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JMAP94
2018-07-30, 10:18 PM
Battle Mage and the Spellsword are two different designs for a Path of War magus.

Battle Mage is along the lines of what Dreamscarred Press did with the other "Martial Archetype" options for other classes. It replaces a lot of the magus arcana.

Spellswordis just the magus with manuevers sprinkled in by way of the Martial Training Feat. In short, for the price of two magus arcana and diminished spellcasting, they get a "special action" recovery method and additional bonus feats, but may only pick feats from a list centered around maneuvers. The spellsword is not designed in line with Dreamscarred Press' usual design for martial archetypes for other classes.

I'd love to hear any and all feedback.

Battle Mage

Diminished Spellcasting

A Battle Mage may cast one fewer spell of each level than normal. If this reduces the number to 0, they may cast spells of that level only if his Intelligence allows bonus spells of that level.


Maneuvers

A Battle Mage begins his career with knowledge of three martial maneuvers. The disciplines available to him are Elemental Flux, Shattered Mirror, Scarlet Throne, and Steel Serpent disciplines.

Once the Battle Mage knows a maneuver, he must ready it before he can use it (see Maneuvers Readied, below). A maneuver usable by Battle Mage is considered an extraordinary ability unless otherwise noted in it or its discipline’s description. A Battle Mage’s maneuvers are not affected by spell resistance, and he does not provoke attacks of opportunity when he initiates one.

The Battle Mage learns additional maneuvers at higher levels, as indicated on Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression (not shown). The maximum level of maneuvers gained through rubato levels is limited by those listed in that table as well, although this restriction does not apply to maneuvers added to his maneuvers known through other methods, such as prestige classes or the Advanced Study feat. A Battle Mage must meet a maneuver’s prerequisite to learn it.

Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even numbered initiator level thereafter (6th, 8th, 10th, and so on), the Battle Mage can choose to learn a new maneuver in place of one he already knows. In effect, he loses the old maneuver in exchange for the new one. He can choose a new maneuver of any level he likes, as long as he observes the restriction on the highest-level maneuvers he knows; the Battle Mage need not replace the old maneuver with a maneuver of the same level. He can swap only a single maneuver at any given level. A Battle Mage's initiation modifier is Intelligence and each Battle Mage level is counted as a full initiator level.

Maneuvers Readied

A Battle Mage can ready all three of his maneuvers known at 1st level, and as he advances in level and learns more maneuvers, he is able to ready more, but must still choose which maneuvers to ready. A Battle Mage must always ready his maximum number of maneuvers readied. He readies his maneuvers by practicing weapon drills or communing with the primal rhythm for ten minutes. The maneuvers he chooses remain readied until he decides to practice again and change them. The Battle Mage does not need to sleep or rest for any long period of time in order to ready his maneuvers; any time he spends ten minutes practicing, he can change his readied maneuvers.

A Battle Mage begins an encounter with all his readied maneuvers unexpended, regardless of how many times he might have already used them since he chose them. When he initiates a maneuver, he expends it for the current encounter, so each of his readied maneuvers can be used once per encounter (unless he recovers them, as described below).

In order to recover manuevers, a spellsword must take a moment to focus his arcane and physical energies. As a full round action, he may recover up to his initiation modier in expendend manuvers (minimum 2). In addition, he may move up to half his movement speed (rounded down) and may use his spell recovery feature to recover 1 spell. Alternatively, the Battle Mage may spend a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the level of an expended maneuver to recover it as a swift action.

Stances

A Battle Mage begins his career with knowledge of one stance from any discipline open to Battle Mage. At 4th, 7th, 11th, and 13th levels, he can select an additional stance to learn. The maximum level of stances gained through Battle Mage levels is limited by those listed in Table: Archetype Maneuver Progression. Unlike maneuvers, stances are not expended and the Battle Mage does not have to ready them. All the stances he knows are available to his at all times, and he can change the stance he is currently maintaining as a swift action. A stance is an extraordinary ability unless otherwise stated in the stance or discipline description.

Unlike with maneuvers, a Battle Mage cannot learn a new stance at higher levels in place of one he already knows.

This ability replaces magus arcana gained at 3rd, 9th, 15th, and 18th level.

Shifting Arcana

At 7th level, and at every level thereafter, a Battle Mage may choose to learn a new magus arcana in place of one he already knows. He, in effect, loses the old magus arcana.

Steel Soul Strike

At 3rd level, the Battle Mage gains Steel Soul Strike (this is a homebrew feat: see below for detaisl) as a bonus feat without having to meet the prerequisites. They treat their full Battle Mage levels as their BAB for the purposes of determining how many times per day they may use this ability.

Enhanced Fighter Training

As a devoted follower of the Art of the Blade, you rely more on sword and shield then the standard magus. Starting at 7th level, you can treat your Battle Mage level - 3 as your effective fighter level for the purposes of meeting the requirements of feats. At 10 level, treat your Battle Mage level as your fighter level for the purposes of qualifying for feats. This alters Fighter Training.

