I have a player who wants to make a Bladebound Magus/Paladin multiclass. I've been looking over the rules, and there seem to be some balance issues as it is; specifically, that if he is using the Black Blade as his primary weapon, and he only takes 8 levels in Magus, he'll have a +2 sword as his primary weapon, plus whatever bonuses from his Arcane Pool/Divine Bond features (they seem to be comparable in the amount of bonuses they give).
So, the way I see it, I have two options. Allow him to add enchantments the Black Blade, something which not only is dubious in the rules (primarily due to item ego), and doesn't fit with *why* the blades work in my world, or have the weapon scale up based on *Character* level, rather than his Magus level.
The closest I've come to an answer is to have the Black Blade's stats (but not the specials), increase based on Character Level. However, I'd like to get opinions from some other people, as I'm not the most experienced gamer ever. My questions are as follows:
1) Are there any major balance issues with this rule, particularly in how it relates to a Bladebound Magus/Paladin multiclass?
2) How would you change the rule so that a Bladebound Magus can multiclass into another class that has a low Will Save without allowing the Black Blade to control him whenever they disagreed?
3) Would you extend the increase to the special abilities of the Black Blade, such as Teleport Blade and Transfer Arcana, and if so, why?
4) Are there any other solutions that I am missing?
Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.
You could just replace the divine bond with the black blade, and re-fluff your character's black blade to have some kind of divine connection. So, Magus & Paladin levels stack for purposes of black blade and he never gets a mount or second weapon...?
1) You are advancing a class feature independent of class level, so that's shaky ground to start. However, since he cannot break the +10 enhancement cap, and needs to be at least Magus 5/Paladin 5 before he can start using both arcane pool and divine bond to give nonstandard enhancements to his blade, I'd say it's probably not a huge problem.
Maybe I didn't explain very well why I'm doing it. He's probably take a relatively low number of levels in Bladebound, so assuming he starts up as a Paladin at around level 7-8, he only really gets a +2 bonus on his primary weapon for perpetuity. Now, admittedly, I am not all that experienced, but that seems to be much lower than it should be at, say, level 18. Also, given as how Black Blades are considered Minor Artifacts in my world, I don't think it fits to allow further enchantments.
3) Only if it fits with the flavor of black blades in your world. If the black blade should work by drawing power from its wielder and gains power when their wielder gains power, regardless of what that power is, then yes you have grounds to advance the blade's other abilities. Note that it does take away a lot of the draw of being a single-classed bladebound magus and I would advance its ego as if the magus were single-classed if so. However, there are still a lot of magus features you're giving up to multiclass, so it's not totally out there.
The IC explanation for how they work is by linking to the soul of the individual using them. It draws power from the character's soul, and thus increases in power along with their soul (i.e. as they level). However, I considered the specials to be at least partly the Magus learning to use the blade as much as the blade gaining additional powers, so it could go either way. I'm primarily concerned with the balance of it. I've only been gaming for about a year (with a 2-year gap between then and now), so I don't have enough experience to judge the balance accurately.
You could just replace the divine bond with the black blade, and re-fluff your character's black blade to have some kind of divine connection. So, Magus & Paladin levels stack for purposes of black blade and he never gets a mount or second weapon...?
That idea definitely has its merits. I would have to figure out rules for the way the Divine spirit interacted with the Black Blade anyway, so this is worth considering. I'd probably replace the specials with more Paladin-oriented ones. Does anyone have any ideas?
Again, thanks to all who responded.
Apologies for the delay. I'm starting college soon, and there was a sudden emergency with the funding (fixed now). Was kinda hectic for the last couple weeks while I was fixing it, though.
What I'm leaning towards right now is as follows:
2nd Level: Lay on Hands: 1/3 Paladin Levels, rather than 1/2 Paladin Levels (equivalent of the Magus Arcane Pool loss).
3rd Level: Black Blade feature, replaces 3rd level Mercy (equivalent of the Magus Arcana loss). Black Blade feature remains unchanged from Bladebound Magus.
5th Level: Weapon version Divine Bond must be used on the Black Blade.
Soulbound Paladin Levels stack with Bladebound Magus for purposes of determining the abilities of the Black Blade.
I'm not entirely happy with it as it is (would like more Paladin-oriented abilities), but on the other hand, I'm almost entirely certain that it would be balanced, and there is something to be said for simplicity. However, if someone wants to come up with some good rules Black Blade specials or some other effect that would fit better with a Paladin version of the Archtype, I'd be more than happy to work with them.
@LazarX: Problem is, he definitely does *not* want to begin the campaign as a Paladin. It's something that will happen as his character progresses (he likes to plan out these things).
Besides, a normal Intelligent Item isn't the same as the Black Blade; it's the fact that it is bound to his soul that is important. The storyline I have for his character would only fit with the Black Blade.
Don't get me wrong; I appreciate your comments, and I definitely am taking them into consideration. I don't want to come across like I'm dismissing them out of hand, it's just that I disagree in this case.