Okay. So heres my problem. I am starting a Jade Regent campaign soon, and my DM requested as much as possible that we stick to asian themes and weaponry. I've always wanted to play a magus, so I came up with the idea of a house retainer for one of the NPCs.
Things that I would really like to include:
A Katana. Yes, that means no dervish dance. I really dislike the fact that the optimal style shoves you into one weapon in the first place, and I've always disliked the scimitar.
Bladebound Archetype. The idea of having a sentient weapon just makes me jump for joy at the oodles of roleplaying opportunities, and doesnt seem too bad from an optimization standpoint.
I've got a 20 point to work with, and so far I have:
Str 16
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 16
Wis 12
Cha 7
Issues I see with this character:
Casting defensively appears to be a nightmare, even with combat casting. At level 1, I'm failing on average just under 50% of the time, making spell combat kinda..meh? Am I missing something here? I would really rather not take a penalty to hit on my main attacks for the spell, since I only have a +3-4 to hit as it stands to begin with.
Low damage potential. Without dervish dancing, this characer is very MAD. In light armor, I need some dex for AC, and I cant drop con with d8 hit points. I could get 18 str by dumping wis to 7, but thats a -2 will save, and 2 dump stats...hard to roleplay properly.
Thoughts, suggestions? He's currently a half elf, for the free exotic weapon prof, and combat casting at first level, because otherwise he's failing the majority of his spell combat opportunities.
Any help is appreciated. This isnt PFS, so reasonable arguements to make a katana finessable, or to work it with dervish dance are fine, and something I'm going to mention to my GM, but please don't consume the entire thread with those.
Thanks again!
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This for me too :(
This is the last time I attempt a joke based on the 'he doens't optimize, he has a mustache' thread.
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Kensai magus seems to be the way to go with such a setting. You don't even "need" so much armor, and may focus on Dexterity/Constitution/Intelligence. Or simply vanilla magus, for the armor proficiencies you get by leveling, using Str/Dex/Con as major features - just use your spells for buffing so there no saves needed until someones tries a dispel.
You may also ask your DM for the ability to give your weapon the Agile property with your Arcane pool - it lets you use dexterity to damage instead of Strength on any finesseable weapon, as long as you have the weapon finesse feat (Pathfinder Society Field Guide manual, you can't do more Paizo official without writing "Paizo official" on it). Lets you reproduce the damn Dervish Dance without needing a damn scimitar.
Or just get it ASAP on your main weapon, and use Shocking Grasp + Intensified Spell for +10d6 on one attack per round without save. With a +1 keen and agile rapier, assuming 22 Dex, you are hitting for 1d6+7+10d6 (eventually 10d6+50% of result or 60 with magus arcanes), 15-20x2, so 1/4 chance per round to deal 2d6+14+20d6.
If you go full strength, you will not be optimum unless playing an intelligently optimized magus who gets medium then heavy armors.
And believe me, Casting defensively isn't SO hard at all, especially at mid-to-high levels where you often roll to see if you do a 1... only if you didn't cast the spell previously or didn't cast before doing a 5-foot step. (Also, a Whip magus can kick asses like no tomorrow if you don't like casting defensively, or even if you like it.)
Don't be too upset about Concentration. Your caster level goes up much quicker than the level of the spells you're casting, so it's mostly a temporary issue. It IS a pain at lower levels, but you can do a lot with 5' steps.
There are also a number of spells useful for acquiring more full attacks (with Spell Combat) because they move you. (Bladed Dash from Inner Sea Magic is beautiful, and Force Hook Charge is pretty great, as well.) There are also a few spells that allow you to cast without provoking AOOs, with some limitations, but I don't know how well they work in practise because I haven't used them.
Another consideration is that instead of katana, you could use a reach weapon. A kusarigama doesn't have the high crit range, but it's a double weapon, meaning you have incredible flexibility because you can use them for TWF, as a one handed weapon, or as a two handed weapon for strength and a half. Plus, kusarigama has trip and grapple. My magus LOVED spell combat true strike + trip at lower levels -- pretty much everything went down, including horses. Remember, if you're 10' away and netting +18 to your CMB, you don't need Improved Trip.
If you're set on katana and crit range, you could carry a naginata at lower levels. They're martial, so you can use them anyway, and while 2 handed weapons aren't compatible with spell combat, they ARE compatible with spell strike.
Relatedly, you can use Enlarge Person to gain reach even with a katana. Unfortunately, it's a 1 round casting time, so not compatible with Spell Combat. It's good if you can buff beforehand, but spending a round JUST buffing as a Magus is a drag. Really, really nice though if you can do it.
As to stats, I'd drop Dex down to 12 and Int to 14. With armor and the shield spell, you'll still have a reasonable AC until mirror image, invisibility, and displacement make AC irrelevant. As to the Int, I wasn't planning on trying to beat enemy saves -- mostly I cast buffs or touch attacks. I might go STR: 18 DEX: 12 CON: 14 INT: 14 WIS: 12 CHA: 7
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As someone raising money for Movember, I am disappointed you do not want my aid in optimizing your character.
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Okay. So heres my problem. I am starting a Jade Regent campaign soon, and my DM requested as much as possible that we stick to asian themes and weaponry. I've always wanted to play a magus, so I came up with the idea of a house retainer for one of the NPCs.
Things that I would really like to include:
A Katana. Yes, that means no dervish dance. I really dislike the fact that the optimal style shoves you into one weapon in the first place, and I've always disliked the scimitar.
Bladebound Archetype. The idea of having a sentient weapon just makes me jump for joy at the oodles of roleplaying opportunities, and doesnt seem too bad from an optimization standpoint.
I've got a 20 point to work with, and so far I have:
Str 16
Dex 14
Con 12
Int 16
Wis 12
Cha 7Issues I see with this character:
Casting defensively appears to be a nightmare, even with combat casting. At level 1, I'm failing on average just under 50% of the time, making spell combat kinda..meh? Am I missing something here? I would really rather not take a penalty to hit on my main attacks for the spell, since I only have a +3-4 to hit as it stands to begin with.
Low damage potential. Without dervish dancing, this characer is very MAD. In light armor, I need some dex for AC, and I cant drop con with d8 hit points. I could get 18 str by dumping wis to 7, but thats a -2 will save, and 2 dump stats...hard to roleplay properly.
Thoughts, suggestions? He's currently a half elf, for the free exotic weapon prof, and combat casting at first level, because otherwise he's failing the majority of his spell combat opportunities.
Any help is appreciated. This isnt PFS, so reasonable arguements to make a katana finessable, or to work it with dervish dance are fine, and something I'm going to mention to my GM, but please don't consume the entire thread with those.
Thanks again!
i currently have a level 3 human bladebound magus myself. very similar stats 17 str, 12 dex, 14 con, 16 int.
I use scimitar but have no need for dervish dance, and took combat casting and arcane strike as my first 2 feats. i gotta say it works pretty well. you cant rely on spell combat too much, but i normally cast shield, and spend a point from my arcane pool and move into position during the first round and then arcane strike 2 handing the scimitar. at low levels the -2 to hit is painful, but once you get to level 3 things get better. then with spell recall at 4 you can afford to use shocking grasp more rounds channeling it threw your weapon