I am a huge fan of the Bladesinger lore. So this is my attempt at converting the Bladesinger prestige class (from 3.5 Complete Warrior and 3.5 Forgotten Realms Race Guide) into a magus archetype.
The lore behind most of this archetype's abilities can be found here.
The Bladesinger (Magus Archetype)
All of the following are class features of the bladesinger archetype.
Only elves and half-elves may become bladesingers.
In addition to the normal magus weapon proficiencies, a bladesinger may use a longsword in conjunction with the Weapon Finesse feat.
Acrobatics (Dex), Performance (dance) (Cha), and Perform (sing) (Cha) are class skills for a bladesinger.
Starting at 2nd level, when wearing light or no armor and not using a shield, a bladesinger adds 1 point of Intelligence bonus (if any) per two magus class levels to his Dexterity bonus to modify Armor Class while wielding his melee weapon. If a bladesinger is caught flat-footed or otherwise denied his Dexterity bonus, he also loses this bonus.
This ability replaces medium armor and heavy armor.
A bladesinger gains access to the following magus arcana. He cannot select any arcana more than once.
Bladedance (Ex): While benefiting from his bladesong style, and while wielding a longsword or a bladed finesse weapon, a bladesinger may use his Dexterity modifier instead of his Strength modifier on melee damage rolls.
Bladesong Feint (Ex): A bladesinger can use his bonus in Perform (dance) in place of his bonus in Bluff when feinting in combat. When substituting in this way, the bladesinger uses his total Perform (dance) skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of his Bluff skill bonus, whether or not he has ranks in Bluff or if it is a class skill.
Bladesong Mobility (Ex): A bladesinger gains Mobility as a bonus feat, even if he doesn’t meet the feat’s prerequisites. A bladesinger benefits from this arcana as long as he is benefiting from his bladesong style. If the bladesinger already possesses Mobility, the dodge bonus granted by the feat increases by +2 as long as the bladesinger is benefiting from his bladesong style.
Bladesong Flourish (Ex): When using spell combat and while benefiting from his bladesong style, a bladesinger may expend 1 point from his arcane pool to make an Intimidate check to demoralize all foes within 30 feet who can see him as a swift action. If the bladesinger is trained in Perform (sing), he can use his bonus in Perform (sing) in place of his bonus in Intimidate. When substituting in this way, the bladesinger uses his total Perform (sing) skill bonus, including class skill bonus, in place of his Intimidate skill bonus, whether or not he has ranks in Intimidate.
Knowledge Pool (Su): A bladesinger gains the knowledge pool magus class feature. The bladesinger must be at least 9th level before selecting this arcana.
At 7th level, while benefiting from his bladesong style, a bladesinger may expend 2 points from his arcane pool as a swift action to speed up his attacks for a number of rounds equal to his magus level. When making a full-attack action, a bladesinger may make one extra attack with any manufactured weapon he is holding, as though under the effects of a haste spell. He also gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to AC and on Reflex saves. At 10th level, and every three magus levels thereafter, these bonuses increase by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 19th level. These bonuses do not stack with the haste spell. This ability replaces knowledge pool.
Starting at 8th level, a bladesinger can take 10 when making a concentration check to cast defensively while using spell combat, even when in immediate danger or while distracted.
This ability replaces improved spell combat.
At 13th level, while benefiting from his bladesong style, a bladesinger can combine a full-attack action with a single move, taking the attacks at any point during his movement, but must move at least 5 feet between each attack or spell. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.
The following magus arcana complement the bladesinger archetype: Arcane Redoubt, Bane Blade, Devoted Blade, Ghost Blade, Greater Arcane Redoubt, Reflection, Spell Blending, and Spell Shield.
Let me know what you guys think. Feedback greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
You might also want to look at the spell dancer and spire defender archetypes (they also stack with each other).
Edit: Also, Rite's singer of blades.
Thanks for the links Ambrosia Slaad. I did see the spell dancer and singer of blades archetypes, but I wanted an archetype that was closer to Forgotten Realms lore and the original Prestige classes.
All of those listed archetypes fit the general Bladesinger concept though, so thank you!
After some playtesting, and going through some of my old posts, I decided to revisit this archetype with a slight tweak.
After some playtesting, and going through some of my old posts, I decided to revisit this archetype with a slight tweak.
** spoiler omitted **
That's a good tweak, because I think that your archetype would be plain better than the vanilla Magus otherwise.
.That being said, I think that Bladesong Style (Ex) might be a little too good. Dex bonus to AC are better than armor bonus, because they raise your touch AC and do not come with armor check penalty and restricted movement. Furthermore, at level 20, the bladesinger's Dex bonus to AC could be 10 points over the vanilla Magus' Dex bonus to AC while the vanilla Magus' armor bonus to AC would be only 5 points (or even only 3 points, if the bladesinger can use a mithral breastplate without penalty) over the bladesinger's armor bonus to AC.
What does Song of Fury (Ex) replace?
Also, maybe you should restrict the Weapon Proficiencies of the bladesinger to blades, since you give him the ability to use a longsword in conjunction with the Weapon Finesse feat (with no drawback).
Overall, it seems like a very good archetype with no real drawback. If I were you I would tone it down a little, unless you want to recreate the power level of the bladesinger found in the Complete Book of Elves from the 2nd edition, but that's your call. :)
@Maerimydra - As another player of mine is gearing up to play this archetype, I decided to just write up a document for it. I guess I didn't realize how out of date the rest of the archetype's abilities were here on the forums when I made that edit yesterday. Many of your concerns were addressed a while ago in previous updates, I just never posted them here.
The document can be found here.