I'm working on an archetype to use in my home games that switches out spellstrike for an ability that allows them to absorb spells cast at them. Idea wise, instead of channeling magic outward through their weapon, they learn to draw it in. It also replaces spell recall, as they cab use an absorbed spell to recharge one of their own cast spells. I call it rune knight, which should tell you what inspired the idea. :P
Is this something that many of you would consider?
I like the basic idea, but there are a few kinks to work out.
I think you would have to give them access to something that allowed them greater damage capacity (maybe weapon training). Any magus with this power will have some problems:
1) The magus relies on spellstrike for damage. It's a frontliner, and without this power it looses it's main source of damage.
2) THe magus spell list lacks a LOT of utility spells. If spellstriking isnt eating up my spells, I seriously dont know what I'd be doing with them.
While I do imagine you could still spell combat & shocking grasp, spellstrike has the advantage of making critting with a spell easier (which can add a LOT of damage in my experience).
Thinking about it again, it might not be so bad. What you're offering might be A LOT better than spellstrike. More situational than spellstrike, but potentially more useful.
I like the basic idea, but there are a few kinks to work out.
I think you would have to give them access to something that allowed them greater damage capacity (maybe weapon training). Any magus with this power will have some problems:
1) The magus relies on spellstrike for damage. It's a frontliner, and without this power it looses it's main source of damage.
2) THe magus spell list lacks a LOT of utility spells. If spellstriking isnt eating up my spells, I seriously dont know what I'd be doing with them.
While I do imagine you could still spell combat & shocking grasp, spellstrike has the advantage of making critting with a spell easier (which can add a LOT of damage in my experience).
Thinking about it again, it might not be so bad. What you're offering might be A LOT better than spellstrike. More situational than spellstrike, but potentially more useful.
I think the damage loss would be more pronounced from the crit reduction, as magus weapons are rarely high damage. I've never had a crit focused magus player, so I admit I didn't think about that. As for spell use, I expect spell combat without having to be shackled to touch spells ought to use plenty of spell slots. This is exactly what I was curious about though, how essential a feature of the magus people see spellstrike as.
See, in my own experience for the magus, there are only a few spells that I even use in spell combat:
1) spellstrike spells
2) Buffage: haste, mirror image (but not often)
3) Utility spells: fly (very rarely)
I'd be curious to know what your players did with the magus if not spellstrike, because I've not managed to get much use out of the rest. It doesnt help that we're a caster-heavy party, but still. In any case, good luck.
I would actually be willing to play a Magus without spellstrike, but I would not be willing to play one without spellstrike AND spell recall, because the only kind of Magus I'd play without spellstrike is a Hexcrafter, and I'd need spell recall to trade for the hexes.
You can play an excellent debuff based Magus as a hexcrafter, so the lost damage isn't that big a deal, but without that, I just can't imagine what I'd do with the class.
If you intend to be a serious damage dealer, you really need the 15-20 crit chance on those Intensified Shocking Grasps and/or Rime Frostbites.
See, in my own experience for the magus, there are only a few spells that I even use in spell combat:
1) spellstrike spells
2) Buffage: haste, mirror image (but not often)
3) Utility spells: fly (very rarely)I'd be curious to know what your players did with the magus if not spellstrike, because I've not managed to get much use out of the rest. It doesnt help that we're a caster-heavy party, but still. In any case, good luck.
They used spellstrike, they just didn't go crit focused, they viewed it more as a trade off, less chance to hit in order to add 1d8+8 or so damage. Although they also used spell combat with aoe, ranged, or other spells as well.
The Spellblade archetype is widely considered the weakest Magus archetype because it gives up Spellstrike for something that isn't all that great. It would be like a wizard trading arcane bond for a bonus feat, chosen from the following list: Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes. Its not that what you're getting is bad, it just doesn't match up to what you're trading for it.
If you've noticed, no magus archetype since Ultimate Magic's Spellblade has traded out Spellstrike. There is a reason for that.
If I can offer a suggestion, trade out Spellstrike for your ability, then grant it again at a later level. For example, trading Spellstrike for your ability, Spell Recall for Spellstrike, and Improved Spell Recall for Spell Recall might end up being okay in the long run.
The Spellblade archetype is widely considered the weakest Magus archetype because it gives up Spellstrike for something that isn't all that great. It would be like a wizard trading arcane bond for a bonus feat, chosen from the following list: Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, or Lightning Reflexes. Its not that what you're getting is bad, it just doesn't match up to what you're trading for it.
If you've noticed, no magus archetype since Ultimate Magic's Spellblade has traded out Spellstrike. There is a reason for that.
If I can offer a suggestion, trade out Spellstrike for your ability, then grant it again at a later level. For example, trading Spellstrike for your ability, Spell Recall for Spellstrike, and Improved Spell Recall for Spell Recall might end up being okay in the long run.
Spell Recall isn't on the table for the Rune Knight. Absorbing a spell through their ability (I call it Spelldraw) allows them to recharge a spell slot, so having Spell Recall in addition would be a bit much. In place of Spell Recall, and the Improved version, they get improvements to Spelldraw, much like the improvements to spell combat.
The theme is to turn what's normally an offensive ability (Spellstrike), into a defensive ability. A Rune Knight wouldn't be a great damage spiker, this is true, but they would be a mage hunter extraordinare.
