[PF] Spontaneous Magus

[Hytheter]

Sup
So I like the Magus Class but I have this weird disease which causes me to prefer spontaneous casters. So basically I want to... I guess homebrew an archetype for the Magus that allows him to cast spontaneously instead of using a spellbook.
What I want is your opinion on what is a fair amount of Spells Per Day and Spells known for such a character.
My current thinking is that he should have 2 more spells per day for each level (same as the difference between a Sorcerer and a generalist Wizard) and the same spells known progression as the bard. But given the relatively small slize of the Magus' spell list, I'm not sure if this would in fact be too good - ie you might be able get enough of the good spells with the spells known to make the extra spells per day strictly superior to the normal Magus.

What do you think?

[Spore]

1 more spell per day seems fair. Bard progression is fine.

[DarkSonic1337]

Don't forget to rework the Magus class features that involve prepared spells. These being Spell Recall (and Improved), Knowledge Pool, and Greater Spell Access.

With Improved Spell Recall Magus is actually already a lot more spontaneous than most prepared casters could be in Pathfinder.

2 extra spells per level should be fine. Duskblade didn't get too bad in 3.5 even with it's massive number of spells per day (though Magus caps one spell level higher).

[Spuddles]

I would go with a Spirit Shaman mechanic- one extra spell per day and every day he gets to choose which spells he has learned to cast spontaneously, with bard progression of spells known. But that's just because I really like the idea of a warrior-scholar who hunts tomes of eldritch lore.

[Hytheter]

Don't forget to rework the Magus class features that involve prepared spells. These being Spell Recall (and Improved), Knowledge Pool, and Greater Spell Access.

With Improved Spell Recall Magus is actually already a lot more spontaneous than most prepared casters could be in Pathfinder.

2 extra spells per level should be fine. Duskblade didn't get too bad in 3.5 even with it's massive number of spells per day (though Magus caps one spell level higher).

Right, I figured Spell Recall would just restore a spell slot instead of a specific spell, in which case maybe only 1 extra spell for each level would be better?
Greater Spell Access is trickier. Obviously the easy answer is to add the spells straight to his spell's known, but I'm not sure if that would be too large an increase of known spells when balancing against the spells per day.

That's a point on his pseudo-spontaneity, but he's still limited by the spells he actually prepared. Plus I prefer innate talent to bookish learning flavour-wise.

[Baroncognito]

Well, there is an existing archetype that does this, although the phrasing leaves me to wonder if it's supposed to be Charisma based casting or Intelligence based casting.

The Cabalist. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/super-genius-games---magus-archetypes/cabalist)

Edit: Whichever stat it uses for casting, it should also use that stat to determine the Arcane pool.

[Hytheter]

Well, there is an existing archetype that does this, although the phrasing leaves me to wonder if it's supposed to be Charisma based casting or Intelligence based casting.

The Cabalist. (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/super-genius-games---magus-archetypes/cabalist)

Edit: Whichever stat it uses for casting, it should also use that stat to determine the Arcane pool.

I like the direction it takes by giving it sorcerer stuff. An extra Spell Per Day or two would be nice though, the Bard and Magus progressions are identical.
It also doesn't offer any alternatives to Spell Recall, which specifies prepared spells... And as you said, it seems like it should be Charisma based spellcasting but it isn't entirely clear.
Still, I guess its workable if seemingly weaker and poorly polished. Then again, the bloodline stuff might make up for the downfalls.

[schoklat]

People already mentioned Spell Recall, and if you play it right (high pool, grabbing the odd wizard spell via blending), you already get 120% of the advantages of prepared casting together with 80% of the advantages of spontaneous casting if you go the direction of Batman-Wizard, erm -Magus.

Adding more spells / day on top of a current Magus will allow him to power through a ton of things that currently are only held back by his bit more limited spell slots. If you pick your stuff wisely you can in fact make do with very little spells.
Have you considered Hexcrafter instead? Or just writing down a fixed list of spells you prepare 90% of the time as default, so you only have to prepare a few different picks on rare occasions?

[Ethereal Gears]

I personally like the Primagus archetype by Rite Publishing:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/rite-publishing---magus-archetypes/primagus-magus-archetype

Feels a bit more thought-out than the Cabalist, I think. Rage vs. bloodline is about what it amounts to, I guess.

[Hytheter]

I personally like the Primagus archetype by Rite Publishing:

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/rite-publishing---magus-archetypes/primagus-magus-archetype

Feels a bit more thought-out than the Cabalist, I think. Rage vs. bloodline is about what it amounts to, I guess.

Wait, doesn't Rage prevent you from casting? Which is less than ideal for a Magus?

[Kudaku]

I was enjoying reading the Primagus till I got to the rage mechanic... That seems, well, counterproductive? :smallconfused: