Magus Confusion

[Night Shayde]

I have read many of the threads on the Magus class and I see somethings and they make sense. One thing I would like to know more about is this, the blade bound mage can not alter his blade, example... he can't decide to add keen on the blade as it is a sentient weapon, has a table, ect. Now based on the class you don't get the weapon til level 3. My question, is the black bade a new blade found or discovered? If you already have a weapon, can your weapon be converted (or become) the black blade? If so, what if the blade in question (before being a black blade) were magical (let's say a +1) does this mean that at level 3 your blade would have a +2 enhancement?

On another note, if you have the black blade at 3rd level it has a +1 enhancement is this like a magical +1 in the sense that it grants a +1 to both hit and damage?

Thanks for any help on this, playing a human fighter 3 who just attained his 4th level and decided on the magus (blade bound). Also going the path of Dervish fighter and have a +1 scimitar :-)

[Iorthol]

Bladebound
It say in the PFSRD entry some examples of how one comes upon the black blade. Personally I would just say it manifests out of nothingness because you're a freakin wizard and you dun goofed in a supremely positive way.

[Thaliak]

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My question, is the black bade a new blade found or discovered? If you already have a weapon, can your weapon be converted (or become) the black blade?

The sidebar on the Black Blade reads in part:

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There are several ways a magus might gain this weapon. Sometimes it just appears among the magus’s possessions, and its origin is a mystery. Other times the magus finds a black blade during an adventure or event of some kind. Sometimes a black blade is passed down generation to generation in an ongoing search for a magus who can unlock its true potential.

Since you can find the blade or pass it from one person to another, I'd say you could make an existing weapon your black blade. From a story standpoint, it's been a black blade all along. You just weren't strong enough to recognize its power.

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If so, what if the blade in question (before being a black blade) were magical (let's say a +1) does this mean that at level 3 your blade would have a +2 enhancement?

No. The table sets the bonus based on your class level, so your scimitar would only have a +1 bonus until you reach Magus Level 5. With that in mind, I would recommend having a new black blade appear and selling your scimitar or keeping it as a backup weapon.

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On another note, if you have the black blade at 3rd level it has a +1 enhancement is this like a magical +1 in the sense that it grants a +1 to both hit and damage?

Yes. They're the same.

By the way, why do you want to take levels in Magus? What do you want to be able to do that your character can't do now?

[Night Shayde]

Character is a fighter and I like the idea od casting spells and fighting at the same time. I created a class like this back in the mid 90's where the effect of a spell can be executed with a sword strike (hit with weapon and spell effect goes off doing spell and weapon damage). Since now there is an official class like this, I don't have to use my sword sorcerer (name of the class I created).