If you want, we can run some simulations, the magic warrior class being bard but with wizard spell list, versatile performance is using profession soldier ranks for perception and athletics, bardic knowledge and bardic performance are replaced as are well versed and lore master. Instead the magic soldier is proficient in and can cast in medium armor (including tower shields), and can swap their spells known from a spellbook like an arcanist.
okay, let's see.
You're giving up a point of BAB, not impressive at this level, but a long term problem.
You've got limited proficencies, but they include Tower Shields and Medium Armor. Not sure about weapons, you didn't mention.
YOu give them the absolute best spell list in the game. IN return swapping out knowledge skills stuff that is of no use. ANd let them swap spells on the fly. Best of sorc and wiz, or something.
You're moving to an INt basis instead of Cha. Definitely a stronger ability score.
They have 6 skill points, but you're going to give them 2 more skills for the heck of it.
They can cast in medium armor and using tower shields for free. Like, 3 free feats.
I'm just...wow, and you think the exchange is balanced?
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I'm still absolutely not sold on the 'power' of your 1st level spells.
Yes, they are nice options...for single use fights, maybe a duel.
For a battlefield? Short durations and low power mean they aren't going to really sway anything. They will be conveniences at moments, little tricks that can be played, but the simple fact they are on a battlefield where ranged attackers are watching for casters is going to really be a problem for them, and having to cast spells in combat is lethal if it is risked.
And the worst thing is giving them full access to the wiz spell list. that's one of the fastest ways to break a class. Yes, you did restrict it to level 6's via the bard. But the bard's spell power is restricted because he is both a spon caster and has a more limited spell list then a wizard. Getting rid of both disadvantages by giving the full skill list AND prep spells, AND swap on the fly, AND cast in armor and shield...
Just, !!!.
The ability to cast spells in medium armors is by itself pretty strong. We're talking about something the Magus, THE guy who is supposed to be a battle-wizard, only get at level 7. And they get it at level 1, along with tower shield proficiency. A proficiency that usually goes hand-in-hand with heavy armors. And even then, a proficiency that only the Fighter and Warrior (NPC class) get.
Sounds like this is more about a dream-class than anything else. That's just a Magus letting go of Spell Combat and the Arcane Pool to get the full wizard list, better armor proficiencies from the get go and a bit more stuff from level 1 onward. That's a dream class if I've ever seen one. Also, you get to replace both Perception and Athletics (I think you mean Climb and Swim) with a single Profession Skill. Since Perception would have been maxed-out anyway for any soldier, that's just free ranks in Climb and Swim). Right.
And I'm still convinced that the low level of those characters mean that you'll ever see a few level 1 spells a day. 10 minutes of Enlarge per day isn't going to make or break a battle, especially when this deprives you of 2 AC ; and again, you're paying exponentially more money for those level 3 über-maguses than just level 1 warriors who will outnumber them 10-to-1. Your über-maguses also need to be older, as per the starting age rules : this would certainly classify as a "trained" class, meaning that for humans, you're taking an older part of the population : less soldier available than for Warriors (who would certainly count as self-taught, like the fighter). And no matter how high your AC, if 20 guys attack you, you'll averagely get hit at least once, even if you have a 30-something AC.
Your average soldier would be 3-4 years older than the standard Warrior. Losing one means you lose all that training and invested money. So you have to spend more to protect them, thinning your budget even more. Meanwhile, a few Bards can support cannon fodder troops by making them more dangerous, and Clerics can Channel Energy your own wounded but stabilized troops to get them back up and kicking. I think restoring 4-5 HP to all allies in range (which, if they are prefectly stacked around the cleric, is around 100 guys) three times per day is better than being able to cast Enlarge on yourself for 10 minutes a day.
So I revisited this thread after a while and thought about what a "rank and file" magic soldier class would be like.
I limited myself in this way:
1. This has to be a class that anyone can take, because it is something we are assuming will be a bulk portion of armies. This means standard NPCs will need to be able to use it, so I'm limiting this to NPC class standards.
2. The spellcasting will be arcane in nature (we already have a divine in the adept), but I might put in a smattering of "would be normally cleric spells", similar to the bard class.
Spellcasting in light armor and shields, just like the bard too, so that's easy.
3. In order not to step on the other NPC classes toes, I needed to see what they brought to the game. Since this class has spellcasting, I cannot have full BAB, so Medium BAB it is (Warrior is safe). Skills shouldn't be a major focus, so 2 + int and Warrior skills plus spellcraft should be ok (Expert is safe). Since I have better BAB than the adept, and arcane wizard-like casting, I had to lower the spellcasting slightly, to a custom 4 level casting class (Adept is safe). Aristocrat and Commoner aren't going to be used for this comparison, as they are sort of niche classes anyways.
4 level spellcasting means I can have an NPC start with 11 Int and be able to enter the class, and put his stat point ever 4 levels into Int and catch up with his spellcasting ability. This makes it easy to have NPC soldiers even using basic NPC stats.. repeat: I won't need elite array NPCs for this NPC class to function.
So, here's what I came up with:
_______________________
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: d8
Class Skills
The arcane soldier's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Swim (Str).
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.
Base Attack Bonus: Medium
Saves:[b] Fortitude (High), Reflex (Low), Will (Low)
[b]TABLE: Arcane Soldier Spells Per Day
Lvl . . 0 . 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
. 1 . . 3 .. 1 .. - .. - .. -
. 2 . . 3 .. 1 .. - .. - .. -
. 3 . . 3 .. 2 .. - .. - .. -
. 4 . . 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. - .. -
. 5 . . 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. - .. -
. 6 . . 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. - .. -
. 7 . . 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. - .. -
. 8 . . 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. -
. 9 . . 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. -
10 . . 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1 .. -
11 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. -
12 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1
13 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1
14 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2 .. 1
15 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2
16 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2
17 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2
18 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 2
19 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3
20 . . 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3 .. 3
CLASS FEATURES
All of the following are class features of the arcane soldier NPC class.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Arcane soldiers are skilled with all simple and martial weapons and with light armor and shields. An arcane soldier can cast arcane soldier spells while wearing light armor and use a shield without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. Like any other arcane spellcaster, an arcane soldier wearing medium or heavy armor incurs a chance of arcane spell failure if the spell in question has a somatic component. A multiclass arcane soldier still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells received from other classes.
Spells: An arcane soldier casts arcane spells drawn from the arcane soldier spell list. An arcane soldier must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time.
To learn or cast a spell, an arcane soldier must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an arcane soldier's spell is 10 + the spell level + the arcane soldier's Intelligence modifier.
An arcane soldier can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on the above Table. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Intelligence score (see Table 1–3 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook).
An arcane soldier may know any number of spells. He must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time by getting 8 hours of rest and spending 1 hour on his drills. While doing his drills, the arcane soldier decides which spells to prepare.
Cantrips: Arcane soldiers can prepare a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, each day, as noted on Table: Arcane Soldier Spells Per Day. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again.
Field Manual: An arcane soldier must study his field manual each day to prepare his spells. He cannot prepare any spell not recorded in his field manual. He may prepare spells from another field manual as long as it's the exact same issued manual.
An arcane soldier's issued field manual contains all 0-level arcane soldier spells, as well as a full suite of 1st to 4th level spells designated by the issuing division. An arcane soldier gains access to these spells as he gains levels, as described in the field manual's entry.
At any time, an arcane soldier can add spells found from other sources (such as another division's field manual, or a wizard's spellbook) to his own field manual, exactly as a wizard would (see Magic).
FIELD MANUALS
The following are some example field manuals available. A GM may have different field manuals created based on the campaign setting.
Note: All field manuals gain have all cantrips.
Basic Infantry
1st burning hands, enlarge person, true strike; 2nd shield; 3rd grease; 4th scorching ray; 5th glitterdust; 6th web; 7th blur; 8th haste, shocking grasp; 9th fireball, obscuring mist; 10th magic weapon, greater, reduce person; 11th blink, unseen servant; 12th fire shield, pyrotechnics; 13th levitate, stoneskin; 14th mirror image, shout; 15th freedom of movement, shatter; 16th slow, wall of fire; 17th daze, mass, fly; 18th vampiric touch, wall of ice; 19th black tentacles, lightning bolt; 20th dispel magic, fox's cunning, invisibility, greater.
Basic Support
1st alarm, deathwatch, endure elements; 2nd floating disk; 3rd unseen servant; 4th bull's strength; 5th restoration, lesser; 6th status; 7th bear's endurance; 8th expeditious retreat, haste; 9th daylight, feather fall; 10th see invisibility, silent image; 11th fly, mount; 12th restoration, cat's grace; 13th invisibility, greater, silence; 14th fox's cunning, stoneskin; 15th freedom of movement, spider climb; 16th enlarge person, mass, invisibility sphere; 17th dispel magic, reduce person, mass; 18th displacement, fire shield; 19th keen edge, wall of ice; 20th magic weapon, greater, mirror image, solid fog.
