I really like the Magus. I think paizo has done an excellent job especially considering the disparity over what the magus should do. There are a few different ideas I thought I would throw out there. Some of these ideas are not my own, but are ideas I have liked from other posters that I have incorporated into my magus (I have tried to cite posters of the original idea).
Arcane Pool (as proposed by TL03). I saw this on a different board and loved it and thought it would be a good way of implementing some of the ideas later in my post. This works similar to Ki points.
Spellstrike (as proposed by Kortz) which works similar to sneak attack and the magus would be able to vary the type of damage (Fire, ice, acid, etc.). I think this is a great ability to be powered by the Arcane Pool.
Spell Combat (as proposed by me). There has been a lot of argument about whether or not there should be a penalty if so how much, etc. I would like to propose that this depends on the type of spell being cast. I think that the penalty as proposed now works fine for non-combat spells. What I mean by this is if the magus is attempting to cast a control spell (say color spray) that the penalties are fine as is. But if the magus is attempting to do a combat spell (touch or range touch) that the penalties and how the spells function should be different. In the case of a touch spell I think it should function just as TWF. The magus would take a penalty to both attacks and would not have to cast defensively or make a special concentration check. If the magus is casting a range-touch the magus takes penalties to attack and would be subject to an AoO (similar to a character who wanted to make an attack with a hand crossbow). I think that a feat (similar to the one in the APG that does the same thing for archers) or Magus Arcana that negates AoO for those with the ability would be a cool option too.
Magus Arcana (Disciplines) (as proposed by me). I would like to see the magus have customization similar to that of the oracle or cavalier. These could be different orders or schools of thought, but I have called them Disciplines. My idea for the Disciplines is to lump a group of abilities together that would alter the Magus’ style of play. As noted above I think one of the biggest challenges facing the developers is the disagreement among fans on what they want from the magus. The disciplines would offer away a way for the developers to create options that will satisfy all these different play styles. I decided to use gemstones. Don’t know why, I guess I wanted something distinct from other orders, schools, domains, etc. Sample ideas:
Diamond Discipline-
Focus: Armored Defense. This would allow for those who wish to use heavy armor from the get go. Spell failure would be given as percentage reduction that would increase as the character leveled.
Abilities: Medium and Heavy armor proficiencies, shield proficiency
Fast Cast: Bull’s Strength, False Life, Haste
Ruby Discipline-
Focus: Mobility. This is for those who don’t wish to stand and fight, but are more skirmishers.
Abilities: dodge, mobility, spring attack
Fast Cast: Cat’s Grace, Blink, Invisibility
Sapphire Discipline-
Focus: Arcane defense. This is for those who disdain mundane methods of protection and rely on magical protection.
Abilities: Arcane armor last’s all day, but still requires the expenditure of a spell slot.
Fast Cast: Shield, Bear’s Endurance, Displacement, Stoneskin
Fast Cast (as proposed by me). I think the magus should not be better than the fighter, but I do like the idea of the magus being as good as a fighter or as good as a rogue depending on if the character was oriented. Instead of relying on physical prowess (BAB, HP, armor, etc) the magus would rely on arcane abilities to supplement their physical attacks (Arcane weapon, False Life, stone skin, etc). And while this is feasible through many existing spells a character would require several rounds to buff up leaving her companions to face the brunt of the attack. I think a way around this would be to cast certain spells as swift actions. Each Discipline would have a list of spells they can Fast Cast. To Fast Cast a character would have to burn X (1 per spell level?) points from their arcane pool, and would be able to cast the spell as a swift action.
Bookmarked for interest.
Bump.