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Level 1: Magus 1
Height: 6’, Weight: 190 lbs, Eyes: hazel, Skin: tanned, Hair: short, brown
Speed 30 feet
Base Attack Bonus +0
Save Vs: Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +2
Armour Class 14 = Dexterity +1, Studded leather armour +3 (Armour check penalty 0)
Hit Points: 10 [1d8 +1 favoured class +1 Con bonus]
Attacks:
Flail - Attack +2 [1d8 +2 bludgeoning damage, disarm, trip]
Dagger – Attack +2/+1 [1d4 +2 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Heavy Crossbow – Attack +1 [1d10 piercing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 120ft]
Abilities:
Str 14 [+2] Dex 12 [+1] Con 13 [+1] Int 16 [+3] Wis 10 [+0] Cha 10 [+0]
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (3) – dancing lights, daze, flare
Level 1 (1+1) – burning hands, shield
Spellbook:
Cantrips – all magus
Level 1 – burning hands, flare burst, hydraulic push, magic weapon, obscuring mist, shield
Class Features:
Arcane Pool – 4 per day
Spell Combat
Feats:
Simple Weapons Proficiency, Martial Weapons Proficiency, Light Armour Proficiency, Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm
Skills: (2 + Int bonus + human bonus = 6)
Climb +6, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Ride +5, Spellcraft +7, Swim +6
Languages:
Common, Draconic, Goblin, Orc
Traits:
Focused Mind (+2 trait bonus on Concentration checks), Armour Expert (-1 on armour check penalties)
Equipment:
Studded Leather Armour (25gp)
Flail (8gp)
2x Daggers (2x2=4gp)
2x Spring-loaded wrist sheathes (2x5=10gp)
Spell Component Pouch (5gp)
Heavy Crossbow (50gp)
Case of 10 Bolts (1gp)
2gp
Level 1: Wizard 1
Height: 5’11”, Weight: 111 lbs, Eyes: emerald, Skin: fair, Hair: long, raven
Speed 30 feet
Base Attack Bonus +0
Save Vs: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +2
Armour Class 13 (17/21/22) = Dexterity +3, (Mage Armour +4, Shield +4, Protective Ward +1)
Hit Points: 8 [1d6 +1 favoured class +1 Con bonus]
Attacks:
Rapier - Attack +3 [1d6 piercing damage, Crit 18-20/x2]
Dagger – Attack +3 [1d4 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Masterwork Composite Longbow – Attack +4 [1d8 piercing damage, Crit x3, range 110ft]
Abilities:
Str 10 [+0] Dex 16 [+3] Con 12 [+1] Int 16 [+3] Wis 10 [+0] Cha 10 [+0]
Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision – 2x human in dim light
Elven Immunities – immune to magic sleep, +2 save Vs enchantment
Elven Magic - +2 to overcome spell resistance, +2 Spellcraft to identify magic items
Keen Senses - +2 Perception
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (3) – detect magic, mage hand, prestidigitation
Level 1 (1+1 +1 school) – mage armour, colour spray, shield
Spellbook:
Cantrips – all wizard except Evocation and Necromancy
Level 1 – alarm, shield, mage armour, charm person, colour spray, enlarge person
Class Features:
Arcane Bond – Composite Longbow, cast any one spell in spellbook once per day
Arcane School – Abjuration, opposition schools – Evocation, Necromancy
Resistance – Resistance 5 Vs one type (chosen when spells are prepared)
Protective Ward – standard action, 10ft radius, +1 deflection bonus to AC for self and allies in area for 3 rounds, 6x per day
Feats:
Elf Weapons Proficiencies, Wizard Weapons Proficiencies, Scribe Scroll, Weapon Finesse
Skills: (2 + Int bonus = 5)
Appraise +7, Craft (bows) +7, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Linguistics +7, Spellcraft +7
Languages:
Common, Elven, Draconic, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan
Traits:
Warrior of Old (+2 Initiative), Gifted Adept (Mage Armour)
Equipment:
Rapier (20gp)
2x Daggers (2x2=4gp)
2x Spring-loaded wrist sheathes (2x5=10gp)
Spell Component Pouch (5gp)
Quiver of 20 Arrows (1gp)
Flask of Acid (10gp)
Flask of Alchemist’s Fire (20gp)
Level 1: Fighter 1
Height: 6’, Weight: 190 lbs, Eyes: deep blue, Skin: tanned, Hair: short, blond
Speed 30 feet (20 feet)
Base Attack Bonus +1
Save Vs: Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +0
Armour Class 20 = Dexterity +2, Scale Mail armour +5 (Armour check penalty -4), Heavy Steel Shield +3 (Armour check penalty -2)
Hit Points: 16 [1d10 +1 favoured class +2 Con bonus +3 Toughness]
Attacks:
Battleaxe - Attack +5 [1d8 +3 slashing damage, Crit x3]
Dagger – Attack +4/+3 [1d4 +3 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Heavy Crossbow – Attack +3 [1d10 piercing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 120ft]
Abilities:
Str 16 [+3] Dex 14 [+2] Con 14 [+2] Int 10 [+0] Wis 10 [+0] Cha 10 [+0]
Feats:
Simple Weapons Proficiency, Martial Weapons Proficiency, Light Armour Proficiency, Medium Armour Proficiency, Heavy Armour Proficiency, Shield Proficiency, Tower Shield Proficiency, Shield Focus, Weapon Focus (battleaxe), Toughness
Skills: (2 + human bonus = 3)
Climb +7, Survival +4, Swim +7
Languages:
Common
Traits:
Dirty Fighter (+1 damage when flanking), Sceptic (+2 save Vs illusions)
Equipment:
Scale Mail (50gp)
Heavy Steel Shield (20gp)
Battleaxe (10gp)
2x Daggers (2x2=4gp)
2x Spring-loaded wrist sheathes (2x5=10gp)
Heavy Crossbow (50gp)
Case of 10 Bolts (1gp)
Backpack (2gp)
Rope, silk (10gp)
Grappling Hook (1gp)
Lantern, hooded (7gp)
Bedroll (1sp)
Flask of Oil (1sp)
Flint and Steel (1gp)
Whetstone (2cp)
8gp 7sp 8cp
Level 1: Cleric of Torag 1
Height: 4’2”, Weight: 185 lbs, Eyes: dark brown, Skin: tan, Hair: red with full beard
Speed 20 feet
Base Attack Bonus +0
Save Vs: Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +6
Armour Class 17 = +5 Scale Mail Armour (Armour check penalty -4), +2 Heavy Steel Shield (Armour check penalty -2)
Hit Points: 12 [1d8 +1 favoured class +3 Con bonus]
Attacks:
Warhammer - Attack +1 [1d8 +1 bludgeoning damage, Crit x3]
Dagger – Attack +1/+0 [1d4 +1 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Heavy Crossbow – Attack +0 [1d10 piercing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 120ft]
Abilities:
Str 13 [+1] Dex 10 [+0] Con 16 [+3] Int 10 [+0] Wis 16 [+3] Cha 10 [+0]
Racial Traits
Slow and Steady
Darkvision – 60ft
Defensive Training - +4 dodge bonus to AC Vs giants
Greed - +2 to Appraise non-magical precious metals and gems
Hatred - +1 attack Vs orcs and goblins
Hardy - +2 save Vs poisons, spells, & spell-like abilities
Stability - +4 CMD Vs bull rush & trip
Stone cunning - +2 Perception to notice unusual stonework, auto-check within 10ft
Spells Prepared:
Orisons (3) – guidance, resistance, virtue
Level 1 (1+1 +1 domain) – bless, shield of faith, animate rope
Class Features:
Aura – Faint aura of Good
Channel Energy – 1d6, 30ft burst, 5x per day
Domains – Artifice, Protection (+1 resistance bonus on saves)
Artificer’s Touch – mending at will, 1d6 damage melee touch to objects or constructs, 6x per day
Resistant Touch – Grant another his resistance bonus for 1 minute by touch, 6x per day
Spontaneous Casting – Cure spells
Feats:
Dwarf Weapons Proficiencies, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Light Armour Proficiency, Medium Armour Proficiency, Shield Proficiency, Extra Channel
Skills: (2)
Heal +7, Knowledge (religion) +4
Languages:
Common, Dwarven
Traits:
Sacred Touch, Resilient (+1 to Fortitude saves)
Equipment:
Scale Mail (50gp)
Heavy Steel Shield (20gp)
Warhammer (12gp)
Dagger (2gp)
Heavy Crossbow (50gp)
Case of 10 Bolts (1gp)
Rope, hemp (1gp)
Grappling hook (1gp)
Wooden Holy Symbol (1gp)
Backpack (2gp)
Set-up: Relaxing at the ‘Supine Giant’ (ah, random tavern name generator, where would we be without you?!) our heroes-to-be are shocked (shocked, I tell you!) when a badly wounded young lad stumbles in, with a tail of goblin bandits raiding his family’s farm. Once the cleric has healed the boy he explains that he managed to escape, but that his parents and young sister are still held captive in the goblin’s lair... and yes, he can show them how to get there. Deciding to head out in the morning, the PCs all get a good night’s rest...
... Come morning the PCs, with the boy and a small group of well-meaning villagers, head to where he says the lair is. They don’t get too close, but the lad points the way, then waits with the villagers for the heroes to go in and do their stuff. The lair is a small cave complex in the forest.
The adventure is using the classic one easy, three average, and one challenging format for encounters for this APL 1 group. The first (easy) encounter is the bandits’ hobgoblin second-in-command, who’s taken it upon himself to keep watch on a small ridge overlooking the way to the lair; the second is a trained wolf used by the bandits as a watchdog; then there are two groups of three goblins each within the lair, and finally their bugbear leader (the challenging encounter).
Since they know they’re close, the Wizard casts her Mage Armour spell (since it lasts two hours with her Gifted Adept trait), the Cleric casts Guidance on everyone, and with crossbows loaded and ready (longbow ready with arrow knocked for the Wizard) the PCs try their best to sneak up to the lair.
With no real party skills in either sneaking or perception, it’s unsurprising that the hobgoblin spots them before they spot him, although they manage to get within 80 feet of him before he sees them (or, more likely, hears the dwarf’s armour clanking around). For his surprise round, he fires a whistling arrow to the mouth of the lair as a warning. The PCs now spot him, but the guard-wolf will arrive in 5 rounds (to take actions in round 6), and the goblins in the lair now know something’s up.
Amazingly the dwarf gets the best initiative roll, but all the PCs beat the hobgoblin’s pitiful roll of a 3 (5 with his bonus). He’s positioned up a small ridge, standing behind a waist-high rock, so he’s got +4 AC from cover (and higher ground if anyone makes it into melee). The PC’s volley of crossbow bolts clatters off the rocks, but the Wizard’s arrow strikes home for an impressive 8 points of damage. The PCs also all move in closer (the last 10 feet between them and the hobgoblin is up-hill difficult terrain, but they’re not there yet), the Fighter and Cleric moving 20 feet, and the Magus and Wizard moving 30 feet each. All find trees to claim cover. Between the arrow in his shoulder and a racial hatred for elves, the hobgoblin fires his long bow at the Wizard, the shot missing.
Still a full 60 feet away from the hobgoblin, the Cleric and Fighter both run to the base of the ridge (but can’t run up the difficult terrain) and again claim cover. The Wizard fires again, misses, and moves up (now 20 feet from the target). The Magus moves up (now 20 feet away), and (holding his crossbow in one hand) casts Daze, but the hobgoblin saves. The hobgoblin fires at the Wizard again, and misses again.
Behind cover, the Cleric drops his crossbow and readies his warhammer and shield. The Fighter drops his crossbow, readies his shield, then draws his battleaxe as he ascends the ridge to the hobgoblin’s side (now within melee range). The Magus drops his crossbow, draws his flail, and ascends the ridge to a flanking position on the other side of the hobgoblin. The Wizard fires again, but with little chance to hit fails to do so, but does move up onto the ridge (out of melee range of the hobgoblin). The hobgoblin drops his longbow, draws his longsword, takes a 5 ft step away from the Magus (so he’s no longer flanked, but can still attack the Fighter), and (since he’s not got time to ready his shield as well), takes a swing with both hands. A critical threatens, but doesn’t confirm, the Fighter takes 10 damage (note: if that had hit the Magus instead, he’d be on zero Hit Points right now).
Finally making it up the ridge, the Cleric drops his warhammer in order to cast a Cure Light Wounds on the Fighter (using Shield of Faith) and healing... a pitiful 2 points of damage. Using Spell Combat (at last!) the Magus casts Flare, but the hobgoblin saves, then takes a 5ft step and attacks to disarm, successfully, knocking the hobgoblin’s longsword out of his hands. The Fighter takes a 5ft step to get back into a flanking position, then attacks, threatening but not confirming a critical, and inflicting 7 points of damage, which drops the hobgoblin.
The Cleric channels energy to heal another 2 points on the Fighter, as the others start to go through the hobgoblin’s gear – none notice the wolf nearly on them!
Leaping out at the PCs the wolf attacks the Wizard, but her Mage Armour keeps her safe. After this surprise round, everyone but the Magus beats the wolf’s initiative.
Taking a 5ft step towards her allies, the Wizard triggers her Protective Ward. Picking up his warhammer, the Cleric steps towards the wolf and swings, but misses. The Fighter steps closer and swings, hitting for 8 damage. The wolf bites at the Fighter, but is fended off by his shield. Using Spell Combat the Magus casts Flare, but the wolf saves, then steps over to attack, hitting with his flail for 5 points of damage, dropping the wolf to zero exactly.
Holding her bow in one hand, the Wizard draws her rapier, steps over, and attacks, hitting and finishing the wolf.
Finally out of combat for a bit, the group check through the hobgoblin’s gear, and another use of channel energy from the Cleric brings the Fighter back up to full hit points. The Wizard cleans everyone up with Prestidigitation... just ‘cos she can...
Heading down to the cave entrance, the PCs note it’s quiet... too quiet... and remember the hobgoblin’s warning arrow. Cautious, after some discussion the Magus casts Dancing Lights and sends a ‘vaguely humanoid shaped’ glowing figure into the cave ahead of them, hoping to trigger some sort of reaction before the group themselves do. Suspecting the possibility of traps, the Cleric casts Resistance on everyone. They’ve recovered their crossbows, but advance with melee gear ready (thinking it more likely in the confines of the cave), except for the Wizard who’s got her bow ready.
At the first goblin ambush point one of the goblins rolls a terrible 2 for his stealth (12 with bonuses), which most of the PCs beat with their Perception rolls. The DM interprets this as the ‘Dancing Lights lure’ having worked and has that goblin yell and fire an arrow at the apparition. For once the PCs have surprise. The Wizard fires at the goblin, hitting it for 4 damage. The Fighter charges, swinging and missing, followed by the Cleric, who hits for 4 damage and drops the goblin. The Magus just moves up.
By this point the two remaining goblins and the PCs have all noticed each other. With a 20 each on their initiative rolls both the Fighter and Cleric, as well as the Wizard (who rolled a 19, 24 with bonuses) get to go before the goblins, the Magus goes after. The Wizard fires and hits a goblin for 5 damage. The Fighter charges the other goblin, swings, and misses (with his second natural 1 on an attack roll in a row...). Charging the wounded goblin, the Cleric quickly finishes it with 5 points of damage from his warhammer (praise Torag!). The last goblin drops his bow, draws his sword, and stabs at the Fighter, threatening but not confirming a critical, and doing 2 points of damage. The Magus charges the goblin, hitting with his flail and dropping it with 8 points of damage (note: after some dithering over casting Daze or Flare or trying for a Disarm the conclusion was, ‘it’s a goblin, just kill it already...’, which worked out well!).
The Cleric’s third use of channel energy brings the Fighter back up to full hit points and they continue on.
Thanks to the earlier warning, the final three goblins and the bugbear are now well prepared, and the PCs will have to encounter them together, instead of as separate fights. The bugbear has the three prisoners as hostages, and is willing to use them if things get bad. Trying the ‘Dancing Lights lure’ trick again causes the Bugbear to grab the little girl hostage and threaten her if the heroes don’t show themselves. The PCs, sensing a dramatic final encounter, take a moment to prepare – the Cleric casting Bless, the Magus and Wizard both casting Shield, and the Wizard triggering her Protective Ward, then enter. The bugbear orders his minions to attack, drops the girl, and charges...
The Cleric noticed the goblins ready to ambush them just in time, so there’s no surprise round. He also, once more, goes against the statistics and gets the highest initiative... followed by the bad guys, then the other PCs...
The Cleric charges and hits the bugbear for 5 damage (and also prevents the bugbear charging them as it had planned...). The bugbear retaliates, but the Cleric fends him off. The goblins fire at the remaining three PCs. Even with his Shield and the Protective Ward the Magus gets hit for 2 damage... but so does the Fighter (a high roll’s a high roll...). The Wizard returns fire but misses. The Fighter charges the bugbear, hitting for 10 damage (leaving it on 1 hit point). The Magus moves then casts Burning Hands on two of the goblins – one takes 3 damage, the other makes its save and take 1 damage.
With a mighty blow the Cleric inflicts 8 points of damage on the bugbear, finishing it! The two burnt goblins fire at the Magus, but his Shield and Protective Ward make the difference this time and they miss. The last goblin fires at the Wizard, and likewise misses. The Wizard fires at a goblin and misses. The Fighter charges the lesser burnt goblin, and cuts it down with 10 damage. The Magus charges the remaining burnt goblin and hits for 3 damage (putting it on zero; note: it he’d bothered to use his Arcane Pool he’d have dropped it with the 1 extra damage).
The Cleric charges the ‘healthy’ goblin, hitting it for 2 damage. The goblin drops its bow, draws its sword, threatens but doesn’t confirm a critical, and does 3 damage to the Cleric. The near-dead goblin withdraws 30ft... only to be felled by an arrow from the Wizard. The Fighter charges the last goblin, but misses (another natural 1 rolled on a charge!). This time spending an Arcane Pool point (after being berated for not doing so earlier by the other players) the Magus charges the last goblin, and hits for 7 damage, dropping it.
The thankful prisoners are rescued, the goblinoid bandits' loot recovered, and everyone returns to the Supine Giant for a pint of the local brew to celebrate!
Notes: with this sort of 1st level introductory adventure, with low hit point enemies, the action economy advantage of Spell Combat had little chance to play a part – by the time the Magus had reached melee, they were already dealt with. The fact he forgot about the Arcane Pool (after starting off ‘saving’ it and never really needing it throughout) points out its minimal effect at this level – but then again, pretty much all effects are minimal at level 1 (his Burning Hands spell couldn’t even drop a couple of goblins on its own). If they’d met a creature with DR/magic it would have rocked, but such encounters are rare at 1st level. Every use of a cantrip with Spell Combat ended with the creature saving, but at least he got to attack as well, instead of ‘wasting’ a whole round on a cantrip which proved pointless – this was perhaps the best bit of the class when compared to a first level spellcaster who doesn’t have a solid weapons-based fallback (like the elf Wizard did). Compared with the other three PCs the Magus played closest to the Wizard, but the role of ‘melee fighter with hardly any armour’ somehow seemed a lot more dangerous than the ‘ranged fighter’ role the Wizard took with her longbow. The hobgoblin’s melee attack in the first encounter, which had a 50% chance of targeting the Fighter or the Magus, highlighted the fact that even 10 hit points is awfully low for a melee combatant at level 1 – while his Disarm attempt worked, again the combats didn’t last long enough for it to make much difference, so perhaps taking Toughness and Dodge as his level 1 Feats would have been a better choice, looking towards combat maneuvers when the BAB difference starts to increase at higher levels.
All in all not too bad... or too good... but the 4 man party could have done better with a skill monkey as their number four, instead of a Magus: a Bard or Rogue (or even Barbarian or Ranger) would have covered the holes in Stealth and Perception better. The Magus lacked the raw AC / hit points / melee attacking and damage capability of a pure full BAB class, so even in a smaller group would have been a poor replacement as the primary combatant, but may have done better covering for a Wizard in a smaller group, since level 1 spells and level 0 cantrips are much of a muchness, and having your spellcaster with a few extra hit points and at least some armour (as well as a decent melee weapon) takes a little pressure off covering the guy. Of course, the ‘elf archer’ Wizard build worked better in the end anyway – focusing on two Ability Scores (Dex and Int) instead of four (Str, Dex, Con, and Int) makes a difference!
