichting doesn´t have a DC, in fights against a single tough enemy they could be a bit to effective. On the other hand a level 10 witch can evil eye the crap out of said dragon.
Another question does the witching have a descriptor or something like that? In other words, is it supposed to work on everything?
Does it stack with similar abilties (witch evil eye for example)?
Evocation school:
1d4 force damage per witching rank seems quite a lot. I would have to try it on an example character, but with two weapon fighting, this sounds like a lot of damage. And its force damage so immunity is not likely to come into play here.
So does this work with two weapon fighting an several attack per round ? I ask chause the abjuration witching is effective only once per round per enemy.
Forcecubes: Not sure what the ability is intended to read, can you actually create it to proct someone/ catch someone or is it "just" a nice way to block some squares. If its the latter, bravo! Really like this one.
Necromancy
The witching is even better than the abjuration witching, so the same questions apply. AC is rough, CMD pretty hard and the penality to saves is really impressive. As a DM I would be damn worried about this one.
Transmutation:
Do you gain the bonus on attack rolls, on all attacks or just those targeting an opponent, affected by your wichting? The bonus is an untyped bonus, maybe make it a moral bonus?
Actually thats all. Really nice job, especially the wardings.
Oh btw some example NPCs at various levels with tactis could really help to show the class. Maybe even an example battle against an enemy.
Witching:
I guess it is not intentional for the arcane strike feat to stack with witching, but the way i read it you could take the feat as well.
"...as if using the Arcane Strike feat." Since you're already getting the virtual benefit of the feat, they don't stack, ever, period. :)
Martial Drill:
After getting this ability, can the character take fighter feats as if he were a fighter equal to his Iron Mage level?
Yes. The ability stays with you, it's not just for that one bonus feat.
Arcane conversion:
Seems tough especially considering that some witchings are quite tough.
I've run a lot of math and believe it or not, every witching is pretty much always worse than a fighter at damage: weapon training is just that good. Arcane conversion lets you burst a few times daily, but spell slots are very limited so it's not as strong as it looks. Evocation is the best at damage because of channeling, not witching.
...witching concerns...
Witching effects stack with everything except other witching effects. Abjuration and necromancy have no DC because you need to hit; you can reliably keep those effects on one enemy, but not always on more than one. (Fights with only one strong enemy are a bad balance test no matter what, so I'm not too worried there.) Transmutation applies to every attack, not just those you've already hit; I've made this obvious in the final draft.
Forcecubes: Not sure what the ability is intended to read, can you actually create it to proct someone/ catch someone or is it "just" a nice way to block some squares. If its the latter, bravo! Really like this one.
Can't be created in an occupied square, so it's just blocking. Yeah, I'm really happy with that one. :)
Edit: oh, missed this at the top...
One thing, why not pusch scribe scroll to a higher level? Currently the class is just to awesome for a level 1 dip for witches and sorcerers willing to go EK.
I don't really think so. Witching doesn't scale with actual caster level like real Arcane Strike, so it's not the best 1-level dip for that reason. Scribe Scroll isn't that great for sorcerers. Witches could benefit, but it slows their overall casting progression. You'd do about as well with one level of paladin, fighter, ranger, or even wizard.
I did move Counter-Threat up to level 2, though. That really was too good for a dip.
Witching:
I guess it is not intentional for the arcane strike feat to stack with witching, but the way i read it you could take the feat as well.
"...as if using the Arcane Strike feat." Since you're already getting the virtual benefit of the feat, they don't stack, ever, period. :)
Martial Drill:
After getting this ability, can the character take fighter feats as if he were a fighter equal to his Iron Mage level?
Yes. The ability stays with you, it's not just for that one bonus feat.
Arcane conversion:
Seems tough especially considering that some witchings are quite tough.
I've run a lot of math and believe it or not, every witching is pretty much always worse than a fighter at damage: weapon training is just that good. Arcane conversion lets you burst a few times daily, but spell slots are very limited so it's not as strong as it looks. Evocation is the best at damage because of channeling, not witching.