Signature Strike

Through rigorous training, the magus has come to perfect a specific strike. At 18th level, a Magus chooses a 3rd level strike from any discipline available to him. He gains this strike as an at-will ability, and once chosen, it cannot be changed. He can use this strike as part of "A Strike of Spells, Sweat, and Steal" ability.



Spellsword

Diminished Spellcasting A spellsword may cast one fewer spell of each level than normal. If this reduces the number to 0, they may cast spells of that level only if his Intelligence allows bonus spells of that level.

Blade and Book

A Spellsword gains Martial Training I as a bonus feat at 1st level and ignores the prerequisites. In order to recover manuevers, a spellsword must take a moment, and replenish their arcane and physical energies. As a full round action, he may recover up to his initiation modier in expendend manuvers. In addition, they may move up to half their movement speed (rounded down) and may use their spell recall feature. Alternatively, a Spellsword may recover a single manuever as a standard action.

Martial Training Bonus Feats

A Spellsword gains bonus feats at 5th, 9th, 11th, 15th, and 17th levels. However, they may only pick feats from the following list, and they must meet the prerequisites for any feat they take:


Martial Training II
Martial Traiining III
Martial Training IV
Martial Training V
Martial Training VI
Advanced Study
DIscipline Focus
Discipline Mastery
Steel Soul Strike (see below, this is a homebrew feat)
Any Path of War Style feat (must meet prerequisites).


This alters the bonus feats the magus gains at 5th, 11th, and 17th levels. It also replaces the magus arcana gained at 9th and 15th level.

Disciple's Training

At 10th level, the Spellsword counts his total Spellsword level as his initiator level for the purposes of feat requirements, and maneuvers gained through the Advanced Study feat instead of 1/2 his level plus his initiation modifier. This replaces Fighter Training.




Feat: Steel Soul Strike


Prerequisites: BAB +3. Ability to cast at least 2nd level arcane spells, and ability to initiate at least 2nd level maneuvers.

Benefit: You can use ability a number of times per day equal to your BAB divided by 3 (rounded down). As part of a martial strike, you may cast a spell with a casting time of a standard action or less with a range of touch as part of that strike.

Special: If the initate ever gains the Bladecaster's Arcane Assault class feature, they may exchange this feat for any other feat they qualified for at the level they gained this feat. They effectively lose this feat, and gain the benefits of the new feat.





EDIT: Added "Shifting Arcana" to Battle Mage and changed Steel Soul Strike to be a feat.

JMAP94
2018-07-31, 12:09 AM
Something I'm realizing now.

The way I'm going about this is I'm trying to design the maneuvers as an alternative to spells. That when the magus runs out of spell slots (or just wants to conserve them), he can rely on his maneuvers rather than just his cantrips. This guy has magic, but he also has maneuvers to back him up if things get dicey.

I wonder, however, if Dreamscarred Press tried to design a magus that combined magic and maneuvers simultaneously, just like magus blends melee fighting and spells, in a way that's balanced. Truth is, I don't think there is unless you're talking about a prestige class like Bladecaster.

I wanted to make the "Strike of Spell, Steel, and Sweat" a limited ability to link the two though, but not indefinitely, because I think that would be beyond broken.

JoshuaZ
2018-07-31, 08:58 AM
A Strike of Spells, Sweat, and Steel and it is a a useful natural ability for a lot of PoW/spellcasting classes. I'd suggest making it a feat rather than a class feature. Make that the feat requires normally +3 BAB and the ability to cast 2nd level spells and use a second level maneuver, and one can use it up to one's BAB/3 times daily. This magus would get it as a bonus feat at 3rd without meeting the prerequisites and would also count magus levels as full BAB for purposes of their number of daily uses of the feat. This way, the magus is better at it than someone else who just has the feat, but someone willing to wait can get a slightly weaker version. The other good thing here is that then if a magus gets levels in another class, the BAB helps keep advancing daily uses of the feat.

JMAP94
2018-07-31, 02:49 PM
A Strike of Spells, Sweat, and Steel and it is a a useful natural ability for a lot of PoW/spellcasting classes. I'd suggest making it a feat rather than a class feature. Make that the feat requires normally +3 BAB and the ability to cast 2nd level spells and use a second level maneuver, and one can use it up to one's BAB/3 times daily. This magus would get it as a bonus feat at 3rd without meeting the prerequisites and would also count magus levels as full BAB for purposes of their number of daily uses of the feat. This way, the magus is better at it than someone else who just has the feat, but someone willing to wait can get a slightly weaker version. The other good thing here is that then if a magus gets levels in another class, the BAB helps keep advancing daily uses of the feat.

Now that's a pretty cool idea. I like that idea a lot.