A good read.
You conform some of the worries I have about real low level Magi. It seems that before 4th level or so, it is going to be some tough sledding as a Magus.
A good read.
You conform some of the worries I have about real low level Magi. It seems that before 4th level or so, it is going to be some tough sledding as a Magus.
Would work much better on a 20 point buy I think. Hum for stats on 15 point buy how about
Str: 10 (0)Dex: 16 (10)
Con: 12 (2)
Int: 16 (5)
Wisdom: 10 (0)
Cha: 8 (-2)
Take weapon finesse (Rapier) and Toughness at first level.
Take Magic Weapon as a first level spell, then use Arcane Pool to put flaming on the thing. That gives you a char doing 2d6+1 damage with an attack of +4. That's roughly equal to a Rogues damage output at the same level.
The bottom line though, is Magus does VERY POORLY on a 15 point buy.
That's a good thought, TF.
Good points all around. I always play with higher point buys luckily : )
flaming cannot be added until 5th level sadly. Yeah I ran a game for a magus with 25 point buy and the magus did okay but had few spells and also was at level 1.
The big problem at first level is that your CL is 1, meaning crap damage from spells, few pool points, inability to do more than enhance your weapon by +1, no pool spell yet, no arcanas, no spellstrike even. And because of the MAD, your DCs arent even really high enough to make SoS spells worthwhile even if you have them.
The class doesn't really start working well till level 4 or 5.
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Definitly thinking that Toughness is a must at level 1 - the guy did okay, but it could easily have gone badly in a single hit. The lack of armour is pretty bad. I did give him average Bard starting gold, so there's a chance that the final version gets a bit more, so he could get a nice chain shirt, but it's still not brilliant. With more Dex the Wizard outdid the Magus's AC with basic Mage Armour which is, at the end of the day, the same AC as a chain shirt without any of the hassle. Both had Shield, but it's a one fight spell. A guy limited to light armour and not allowed to use shields being put in a melee position, without the Rogue's stealth to get him there, really seems a little like an accident waiting to happen. Of course, that accident didn't happen in the playtest, but it makes for a nervous player...
Well how does this class look at second level? It's not really like first level characters being one hit away from death is that rare. On the other hand the wizards gets 1+bonus spells at first level and the Magus also gets 1+bonus spells. Until level 3, the Magus is running basically even with the wizard for spell selection. The Magus gets a better fort save, slightly more HPs, and the ability to wear light armor, and prof with all simple and martial weapons. The Wizard gets Arcane Bond, Arcane school powers, scribe scroll, and possibly one extra spell. Scribe scroll probably doesn't help much at very early levels. The best thing might be to stand off with a arcane pool empowered bow and plink the target for the first couple levels).
Also the Magus probably should be looking at the rich parents trait for gear. (900GP staring wealth.)
Scribe Scroll and Arcane Bond are huge at low levels. Even at first level, scribing a scroll costs 12.5 gp......that's right....12.5. It's one of the best things to do with a low level wizard. Even at first.
Wizards also have Save or Lose at first level, and the DCs to back it up because they can focus on Int. This puts them way ahead of a first level Magus spellwise. Also, most wizards specialize, which is another spell. So really, they are not equal at all spellwise.
As for plinking with a Bow: Unless you take Point Blank and Precise Shot, that's not a good option at all. You basically won't contribute to the party. You will be doing terrible damage when you hit, and that won't be often at all.
On bows do a Dex/Int built and take Arcane Accuracy. That's something like +3 Dex and +3 and +4 for the int bonus. Besides, unless we're talking about a human, the Wizard doesn't have both Point Blank and Precise Shot at first level.
Color Spray is pretty much a low level save or lose.
As for scrolls, might I make a suggestion, instead of seeing this as an either or see it as a chance for synergy. Sit down with the parties Wizard beforehand and copy all class usable spells out of each others spell books. Now talk the wizard into scribing for you at cost. I should however point out that the wizard starts with 70gp -35gp for a light crossbow,-1 GP for bolts and -5GP for the spell component pouch. That leaves you with 29gp for everything else. The wizard might start with one or maybe two scrolls.
If you think it's going to make that much difference use the feat that you didn't take point blank shot with to get scribe scroll.
Yes the Wizard gets an extra spell slot but so do you. You get an always active, though somewhat inferior, casting of Mage Armor called: Wearing a Chain Mail Shirt.
On the damage issue, this is a first level character we're talking about! 1d8+1 damage (on a +1 bow) is doing pretty good, even the cleric is unlikely to be doing more than 1d12+3 until he gets Power Attack at 3rd level. Low level casters simply don't do that much damage.
Color Spray is good, but your DC will not be as good as a Wizard. Chain shirts are a TON for starting gold. Especially if you need weapons, ammo, spell book, gear. Specialist wizards start with 2 more spells then a Magus, not equal as you seem to be saying. (Arcane Bond for the second).
As a caster, I don't bother with a crossbow. I use my class ability (most come with a ranged damage option or something that helps the party) and scribe extra scrolls which are way better than shooting a crossbow.
Your suggestions to sit down with the party wizard is a really good one.
As for a bow, if a magus is spending spells or pool points to do 1d8+1 points of damage....with a net 0 attack bonus (if you have 16 dex and enhance your bow....otherwise worse) when things are in combat (most of the time), then you're really not contributing much to the party.
Also, yer saying to take arcane accuracy, but at 1st you don't even have any Arcanas. That's part of the problem to begin with.
I do think that 1st level with a Magus is a big issue.
Ok, so I think we've established that this class needs either an Arcana at first level or the ability to give a weapon the flaming quality when cast on an already enchanted weapon. Either of these solutions will solve the problem of the Level 1 magus.
Caster class abilities (those that have ranged abilities) tend to do 1d6+1 as ranged touch attack. With a long bow you're looking at 1D8+1 or possibly 1d8+2 (cast magic weapon on it then use arcane pool) ranged.
Point Blank shot is a prereq for precise shot. Only a human caster can take both at level 1. Point blank shot gives +1 to hit / +1 damage to creatures under 30 feet. Arcane Pool gives +1/+1. TBH the Magus probably has more use for PBS than the wizard, scorching rays off a spell storing weapon need their own to hit rolls.
Chain shirts cost a ton of starting gold. I've shown you the trait to take to start with 900 gold.
As for stats, depends on how you are generating them. If it's a rolled method both the Magus and the Wizard are likely to put their highest stat into Int. Not all games are Pathfinder Society.
I'd say basically balanced at level 1. Lots of classes aren't great at first level. Hopefully you don't need a super optimized build at first. That said the ability to have a flaming weapon before level 5 would be. . . nice.
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Level 5: Magus 5
Height: 6’, Weight: 190 lbs, Eyes: hazel, Skin: tanned, Hair: short, brown
Speed 30 feet
Base Attack Bonus +3
Save Vs: Fort +6, Ref +3, Will +5
Armour Class 16 = Dexterity +1, +1 Chain Shirt +5 (Armour check penalty 0)
Hit Points: 46 [5d8 +5 favoured class +10 Con bonus +5 Toughness]
Attacks:
+1 Flail - Attack +6 [1d8 +3 bludgeoning damage, disarm, trip]
Masterwork Dagger – Attack +6/+5 [1d4 +2 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Masterwork Composite Longbow – Attack +5 [1d8 +2 piercing damage, Crit x3, range 110ft]
Lance – Attack +5 [1d8 piercing damage, Crit x3, reach, double damage on mounted charge]
Abilities:
Str 14 [+2] Dex 12 [+1] Con 14 [+2] Int 16 [+3] Wis 10 [+0] Cha 10 [+0]
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (4) – dancing lights, flare, ghost sound, ray of frost
Level 1 (4+1) – burning hands, magic weapon, chill touch, shocking grasp, expeditious retreat
Level 2 (2+1) – acid arrow, scorching ray, mirror image
Spellbook:
Cantrips – all magus
Level 1 – burning hands, flare burst, hydraulic push, magic weapon, obscuring mist, shield, chill touch, shocking grasp, expeditious retreat, magic missile
Level 2 – acid arrow, scorching ray, invisibility, mirror image
Class Features:
Arcane Pool – 5 per day
Spell Combat
Spellstrike
Arcana – Close range
Pool Spell
Feats:
Simple Weapons Proficiency, Martial Weapons Proficiency, Light Armour Proficiency, Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Toughness, Spell Focus (evocation), Craft Magic Arms and Armour
Skills: (2 + Int bonus + human bonus = 6 x5 = 30)
Climb +10, Craft (weapons) +11, Craft (armour) +11, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (planes) +7, Ride +5, Spellcraft +11, Swim +10
Languages:
Common, Draconic, Goblin, Orc
Traits:
Focused Mind (+2 trait bonus on Concentration checks), Armour Expert (-1 on armour check penalties)
Equipment:
+1 Chain Shirt (1,250gp)
+1 Flail (2,308gp)
Cloak of Resistance +1 (1,000gp)
Pearl of Power – 1st level (1,000gp)
2x Masterwork Daggers (2x302=604gp)
2x Spring-loaded wrist sheathes (2x5=10gp)
Spell Component Pouch (5gp)
Masterwork Composite Longbow (+2 Str rating) (600gp)
Quiver of 20 Arrows (1gp)
Potion of Heroism (40 minutes) (400gp)
Potion of Gaseous Form (10 minutes) (750gp)
Potion of Enlarge Person (1 minute) (50gp)
Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+3) (300gp)
Potion of Cure Light Wounds (1d8+1) (50gp)
Scroll of Unseen Servant (1 hour) (25gp)
Wand of Shield (35 charges) (525gp)
Feather Token – tree (400gp)
Elixir of Hiding (250gp)
Masterwork artisan’s tools (craft weapons) (55gp)
Masterwork artisan’s tools (craft armour) (55gp)
Heavy warhorse (300gp)
Bit and bridle (2gp)
Military saddle (20gp)
Saddlebags (4gp)
Lance (10gp)
648gp
Level 5: Wizard 5
Height: 5’11”, Weight: 111 lbs, Eyes: emerald, Skin: fair, Hair: long, raven
Speed 30 feet
Base Attack Bonus +2
Save Vs: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +4
Armour Class 14 (18/22/23) = Dexterity +3, Natural +1, (Mage Armour +4, Shield +4, Protective Ward +1)
Hit Points: 30 [5d6 +5 favoured class +5 Con bonus]
Attacks:
Masterwork Rapier - Attack +6 [1d6 piercing damage, Crit 18-20/x2]
Dagger – Attack +5 [1d4 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
+1 Composite Longbow – Attack +6 [1d8 +1 piercing damage, Crit x3, range 110ft]
Abilities:
Str 10 [+0] Dex 16 [+3] Con 12 [+1] Int 17 [+3] Wis 10 [+0] Cha 10 [+0]
Racial Traits
Low-Light Vision – 2x human in dim light
Elven Immunities – immune to magic sleep, +2 save Vs enchantment
Elven Magic - +2 to overcome spell resistance, +2 Spellcraft to identify magic items
Keen Senses - +2 Perception
Spells Prepared:
Cantrips (4) – detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, prestidigitation
Level 1 (3+1 +1 school) – mage armour, gravity bow x2, shield, vanish
Level 2 (2+1 +1 school) – protection from arrows, resist energy, arrow eruption, glide
Level 3 (1+1 +1 school) – dispel magic, haste x2
Spellbook:
Cantrips – all wizard except Evocation and Necromancy
Level 1 – alarm, shield, mage armour, charm person, colour spray, enlarge person, gravity bow, vanish
Level 2 – protection from arrows, resist energy, arrow eruption, glide
Level 3 – dispel magic, haste
Class Features:
Arcane Bond – Composite Longbow, cast any one spell in spellbook once per day
Arcane School – Abjuration, opposition schools – Evocation, Necromancy
Resistance – Resistance 5 Vs one type (chosen when spells are prepared)
Protective Ward – standard action, 10ft radius, +2 deflection bonus to AC for self and allies in area for 3 rounds, 6x per day
Feats:
Elf Weapons Proficiencies, Wizard Weapons Proficiencies, Scribe Scroll, Weapon Finesse, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Craft Wondrous Item
Skills: (2 + Int bonus = 5 x5 = 25)
Appraise +11, Craft (bows) +11, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Linguistics +11, Spellcraft +11
Languages:
Common, Elven, Draconic, Goblin, Orc, Sylvan, Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Dwarven
Traits:
Warrior of Old (+2 Initiative), Gifted Adept (Mage Armour)
Equipment:
+1 Composite Longbow (2,400gp)
Amulet of Natural Armour +1 (2,000gp)
Efficient Quiver (1,800gp)
60 Arrows (3gp)
Pearl of Power – 1st level (1,000gp)
Feather Token – swan boat (450gp)
Scroll of Fireball (5d6) (375gp)
Scroll of Lightning Bolt (5d6) (375gp)
Scroll of Fly (5 minutes) (375gp)
Scroll of Tint Hut (10 hours) (375gp)
Scroll of Comprehend Languages (10 minutes) (25gp)
Masterwork Rapier (320gp)
2x Daggers (2x2=4gp)
2x Spring-loaded wrist sheathes (2x5=10gp)
Spell Component Pouch (5gp)
Flask of Acid (10gp)
Flask of Alchemist’s Fire (20gp)
Light riding horse (75gp)
Bit and Bridle (2gp)
Riding saddle (10gp)
Saddlebags (4gp)
Masterwork artisan’s tools (craft bows) (55gp)
826gp
Level 5: Fighter 5
Height: 6’, Weight: 190 lbs, Eyes: deep blue, Skin: tanned, Hair: short, blond
Speed 30 feet (20 feet)
Base Attack Bonus +5
Save Vs: Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +2 (+3 Vs Fear)
Armour Class 25 = Dexterity +2, +1 Full Plate +10 (Armour check penalty -4), Masterwork Heavy Steel Shield +3 (Armour check penalty 0)
Hit Points: 52 [5d10 +5 favoured class +10 Con bonus +5 Toughness]
Attacks:
+1 Battleaxe - Attack +11 [1d8 +7 slashing damage, Crit x3]
Dagger – Attack +8/+7 [1d4 +3 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Masterwork Composite Longbow – Attack +8 [1d8 +3 piercing damage, Crit x3, range 110ft]
Lance – Attack +8 [1d8 +3 piercing damage, Crit x3, reach, double damage on mounted charge]
Abilities:
Str 17 [+3] Dex 14 [+2] Con 14 [+2] Int 10 [+0] Wis 10 [+0] Cha 10 [+0]
Class Features:
Bravery +1
Armour Training 1
Weapon Training 1 – Axes
Feats:
Simple Weapons Proficiency, Martial Weapons Proficiency, Light Armour Proficiency, Medium Armour Proficiency, Heavy Armour Proficiency, Shield Proficiency, Tower Shield Proficiency, Shield Focus, Weapon Focus (battleaxe), Toughness, Power Attack, Cleave, Weapon Specialization (battleaxe), Great Cleave
Skills: (2 + human bonus = 3 x5 = 15)
Climb +10, Ride +7, Survival +8, Swim +10
Languages:
Common
Traits:
Dirty Fighter (+1 damage when flanking), Sceptic (+2 save Vs illusions)
Equipment:
+1 Full Plate (2,650gp)
Masterwork Heavy Steel Shield (370gp)
+1 Battleaxe (2,310gp)
Cloak of Resistance +1 (1,000gp)
Handy Haversack (2,000gp)
3x Potions of Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+3) (300 x3 = 900gp)
Potion of Cure Light Wounds (1d8+1) (50gp)
2x Daggers (2x2=4gp)
2x Spring-loaded Wrist Sheathes (2x5=10gp)
Masterwork Composite Longbow (+3 Str rating) (700gp)
Quiver of 20 Arrows (1gp)
Backpack (2gp)
Rope, silk (10gp)
Grappling Hook (1gp)
Lantern, hooded (7gp)
Bedroll (1sp)
Flask of Oil (1sp)
Flint and Steel (1gp)
Whetstone (2cp)
Heavy warhorse (300gp)
Bit and bridle (2gp)
Military saddle (20gp)
Saddlebags (4gp)
Lance (10gp)
412gp 7sp 8cp
Level 5: Cleric of Torag 5
Height: 4’2”, Weight: 185 lbs, Eyes: dark brown, Skin: tan, Hair: red with full beard
Speed 20 feet
Base Attack Bonus +3
Save Vs: Fort +10, Ref +3, Will +9
Armour Class 20 = +1 Breastplate +7 (Armour check penalty -3), +1 Heavy Steel Shield +3 (Armour check penalty -1)
Hit Points: 46 [5d8 +5 favoured class +15 Con bonus]
Attacks:
+1 Warhammer - Attack +6 [1d8 +3 bludgeoning damage, Crit x3]
Dagger – Attack +5/+0 [1d4 +2 piercing or slashing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 10ft]
Masterwork Heavy Crossbow – Attack +4 [1d10 piercing damage, Crit 19-20/x2, range 120ft]
Abilities:
Str 14 [+2] Dex 10 [+0] Con 16 [+3] Int 10 [+0] Wis 16 [+3] Cha 10 [+0]
Racial Traits
Slow and Steady
Darkvision – 60ft
Defensive Training - +4 dodge bonus to AC Vs giants
Greed - +2 to Appraise non-magical precious metals and gems
Hatred - +1 attack Vs orcs and goblins
Hardy - +2 save Vs poisons, spells, & spell-like abilities
Stability - +4 CMD Vs bull rush & trip
Stone cunning - +2 Perception to notice unusual stonework, auto-check within 10ft
Spells Prepared:
Orisons (4) – create water, guidance, resistance, virtue
Level 1 (3+1 +1 domain) – bless x2, shield of faith x2, sanctuary
Level 2 (2+1 +1 domain) – aid, remove paralysis, lesser restoration, wood shape
Level 3 (1+1 +1 domain) – prayer, remove disease, protection from energy
Class Features:
Aura – Faint aura of Good
Channel Energy – 3d6, 30ft burst, 5x per day
Domains – Artifice, Protection (+2 resistance bonus on saves)
Artificer’s Touch – mending at will, 1d6+3 damage melee touch to objects or constructs, bypasses 6 hardness/DR, 6x per day
Resistant Touch – Grant another his resistance bonus for 1 minute by touch, 6x per day
Spontaneous Casting – Cure spells
Feats:
Dwarf Weapons Proficiencies, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Light Armour Proficiency, Medium Armour Proficiency, Shield Proficiency, Extra Channel, Power Attack, Improved Sunder
Skills: (2 x5 = 10)
Heal +11, Knowledge (religion) +8
Languages:
Common, Dwarven
Traits:
Sacred Touch, Resilient (+1 to Fortitude saves)
Equipment:
+1 Breastplate (1,350gp)
+1 Heavy Steel Shield (1,170gp)
+1 Warhammer (2,312gp)
Phylactery of Faithfulness (1,000gp)
Pearl of Power – 1st level (1,000gp)
2x Feather Token – bird (300 x2 = 600gp)
Wand of Cure Light Wounds (1d8+1) (50 charges) (750gp)
Wand of Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+3) (9 charges) (810gp)
Dagger (2gp)
Masterwork Heavy Crossbow (350gp)
Case of 10 Bolts (1gp)
Rope, hemp (1gp)
Grappling hook (1gp)
Silver Holy Symbol (25gp)
Backpack (2gp)
Light riding horse (75gp)
Bit and Bridle (2gp)
Riding saddle (10gp)
Saddlebags (4gp)
1042gp
Set-up: Our now 5th level PCs are on a quest to retrieve the fabled hook of plot from a mist-enshrouded island said to both be the home to vile monsters, and dotted with the ruins of some ancient (and for some reason neo-classical) civilisation...
Once more the adventure will take the one easy, three average, and one challenging encounter format. The foes the PCs will face are taken from ancient Greek mythology... as seen through the lens of Ray Harryhausen... sort of... A pair of giant scorpions, a pair of centaurs, and a cyclops cover the average encounters, all on the way to the temple ruins which legend tells house the hook; then once they arrive a minotaur represents the easy encounter, then a half-fiend minotaur the challenging and final encounter. Despite all having purchased horses since level 1, they arrive on the island without them, travelling by archetypical creepy ferry...