...witching concerns...Witching effects stack with everything except other witching effects. Abjuration and necromancy have no DC because you need to hit; you can reliably keep those effects on one enemy, but not always on more than one. (Fights with only one strong enemy are a bad balance test no matter what, so I'm not too worried there.) Transmutation applies to every attack, not just those you've already hit; I've made this obvious in the final draft.
Forcecubes: Not sure what the ability is intended to read, can you actually create it to proct someone/ catch someone or is it "just" a nice way to block some squares. If its the latter, bravo! Really like this one.Can't be created in an occupied square, so it's just blocking. Yeah, I'm really happy with that one. :)
Edit: oh, missed this at the top...
One thing, why not pusch scribe scroll to a higher level? Currently the class is just to awesome for a level 1 dip for witches and sorcerers willing to go EK.I don't...
Well you have all your bases covered, now lets start a pedition to get it into the big paizo magic book ^^
In case anyone's wondering, I just ran the numbers again because iron mages can get some fighter-only feats now.
At level 15 -- the point of greatest advantage for the iron mage, because he just got Witching 4 and the fighter's still at Weapon Training 3 -- a stupidly-optimized double-kukri evoker build has a very slight (under 5%) average DPR advantage vs. an equivalent fighter, using the Elite Array. Before 15th level the fighter always wins, and after 17th he wins again, and by a larger margin -- this really is the absolute best case. Also, this is considering only a base +5 weapon enchantment; with a relative +3 hit bonus, the fighter will gain more benefit out of extra dice, and even more out of "burst" dice because of Critical Focus, which the iron mage has no room for.
Not including natural/deflection bonuses, which will be equivalent, the fighter has 30 AC and DR 3/-; evoker has 33 AC. Hit points are equivalent. Both move 30'. Evoker potentially has +2 Will save over the Fighter; Fighter gets one daily reroll and Bravery +4. The fighter has 2 critical feats; the iron mage has none.
This is with some serious cheese: to match the fighter's ability scores, the iron mage has to rely on a headband to cast his spells. They both use a belt of Dex to qualify for TWF feats. If you add the stipulation that the iron mage wants to cast all his spells without needing gear bonuses, and that they both must qualify for their two-weapon feats with natural Dexterity (both reasonable for "normal" characters), the fighter wins no matter what. Of course, in an anti-magic field the fighter is always MUCH better because Witching goes away. :)
So, even with the recent boosts, I'm not worried about the iron mage putting fighters out of business under any circumstances. They're a little better on baseline than paladins and rangers, but of course those classes pull way out ahead against their favored enemies.
EDIT: a ranged build (using a transmuter this time) yields nearly identical results: narrow advantage at level 15-16, otherwise the fighter is ahead (and in this case, the fighter has +4 AC).
It should be added that the iron mage described above is a terrible spellcaster, having no room for any magic-oriented studies; he has Martial Drill, Bonus Feat, Weapon Attunement and Magewright. If he trades out the latter for something that actually boosts spellcasting, he can't afford the headband that lets him cast!
Edit: Whoops, miscalculated evoker's AC. He's only got 31, so fighter gains DR 3/- in exchange for -1 AC.
Also edit: Just for fun -- a non-cheesed TFW ranger lags behind at 27 AC, but on offense he beats the non-cheesed fighter against a +4 favored enemy; matches the cheesed evoker against a +6; and is just crazy against a +8. And that's ignoring companion and quarry. He's got the same hit points as the others, and the highest Will save among them (plus a reroll).
how soon before you think the class will be in its final version Tejon?
On my hard drive, it already is. :) Currently formatting, working with artist, etc. Need to start chatting with publishers about starting up an imprint, but I want to have it pretty much print-ready before I do.
