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Also erroneously known as the Mage Knights, Spellblades or War Wizards, the Knight Enchanters are an elite Order of martial-minded men and women that understand that magic is tool… and that there are only two types of people in the world: Tools and Tool Users. Eschewing the typical superstition and banal ignorance that most people tend to have on the subject, the Knight Enchanters fully embrace the existence of magic to its full martial potential and do not shy away from its study or advancement.
Most common in regions where mage-craft is common (the regions of Geb, Nex, and Cheliex in particular) many Knight Enchanters tend to find a not-entirely unjustified reputation of being the martial arms of those nations, and it can be painful for patriotic and freelance Knight Enchanters to wandering into regions where this ill-will is deep-rooted.
Lawful Knight Enchanters are the backbone of many magocracy military might and mercenary companies. While their Chaotic counterparts tend to be mavericks and monkey wrenches looking for a place to throw themselves into.
Class Features
Arcane Skills (Ex): Knight Enchanters gain 2 extra Skill Points per level these points must be spent on Spellcraft and Use Magic Device. These skills are considered Class Skills for the Knight Enchanter.
This ability replaces Proficiency with Heavy Armor and Tower Shields.
Enchanter (Su): At 1st Level a Knight Enchanter gains the Arcane Strike feat even though he is not a spell caster, using his Class Levels in Knight Enchanter to determine his Caster Level for the purpose of the feats effects. Instead of the normal benefits provided by the Feat, the character may choose instead to apply its bonus to all ranged attacks until the end of the round.
This ability replaces the Bonus Feat gained at the 1st Level.
Fueling Arcana (Su): Normally it is impossible for non-spell casters to restore lost magic to items that eventually wear out (such as wands and staves), but an Knight Enchanter is far from ordinary. At 2nd Level once per day you may spend two uninterrupted hours with a drained magical tool to restore one its lost uses, you may use this ability an additional time per day at 6th level and another use every four Levels thereafter.
This replaces your Bonus Feat gained at 2nd Level.
Mage-Craft (Sp): Knight Enchanters are some of the best users of magical tools in the world, their dedicated knowledge and insight into the creation of these tools grant them a finer level of use than many spell caster could ever hope to achieve. At 2nd level you gain a +1 Bonus to the Save DC and Caster Levels for any magic tool a Knight Enchanter uses, including rolls to pierce Spell Resistance and normally fixed effects. This bonus increases by +1 at 6th Level and every four levels thereafter.
This ability replaces Bravery.
Tools of Magic (Su): A Knight Enchanter is able to use magic tools better than most spell casters can, and are not adverse to making their own tools. At 3rd level a treat you levels in Knight Enchanter as Spellcaster Levels for the purpose of activating and crafting magical items and meeting the prerequisites of Item Creation feat. You are considered an Arcane caster and count as having all Wiz/Sorc and Bard Spells on you ‘Spell List’ (A GM may exempt spells they consider too rare to be freely given…as long as the spell casters share the same fate), and use the higher of your Intelligence or Charisma for determining Save DC‘s and meeting Minimal Ability Score requirements. Lastly you do not suffer Arcane Spell Failure for casting spells in armor when using Scrolls.
This ability replaces all of the Armor Training Class features.
Eldritch Talent (Ex): There are many basic magic tools that Spellcaster tend to take for granted, and their mundane counterpart are clueless to their value, despite their impact on the world. Scrolls, Potions and more advanced crafts have shaped the face of the world to such a degree that few notice that obvious fact that without them we would all face certain doom. In the face of an otherwise fatal end, the Knight Enchanter learns to craft their own tools so as to shape they’re own destiny. At level 4 you gain the Scribe Scroll and Brew Potion Item Creation feats, and every even level thereafter you may select either a normal Fighter Bonus Feat or a Item Creation feat.
This replaces your 4th Level Bonus Feat and alters all Bonuses gained thereafter.
Great Enchanter (Su): At 19th level the bonus gained by your Enchanter Class Feature doubles and its effects now last until the beginning of your next turn.
This ability replaces Armor Mastery.
The write-up suffers a lot from unclear language.
- Arcane Strike is not restricted to melee attacks.
- Magical tool is not a game term. Can I use fueling arcana to recharge a drained ring of three wishes? If that is the case, my character is going to retire at 2nd level and establish a deposit system for used magic items. This ability should be restricted to items with daily uses and require a UMD check (with a chance to damage or destroy the item in question on a failed check).
- What are "normally fixed effects" [mage-craft]? Another ambiguous term.
- Eldritch talent won't do a fighter any good. To create potions and scrolls, a crafter still needs to expend the spell in question.
- Great Enchanter sounds a bit underwhelming. I guess a high-level fighter could make use of that additional swift action with the right character options, but I wouldn't count on it.
I think the concept is okay, but you need to work on the execution. The write-up also includes too much unnecessary flavor text (and keep in mind that archetypes are written in third person narrative).
I'm not a fan of granting two skill points, and then requiring they be spent on two specific skills. If you took a cue from the lore warden, thats fine but I don't think you've done a good job of doing so. Why not add Knowldge (arcana), Spellcraft, and UMD to the class list and then give the class a legitimate reason to invest in a decent Intelligence score?
I don't much like the wand recharge ability. The class has absolutely no spellcasting ability, yet at 2nd level is capable of recharging certain magic items. At 2nd level he is very unlikely to have such items, and why is it that he can do it but an actual spellcaster cannot? I think this guy should gain a few cantrips that he can switch around (either when gaining a level or when using a spellbook), and an ability like this should be higher level. I mean, detect magic would seem like something he should have.
What is a magic tool?
I think some of these class features could be rolled into a larger "talent" pool that can be taken in place of an armor or weapon training - basically at each odd level he chooses to gain either training or a new magic talent. This would allow certain characters to pursue the wand route, the crafting route, the spellcasting route, weapon training, etc, or a mixture of them.
I agree with Amanuensis and Ciaran Barnes. You refer to a lot of game terms that do not exist and do not explain what they are. Even the names of the class and its class features are problematic. The class is called an "enchanter" but they do not actually enchant anything. An enchanter is a term for a wizard (and sometimes other mage) that specializes in spells of the enchantment school, which includes spells like charm person. It's a common mistake for someone to say a mage is "enchanting a sword" or call a +1 longsword an "enchanted weapon" when this is actually a misnomer.
Also, being able to recharge magic items without a significant gold cost is also rather game breaking.
The name "enchanter" is misleading when we're talking game terms, but outside of that the definitionan "enchanter", "enchanting", and "enchantments" get looser. Earlier this year I made a homebrew Enchanter base class based on Tim the Enchanter loosesly based on the alchemist and warlock classes (I never posted it). Obviously that class is tongue in cheek, but if you are making a serious archetype then you might want to rethink the name.
This is what I get for working on seven different things for three different games at the same blasted time! Was hoping that this would of be ignored and I could fix it before anyone commented, but no such luck (I wont be living this mistake out any day soon :p)
Yes there are plenty of non-Pathfinder terms being used here and that was definitely my mistake, will fix them now starting for the beginning while trying to explain the ideals behind them.
Arcane Skills: Yes I forgot about Knowledge (Arcana) being relevant to magic since its been a bit too long since I’ve seen it used that way; most of the time I’ve only seen it used for monster lore. So I will be changing it to pick between those three skills.
Enchanter: Indeed I was mixing the ability up with another one with similar name. The last sentence will be removed.
Fueling Arcana: Terminology mishap again, its meant to only effect Wands and Staves. I always found that wands a bit of gimmick that runs itself out pretty quickly once you get to the higher levels (about 8) where there use becomes redundant as more permanent magic gear takes hold. Their restriction on recharge is also something I’ve never heard any Player or DM give much praise about.
Usually either the DM gives wands out for free (as spoils of war) or the Player’s purchase them and DM modifies treasure to compensate for it. Frankly this ability allows for DM’s to consider Wands as ‘Permanent’ magical gear and not something that needs to replaced after every adventure.
In terms of availability I’ve learned never to underestimate the methods Players will use to get what they want (within reason).
…And as far as why cant Spellcaster recharge wands well, well they tend to focus on casting spells than using magical trinkets. Also its good incentive for them to multiclass if they want the ability so bad, the lose of 2 Spellcasting levels isn’t that bad of trade off in my book.
Mage-Craft: The part of ‘fixed magical items’ shouldn’t be there, I don’t honestly know how it snuck in. Will execute that sentence in the revised version.
Tools of Magic: I thought I had worded that well enough to avoid that issue. What I meant for it to imply is that you count as having all Wiz/Sorc/Bard spell of your appropriate level as Known for the purpose of creating magical items.
Guess I’ll need to change the wording a tad bit.
Eldritch Talent: With Tools of Magic clarified it should function.
Greater Enchanter: It might seem underwhelming but it is a large flat bonus to damage (+8) at the time you get it. Coupled with Weapon Training , Enhancement Bonuses, Feats, and (God-Emperor help you) the Trained Grace/Throw Advanced Fighter Talent and your going to out-damage the Barbarian in his Rage 24/7.
…if you wont miss the Enhancement Bonus you can fight at the high levels with a totally mundane weapon (since you can ignore the Magic part of DR with Arcane Strike).
…and last as far as the name goes, the word Enchanter has been horribly abused by the Fantasy settings in general but…well, honestly all the good names are taken already, or are misleading in their own right.