Stepping from the ferry, the PCs take a moment to watch as it fades back into the mists which surround the island, taking note of the horn attached to a post on the quay which the bony ferryman indicated they should blow when they wished to leave. Heading inland the group ready their weapons – the Magus and Wizard both readying bows, whilst the Fighter and Cleric un-sling shields and melee weapons. The Wizard casts Mage Armour (it now lasts her 6 hours, so why not?) and the Cleric casts Guidance on everyone, to help with navigation and Perception checks. Sure enough, even before they’re off the beach, they spot an ominous tremor under the sand indicating something dangerous is about to happen...
Two giant scorpions burst from the sand, one either side of the PCs, each about 50 feet away. There’s no surprise, but the Magus wins initiative, followed by the scorpions, then the Fighter, and finally the Wizard and the Cleric. Not able to use either Spellstrike or Spell Combat at range, the Magus spends an Arcane Pool Point as a Swift action to empower his bow into a +1 Flaming bow and fires... missing his target by a mile... then moves to the cover of some nearby rocks. The scorpions charge the Wizard and the Fighter; the Wizard gets stung nastily for 5 damage, fails her Fort save, and takes 2 Str damage (bad news for using that composite bow!); the Fighter fends off his assailant. The Fighter uses Power Attack on the scorpion, easily fending off the things AoO as he closes, threatening and confirming a critical, and dropping the beast in a single blow! The Wizard takes a 5ft step away from the scorpion attacking her and casts Shield. The Cleric casts Shield of Faith and heroically moves between the Wizard and the scorpion.
From his cover, the Magus fires at the remaining scorpion (since it’s both large and attacking with its reach he gets no penalties for firing into melee), and misses again. The scorpion full-attacks the Cleric, threatening a critical with one claw, failing to confirm, but doing 6 damage and successfully grappling. Of course, that gives it the grappled condition too, so the Fighter moves over without risk of AoO and Power Attacks... this time missing with a roll of a 1... The Wizard rolls a 20 on her next save and stops taking Strength damage from the poison, and celebrates by joining the Magus behind cover and taking a shot at the scorpion... and missing. The Cleric struggles, but is stuck in the monster’s giant claws!
The Magus’s third shot makes three strikes as he misses again. The scorpion inflicts another 6 points of damage on the Cleric. The Fighter misses with another Power Attack, the Wizard misses with a shot from her bow, and the Cleric fails to escape the grapple... Pretty much a rubbish turn for the PCs...
Yet again the Magus’s shot misses, and this time the scorpion does 10 points of damage to the Cleric! The Fighter finally hits with his Power Attack, inflicting 17 points of damage to the monster. A shot from the Wizard hits, for 2 point of damages. The Cleric still can’t escape.
Giving up on the bow, the Magus drops it, draws his flail whilst moving to the scorpion, empowers it as a Flaming, Shock weapon for the cost of another Arcane Pool Point, casts Shocking Grasp as a Spellstrike, and uses the free melee attack to take a swing... hitting (just) for a grand total of 33 damage! That pretty much detonates the scorpion at this point... and the Magus’s player starts to feel a bit better about his character...
2 uses of channel energy and a casting of Lesser Restoration (on the Wizard) heals up the party. Prestidigitation by the Wizard cleans off the exploded scorpion goop covering everyone... The Magus is 2 Arcane Pool Points and a Shocking Grasp spell down, but he restores the spell with his Pearl of Power. The Wizard does likewise with her Pearl and her Shield spell. The Cleric restores his Shield of Faith spell with his Pearl (there must have been some sort of ‘buy two get one free’ offer on Pearls of Power...), but is still down a Lesser Restoration and 2 uses of channel energy. (Notes: resource expenditure-wise, the Magus for this fight pretty much matched the others. Starting with the bow may have been a mistake, but then again he was rolling really badly... Spellstrike Shocking Grasp with stacked Flaming and Shock effects worked great – to the point of ‘Okay, now I see the point of playing this guy!’ reactions).
Heading off the beach the PCs begin to travel towards the centre of the island, crossing lightly wooded plains dotted with bits of Corinthian columns, statues missing arms, and other such marble-based cover... This time the Magus is sticking to keeping his trusty flail in-hand, leaving the bow-slinging to the Wizard. Soon enough they encounter a pair of centaurs out doing... centaur stuff... and it doesn’t take long for talks to break down (have you seen the lack of social skills these PCs have?)...
Initiative rolls end up with an order of: Wizard, Cleric, centaurs, Magus, then Fighter, with no surprise. Since the PCs are closely grouped, the Wizard triggers her Protective Ward, and moves behind the others. The Cleric casts Bless. The centaurs charge the two most obviously armoured characters – the Fighter and the Cleric, failing to hit the Fighter’s current AC of 27, but whacking the Cleric for 10 points of longsword-inflicted damage. The Magus moves up to a centaur (flanking with the Fighter), imbues his flail and Flaming, Shock and attempts to cast a Spellstrike Shocking Grasp defensively... but blows the Concentration with a roll of a 2 (12 with bonuses)! Not only does he lose the spell, but he doesn’t even get to attack... the Concentrate Arcana is suddenly looking much more attractive... The Fighter Power Attacks a centaur for 17 damage (including his bonus to flanking damage, thanks to the Magus), causing the man-horse to howl, and carries through with Cleave to inflict 16 damage on the second centaur as well.
The Wizard casts Haste, and remains where she is (to cover the Fighter and Cleric with her Protective Ward, although the Magus moved outside its 10ft radius when he went to flank). The Cleric takes two swings with his warhammer, hitting once (just, thanks to Bless and Haste bonuses) for a pitiful 4 damage. Both centaurs make full attacks, the Fighter’s buffed AC of 26 (after Cleave) ignoring these with ease, whilst the Cleric takes another longsword hit for 7 more points of damage. The Magus uses Spell Combat, both swings of his imbued flail missing (despite buffs), then taking a 5ft step back and unleashing Burning Hands on the two centaurs. Both make the Reflex save with ease, and take 5 and 8 damage (after halving). The Fighter Power Attacks again, threatening and confirming a critical on the first centaur, slicing its human half from its horse half, but missing the Cleave on the second centaur.
The Wizard steps to the side to take two shots with her bow, missing both times. The Cleric’s warhammer swings likewise miss. A full attack by the centaur fails to hit the Cleric. The Magus steps back to the centaur to take another couple of swings, this time hitting with both for a total of 27 damage – plenty to drop the wounded centaur.
With a lucky roll a single use of Channel Energy heals the Cleric to full. The Magus is down 3 Arcane Pool points (2 remaining), as well as his Shocking Grasp and Burning Hands spells. The Wizard is down one Protective Ward use (5 remaining), and her Haste spell. The Cleric is down 3 uses of Channel Energy (2 remaining), Bless, and Lesser Restoration.
Nearing their goal, the team is spotted by the Cyclops before they see him... but he’s still more than a round away when they do spot him, so there’s no surprise. Initiative orders ends up: Wizard, Magus, Cleric, Cyclops, then Fighter. The Wizard triggers her Protective Ward and moves behind the others. Not fancying his chances charging through the Cyclops’s threatened area, the Magus ums and ahs and finally decides to try a ‘vanilla’ Scorching Ray... which hits for 12 damage. The Cleric casts his second Bless of the day. The Cyclops charges, using its Flash of Insight power to threaten a critical on the Fighter, but fails to confirm inflicting a ‘mere’ 20 points of damage. The Fighter retaliates by stepping up to the Cyclops (which misses on its AoO), then fails to hit with a Power Attack.
Seeing the damage the Cyclops inflicted in a single hit, the Wizard casts her second Haste spell. Still not a fan of provoking an AoO from the monster, the Magus pulls and triggers his Wand of Shield (boosting his AC to 22). The Cleric sacrifices Remove Disease to cast Cure Serious Wounds on the Fighter, and gets him back up to full hit points. The Cyclops swings at the lighter-armoured Cleric, but still fails to connect. The Fighter Power Attacks twice, threatens a critical but fails to confirm on one and hits with the other as well, inflicting a minimal 25 points of damage on the Cyclops (which is now down to 28 hits).
The Wizard casts Gravity Bow. The Magus imbues his weapon as Flaming, Shock, then moves in to Spellstrike with a Close Range Arcana modified Acid Arrow. His Shield and Protective Ward boosted AC saves him from the Cyclops’s AoO, and he doesn’t bother casting defensively (hoping – correctly – that the thing doesn’t have Combat Reflexes). He swings and misses (but the Acid Arrow ‘charge’ is still held). Seeing the Cyclops’s AoO spent, the Cleric charges it with a swing and a miss from his warhammer. Seeing the Magus as the lightest armoured (and therefore easiest to hit) target, the Cyclops tries to Power Attack and Great Cleave him... thankfully missing. The Fighter hits on one of two Power Attacks, inflicting another 16 points of damage (cyke is down to 12).
The Wizard fires twice at the Cyclops, hitting once for 5 damage. The Magus swings twice, hitting once, and dropping the Cyclops (even before the Acid Arrow damage is figured in).
The Magus is down to his last Arcane Pool point, has used his Scorching Ray, Acid Arrow, and a charge from his Wand of Shield, as well as his Shocking Grasp and Burning Hands spells. The Wizard has 4 uses of her Protective Ward left, and has used two Haste and one Gravity Bow spells (plus her Mage Armour, of course). The Cleric has 2 uses of Channel Energy remaining, and has cast Bless twice, Lesser Restoration, and Remove Disease.
Finally locating the entrance to the temple ruins housing the hook, the party enter, and soon confront the minotaur which lurks within. Neither side is surprised as the inevitable combat ensues... The Magus wins initiative, followed by the minotaur, then the Wizard, Cleric, and Fighter. Not realising the minotaur’s immunity to being flat-footed, the Magus once more imbues his flail as Flaming, Shock, and charges in to Spellstrike with Chill Touch. The minotaur Power Attacks with his greataxe as his AoO and hits for 25 damage! The Magus also hits (again skipping casting defensively, since he’s already provoked) for a total of 20 damage (but the minotaur easily saves Vs the Chill Touch’s Strength loss). The minotaur full-attacks (Power Attack still in effect, of course) the Magus, hitting twice with his greataxe as well as with his gore, for 54 points of damage! The Magus expires, messily...
