I'm running a homebrew campaign that is going to sort of take place in the afterlife. One of the PCs is going to be a revenant magus, and I want some ideas for some alternate favored class options for the revenant magus.
REVENANT
Revenants are the living embodiment of an ancestral line, made up of portions of the souls of an entire tribe, dynasty, family, or lineage. Some revenants are made from the pieces of spirits from a guild, secret society, social club, or other enterprise. They are often gaunt and pale, and typically display some kind of sign or feature associated with their ancestral line.
+2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, -2 Constitution: Revenants are physically and mentally powerful, but lack a certain vitality.
Medium Sized: Revenants do not receive any bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Revenants have a base land speed of 30 feet.
Ancestral Knowledge: Revenants have a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge history checks. Once per day, a revenant can re-roll a single Knowledge check as an immediate action.
Darkvision: Revenants can see 60 feet in the dark.
Deadly Mind: +2 bonus on saving throws against mind affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms).
Enervated Body: +2 bonus on saving throws against death effects, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.
Fortified Soul: +2 bonus on saving throws against non-lethal damage, ability drain, ability damage to physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), exhaustion, and fatigue effects.
Living Dead: Revenants are considered both humanoid (humans) and undead. Revenants are healed by both positive and negative energy, as if they were both living and undead creatures; however, they only recover half the normal amount of hit points from both sources of healing (rounded down, minimum 1 hit point).
Memories of Past Lives: A number of times per day equal to the revenant’s Intelligence modifier (minimum 1), the revenant can take a free action and benefit from a single feat that the revenant qualifies for but does not possess for 1 round.
Necrotic Magic: Revenants increase the save DC of any necromancy spell they cast by +1.
Languages: Revenants speak Common and Undercommon. Revenants with a high Intelligence score may select from the following languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal, Orthovox, Terran.
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Some ideas I have is +1/3 level additional arcana, +1/2 level arcane pool point, +1/5 level to the enhancement bonus from their arcane pool weapon enhancement ability.
The campaign will start at level 3, and might only be a one-shot, so balance isn't the most important thing. The other 2 PCs will be a rogue 2/cleric 1 and a fighter 3 with my astral marauder archetype.
The race seems a bit fiddly - I'd reccomend either giving them Negative Energy Affinity or axing the Living Dead class feature. The Dhampir handles this the former way.
They get a lot of save bonuses against a lot of stuff - that's a huge list, which could prove cumbersome and fiddly in play. I'd go the halfling / alt half-orc route and give them +1 to all saves, or narrowing down the list.
Ancestral Knowledge is a neat, flavorful ability.
Memories of Past Lives has got to go. It is much too wide open (especially because it doesn't specify that you need to meet the prerequisites), so a player could halt the game to look for the best feat possible to use. Similar abilities are in the game, but not granted until at least level 8 (see: war domain cleric). Ax this ability completely.
To make up for getting rid of or toning down these abilities, I'd recommend giving them a spell-like ability - perhaps speak with dead or true strike once per day.
As for the favored class bonuses, either:
+1/6 additional magus arcana (Based on human rogue favored class option)
+1/4 arcane pool point (Based on human monk favored class option)
+1/2 to concentration checks to cast spells defensively
I'd recommend against letting the enhancement bonus go up as a favored class option, as there's no other way to do so in the game.
Thanks for the feedback! :-)
I think I might change the Living Dead racial feature to fit the dhampir model.
For Memories of the Past, the revenant would have to meet the prerequisites for the selected feat. I guess I have to clean up the language. It's mostly meant to be a reactive ability, where something happens, and the revenant can use a relevant feat to help with the situation. I know the player that will play this character, and I don't see him flipping through multiple books just for a tiny edge.
I'm also sure he can keep aware of the various saving throw bonuses....and I'd help him as the GM when they come up.
It's for a one-shot, so it's OK if it's a little wonky.
I also like your favored class options....they're a bit more balanced than what I was initially proposing.