Spellcombat rules state, that it permits spellcasting with off-hand + weapon attacks as a full-round action.
But what constitutes spell castin for this purpose?
- Spell, obviously!
- Held charges from a previously cast spell (eg. chill touch)?
- Spell-like abilities?
- Spells from scrolls?
Are there other options I may have overlooked.
I think they meant spell from the class which is what is normally meant by casting in other cases also. This can be supported by the fact that arcanas were made just to allow you to use a wand or staff with it.
The magus can activate a wand or staff in place of casting a spell when using spell combat.
Chill touch is a held spell. If you cast again previous held spells go away. The magus does not get an exception to that rule.
Spell combat requires that you cast a spell to use which is a part of a full round actions. Holding a spell from a previous round does not count as casting on a later round.
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Spellcombat rules state, that it permits spellcasting with off-hand + weapon attacks as a full-round action.
But what constitutes spell castin for this purpose?
- Spell, obviously!
- Held charges from a previously cast spell (eg. chill touch)?
- Spell-like abilities?
- Spells from scrolls?Are there other options I may have overlooked.
Everything Wraithstrike said is true, but to answer your question more specifically: casting a spell is your only base option, unless another ability explicitly gives you other options (such as the Wand Wielder arcana that Wraith mentions).
they mean 1. cast spells off the magus list that have cast time of one standard action.
2. spells charges held like chill touch can be delivered with spell strike after the initial casting but not as additional fra but as charges exspended threw the use of spell strike. so don't cast another spell unless you want to lose charges.
3. No spell like abilities or scrolls unless you get one of the magus arcana that allow it. plus, only touch spells get the melee attack delivery unless once again you get the magus arcana that allows for it. additionally wands dont count either unless you get the magus arcana that allows for it.
not being rude but if you read all the arcana (i.e. magus feats) it may hint at answers to those types of questions.
@ Von Marshal: you are not rude, but I did not find the existing material to hold the necesary answers. I often find myself asking questions others do not - lets put that to people thinking differently. I will explain why I felt I had To ask.
True, that magus arcana provide some hints, but nothing I considered conclusive.
Held charges, like chill touch, are in essence just a spell with an extended delivery period and targets, normaly delivery or touch with a touch spell is considered part of the spellcasting.
If a spell-like ability duplicates a spell on the magus spell list I see nothing that would prevent it from being used with spellcombat. As far as I understand broad study arcana it is to allow the use of spells that are not on the magus spell list.
While there is a wand wielder arcana there is no scroll wielder arcana. Spell casting has more in common with scroll use than with wand or staff use, which is why I did not find the question that far fetched, though I have no expectation of getting a positive answer on that question.
As far as i have been able to do with the magus that i have played in several different games with different gms and reading the discussions on the forum for the last 6 months or so i can help just a bit.
As far as chill touch and like spells (some I used broad study for) the round you cast the spell in is the start of a chain. Ill explain. There are two options for the start. 1. "spell combate using spell strike" (cast last) useing your fra preform all melee attacks granted by the BAB. then cast chill touch using your melee weapon. round two (weather using spell combate or not or fra) all melee attacks that fallow are considered to be spellstrike attacks with the left over charges of the chill touch. this last untill all charges are expended or you cast a new spell. 2. you can cast chill touch first apply your free attack then use the charges with the remander of you fra of spell combate. if you have left over charges you can use them the next round as well untill expended or you cast agian. with option two say you have 8 charges of chill touch and a 6/1 BAB. [cast chill touch (1) free attack (2)first regular melee secound chill touch (3)secound regular melee third chill touch (end round) secound round (1) first melee attack 4th chill touch (2) secound melee and 5th chill touch (your done for that round unless you wanted to lose the rest of the charges and cast another spell) "I allways sacrifice the rest of the touches to cast another chill touch and there for keep it going untill im on my last chill touch then i run it out" Kepp in mind by this time of development unless im preping for a duel I only have one chill touch in memory. the rest is for other spells. Keep in mind some spells like calcific touch (needs broad study to get) are a one touch a round spell so you'll lose your extra attacks and just use one spellstrike per round to maintain your mobility (even tho you could still use your other reg melee attacks) but your trying to kill them threw ability score not hp at that point. the wands and the rods arcana are tricky and in my opinion ment for low int high str or high int only magus builds respectively.
as far as the scrolls use goes well using one is a standard action and is veiew as if casting the spell [spell completion] all it takes to use one is a UMD check (i can't remember off the top of my head if you even need it for spells on your spell list). as long as the spell is on the magus spell list i don't see a problem with it. I never have used one tho, i perfer wands for the number of charges instead of a single use. that and the umd diff drops when you use the iteam right. a pearl of power might be more cost effective in the long run if your looking at just one spell.
I hope all this jiberish is helpful.
side note if your ganna look at using ability damage touch attachs get an alchemist in your party and have them craft you some giant wasp poision for your opening attack. :)
I am not sure how fully this applies to your situation or to others who have posted, but be aware of this from the official FAQ:
Magus: Can a magus use spellstrike (page 10) to cast a touch spell, move, and make a melee attack with a weapon to deliver the touch spell, all in the same round?Yes. Other than deploying the spell with a melee weapon attack instead of a melee touch attack, the magus spellstrike ability doesn’t change the normal rules for using touch spells in combat (Core Rulebook page 185). So, just like casting a touch spell, a magus could use spellstrike to cast a touch spell, take a move toward an enemy, then (as a free action) make a melee attack with his weapon to deliver the spell.
On a related topic, the magus touching his held weapon doesn’t count as “touching anything or anyone” when determining if he discharges the spell. A magus could even use the spellstrike ability, miss with his melee attack to deliver the spell, be disarmed by an opponent (or drop the weapon voluntarily, for whatever reason), and still be holding the charge in his hand, just like a normal spellcaster. Furthermore, the weaponless magus could pick up a weapon (even that same weapon) with that hand without automatically discharging the spell, and then attempt to use the weapon to deliver the spell. However, if the magus touches anything other than a weapon with that hand (such as retrieving a potion), that discharges the spell as normal.
Basically, the spellstrike gives the magus more options when it comes to delivering touch spells; it’s not supposed to make it more difficult for the magus to use touch spells.
Thanks all.