My current plan is to release it as a print-ready PDF. Just a few pages, yes, though there'll be a bit more material than you see here. There's also a plan to adapt and reprint the class with gamer-printer's upcoming iron age Celtic setting.
I'm open to contact from others who want to use it, up to and including Paizo, though I'm not holding my breath. I inquired a while back, they don't generally take cold submissions so I'm not going to push it on them. But hey, I won't slap down any community petitions! ;D
Confirmed with a publisher! :D A bit more time to tidy it up, get the art and extras worked out, etc.; but it's official!
...phew! The magus is just a more selfish, less flamboyant bard. I'm still pretty much alone in this archetype. :)
*...a bit of research...*
Hey, how'd I miss the Vanguard anyway? Knew about the Archon, but it looked more along the same lines as the Magus (more focus on offense, less on defense). If it's less than a year old, that would explain it... been stuck in The Real World and not paying much attention here for the last six months or so.
Now that I've locked down my design and don't have to worry about accidental plagiarism, I should probably buy a few of those Genius Guides, hehe.
...phew! The magus is just a more selfish, less flamboyant bard. I'm still pretty much alone in this archetype. :)
Hehe, I have been creating a gish class that focuses more on being an Arcane-Hunter type (flavored to fit my campaign). I've actually been meaning to ask you for a few days:
Do you mind if I use your witching class ability (Renamed, of course), because I think we both looked at Arcane Strike and said "This could be better if we put it into class mechanics". Since yours is obviously more complete than mine, with a fair amount of revising and critiquing, I thought it'd be sensible to use yours as a mild template.
I just want to give credit where credit is due, and I hope you don't mind me ninja-ing some of your ideas. :)
Edit: I've been using the Inquisitor as a solid template since I started creating this class. It seemed like the kind of gish-counterpart to what I was trying to make. (So it's basics look closer to that)
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*...a bit of research...*
Hey, how'd I miss the Vanguard anyway? Knew about the Archon, but it looked more along the same lines as the Magus (more focus on offense, less on defense). If it's less than a year old, that would explain it... been stuck in The Real World and not paying much attention here for the last six months or so.
Now that I've locked down my design and don't have to worry about accidental plagiarism, I should probably buy a few of those Genius Guides, hehe.
LOL ... Yeah, the vanguard was only released a few weeks ago but it's been in playtest / development for a pretty long time. The class has recieved very positive feedback and reviews which is very rewarding;)
Anyway, I don't want to highjack your thread - just wanted to pop in and let you know you've got friendly competition ;)
Seriously, goog luck with your class - the more Pathfinder goodness out there, the better!
Do you mind if I use your witching class ability (Renamed, of course), because I think we both looked at Arcane Strike and said "This could be better if we put it into class mechanics".
Go for it! It's all open content anyway, the published version mostly sells presentation and value-added content. :)
If you're keeping anything like the school-based bonuses, be careful about the overall damage output... if you want to add other damage increase or combat utility mechanics to the class (sneak attack, favored enemy, more feats, etc.) then you should probably give it a rounds-per-day mechanic or some other limitation.
Conversely, if you're just going to use the base "always-on Arcane Strike" ability, you're probably safe with pretty much anything else -- that's only a tiny step above the feat, saving a swift action.
LOL ... Yeah, the vanguard was only released a few weeks ago but it's been in playtest / development for a pretty long time. The class has recieved very positive feedback and reviews which is very rewarding;)
Beat me to the punch! I'm still working with artists, not to mention feeling out the whole publication process in the first place. You're on a recognized label whereas I'm going to be starting a new brand, so the competition is formidable! I'll need that goog luck. :D
Do you mind if I use your witching class ability (Renamed, of course), because I think we both looked at Arcane Strike and said "This could be better if we put it into class mechanics".Go for it! It's all open content anyway, the published version mostly sells presentation and value-added content. :)
If you're keeping anything like the school-based bonuses, be careful about the overall damage output... if you want to add other damage increase or combat utility mechanics to the class (sneak attack, favored enemy, more feats, etc.) then you should probably give it a rounds-per-day mechanic or some other limitation.
