Champions of the Spheres: Duelist's Grip, Balanced Defense, and Arcane Blade

[Warriorking9001]

I wanted to ask about this because.. well it's a bit complicated.

Balance Defense: While wielding a light or one-handed weapon and nothing in any other hand you possess, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC. For every 4 points of base attack bonus you possess, this bonus increases by +1. Attacking with an off-hand weapon, making more than one natural attack on your turn, or using abilities such as a monk’s flurry of blows or a magus’ spell combat suppresses this bonus until the start of your next turn.

Duelist's Grip: Whenever you wield a melee weapon other than a natural attack in only one hand and make no attacks using any other hand or natural attack you possess, you apply 1 and 1/2 times your Strength bonus to damage rolls with it instead of just your Strength bonus.

Somatic Casting:You must gesture to cast spells—a process that requires you to have at least 1 hand unoccupied. When using magic, you cannot wear armor heavier than light without incurring a chance of arcane spell failure. You may select this drawback twice. If taken a second time, you cannot wear any armor or use a shield without incurring a chance of arcane spell failure.

Would a Magus or other caster using spheres here need to give up these two martial talents if they wanted to use something like Arcane Blade of Spellstrike?

[GM Rednal]

If you're using the Spheres system, have you considered replacing Somatic Casting? It's not mandatory to have that (in most games, anyway), and that helps you avoid any potential conflicts.

That said, the first two say that you simply can't be wielding anything in your free hand, and making gestures definitely isn't wielding something.

[Warriorking9001]

GM Rednal wrote:

If you're using the Spheres system, have you considered replacing Somatic Casting? It's not mandatory to have that (in most games, anyway), and that helps you avoid any potential conflicts.

That said, the first two say that you simply can't be wielding anything in your free hand, and making gestures definitely isn't wielding something.

I wasn't really forcing anyone to use somatic casting. I more just kinda thought if a player wanted to use it they would/should be allowed to, so I wanted to figure out what the rules are on it. Though I really ought to get a group together sometime soon.

[GM Rednal]

Yeah, those three abilities should play nice together. ^^ Note that Magus may have a slightly tougher time, however, as called out in Balanced Defense.

(If a Magus want to use both martial and magic powers, they should strongly consider the Mystic archetype, which is easily the best way of doing so.)

Other classes don't need to worry quite as much. XD

[Michael Sayre]

Technically speaking, Balanced Defense and Duelist's Grip are terrible for a core magus because they'd be shut down whenever the magus uses Spell Combat-

Spell Combat excerpt:

This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast.

If you're not using Spell Combat you should be fine though.