Trailbreakers
1st endure elements, expeditious retreat, mount; 2nd silent image; 3rd obscuring mist[/i]; 4th invisibility; 5th minor image; 6th spider climb; 7th levitate; 8th fly, feather fall; 9th phantom steed, reduce person; 10th major image, unseen servant; 11th grease, water breathing; 12th dimension door, silence; 13th invisibility, greater, mirror image; 14th freedom of movement, glitterdust; 15th gust of wind, sending; 16th gaseous form, reduce person, mass[i]; 17th[b] [i]displacement, stoneskin; [b]18th daze, mass, see invisibility; 19th blink, solid fog; 20th black tentacles, haste, blur.
Demolitions
1st burning hands, magic missile, shocking grasp; 2nd true strike; 3rd magic weapon; 4th scorching ray; 5th acid arrow; 6th fog cloud; 7th pyrotechnics; 8th fireball, obscuring mist; 9th grease, lightning bolt; 10th enlarge person, stinking cloud; 11th expeditious retreat, vampiric touch; 12th ice storm, shatter; 13th black tentacles, fog cloud; 14th glitterdust, wall of fire; 15th darkness, wall of ice; 16th flame arrow, solid fog; 17th shout, wind wall; 18th enlarge person, mass, magic weapon, greater; 19th daze, mass, slow; 20th dispel magic, fire shield, web.
Air and Sea
1st endure elements, feather fall, floating disk; 2nd true strike/[i]; 3rd [i]expeditious retreat; 4th levitate; 5th spider climb; 6th gust of wind; 7th cat's grace; 8th fly, magic missile; 9th unseen servant, water breathing; 10th haste, shield; 11th gaseous form, reduce person; 12th dimension door, web; 13th freedom of movement, scorching ray; 14th restoration, lesser, solid fog; 15th daze, mass, glitterdust; 16th ice storm, wind wall; 17th black tentacles, lightning bolt/[i]; 18th [i]fire shield, invisibility sphere; 19th invisibility, greater, see inviibility; 20th magic weapon, greater, mirror image, restoration.
GM's Note:
When creating custom field manuals, use the following table to determine what spell levels are gained each level.
Lvl . 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
. 1 . . 3 .. - .. - .. -
. 2 . . 4 .. - .. - .. -
. 3 . . 5 .. - .. - .. -
. 4 . . 5 .. 1 .. - .. -
. 5 . . 5 .. 2 .. - .. -
. 6 . . 5 .. 3 .. - .. -
. 7 . . 5 .. 4 .. - .. -
. 8 . . 6 .. 4 .. 1 .. -
. 9 . . 7 .. 4 .. 2 .. -
10 . . 8 .. 4 .. 3 .. -
11 . . 9 .. 4 .. 4 .. -
12 . . 9 .. 5 .. 4 .. 1
13 . . 9 .. 6 .. 4 .. 2
14 . . 9 .. 7 .. 4 .. 3
15 . . 9 .. 8 .. 4 .. 4
16 . . 9 .. 8 .. 5 .. 5
17 . . 9 .. 8 .. 6 .. 6
18 . . 9 .. 8 .. 7 .. 7
19 . . 9 .. 8 .. 8 .. 8
20 . . 9 .. 9 .. 9 .. 9
ARCANE SOLDIER SPELLS
Arcane soldiers gain access to the following spells.
0-level Arcane Soldier Spells — acid splash, create water, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, ghost sound, know direction, light, mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation, read magic, stabilize, spark
1st-level Arcane Soldier Spells — alarm, burning hands, deathwatch, endure elements, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, feather fall, floating disk, grease, magic missile, magic weapon, mount, obscuring mist, reduce person, shield, shocking grasp, silent image, true strike, unseen servant
2nd-level Arcane Soldier Spells — acid arrow, bear's endurance, blur, bull's strength, cat's grace, darkness, fog cloud, fox's cunning, glitterdust, gust of wind, invisibility, levitate, minor image, mirror image, pyrotechnics, restoration, lesser, scorching ray, shatter, silence, spider climb, status, web
3rd-level Arcane Soldier Spells — blink, daylight, dispel magic, displacement, fireball, flame arrow, fly, gaseous form, haste, invisibility sphere, keen edge, lightning bolt, magic weapon, greater, major image, phantom steed, see invisibility, slow, stinking cloud, vampiric touch, water breathing, wind wall
4th-level Arcane Soldier Spells — black tentacles, daze, mass, dimension door, enlarge person, mass, fire shield, freedom of movement, ice storm, invisibility, greater, reduce person, mass, restoration, sending, shout, solid fog, stoneskin, wall of fire, wall of ice
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Now, an NPC with the basic array would likely have something along these stats:
Str/Dex: 13/10 (depending on ranged or melee focused)
Int: 11
Con: 12
Wis: 9
Cha: 8
If we look at the Human, those whose floating bonus are in any of Str, Dex, Int or Con would all be viable, just playing to different strengths.
They will have fairly similar starting equipment to the Warriors army, they will have similar stats other than a point lower in Strength or Dexterity on their "off" stat (comparing to the Melee/Ranged basic stat setup on Creating NPCs).
The chain shirt wearer can get a heavy shield (or even tower shield) for less cost than even the breastplate, and match or exceed the AC given for that cost.
Chainmail and heavier armors are actually quite cost prohibitive when looking at outfitting a low level army. It's something that likely won't kick in until ~4th level or higher.
At which point, the chain shirt arcane soldier here can probably afford masterwork armors and a quickdraw shield to accomodate spell casting mid-combat (instead of just buffing and special ops).
And he'll be able to actually make climb and swim checks if needed.
I'd be interested to see a "Squad" made up for 1st to 5th level NPCs, mostly arcane soldiers, with maybe a couple warrior "grunts" and an adept or two as medics.
Maybe something like: 4 Warriors (2 melee, 2 ranged), 6 Basic Infantry, 3 Basic Support, 3 Trealbreakers, 4 Demolitions, 4 Adepts, and a Commander (an arcane soldier with a field manual that has extra spells added from scribing).
That would be interesting followers to have for a military character with leadership.
Interesting that you give away Restoration, but not CLW, which at least is on the bard/witch arcane lists.
I'd probably add in CLW, just so they can use the wands without a problem. If you don't give them the higher level cure spells, it's not a big thing. Just put it in at level 2...they'll rarely memorize it, but they'll hold the wands in a unit.
maybe start with this
NPC classes generally do not have class features. Just straight levels, with possible spellcasting.
I don't think even magewrights, the NPC class from Eberron, had class features, but I could be mistaken.
I waffled on healing, because there was already the adept class that could be considered a "medic" in a military unit.
I gave them restoration for that little oomph of survival and so that a scout or special ops out alone could recover from fatigue and such.
Stabilize was another obvious choice.
I was thinking maybe putting in False Life (and greater) at 2nd and 4th. If we were going to add in spells outside of core (adept didn't because of when it was made, but hey, why not), I'd put in Path of Glory and greater versions (at 2nd and 4th), as they'd be pretty darn good for healing in groups.
Perhaps simply having cure light wounds at 1st, false life at 2nd, vampiric touch at 3rd and greater false life at 4th would make a decent "hitpoint buffer" spell suite for a hybrid arcane caster.
There's a lot going on here, but first I'd like to address one thing.
A character with a PC class has the elite array, so if we take the number of characters with PC classes to be the number of characters with the elite array, then we can perhaps say how many characters have PC classes. If we say that an average person uses 3d6 for each stat, then there is an ~18.61 chance that the total of their stats is over 70, which is what the elite array adds up to (15+14+12+11+10+8). This does not take into account the floating +2 a human gets, because I don't really know how to account for that (but I think that it's applied after the elite array anyhow). So if we say that any character whose total stats are equal to or above the elite array get a PC class, 18% of a given population has PC class levels.
This doesn't mean everyone in a standing army has PC class levels. A significant number of people who are more talented than others will never be noticed by a government and may not wish to become a soldier. But again, a standing army doesn't need to be a significant part of the population of a given country (indeed, that wouldn't really work at all in an agricultural society), and most countries which are meritocracies and value military service will probably be able to secure 10% of the population in PC classes, so long as we accept the 18.61% as being valid.
IT could also simply mean that if you decide to train an NPC to a PC class, the higher demands result in higher stat scores, no? Sort of like going through a muscle-building basic training, helped along by the 'magic' of entering a PC level class.