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It has been said before in other threads but I'd like to go in a different direction, a more narrative one.
Pathfinder and tabletop rpgs in general are also narrative experiences, where you picture the action in your mind as you play.
As it is, Striking Spell seems misnamed to me, let me explain with examples.
Enoriel, the Magus, uses Striking Spell to place a Produce Flame in his rapier.
Since he has the Sliding Synthesis, he steps up to the ennemy orc and Strikes.
It's a success ! (Yay) Now he rolls for Produce Flame to hit... a failure !
So narratively, how does it happen ? How does the spell inside the weapon that just hit the creature misses them ? For some spells I can imagine, like Telekynetic Projectile that could fling some debris from the ground where you scratched your weapon as you swung.
But now if we narrate is as Spell Combat.
Enoriel, the Magus, uses Spell Combat to precast his Produce Flame out of the orc's range, he stores the energy within himself and steps in thanks to his Synthesis.
He now lunges his rapier and hits ! Quickly he lets the energy he was holding back flow to his palm and reaches for the orc's face, but he turns at the last second and the fire goes crashing on a nearby wall !
Now, if Enoriel crits.
Enoriel, the Magus, uses Spell Combat to precast his Produce Flame out of the orc's range, he stores the energy within himself and steps in thanks to his Synthesis.
He now lunges his rapier and critically hits ! The ennemy's guard is open and he reaches for his face in that short opportunity, engulfing the orc in flames !
You get the gist of it. It just feels weird narratively that a weapon charged with a spell can touch but miss the spell. For saving throws, it makes sense. The target will still attempt to resist the creeping cold of Vampiric Touch or mind numbing sensation of Hallucination.
But why would a Striking Spell have a chance to miss the spell on a weapon hit, and not a Spell Storing Weapon ? The principle is the same, isn't it ?
I'd be fine if Spell Striking was renamed Spell Combat and Spellstrike became another ability the Magus unlocked a few levels later. Like a natural progression, instead of storing a spell in his body to unleash it at an opportune moment, storing it in his weapon so it is release on impact.
Spell Combat, with just a bit of tweaking, could have uses by itself I'm sure, if you wish to throw an Area of Effect spell but have to do a manoeuver first to reposition an opponent before releasing your Lightning Bolt for example.
I hope this point of view gives a somewhat interresting perspective on things.
It has been said before in other threads but I'd like to go in a different direction, a more narrative one.
Pathfinder and tabletop rpgs in general are also narrative experiences, where you picture the action in your mind as you play.
As it is, Striking Spell seems misnamed to me, let me explain with examples.
Enoriel, the Magus, uses Striking Spell to place a Produce Flame in his rapier.
Since he has the Sliding Synthesis, he steps up to the ennemy orc and Strikes.
It's a success ! (Yay) Now he rolls for Produce Flame to hit... a failure !
So narratively, how does it happen ? How does the spell inside the weapon that just hit the creature misses them ? For some spells I can imagine, like Telekynetic Projectile that could fling some debris from the ground where you scratched your weapon as you swung.But now if we narrate is as Spell Combat.
Enoriel, the Magus, uses Spell Combat to precast his Produce Flame out of the orc's range, he stores the energy within himself and steps in thanks to his Synthesis.
He now lunges his rapier and hits ! Quickly he lets the energy he was holding back flow to his palm and reaches for the orc's face, but he turns at the last second and the fire goes crashing on a nearby wall !Now, if Enoriel crits.
Enoriel, the Magus, uses Spell Combat to precast his Produce Flame out of the orc's range, he stores the energy within himself and steps in thanks to his Synthesis.
He now lunges his rapier and critically hits ! The ennemy's guard is open and he reaches for his face in that short opportunity, engulfing the orc in flames !You get the gist of it. It just feels weird narratively that a weapon charged with a spell can touch but miss the spell. For saving throws, it makes sense. The target will still attempt to resist the creeping cold of Vampiric Touch or mind numbing sensation of Hallucination.
But why would a Striking Spell have a chance to miss the spell on a weapon hit, and not a Spell Storing Weapon ? The principle is the same, isn't it ?I'd be...
