Kamai
2014-09-02, 01:19 AM
This is a rather old homebrew that I've really decided to just go ahead and post. The inspiration here was to start to tone down the wizard by putting in more focused casters, and this takes very strong inspiration from the Warmage, trying to extend their role some to a field general who can magic and fight, as compared to a blaster with heavy armor.
Magi General (Wizard Arcane School)
The Magi General is a front-line general, bringing forward his mastery in Transmutation and Evocation spells to change the fortunes of armies. Even in the most dire of situations, the Magi General does not fear martial combat with even the most fearsome foes. This focus does not come without a price, however.
Specialization: To take this Wizard School, the Magi General chooses 4 opposition schools other than Evocation and Transmutation. The Magi General may take any feats that require a Wizard to be specialized in either Evocation or Transmutation, gains the bonuses of being specialized in both schools. When they gain free spells for the spellbook class feature, one of them must be Evocation or Transmutation, with no additional restrictions on the other. They also gain a specialist slot, which can be filled with either Evocation or Transmutation.
Proficiencies: The Magi General gains proficiency with light armor and shields(except tower shields). The Magi General never suffers Arcane spell failure chance for any armor or shields he is proficient in while casting spells from his Magi General slots. The Magi General also gains proficiency with all simple and martial weapons in one weapon group (see Fighter's Weapon Training feature), and gains proficiency with all simple, martial, and exotic weapons for their race.
The Magi General loses Scribe Scroll at 1st level.
The idea is that it opens up to heavy armor casting eventually, though this could be too quick with a dip. Maybe full casting in armor needs to be bumped down level-wise some? Letting them only have 1 group + racial exotics makes them feel martial without giving them free reign to jump into gish prestiges.
Cantrips: The Magi General can only learn 2 cantrips, Detect Magic and Read Magic. The Magi General does not need to use both cantrip slots for these spells if they choose Divination as an opposition school. The Magi General can learn other cantrips that are not in their opposition schools, but they must use at least a 1st level spell slot for them (although they still count as 0th level spells for the purposes of metamagic).
Tactical Edge(Su): Any Evocation spell that you cast adds the lower of your intelligence modifier or your Magi General level to it's damage. If you choose exactly 1 creature to take the extra damage, they take the damage once, but triples it. Any transmutation spell that you cast that has a touch or close range can affect 1 extra target. This increases by 1 target every 4 Magi General levels after 1st (5th, 9th, 13th, 17th). If any creature attempts a save against this spell, the spell automatically fails for all targets.
The evocation half is Warmage edge with a bit of a kick for single target spells. The second half is the transmutation specialization, letting them quickly buff multiple people. The reason I'm using this wording instead of the [harmless] tag is because of Reduce/Enlarge Person.
Arcane Blade(Su): As a swift action, you may make your melee attacks made this round (even through unarmed strikes, natural weapons, and melee touch spells) replace the standard attack stat (usually Strength or Dexterity) with your Intelligence modifier. For every purpose for this attack, treat it as your strength modifier, applying it to damage, multiplying it for a 2-handed weapon, or halving it for an off-hand weapon. You can use this ability 3 + Intelligence modifier times per day.
The classic 3 + stat uses/day ability. Normally, the melee abilities would be suicide, but with better action economy on their transmutations, and the ability to not have to super-pump strength, they should be able to make good use of this.
Student of the Sword(Ex): The Magi General can take Combat feats as bonus Wizard feats. For feat prerequisites only, the Magi General BAB is equal to 3/4 your Magi General level + your BAB from non-Magi General Classes. If a class with Full BAB would progress this class feature, it is still considered a non-Magi General class.
Again, making them feel more fighty without actually increasing their BAB. More so than a true Gish, they should have to use their spells to keep up in accuracy/damage. I wish I had a wording that wouldn't cause unintended effects with Two-Weapon Fighting/Vital Strike, though.
Blade's Fury(Su): As a swift action, you can go into Blade's Fury. You increase 1 size, as if you are under the effect of Enlarge Person. You can replace your Dexterity modifier to your AC and CMD with your Intelligence modifier, although this is restricted by your armor and shield's Max Dexterity bonus. You also replace the BAB granted by Magi General levels with your Magi General level. This may allow you to gain more attacks. Finally, you may make an extra attack at your highest base attack bonus. This effect does not stack with Haste or any other ability that doesn't stack with Haste. You gain this ability at 8th level, and you can use it for a number of rounds per day equal to your Magi General level.
Yep, Divine Power a few rounds a day. Still doesn't bypass the d6 HD, but still, tons of self-buffs.
Master of the Battlefield(Su): At 20th level, your Evocation spells and Transmutation spells become unparalleled. Whenever you cast an Evocation spell, you may choose 2 separate targets for your Evocation spell. This spell is cast at both spots, with each target taking the full effect of the spell. If the Evocation spell is 6th level or below, you can instead choose 4 targets, having the spell cast in each spot. In either case, the extra casting of the spells cannot overlap in any way. Whenever you cast a transmutation spell with a range of Touch or Close, you may instead choose to affect any number of targets in Medium-range. If the spell is 7th level or above, if any target attempts a saving throw, the spell fails for every target. If you use this class feature, you cannot quicken any spells other than Evocation or Transmutation spells.
Capstones should be scary. This tries to patch in the idea of leading and affecting the fates of armies, much further extending the Tactical Edge. This might be very well too scary, even for a capstone.
I admit that I may have overshot a bit here, but I'd just like to start getting other eyes on it. Also, keep in mind that this is still intended to be in T1/T2 balance, with just the goal of forcing that much power into a much better defined niche, not of being a start of a true Wizard fix. When I first made this, I also got really upset at what Paizo considered worth 4 schools, and I wanted to play around with that too.
Magi General (Wizard Arcane School)
The Magi General is a front-line general, bringing forward his mastery in Transmutation and Evocation spells to change the fortunes of armies. Even in the most dire of situations, the Magi General does not fear martial combat with even the most fearsome foes. This focus does not come without a price, however.
Specialization: To take this Wizard School, the Magi General chooses 4 opposition schools other than Evocation and Transmutation. The Magi General may take any feats that require a Wizard to be specialized in either Evocation or Transmutation, gains the bonuses of being specialized in both schools. When they gain free spells for the spellbook class feature, one of them must be Evocation or Transmutation, with no additional restrictions on the other. They also gain a specialist slot, which can be filled with either Evocation or Transmutation.
Proficiencies: The Magi General gains proficiency with light armor and shields(except tower shields). The Magi General never suffers Arcane spell failure chance for any armor or shields he is proficient in while casting spells from his Magi General slots. The Magi General also gains proficiency with all simple and martial weapons in one weapon group (see Fighter's Weapon Training feature), and gains proficiency with all simple, martial, and exotic weapons for their race.
The Magi General loses Scribe Scroll at 1st level.
The idea is that it opens up to heavy armor casting eventually, though this could be too quick with a dip. Maybe full casting in armor needs to be bumped down level-wise some? Letting them only have 1 group + racial exotics makes them feel martial without giving them free reign to jump into gish prestiges.
Cantrips: The Magi General can only learn 2 cantrips, Detect Magic and Read Magic. The Magi General does not need to use both cantrip slots for these spells if they choose Divination as an opposition school. The Magi General can learn other cantrips that are not in their opposition schools, but they must use at least a 1st level spell slot for them (although they still count as 0th level spells for the purposes of metamagic).
Tactical Edge(Su): Any Evocation spell that you cast adds the lower of your intelligence modifier or your Magi General level to it's damage. If you choose exactly 1 creature to take the extra damage, they take the damage once, but triples it. Any transmutation spell that you cast that has a touch or close range can affect 1 extra target. This increases by 1 target every 4 Magi General levels after 1st (5th, 9th, 13th, 17th). If any creature attempts a save against this spell, the spell automatically fails for all targets.
The evocation half is Warmage edge with a bit of a kick for single target spells. The second half is the transmutation specialization, letting them quickly buff multiple people. The reason I'm using this wording instead of the [harmless] tag is because of Reduce/Enlarge Person.
Arcane Blade(Su): As a swift action, you may make your melee attacks made this round (even through unarmed strikes, natural weapons, and melee touch spells) replace the standard attack stat (usually Strength or Dexterity) with your Intelligence modifier. For every purpose for this attack, treat it as your strength modifier, applying it to damage, multiplying it for a 2-handed weapon, or halving it for an off-hand weapon. You can use this ability 3 + Intelligence modifier times per day.
The classic 3 + stat uses/day ability. Normally, the melee abilities would be suicide, but with better action economy on their transmutations, and the ability to not have to super-pump strength, they should be able to make good use of this.
Student of the Sword(Ex): The Magi General can take Combat feats as bonus Wizard feats. For feat prerequisites only, the Magi General BAB is equal to 3/4 your Magi General level + your BAB from non-Magi General Classes. If a class with Full BAB would progress this class feature, it is still considered a non-Magi General class.
Again, making them feel more fighty without actually increasing their BAB. More so than a true Gish, they should have to use their spells to keep up in accuracy/damage. I wish I had a wording that wouldn't cause unintended effects with Two-Weapon Fighting/Vital Strike, though.
Blade's Fury(Su): As a swift action, you can go into Blade's Fury. You increase 1 size, as if you are under the effect of Enlarge Person. You can replace your Dexterity modifier to your AC and CMD with your Intelligence modifier, although this is restricted by your armor and shield's Max Dexterity bonus. You also replace the BAB granted by Magi General levels with your Magi General level. This may allow you to gain more attacks. Finally, you may make an extra attack at your highest base attack bonus. This effect does not stack with Haste or any other ability that doesn't stack with Haste. You gain this ability at 8th level, and you can use it for a number of rounds per day equal to your Magi General level.
Yep, Divine Power a few rounds a day. Still doesn't bypass the d6 HD, but still, tons of self-buffs.
Master of the Battlefield(Su): At 20th level, your Evocation spells and Transmutation spells become unparalleled. Whenever you cast an Evocation spell, you may choose 2 separate targets for your Evocation spell. This spell is cast at both spots, with each target taking the full effect of the spell. If the Evocation spell is 6th level or below, you can instead choose 4 targets, having the spell cast in each spot. In either case, the extra casting of the spells cannot overlap in any way. Whenever you cast a transmutation spell with a range of Touch or Close, you may instead choose to affect any number of targets in Medium-range. If the spell is 7th level or above, if any target attempts a saving throw, the spell fails for every target. If you use this class feature, you cannot quicken any spells other than Evocation or Transmutation spells.
Capstones should be scary. This tries to patch in the idea of leading and affecting the fates of armies, much further extending the Tactical Edge. This might be very well too scary, even for a capstone.
I admit that I may have overshot a bit here, but I'd just like to start getting other eyes on it. Also, keep in mind that this is still intended to be in T1/T2 balance, with just the goal of forcing that much power into a much better defined niche, not of being a start of a true Wizard fix. When I first made this, I also got really upset at what Paizo considered worth 4 schools, and I wanted to play around with that too.