Bladebound Blackblade pool

[Thaago]

I'm building a Bladebound Magus and am wondering whether anyone who has played one has had problems with the size of its pool? 1 at 3, 2 at 5, 3 at 9. It seems a pity that its abilities can only be used once or twice a day.

Would an analogous feat to Extra Arcane Pool be balanced? That is, I take the feat and the blade gains 2 points in its pool.

My current thoughts on the build, if anyone wants to give advice I would welcome it:

Spoiler:

@ Level 1
Human Magus (Bladebound)

Str: 16 + 2
Con: 14
Dex: 12
Int: 14
Wis: 8
Cha: 10

Feats: Arcane Strike, Extra Arcane Pool
Favored Class Bonus: Hp

Traits: Lineage shocking grasp? eh, Perception
Skills: 5/level
Knowledge(arcana), Ride, Perception, Spellcraft, Swim

Spells: 3 cantrip types each day, unlimited
5 first level spells, 2 per day: shield, infernal healing, vanish, shocking grasp, true strike

Arcane Pool: 5
As a swift action, give weapon +1 enhancement for 1 point. Lasts 1 minute

Equipment: Chain Shirt (+4 AC, -2 ACP), Scimitar (d6, 18-20x2), Sling (d4, x2, dex for attack, str for damage) + 30 bullets: 115 gp, 3 sp
Remaining spent on various adventuring gear (24.7)

HP: 11
Saves: 4/2/1
AC: 15
Attack: +4/5
+6/7/8 damage (always two hands on, see http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9qda)

Feat/Arcana selection

1: Arcane Strike
1: Extra Arcane Pool
3: Extra Arcane Pool (blackblade?)
5: Spell Penetration
5: Weapon Focus (Scimitar)
6: Arcana: Empowered Magic
7: Intensify Spell
9: Toughness
9: Arcana: Ghost Blade
11: Improved Critical
11: Greater Spell Penetration
12: Arcana: Maximized Magic

[Simon Legrande]

Don't forget, the magus still has his own separate pool for using all his own arcana. Many of the blade's abilities just rely on the magus wielding it and having at least one pool point unspent.

[Bigtuna]

"Would an analogous feat to Extra Arcane Pool be balanced?"
-Sure.

It's a minor bonus and as long as the feat only grants more arcane points not more power (extra dam pr use of points) it would be much of an issue.

[The Morphling]

Considering how useful (but not devastating) its abilities can be, I've never had an issue with it. Came in damn handy when our group got attacked by a Mythic Vrock with DR/epic in a non-mythic PFS game. And then another Mythic Vrock after we killed it. And then another Mythic Vrock the round after that.

Turning your sword into force is pretty awesome when it comes to ignoring enemies' damage reduction, or even against incorporeal foes.

[Thaago]

@Simon Legrande
Yup :). Its still awesome and unbreakable with a point.

@Bigtuna
Thats kind of my thinking - the power in any given fight is the same, but you can just use it a few more times per day.

@The Morphling
Thats good to know. Did you use the black blade strike (extra damage) ability that much? I can see the damage type switching being amazing in the right circumstances, but I'm not sure if I would spend a point on a damage boost unless the pool was deeper.

[The Morphling]

Thaago wrote:

@Simon Legrande

Yup :). Its still awesome and unbreakable with a point.

@Bigtuna
Thats kind of my thinking - the power in any given fight is the same, but you can just use it a few more times per day.

@The Morphling
Thats good to know. Did you use the black blade strike (extra damage) ability that much? I can see the damage type switching being amazing in the right circumstances, but I'm not sure if I would spend a point on a damage boost unless the pool was deeper.

I use it but I've never noticed that I used it. It's like "whee, here's 3 damage on my sword swing. Did you take the 198 damage from my shocking grasp? Cool."

It's like gluing a thumbtack to the tip of a ballistic missile. Sure, it might scratch the paint right before impact, but the real winner is the spell you're casting, not the extra 2-3 damage from your very limited blade pool.

Also, the ability to summon the weapon from a mile away is awesome in several situations. Usually the group is loathe to relinquish their weapons at any time - I never think twice. "Oh, you want my sword? Here ya go. Take good care of him."

[Cyrad]

Thaago wrote:

Would an analogous feat to Extra Arcane Pool be balanced? That is, I take the feat and the blade gains 2 points in its pool.

No. A blackblade's abilities are powerful, which is why it has such a small pool. A magus in my group completely wrecks anything with damage reduction because of that type conversion ability since energy damage bypasses DR entirely. Bladebound is already an incredibly good magus archetype.

[Dave Justus]

I used the blackblade pool as an emergency thing, rather than something I used all the time. When you run up against incorporeal it is great to have force damage, but you don't just use it every fight. It was a back-up, not a go-to power. I used it several times, but rarely felt that I didn't have enough blackblade arcane pool.

I think you feat would probably be fine though, but I personally felt like I wanted more of my own pool more than I wanted the blade to have more.

[Natrim]

I played a bladebound magus to 15th level last year. No other archetypes or anything, had great fun over all. Spent most of the campaign wishing the blade's pool was just a bit larger though, until the higher levels. Either that or for the ability to enchant the durned thing further.

The ability to turn the sword's damage into an elemental one was also randomly useful in addition to the force aspect. "Okay, so I've failed to beat the dragon's SR several times now... Ah, heck with it. Hey GM! My knowledge check was a 32, so the character knows what elemental type to use on it, right?" *starts smacking the red dragon with a sword made of ice for double base damage on top of the attempt to land a shocking grasp* 'hey, I might as well do something to it in the meantime, right?'

Otherwise? Having my arcane pool reduced to 1/3rd instead of 1/2 level hurt, but the return in not needing to purchase my primary weapon did help considerably in being able to fill out other item purchases (although that was the only real return benefit, I felt).

Every ability of the black blade was just too limited or specific to be consistently useful. Summoning the blade came up once in a RP-to-combat moment (Hello captain-ohmigoodnessDRAGON! *fails will save against frightful presence, drops sword*), the black blade strike was never worth it, just not at all, the energy conversion was useful but the small pool made it useful just once or twice a day.

That 18th level Lifedrinker ability looked amazing, but the campaign ended at 15, so I can't comment on how useful it would be.