... Huh. Well I totally agree, it'd be better suited as spell combat than spell strike, despite it's current name and the fact that you literally hit with your spell through your weapon.
The issue is that we already can do that in game as is, currently, just cast a spell and take an attack, assuming we have the actions for it, albiet with a MAP and without the Slide from his synthesis. Still an interesting take away though.
So, something like:
Spell Combat:
2 action activity: Cast a spell and do a Strike. The spell gains the "Attack" trait if it didn't already have it.Basically getting a Strike for free when you cast a spell, but it suffers from MAP.
right, but that would be bad tho, because magus have low proficiency on casting it would be very bad to lower the spell attack by 5, it would rarely hit
I think that with just some tweaks the current Spell Striking could be changed to Spell Combat and still work, it only has niche application but it has them.
Being able to preventively cast a spell so you can then unleash it next turn, between other actions, fits the flavor of the Magus and can probably give interessting results. It is not something you'd do every turn, but between that and an new and improved Spell Strike it could give a good mechanic, I think.
Imagine precasting, say, True Strike (if Spell Combat allows any spell).
Then, next turn you focus on only attacking. You do your first two attacks, and decide to release True Strike to boost your final action, say a trip. (I know, not an optimal turn, just give random possibilities)
Other scenario, you precast Gust of Wind. You attack the ennemy twice and Spell Combat Gust of Wind after your second strike.
Maybe releasing a spell would be a single action or a free one, on the condition of having used an attack action before (so having the Press trait) or make it a reaction to hitting a creature with an action having the Attack trait (so strikes, manoeuvers etc)
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To me, the reason that Striking Spell falls short of being Spell Combat is that you can only use it with attack spells. I'm much more likely to want to cast mirror images, Stride, and Strike than I am to cast shocking grasp, Stride, Strike, and only get to roll my shocking grasp if I hit. I could do that with Spell Combat (5-foot step instead of Stride), but I can't do that with Striking Spell, because it's trying to be both Spell Combat and Spellstrike in one thing.
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Pf2 seperates the Activities that combine 2 actions into two categories:
Same action cost as doing both actions, but doesnt increase MAP
Action economy saver but second action suffers from MAP normally.Stuff like double slice vs twin takedown, flurry of maneuvers vs mixed maneuvers, knockdown, etc
Using those as the rule, we can see that Striking Spell works like "same action cost as doing both actions, but doesn't increase MAP"
I keep seeing this, but if you've got Twin Takedown, you're going to be a Flurry Ranger, and you're getting both increased action economy and increased accuracy (essentially a +2 on the 2nd attack). So claiming that the game never gives both better action economy and better accuracy is not correct. You may not get to fully eliminate MAP, but you do get a bonus on the extra attack. Why is that ok for the Ranger? Because it's a core ability of being a Flurry Ranger, just like Striking Spell is a core ability of being a Magus.
I honestly think it would work better as Spell Combat and allow to use any spell with it. Including buffs, heals, area of effects.
It could give the Magus unique combos like Shoving an ennemy, releasing an AoE like Gust or Ice Slick to try and make them fall with other ennemies, then attack a prone target.
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I mean, I think this gets at one of the core issues with how the playtest class is designed. It's designed around one specific playstyle of the 1E Magus. Get off a really big attack to deal lots of damage in one shot. It's the nova damage class now. The Syntheses let you use different weapons to do that, but it's still all the same playstyle.
Gone is the controller Magus that used true strike to do maneuvers and cast battlefield control spells. You could do that, but other than having spells nothing in the class really supports that style of play.
Or the Magus that is built around buffing and having the action economy to do that. Most of the long duration buffs are gone, so you can't really use your spell slots to pre-buff, and without Spell Combat, you don't have the action economy to buff and move up and attack in the same round (unless, I guess, that buff is haste).
Slide Casting kind of creates a mobile Magus style, which is why it stands out in the Syntheses.
Then really, I think my suggestion could help bring that back. Unlock what type of spells the magus can sling between actions. Let him strike, release Grease then Shove someone into it.