Need advice on Blade bound Magus Character

[Sir Reginald Von Bartlesby]

I created a my first character for a custom campaign in a world under siege by essentially hell every 3 months.
My character is a lvl 3 Blade bound Magus, gnome
Stats:
STR: 12
DEX: 13
CON: 14
INT: 15
WIS: 14
CHA: 12

He also wields a black blade rapier sword cane 1d4 18-20 x2

Initially I created the character to be efficient when it comes to covert combat, but most encounters have been open combat. I've been trying to increase my damage output to increase my effectiveness; the lvl 2 characters in our group basely do 15 damage minimum per hit. Where as I do
10 if I roll max on both touch lvl 1 spell and my slash. I was considering
getting the crane repose combat style to take no less damage and get more hits in. As well as prestige into assassin, and focusing on necromatic(summon)spells as well as magic jar.

Are these smart moves or is there a better path?

[CWheezy]

Magus is a really bad class to multiclass out of, you really want to stay as a magus

[Sir Reginald Von Bartlesby]

Assuming instead of multiclassing I decide to focus on leveling my magus are there spells I should attempt to get from other classes using blood transcription exc., or feats to make my damage output more effective or become more resilient.

[CWheezy]

combat casting so you can shocking grasp, weapon focus so you have an easier time to hit, and metamagic spells such as maximize or empower, so you can pump up your shocking grasps.

More arcane pool points is also ok, since you want to be spending those all the time

[GM Arkwright]

Your strength and dexterity are 12 and 13, you really shouldn't be expecting to do much damage. I'd ask your GM if you can switch some stats around; that 14 shouldn't be in Wisdom.

[XMorsX]

There are some standard combos like rime spell + enforcer + frostbite, intensify spell + shocking grasp, toppling spell + magic missile. In order these combos to work best, you should have the trait Magical Lineage on the corresponding spell. You really want the Magus Arcana: Arcane Accuracy.

Your stats though are terrible. 12 Str is a joke. You don't either have enough Dex to go Dex-based. Did you roll fo these stats? Do the others have the same bad stats? Generally speaking, you should dump Cha and Wis (mo lower than 8 for Wis though) and have the highest Str and Int you can manage. If you cannot change them, ask you GM for a rearrangement like this: Str 15 (+1 at 4, 16, 20 lvls), Dex 12, Con 14, Int 14 (+1 at 8, 12 lvls), Wis 13, Cha 12

With 16 Str at 4th lvl + Arcane Accuracy + Weapon Focus you can have decent to-hit chance. With Arcane Strike, Intensify Spell + Shocking Grasp and Moonlight stalker you will have great damage too.

Can you choose traits at character creation? Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) and Reactionary can be a real boost in your efficiency.

Also your weapon is strictly inferior to the standard Scimitar, consider swapping it unless you really like it for flavor reasons.

[Sir Reginald Von Bartlesby]

Magic lineage sounds like a good idea. My stats when it was created were determined by race, class, roll exc.. I also have to keep some of the points that are useless for me to keep my black blade from dominating me it's will is to essentially kill all of the dominant race in the area.

[XMorsX]

Well my main point is to use your highest stat to Str. Also I just noticed your race, it is possibly the worst choice from the core classes for a Magus. Change it. I know that flavor means a lot, but still you will regret having a small race with penalty to str and no useful stat bonuses. Elfs and Half-Elves are the best because, among else, they can eventually take Moonlight Stalker, but both Humans and Half-Orcs are great too.

For the actual build you could do something like this (assuming an elf for the favored class bonus):

Traits: Magical Lineage (Frostbite), Wayang Spell hunter (shocking grasp)

1 Rime Spell
2
3 Enforcer
4
5 Combat Expertise, Blind Fight (bonus)
6 Arcana: Arcane Accuracy, Arcana: Empowered Magic (elf)
7 Moonlight Stalker
8
9 Intensify Spell, Arcana: Spell Blending: Heroism
10
11 Big Game Hunter
12 Arcana: Critical Strike, Arcana: Maximized Magic (elf)
13 Quicken Spell
14
15 Spell Perfection: Fireball, Arcana: Bane Blade
16
17 Dazing Spell
18 Spell Blending (Contigency), Spell Blending (Permanency)
19 Spell Penetration
20

The tactic is to combine Rime Spell + Enforcer + Frostbite + Monstrous Physique. Shapeshift in an form with multiple natural attacks (they must work like hands, claws for example) and full attack. Each attack has frostbite, entagles and Intimidates. Awesome. There is always Intensified Shocking grasp as a 1st lvl spell too for the standard action attacks.

[A Ninja]

Sir Reginald Von Bartlesby wrote:

Magic lineage sounds like a good idea. My stats when it was created were determined by race, class, roll exc.. I also have to keep some of the points that are useless for me to keep my black blade from dominating me it's will is to essentially kill all of the dominant race in the area.

That shouldn't right, a Black Blade must share the same alignment as it's wielder. So unless your evil, it's goal shouldn't be so genocidal.

[Nuclearsunburn]

I think gnome can be an okay choice for a magus. The alternate favored class bonus is pretty unique in the weapon abilities you can add to your weapon. Yeah, it's small, and yeah it has a penalty to strength but just because it may be a "red" choice in somebody's guide for an optimized magus doesn't mean a gnome can't succeed as one. That said, if you don't really care about the race, and you're allowed to change it, Elves or Humans make the best Magi from a game mechanics standpoint. I think with the character you've created you really REALLY need to rely on critical hits. Magical Lineage (Shocking Grasp) is probably the best thing you could do, but you're level 3 so I don't know if you've picked traits yet. After that you're going to want Intensified Spell at about level 7 or 9, and things like the Empowered Magic and Maximized Magic arcanas. Those will certainly help your "nova" damage. Absolutely take Improved Critical for your weapon at the first opportunity. Normally I would suggest just enchanting it with the keen property, but I'm fairly certain black blades cannot be further enchanted.

Also, does your GM just hate you having a sentient weapon, or something? Something is going on there, because A Ninja is right, by rule, the black blade's alignment matches its wielder's. Are you chaotic evil?

[XMorsX]

Of course and you can succeed with a Gnome Magus. But it is also a fact that you power down your character with such a choice right? If you are satisfied with the outcome then you can proceed, but the OP is clearly not ok with the results. He askes for advice on how to become stronger, and telling him to choose a more suitable race is a no-brainer.

I think that you can spend points from the arcana pool to make your weapon keen. Where did you read the opposite?

[Nuclearsunburn]

XMorsX wrote:

Of course and you can succeed with a Gnome Magus. But it is also a fact that you power down your character with such a choice right? If you are satisfied with the outcome then you can proceed, but the OP is clearly not ok with the results. He askes for advice on how to become stronger, and telling him to choose a more suitable race is a no-brainer.

I think that you can spend points from the arcana pool to make your weapon keen. Where did you read the opposite?

Well, the OP didn't say one way or another if changing his race was an option. And I think he could get results that are just fine by sticking with his current race, as long as he focuses on critting with Shocking Grasp and Frostbite. But certainly if he wants to full-on optimize, yeah, the gnome race won't cut it in that arena. I was just stating that there are options for him to pursue even if he wants or has to stay a gnome.

No, you can spend arcane pool points on the keen property, it's just that getting your black blade enchanted via mundane means is what I'm pretty sure isn't allowed, since it "enchants" itself as it levels up and if you're allowed to enchant it with Craft Magic Arms and Armor, it ends up far outpacing WBL. There was quite the debate on it some weeks ago. I'd just be leery of always relying on the arcane pool as a bladebound magus, since your pool is limited as-is by that archetype, and the character's INT of 15 isn't amazing and won't overcome that limitation all on its own. That's why I suggested investing the feat in Improved Critical once he meets the prerequisites for it.

[XMorsX]

I see. Lets wait to hear how he wants to proceed.