Notes: well... what can I say... Part of this Magus-failure was certainly due to trying to figure out what tactics he should be using - the bow was a dead loss, blitz-attacking seemed to work better, but without the AC to cover him from AoO, or the BAB to reliably hit, even that was a risky proposition... one which got him killed in the 'easy' encounter of the day... Unlike the Wizard and Cleric he had no group buff abilities, and his own attacks just weren't reliable enough to be making much of a difference. With better AC, chance to hit, and baseline melee damage, the Fighter was doing much more damage - each critical from his battleaxe inflicting more than the Magus was doing with his best Spellstrike / imbued weapon combo, and the Fighter was hitting more often for better base damage as well. Without utility spells, a large Skill selection, healing abilities, or anything to offer aside from combat ability, the Magus isn't looking too hot here. He's got two more levels to go before he can even think about medium armour... and the medium-armoured Cleric is getting hit all the time already anyway - it's not going to be any better in two levels' time! While I'm sure the guy will be better at higher levels, I can't see him making it that far (if he's not dead, then he's been abandoned for a Bard or Rogue character who could actually contribute something to the group...). For the combat role he's meant to play, he doesn't - at this level - seem to have the tools: low AC, low BAB... doesn't even have Acrobatics and/or Stealth on his Class Skills list to help the lightly armoured combat role. Maybe different or more optimized builds would have fared better, but it's hard to see what the Magus, at this level, is bring to the group...
I love reading your playtests. Seriously. Good stuff.
A couple suggestions: Your feats were absolutely dead weight. Completely. Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Craft Arms and Armor, and Spell Focus played no role in the fight at all. Get rid of those for Weapon Focus, Weapon Finesse (and use a Rapier!), Combat Casting, and Improved Initiative.
Ditch Strength, drop Charisma, pump Dex as best you can.
Don't worry about the 1 Armor check penalty trait, take something that gives you a better more useful bonus, like +2 Initiative. Focusing on Dex, initiative trait, and improved initiative will have you going before many bad guys. I think this is a big deal with the Magus. I'll explain why in a second.
Your spell list should probably consist of Shocking Grasp, Shocking Grasp, Shocking Grasp, Shocking Grasp, and Shocking Grasp for 1st level spells. For second level I would take Cat's Grace, Cat's Grace, and Cat's Grace.
I would take a different Arcana as well, as I'm not convinced that one is as good as it seems. Maybe even Spell Blending to get Vanish for when you are about to die next round and need to get away.
Drop the daggers and bow, use the gold for another Pearl of Power.
The idea here: A Magus is a fragile little butterfly at low levels. Your AC is probably bad, your HP are low. You have to soak AoO's to move into position frequently. You have to roll for Concentration to cast defensively (though your modifier with the changes above is +14, so not as bad).
Win initiative, cast Cat's Grace...do not charge in first and be the target. Round 2, move into position carefully (if it's a creature with reach that looks like it hits hard...it might be worthwhile to cast Shield this round or let someone hardier than thou soak the AoO as you cleverly did), swift action up your weapon, and unleash a spellstrike Shocking Grasp. If all goes as planned, by this point in the fight target is either dead (if one of multiple lower CR creatures), or about to be dead soon (if a higher HP single target). Use your 3d6 damage regular attack with no penalties and enhanced by Cat's Grace to mop up with the party Fighter. (If the party doesn't have a Fighter or the like...why are you playing a Magus instead of providing that for your party?!?!)
The way I see it developing, is that Magi are all about burst damage. They can hit REALLY hard once or twice per combat starting at about level 4 or 5, but beyond that they are fairly mediocre the rest of the time.
Edit: You could use Chill Strike instead to go for less burst damage, but more consistent. Drop it early in a fight and (with Cat's Grace and weapon finesse) swift your weapon for flaming and frost. This gets you 4d6 damage per attack for your next 5 attacks. Don't even bother with spell combat, just attack at your +10 bonus and be happy with an avg. or 14 damage and a chance to drain Str. (Note: Chill Touch also doubles on a crit, which is worth remembering if you are using a rapier).
To expand on Sylvanite´s post above, thinking about how the fight will close with the enemy is very important. You complain about not having Acrobatics - But with a good INT, there´s no reason you COULDN´T max it, and also no reason you couldn´t get the +3 class skill bonus via Trait if you really want. Even without Class Skill Bonus, Acrobatics gives you a probably non-zero chance of avoiding AoO´s AT NO OTHER ACTION COST/Penalty - You actually have a nice INT compared to a Fighter, so you really have no excuse to not pick up this great skill. Sylvanite went into your Feat choice (of Craft Magic Item Feats) - Exactly the same here, those Craft SKILLS could be much better spent: Switch 2 maxed Craft Skills for maxed Acrobatics and Perception, which you have ZERO in. Maxing Perception is going to help AT LEAST as much as grabbing Imp Init or Init Traits, by letting you act in Surprise Round to begin with. For games where Crafting is well supported, I still don´t think you should ever take MORE than 1 of them, as a non-Full Caster who plan on fighting, you just have WAY bigger demands on your Feats than a Full Caster who plans on staying OUT of things.
...But more broadly, with most enemies there´s no reason that you need to go to them, because they will come to you: Prepare with Spellcasting and try to draw an AoO, or even Ready an Action (which can include a 5´step) when they get near. As it turns out, a good amount of the time you DON´T need to use Spell Combat... So why don´t you have a Reach Weapon, so when the enemy closes with you, you get an AoO? You have all Martial Weapons, so why not use that great selection?
You still get the same attack (via your AoO) in that scenario that you would have by moving, but you don´t draw an AoO, and you don´t even NEED Spell Combat because you can Cast safely and Hold the Charge (in your weapon if you want, discharging on AoO). Or just avoid an AoO when moving to attack them? I believe you can still use Spellstrike with that, just not Spell Combat (with 2Handed weapon). At the least, LUNGE is a good Feat if you are stuck using non-Reach 1-Handed weapons, because it lets you avoid closing with Creatures whose Reach would normally give them an AoO against you. You also seemed to recognize the benefit of other characters drawing AoO`s for you, but never seemed to use Delay or Ready to CREATE these situations for yourself.
I also think that eventually, grabbing Proficiency in Repeating Crossbow could be worthwhile. Better Crit Range, and if you are planning on going into melee anyways (or melee coming to you), it`s magazine capacity should be all you need without worrying about reloading (and when you gain lower Iteratives, you don´t need to take them either, saving ammo/reloads). DEX Focus helping Ranged, Finesse (+dmg via Dervish Dance scimitar), Init, and AC should be an option, though it`s not the ONLY build.
And looking at your gear again, you have ALOT of consumables that you didn´t really use... Enlarge Person would have taken care of Reach AoO`s, for one. If you can´t use these effectively and reliably (Wand of Shield is a good one probably, though by the time you use up 1 wand you probably have enough slots and pearls of power that you won´t need another Wand of Shield, Pearls of Power being preferred esp. given the longer duration when you cast yourself)
I think putting the gold towards Pearls of Power is a better choice... Ditching MW Comp Bow for plain, MW Daggers for plain, Potion of Heroism, Feather Tolking, Elixier of Hiding, MW Tools is just about 2000gp. Consumables should be for emergencies... Potion of Heroism just doesn´t add a critical CAPABILITY that you need, it`s just nice buffs but too expensive to actually use. At higher levels if you lacked Morale buffs within your party, sure, but not at this level IMHO.
I really think you could have shored up your defenses better - You have Invisiblity in your Spellbook, but not prepped - or even on a Scroll. Pearl of Power II isn´t quite affordable at this level, but you could certainly have another PoP I and be half way to affording a PoP II. I also can´t help but think that the Arcane Shield Arcana would have been of great help to you, and with the savings from the Wand of Shield you could even afford that PoP II at this level. With a PoP II, you could have 1 defensive spell like Invis or Blur (doubled up via Pearl) and 2 offensive spells (2nd level). This isn´t considering things like Vanish, as suggested. But the Shield Arcana lets you get up -2- defensive effects in one round, potentially WHILE fighting...
I do wonder what the Magus would look like with some of the Wizard School abilities, like the Transmuter bonus to a Stat, or Mage Hand ´throwing weapon´ which allows focusing on one weapon (with better crit, etc) while still getting in ranged attacks when closing to melee is dangerous. Or Diviner, for Init and Surprise. Alot of those seem like just about the right low level ´bump´, yet don´t seem overly disruptive at high level, or disruptive of the Arcana ´staging´ (as granting an extra Arcana would do).
Group had a horrible cleric that got a member killed and drained it of resources. Also, gear selection all around sucked. The cleric really, desperately needs scrolls instead of having lessor restoration and remove paralysis memorized. Cleric has very few buffs and no debuffs memorized. A magus just call out for aid. Remember, bane, bless, then the cleric can go play in melee.
Not sure why the wizard has scrolls with spells not in her spell book. Seriously add them then rescribe.
With that parties burn rate they simply were not going to make it without resting after the third encounter.
On the other hand, the magus probably should have tried disarming the minotaur. All in all though charging a foe at range as the first action of a combat is fairly stupid. Did the Magus know the initiative order? I can understand the Magus's frustration with constantly drawing AoOs though.
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Excellent responses all, gives us a lot to think about.
Before I get onto the good stuff, I'll go ahead a refute a couple of points...
Don't blame the Cleric! The Magus got himself killed (and I think we can all agree that's what he did) whilst the Cleric was still flat-footed in round one of the combat with the minotaur (as were the rest of the party). Otherwise, the party was fully healed and getting Bless buffs on a regular basis.
Re-gear: gear was based on wealth-by-level, but actually using the percentage guidelines, instead of just taking the total and blitzing it on a few really good items. Obviously we didn't play these guys from level 1 through to level 5, but we did try to emulate the sort of semi-random stuff PCs end up with in actual play, as opposed to thought experiments (where life is always kinder... ;) ).
