Rebuilding the Siege Mage

[Cuup]

I'm going to be running Skull and Shackles in a few weeks, and one of my players really likes the idea of playing a Siege Mage, and wants to RP him in the vein of Montgomery Scott from Star Trek. I pretty much love this idea, but we're both left with the reality that the Siege Mage is probably the worst archetype ever created. To remedy this, I'm going to take a shot at completely rebuilding the archetype so that a Wizard flinging Fireballs wouldn't be doing everything better at all times than a Siege Mage. Please let me know how this archetype looks.

Siege Mage
While most Wizards spend most of their time eschewing physical combat, some study the destructive art of siege warfare, and learn to use their arcane talents and knowledge to become bringers of destruction with long range artillery.

Siege Engineer
At 1st level, you gain the Siege Engineer feat, even if you don’t meet the prerequisites for it. You always calculate attack rolls with Siege Engines using your Base Attack Bonus plus your Int mod.

This ability replaces Scribe Scroll

Siege Engine Bond (Su)
At 1st level, you gain the ability to form an arcane bond with a siege engine within 30’ as a Standard action. You can end such a bond as a Free action, and you can form a bond a number of rounds per day equal to your Int mod. you can only be bonded with 1 siege engine at a time. This bond allows you to aim and fire the siege engine remotely from 30’ away. If the Siege Engine has enough creatures to equal a full crew without you, you can aim and fire the Siege Engine on the same turns that the crew loads it. You must have line-of-sight to the siege engine, as well as to the square/target you wish to aim at. At 10th level, you can also remotely load a siege engine, provided its ammunition is adjacent to it. You must spend the same actions you would otherwise spend aiming, firing, and loading the siege engine. At 13th level, you no longer need line-of-sight to the siege engine.

Once per day, while within 30’ and line-of-effect of a bonded siege engine, you can cast any one spell from your spellbook without expending a spell slot. This spell cannot be modified with a metamagic feat and otherwise is treated as a Wizard’s bonus spell from its Arcane Bond ability.

This ability replaces Arcane Bond

Imbue Artillery (Su)
Choose 2 opposition schools like a standard Wizard, but do not choose a specialization school. Instead of specializing in a specific school of magic, you learn to use the spells you have to enhance the ammunition you fire from a bonded siege engine.

As a full-round action, you can imbue a bonded siege engine’s loaded ammunition with a spell that has a casting time of 1 Standard action or less, and fire the bonded siege engine. The imbued spell uses the siege engine’s range, and treats where the ammunition lands as the spell’s target, or as the epicenter of its area of effect, even if the spell normally could only be centered on the caster. Only spells that require attack rolls, or that manifest as a Burst, Emanation, or Spread can be used with this ability. If the siege engine uses Indirect Fire, only 1 creature can be effected by the Imbued spell if the spell requires an attack roll. If the spell required an attack roll, it automatically hits if the ammunition does. If the spell required a saving throw, any effected targets must save as normal. Spells that manifest as multiple effects (such as Scorching Ray forming multiple rays) can only benefit from one such effect.

Such a spell takes up a spell slot one level higher than it normally does, and must be prepared as such. A spell prepared in this way can only be used on a bonded siege engine.

This ability replaces Arcane School.

Enhance Artillery (Su)
At 5th level, any ammunition you fire from a bonded siege engine is treated as magical and receives a +1 Enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls. Every 3 levels thereafter, the Enhancement bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at level 17. Starting at level 8, you can exchange a +1 Enhancement to add one of the following properties to Enhanced Artillery: Corrosive, Distance, Flaming, Frost, or Shocking. Starting at level 14, you can also exchange a +2 Enhancement to add one of the following properties to Enhanced Artillery: Anarchic, Axiomatic, Holy, or Unholy. You cannot choose a property that is opposite your alignment.

This ability replaces the 5th-level Wizard bonus feat

Master Siege Engineer
In addition to your standard options, you can choose Master Siege Engineer as a Wizard bonus feat starting at 10th level.

[Darkon]

Given how this offers no way to reduce the time it takes to load and fire a siege weapon, I see no reason to limit the amount of rounds bonded to int mod rounds/day. As it stands, to shoot a fireball ballista bolt it would take an extra action over just casting a fireball and shooting the ballista, and requires a lot of prep.

... Just re-read this. It also requires a spell a slot higher? seriously, just making a spell storing siege weapon and playing an evoker is stronger.

My Suggestions:
Remove either the action required or maximum rounds from siege engine bond, or both and give them the bonded object drawback when not within their bond range of a bonded siege weapon.

Increase the range limit on siege engine bond as the wizard levels up, to medium and then long, and maybe even more than that eventually, so that the wizard can be physically with the party while providing artillery support

Remove that false metamagic from imbue artillery, they shouldn't give up all those great class features and then have to cast their spells at a level higher just to get a funny ranged spell strike

And because I know JUST how my party would love to use this, maybe add merciful to the +1 options on enhance artillery, so the wizard doesn't kill the party when they fire the buff cannon, just knock them out.