Then came 2e, 3e, and 3.5. Level caps disappeared, and multi-classing opened up and became something else. I was not that fond of the Eldritch Knight prestige class (one had to wait several levels before both martial and arcane classes progressed more evenly), the Warmage didn't have any utility spells, and I really disliked the Spellsword prestige class. Shooting spells out through one's sword? Fine for those who like it, I guess, but I really preferred the classic Fireball-then-hack-the-next-round combination instead. And doing two offensive combat actions at once struck me as kind of ... cheating?
Next up was Pathfinder, and L 6 spellcasters like the Magus and Warpriest were introduced. "Great!", I thought when I first heard of the Magus - until I saw Spellstrike and Spell Combat. Again with the spell-through-the-sword thing! It was the Spellsword all over again. *sigh*
And so I decided to create an "old school magus" archetype for the Magus, inspired a bit by something that the Warpriest got right (IMHO). The basic changes are as follows:
- At 1st level, an Old School Magus gains the Scribe Scroll feat. This replaces Spell Combat class feature.
- At 2nd level, the Magus gains a new feature called Arcane Pool (swift buff) (Su). (See below.) This replaces the Spellstrike class feature.
"As a swift action, an Old School Magus can expend one point from his arcane pool to cast any one Magus spell which he has prepared with a casting time of 1 round or shorter. When cast in this way, the spell can target only the Magus, even if it could normally affect other or multiple targets. Spells cast in this way don’t require somatic components and do not provoke attacks of opportunity. The Magus does not need to have a free hand to cast a spell in this way." (This is adapted from the Warpriest's Fervour class feature.)
- At 8th level, the Magus gains a bonus feat (just like at 5th level). This replaces the Improved Spell Combat class feature.
- At 14th level, the Magus gains a bonus feat (just like at 5th level). This replaces the Greater Spell Combat class feature.
- At 20th level, the Magus becomes a master of spells and combat. He does not need to make a concentration check to cast spells defensively. (This class feature has simply been shortened. A possible alternative was to keep the rest of the original class feature, but to have the Magus apply it to a target which the Magus successfully either hit with a weapon or targeted with a spell in the previous round.)
- Any Magus Arcana which refer to Spellstrike or Spell Combat are not available.
So ... what do you think? Is it balanced? Would you play this archetype? Constructive criticism is welcome! :)
Let's look at what you've done:
1. You've replaced Spell-Combat with something almost identical - except it can only be used a few times a day (because it costs AP points). Higher level you can use it more etc.
2. You've lost Spellstrike (powerful feature) but you've opened the possibility of using different combat styles (one-handed weapons are the worst).
3. You've also given Scribe-Scroll and 2 bonus Combat/Metamagic/Crafting feats in place of Spell-Recall Greater-Spell-Recall.
So you'll be using "spell-combat" less often and you won't be buffing your weapon with a spell (spellstrike), which means you'll be doing less nova damage than a magus.
You've lost Spell-Recall, but you've got scribe scroll, so they both kinda do the same thing (give you more spells per day). The difference here is that the normal Magus does more with their spells (during combat anyway).
Basically you have to make up for Spellstrike damage with a different combat style (2-handed weapon is an easy upgrade there) and 2 bonus feats.
In terms of combat, you're looking less powerful than a standard magus, but the standard magus is borderline OP so that's not a huge deal.
Outside of combat ... you really haven't changed anything.
To me this feels almost exactly like the Eldritch Knight (except that it's a base class, not a prestige class). That's not a bad thing, just putting it out there.
Would I play it? Yes, but it wouldn't be my first choice (I do like the standard magus & some of the archetypes already out there a lot, so that's not big news).
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This isn't the first time I've seen someone argue against the magus because they prefer a fighting wizard and not a spellsword. The problem I have with these arguments is that you can play a magus as a fighter that switch-hits with spells. I feel like a lot of times people make these arguments assuming every magus has to be a crit-fishing shocking grasp guy that exploits spell combat and spellstrike for bonus attacks. Both of the magi I played primarily used spell combat for casting buffs or laying down crowd control while fighting. You can even use spell combat to pseudo-pounce by using force hook charge or storm step. Why give that up? If you don't want to play the magus as a spellsword, then don't play them as a spellsword. It's totally viable to play a magus in a different way. That's what makes the class awesome.
Let's look at what you've done:
1. You've replaced Spell-Combat with something almost identical - except it can only be used a few times a day (because it costs AP points). Higher level you can use it more etc.
2. You've lost Spellstrike (powerful feature) but you've opened the possibility of using different combat styles (one-handed weapons are the worst).
3. You've also given Scribe-Scroll and 2 bonus Combat/Metamagic/Crafting feats in place of Spell-Recall Greater-Spell-Recall.
So you'll be using "spell-combat" less often and you won't be buffing your weapon with a spell (spellstrike), which means you'll be doing less nova damage than a magus.
You've lost Spell-Recall, but you've got scribe scroll, so they both kinda do the same thing (give you more spells per day). The difference here is that the normal Magus does more with their spells (during combat anyway).
Basically you have to make up for Spellstrike damage with a different combat style (2-handed weapon is an easy upgrade there) and 2 bonus feats.
In terms of combat, you're looking less powerful than a standard magus, but the standard magus is borderline OP so that's not a huge deal.
Outside of combat ... you really haven't changed anything.To me this feels almost exactly like the Eldritch Knight (except that it's a base class, not a prestige class). That's not a bad thing, just putting it out there.
Would I play it? Yes, but it wouldn't be my first choice (I do like the standard magus & some of the archetypes already out there a lot, so that's not big news).
Thank you for your analysis - it was definitely helpful! :)