That said, when choosing level 5 gear the Magus did look at his 2,625(ish)gp allocated to defense and initially buy a mithral chain shirt... only to realise it was pointless with the Armour Expert trait he'd selected at level one - although as Sylvanite correctly points out, it's more to the point that the Armour Expert trait was pointless if the Magus could have brought a mithral chain shirt. He doesn't have a shield to spend the cash on, and after blowing 1,000gp to get +1 armour he's not got enough budget left for an amulet of natural armour, so may as well have had the mithral (and spent the trait better).
Expendable resources-wise, part of the test was to compare the amount of finite resources (stuff costing ca$h) the Magus ended up expending compared to the others, so they all had some fall-back stuff, but were trying not to use it unless absolutely necessary. It was telling that only the Magus felt he had to blow a charge from his wand.
For the Wizard's scrolls - they were spells from her opposition school, she'd never bother preparing them, but wanted to be able to compare a Fireball's effectiveness Vs whatever the Magus was packing at level 5... only it never came to that.
With 2,650gp for 'other magic' the Magus (and the other casters) could have shopped better and plumped for two PoP 1s, it's true - but unless you happen to find a job lot of the things, or your DM plays a with a very open magical economy, what are the chances of you actually having two when you hit level 5?
In any case, the Magus wasn't really better or worse equiped than his teammates, except as far as usuable armour (and shields) went.
The Arcane Shield Arcana would have been useless - the Magus had blown all his Arcane Pool points by the time the minotaur mullered him.
Lunge is a nice Feat... too bad the Magus can't grab it until level 9...
Readying actions is a good tactic - but it takes a standard action, as does casting anything (unless you're trying to Feather Fall them to death...), so doesn't help if you're casting self-buff spells.
As for his 'self-inflicted death' tactics in his final fight, sure, he should have realised that unless he dropped the thing in one hit he was about to take a full-attack, but he didn't realise the minotaur was immune to being flat-footed (like it should have been at that point), and by this point was getting a little frustrated worrying about getting near to large creatures without drawing AoO, and just generally not feeling effective. To put it in a little better context, if the AoO hadn't hit first he'd have been out, but not dead (on -8). On the other hand, if either the Fighter or the Cleric had been the one to win initiative and run in to their doom, they wouldn't have been hit by all the attacks, due to superior AC. The Wizard, being a ranged attacker, never would have run in anyway. The Magus may well have done better with a Disarm attempt (after all, he took those Feats back at level 1), but combat maneuvres Vs large creatures obviously stronger than you don't have a history of working well and, at the end of the day, the Magus didn't know the thing's stats. Having said all that... yeah, dumb move...
One of the problems was that it's not at all obvious how you're expected to play a Magus. With most Classes it's pretty clear - a Barbarian or Fighter is a front-line whacker, a Wizard is a long-range type, etc.. The Magus is deceptive. His key class features all revolve around melee, but he's not a frontline combatant by BAB, AC, or Hit Points. On the other hand, his low number of Skill points and poor selection of class Skills don't suggest a sneaky combatant, like a Rogue, or Bard... nor do they suggest a guy meant to do anything outside of combat. Sure, you can pick up ranks in non-class Skills, but it's not the first instinct of most players when looking at the material - you generally trust that sort of stuff to guide your choices at chargen: he's got Climb and Swim, not Acrobatics and Stealth, so he looks like a Strength-based combatant.
Another issue is the Magus's reliance on self-buffing. There are a number of excellent examples floating around of Magus characters doing well in arena situations, or when they're cast as the bad guy NPCs - and those situations cater to the self-buff mechanics. In my experience, actual party-based gameplay rarely goes down like that. Even if there's no surprise involved, it's straight to the fighting, round one. If you happen to cast a pre-combat self-buff during the 'role-playing' portion of the encounter, then chances are that you casting that spell is what just triggered the fight... Self-buffing during combat is the opposite of being a team player. While you take a round to cast Invisibility, then stand there casting Shield, then finally a touch-spell into your weapon for a Spellstrike, you're contributing a big fat zip to the party's efforts in the fight. If it's not all over by the time you finally wade it, chances are it's getting there, so at best you're leeching off the hard work of your teammates. Spell Combat can help... sort of... but full-attack options happen less in real gameplay (again, in my experience) than they do in theoryhammer gameplay. At the start of melee combat either you charge them, or they charge you - and if you're the Magus and they charge first, you're already in a world of pain, 'cos you've not got up your buffs yet. Even then, the basic Magus defensive buff - Shield - is a round and spell slot spent dragging your AC up to the level where most CR5 opponents still hit you half of the time...
That said, there's a lot of good ideas been presented. I'll see what I can do to arrange another level 5 playtest with a redesigned Magus, with more appropriate tactics in mind. Definitely needs to go the Dexterity combatant way, both for AC and for the Ability Score savings. The rapier is a good choice, but the two-handed reach weapon may actually prove more suitable - can't use Spell Combat and the weapon at the same time, but Spellstrike seems okay... it's a slightly grey zone for interpretation, since you'd be casting with your hand off the weapon, then putting it back on to take the free melee attack, but I think it's okay RAW (hand-switching silliness is a free action, right?). Of course, you can't Finesse any of those polearms... and the idea of the Magus only being viable using a whip is a little... off-putting... Look to prep at least 5 'attack' spells, and 5 'defense' spells to cover the 4 to 5 average combats (anything under that and you risk becoming the original D&D first-level Magic-User... one fight and you want to go back to town and rest... or you end up holding the torch and carrying the loot for the real adventurers...).
To be honest, I'd pretty much given up on the Magus as a viable Class after this last playtest, but the responses have spurred me on to give the poor guy another chance. Still, he seems to be struggling compared with any other character classes... let's hope that, if this is the final version, at least he gets some suitable Magus-only spells in the book to help cover his numerous weaknesses... and more Skill points... and a better selection of skills... and some sort of defense... and... ;)
Responce to responce:
About wealth by level, I don´t think holding fast to the ´areas´ is really as important as the avoiding big mega items... After all, how do Pearls of Power fit into the groups? Especially for a class like the Magus, with substantial ´special´ self-buffing, the ´area´ breakdown just doesn´t work, and their needs can´t be directly compared to either full melee or full caster types. So I think just avoiding sinking too much in one item, as well as figuring what is most realistic to acquire ´organically´ is better than following the ´areas´ strictly. At 5th level, I don´t think grabbing a Pearl of Power II is out of line with what a Fighter might spend on a weapon or set of armor, and if it´s the most effective for that chunk of money, many Maguses would do just that... Since they can buff their Weapon as needed, that can be neglected more than a vanilla Fighter might.
I think Feat and Skill re-allocation will help you alot. Peception will let you act in Surprise Round/ with your action economy problem, and Acrobatics helps for avoiding Movement provoked AoO´s. It doesn´t seem like you were able to use Disarm effectively - Large strong creatures with weapons are par for course, and you´re paying a Feat Tax with Combat Expertise to get it. Just straight up Weapon Focus and Dodge (or Weapon Spec) would probably benefit you more. Even Mobility would do wonders for your movement-provoked AoO´s, right? (And in 1 more level you could take Wind Stance if you have 15 DEX by then, automatically getting non-magical 20% miss chance when you move)
I think Shield Arcana could be more helpful than you think, especially since your main problem is action economy apparently. If you need to, write in a DIY Extra Arcana Points Feat to gain a couple more Arcana. At the least, I just don´t think Close Range Arcana is your best bet here... Your Ranged spells can be used at Range, via Spell Combat to then 5´step for melee attacks, or without Spell Combat just moving to ideally set yourself up for a 5´step next round or drawing an AoO with a Reach Weapon you draw. If you don´t want Shield Arcana, think about a Familiar: Aid Another can help either your AC, Attacks, Saves, or Skills (like Acrobatics) and they can do alot of other stuff - extra Perception checks, drawing/using items for you, etc, etc (Flanking WHILE Aiding Another, why not?). And doesn´t use Arcana Points. (Improved Familiar Feat could get you a Small Air Elemental, with normal Reach, Imp Init, and able to deliver Touch Effects agaisnt Flyers... Monkeys don´t need a Feat to get, have good Acrobatics and give you a boost to Acrobatics as well)
Re: Reach Weapons not being Finesse, sure, it depends on if you are going to be a high DEX focus or not. (Whips or Scorpion Whips seem about if you want semi-Ranged attacks AND doing Trips/Disarms - Which because it´s Ranged, you can get away with attempting WITHOUT risk of AoO´s, even without the Imp Trip/Disarm Feats) Enlarge Person is an alternative to Reach Weapons... and DEX is going to help your Bow attacks anyways, so your play-style is going to look alot different depending on the build... if you want to go for STR>DEX, that Reach Weapon can give you an extra layer of defense to make up for DEX loss. (APG´s Bardiche is a nice Martial Weapon at 1d10/19-20/x2). Also consider using Fighting Defensively in combo with Spell Combat / Spellstrike when you AREN´T even planning on attacking (or simply being able to cast and survive to next round is more important than hiting) - it´s just another boost to AC, while getting your spell off.
Look forward to next round...
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Agreed on most of that (if not all)!
Money can be better spent, especially when you have a more definite idea of just how you're going to use a particular character. The Magus, being a hybrid fighter/wizard thing (at least in fluff) can trick you into trying to cover all bases, when it's a disaster for the character to attempt that.
Feat-wise at 5 he has 5, so I'm leaning towards Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Dodge, Mobility, and... one more... maybe Improved Initiative or Toughness... again, instead of trying to cover all bases. Finesse fighter seems the way to go for the Dex boost to AC... although Strengh-based with a polearm is awfully tempting... if we get time I may test out both.
Spell Shield or Arcane Accuracy are right out as Arcana, simply 'cos they cost pool points he'll need elsewhere - maybe at higher levels, but right now he's only got enough to imbue his weapon once per fight (barring stopping for a rest every other fight...). Close Range expands the number of touch spells he has, but you're right - he can choose better for his level 3 Arcana. Of the Arcana available at level 3, I am starting to lean towards Familar... which I'd dismissed out of hand when just theoryhammering it. The Wand-based Arcana aren't helpful unless you happen to find a really nice wand, or whatever, Concentrate has a chance of helping out if you happen to blow a roll, so just isn't giving enough of a solid return for the investment. Still and Silent spell are really circumstance-specific metamagic in the first place, so the ability to spam them once a day seems a little... specialized? Familiar has a chance of covering some of the holes in the character - scouting if nothing else - and you're right, this is a Class that needs advanced warning of a fight to really do its thing.