Conversely, if you're just going to use the base "always-on Arcane Strike" ability, you're probably safe with pretty much anything else -- that's only a tiny step above the feat, saving a swift action.
LOL ... Yeah, the vanguard was only released a few weeks ago but it's been in playtest / development for a pretty long time. The class has recieved very positive feedback and reviews which is very rewarding;)Beat me to the punch! I'm still working with artists, not to mention feeling out the whole publication process in the first place. You're on a recognized label whereas I'm going to be starting a new brand, so the competition is formidable! I'll need that goog luck. :D
Yeah, I have two versions currently being worked out. The Hit Die has been at a D8, and I have the medium BAB progression (in a couple ways, the one I've been working on looks a little like what I was expecting the Magus to look like--which it did, save a few things). I've been debating over whether to make Fort and Will my goods saves, or to go with Ref and Will.
I think I'm going to go with the Continuous Arcane Strike, unless I think of a more appropriate ability. As for your other suggestions--Thanks!
Currently I'm working on his Arcane Visages/Arcane Countenance, which are the current progression for his School Focus, as well as taking a few hints from the actual Magus Beta, and working it into a more-or-less selfish class.
Again, thank you, and I really enjoy your work on this.
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I don't know the 3rd party competition yet, but at least the official Magus is entirely underwhelming in my opinion. The concept of "weak caster combined with weak meleeist" was already done, and better, in the Bard. These classes are only barely more able to survive melee than straight wizards are, so in the end they will most likely stay out of it and just be lesser wizards. What is truly missing from Pathfinder is a strong meleeist that will actually want to be in melee and still have a smattering of arcane power; basically the arcane counterpart to ranger and paladin... Thus, the Iron Mage fills a niche in Pathfinder whereas the Magus does not.
This class is extremely awesome and is pretty much what I was looking for as someone who loves the martial arcanist archetype. Wasn't too happy with the Magus but I do love its cast-a-spell-and-full-attack schtick, just wish that the class was built to actually do something with that and then be able to survive when the monster you tried to kill with your six seconds of pretty cool eats you. When abouts do you think the publisher will be putting the final polished piece up for sale? I'm really interested in seeing what the Iron Mage looks like all spit shined and ready to rock. An NPC that was going to be a Magus just got a changeover to this class in a campaign I'm DMing so thumbs up!
Okay... I've left this hanging for entirely too long, and at this point I'm becoming increasingly embarrassed to even show up here because of how long I've left it hanging, so I need to kill that vicious circle before it gets any worse. :P
Short explanation is, artist troubles; but the artist is not to blame for me letting it sit during said troubles. When I left off I was talking to Louis Porter about starting an imprint, but we've been out of contact for about as long as I've been silent here, and I'm not sure the offer's still on the table; I wouldn't be remotely offended at this point if he just told me, "you blew it."
I'm going to properly wrap this up one way or another, because the last version publicly posted isn't quite the production version and at the very least the community should have access to the final revisions. I've yet to even review the most recent Paizo class drafts, I don't know whether the Iron Mage is still sufficiently different from the Magus to justify release as a serious product, and on top of that I'm questioning whether I've got the drive and focus to really do this professionally, at least right now. (Flat-out missing Superstar 2011 was a bad thing. Having no gaming group for the past six months hasn't helped.) So unless there arises a great clamor pleading for my talent, I'm leaning toward a free PDF release; nothing special but at least polished and print-ready.
Final version will be up as soon as I reformat it for BBcode. It'll be a fresh thread, I'll add a link here when it's ready.
PDF is ready except for license/copyright information. I've decided to heed my GF's constant urging and set up a website/blog for this and my other gaming-related ventures. Should be able to secure proper hosting and get something basic up within the next week; that's where I'll release the PDF.
Man, that edit window catches me every time... here's the final thread.