Sinking Skill points into non-Class Skills is painful (not like back in the bad-old-days of half-ranks, but still, not having that +3 smarts), but yeah, it looks like the way to go... It's a pity none of the Traits cover letting you take the more generically useful Skills as Class Skills...
I'm sure a whip-fighting Magus would rock (hey, I called for the Magus to get Whip as an auto-proficiency!), but it doesn't feel natural when you can't take the Exotic Weapon Proficiency at level 1, and the Heirloom Weapon trait can be a little cheesy if played for the wrong reasons. Actually, outside of a playtest, I'd prefer to dip the Magus into a single level of Cleric of Calistria to get that particular proficiency, and to add some useful extra features to the character's toolbox. But whip-use is a possibility, and would probably optimise the Finesse-fighter build, so may be worth doing... for science! ;)
Oh, and Enlarge Person is my all time favourite level 1 spell... it just has a sucky casting time... :(
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I'd really like to see you guys retest with a Dex-based Magus like mine using Dervish Dance or a Short Sword and Piranha Strike. It's abominably hard for a Magus to manage a decent AC if you're also fretting about Str. A Magus also does not need a starting Int of 16. The Dex build can generally manage it but anyone else should start with 14. Two more Str (or Dex with Dervish Dance) deals an extra damage and adds 5% to hit with every attack all day long. An extra Arcane Point not so much.
As to the question of selfish buffing, a single round of buffing for a Magus is not selfish except in the most shortsighted view. If a Magus spends his first round casting Shield then he very likely has saved the primary healer of the group some of his resources. The same is true of an offensive or debuffing spell which drops the enemy faster preventing it having another turn.
This is something a high Dex build also shines at. A high Dex score means a better chance of going high in the Initiative count. When you go first and cast a buff, it's like having a better version of you which goes last on the count since Initiative is cyclical.
Even if you don't change the Magus' stats, if you just have him use some resources in the first round of a fight, I suspect you'll see the whole party doing better.
A CL5 Wand of Shocking grasp is 3,750 gp. Sounds delicious doesn't it? That and a +1 rapier (enhanced with Keen and elemental enchant of choice) is 7d6+1 per attack with spellstrike (and each attack has a ~30% chance of doing 13d6+2). Plus you get +3 vs. anything with metal, which is fairly common to fight. You can move and attack this way since it doesn't need spell combat, just spell strike. It also doesn't need concentration checks!
You don't even need Wand Wielder arcana for this to work as long as you are ok with just Spellstrike each round. You could totally take Spell Blending instead to grab a more useful spell (like Vanish to avoid AoOs while getting into position and get a bonus on your first attack when you cattle prod things to death).
Win initiative, cast vanish, move up and draw wand. Next round, zzzzZAAzzppPP!
You are right tho, about the Magus. I honestly think this class is only going to be playable by people with quite a bit of system mastery. I think it will be a HUGE trap class for more inexperienced players, since the idea is very cool and appealing, but to make an effective one you really need to know some serious trickeration.
Maybe a one page guide on plaing each f the casting classes would be a good addition to UM? I do hope this playtest convinces the designers to giv the class acrobatics.
I think folks in general attempt to hoard wands. If your fighting five encounters a game session, a wand will last you between ten and twenty weeks of real time, depending on how often you play. Take wand wielder and open with shield.
Honestly, I'd suggest the designers drop medium and heavy armor for some kind of Ac boost. That would would help convey the, go play a finesse combatant, better.
Maybe this class should get toughness as a bonus feet at level 1, would help some with the low HP problem.
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A CL5 Wand of Shocking grasp is 3,750 gp. Sounds delicious doesn't it? That and a +1 rapier (enhanced with Keen and elemental enchant of choice) is 7d6+1 per attack with spellstrike (and each attack has a ~30% chance of doing 13d6+2). Plus you get +3 vs. anything with metal, which is fairly common to fight. You can move and attack this way since it doesn't need spell combat, just spell strike. It also doesn't need concentration checks!
Jiminy Cricket, that is cheap. You could Spellstrike all day like that or just use for spell storing between most every fight.
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Honestly, I'd suggest the designers drop medium and heavy armor for some kind of Ac boost. That would would help convey the, go play a finesse combatant, better.
I think it should be a choice, either receiving some decent dodge bonus (+1 for Medium, +2 for Heavy) or armor proficiency.
More options is always better than less options and I'd rather that those who want to be armored get the chance.
Despite what James has said, I don't think the extended spell threat range and the multiplying spell effect is going to get into the final version. It's kind of broken. Technically, it's not even in the current version. It's only been stated on the boards since the last magus playtest.
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Despite what James has said, I don't think the extended spell threat range and the multiplying spell effect is going to get into the final version. It's kind of broken. Technically, it's not even in the current version. It's only been stated on the boards since the last magus playtest.
I think it was Jason that said it and as the the lead designer his inputs may carry some extra weight. Perhaps the threat range will not be extended in the end, but I think doing so will erode the value of Spellstrike. I'm not 100% sure I'd use it as much.
Excellent and informative thread, ProfPotts!
I think that this is the perfect way to show the Magus (or any other class) in context of the game actually being played. Not only that, the examples in your thread have a solid ring of credibility to them that other "simulationist" threads don't have - by that, I mean that shows a standard game in action where the players don't necessarily hyper-obsessively-optimized builds, where they make decisions like a player would make in-the-heat-of-the-moment (rather than a GM who is playing against himself), where environment comes into play and where the players don't have intimate knowledge of their opponents.
And as a result of all this, the you illuminate the Magus's craptastic-ness when not dealt with in an optimized fashion!
I do agree that it's an awesome read, and I hope you post more, purely for my own selfish entertainment!
Thanks for the excellent playtest and report!
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- No matter what your other abilities are, missing wastes your whole action. For any less-than-full BAB class, I like direct fight-boosting feats like Weapon Focus, and Weapon Finesse if I have high dexterity. For a Magus with a high INT, Arcane Accuracy might be a worthwhile arcana.
- Quick Draw (feat) and Wand Wielder (arcana) might be outstanding at low levels when you don't have enough spells to last a day. There are a number of 1st level spells worth casting at a cost of 7.5 gold. (15 if you buy the wands at retail)
- Enlarge person is probably a better reach solution than a reach weapon.
- If you only use one defensive spell, I suggest Mirror Image. At levels 4-6 it gives you a variable 66-86% miss chance. With that one spell, there's no need to waste actions on Shield, Invisibility, etc.
- Magus could definitely benefit from a finesse option. When I imagine them, or Gish in general, I never picture them with heavy armor anyway. Alternatively, why not just give them heavy armor from the start? They clearly take some levels to get warmed up, so it wouldn't make them overpowered.
Two options I'd like to see for Magus
Heavy Magus: Starts with proficiency in Light, Medium, and Heavy armor. Starts with the ability to cast arcane spells in all armors.
Light Magus: Starts with proficiency in Light armor. Weapon Finesse and Weapon Focus (Any light or finesse weapon of choice) bonus feats at 1st level, add bonus feats from a short list of mobility related combat feats at later levels.
Two bonus feats at first or second level seems a bit much. How about giving the class double the normal cavorts class HP bonus. That would increase survivability without turning the class into. Dip magnet.
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Thanks for the comments and feedback guys. I'd hoped to run another playtest with a more 'optimized' Magus, but it turns out the last weekend before Christmas isn't a good time to organize anything (expect the odd party)... who knew? ;)
To my mind the Magus seems like a good / cool / interesting idea, but falls down a little on the details. It doesn't take much for most players to realise they're probably much better off just multiclassing (and maybe going into ElK) if they want this sort of character - the typical one level of Fighter plus five levels of Wizard then ElK is a perfectly viable character after all, and probably has more to offer a group, even before they hit the prestige class, than a Magus (ATM).
Compared with the other classes which share the same basic structure (Alchemists, Bards, Inquisitors, Summoners) the 'hook' for the Magus (arcane melee: weapon empowerment, Spell Combat and Spellstrike) seems a little underpowered, and the class as a whole gets rather screwed on Skills and Skill points. As a melee combatant all the weapon empowerment is doing is letting you spend limited resources to not quite catch up with a full BAB class (after all, full BAB grants extra attacks, access to Feats, no cost of character resources, and no cap based on how magical your weapon is already) - and empowering weapons for extra damage effects instead (level 5 and on) seems nice... until you realise that a similar level rogue would be doing more extra damage with Sneak Attack, and not be limited to doing it only a few times per day.
The Arcana are woefully underpowered - especially at low levels where your valuable Arcane Pool Points are at a premium. Compared to a Rogue's talents, Witch's hexes, or whatever, they're just not doing enough, or aren't interesting enough, to make the class as a whole attractive to play.
Some of this may be sorted out by an improved Spell List - a bunch of good Magus-specific spells (maybe built around swift or immediate casting times) could make the class interesting and viable.
I'd also want to see some sort of AC boost, something like the Monk has - maybe a bonus to AC equal to the Magus's Int bonus plus 1 per 'X' levels whenever he's wielding an 'empowered' weapon?
Allowing the Magus to take Rogue talents as Arcana would also be an interesting option, expanding on the Magus's 'jack-of-all-trades' concept, and instantly expanding the number of options he has, without overshadowing the Rogue (after all, you get so few Arcana).
Maybe one of those 'floating Feat' class abilities (like the Inquisitor gets) would also match the flavour of the class, and help prevent players getting locked into 'unplayable' character builds by making the wrong choices early on in the character's career?
Basically, I think the guy needs... something... something to make him play like something other than a Wizard with a naff spell selection...
So far I am going with the dex, int based build. I’m likening the thought of using the whip to deliver my touch attacks and avoiding AoO.
That's a good way to do it, but requires two feats. If you go elf, you don't get to see that come to fruition until level 3, just a warning.
Also, your damage will be almost exclusively through touch spells, meaning you will be running on pretty limited resources.
Just a warning.