The Magus Reworked 5e

[RpgShinobi]

Hey everyone! Heres a rework of the Magus class I just finished working on. The original post can be found here reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/8916oa/magus_class_v2/. Full credit for this Class design goes to Dez384 over on Reddit.

My post explaining the changes: reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/av3xm5/tweaked_magus_class_for_5e/

My revised PDF for The Magus: drive.google.com/file/d/1jf9K--Omh9lpFDw5jBR_jeuRKndhIx0R/view

Basic breakdown of Class and Subclasses:

What is a Magus: Half-Caster Spellsword

Aegis Warden and Warmage: These two are your "quintessential" spellswords. One leans more martial one more caster

Blade Conjuror: Probably best paired with the Imbue Arrow Arcane Channel but also looks good combined with Daggercast for a spell blitzzer type!

Juggernaut: A Mage Tank

Felblade: For those who want a more "evil" or dark character with a more roguish nature

Just wanted to post this here for anyone that may be looking for a spellsword type class that is fairly fleshed out to either use or use to build off of. Happy gaming everyone!

[RpgShinobi]

You'll have to fill in the links with https and such lol. Didn't have 10 other things to post before this

[JNAProductions]

Channel Spell makes no sense with Saves. It says to use the attack roll in place of the save... What does that even mean?

[RpgShinobi]

The Channel Spell feature isn't one of the ones I made any real adjustments to from the original build. But to clear any confusion, the feature states that the next time you hit a target with the weapon containing the spell that its released using the weapons attack roll in lieu of the spells attack roll or saving throw. So when you hit with the attack holding the spell, the attack does whatever the spell says it does other than an attack roll or saving throw. So if the spell says "the target makes X save or Y happens" you ignore the X save and if the attack hits then Y happens.

[TwinSisterHaley]

Hey everyone! Heres a rework of the Magus class I just finished working on. The original post can be found here reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/8916oa/magus_class_v2/. Full credit for this Class design goes to Dez384 over on Reddit.
I love the Order of the Stick but I got infected with D&D even though a girl! My boyfriend, the suspect, played this game, and I was fascinated. But he is too silent and cannot teach me D&D, and his best advice was LET'S PLAY. We are a graduate student at one University and our education will end in a couple of years. I suggested to my professor to write an essay about "D&D as a social phenomenon of the development of an individual's hidden abilities" in order to better understand this game. He agreed to such a custom essay on the condition that my materials would not be transferred to PapersOwl.
About D&D issues. I'm new to GM, and I have a new player at the table. He wants to play, and I allow him (he has a stunning, impulsive movement and weak concentration). What is from a simple 3.5 class for beginners, so that he could play?
I believe that he will not be able to have a complex magical education (wizards and expert wizards). I know that he will not be able to get into the scam thoughts.
At the table, I have an elf knight, an elf twilight blade, a half-orc barbarian (NPC), a human cleric, a halfling robber, a sorcerer-man, a half-elf shaman dragon. I need a lot of players, as they are not always nearby, at least 3 of them are constantly absent. It's hard for me to describe my state when I think that I have a lot of players (always minus 3) and a barbarian comes into play when we don't have four or more players. This is a good lesson for me and for my future career in D&D. It seems to me that if D&D does not turn into an addiction, then people who are successful in this game can easily cope with the multi-factor problems of life. For example, my boyfriend (a good D&D player) is the first in research work, he had the best coursework, he manages to work in the library, learn subjects, play sports, play the violin and spend a lot of time with me. And this is not only him, but many of his friends who play D&D. Such a custom essay is a rather complicated academic work and my tutor told me that it can later develop into a dissertation work, although it is still early to think about it. I did not find any esses, diplomas, or dissertations on this topic in the library. I even searched the Internet, but I never turned to PapersOwl.:smallamused:
Dear RpgShinobi, you are a professional in D&D and your opinion is important to me! Can my D&D fascination go to a good level if, besides the daily game (practice), I write a student work (theory)?:smallsmile:

[Yddisac]

Hrm. Well, the initial hurdle for any of these arcane gish classes to clear is a compelling reason to use it in lieu of a Bladesinger or Eldritch Knight. For me, at present, this class doesn't meet that standard. An Eldritch Knight is equally interesting and more useful in most cases.

The Base Class

Proficiencies: Saves are good. I'm confused as to why Insight, Perception, and Persuasion make the class skill list, though. They're generally useful skills, but none of them have anything to do with the flavour you've presented.
Spells: This... isn't the half-caster spells/day table. That would look like this (https://i.imgur.com/XoHDSS6.png).
Weapon Bond: Seems to tread on the Eldritch Knight, but I understand the need to make the weapon an arcane focus. I will point out, however, that not allowing somatic spells with most weapons forces the Magus to choose between leaving a hand free or forgoing spells with somatic components altogether. In the former case, they may as well play a Bladesinger and get more spells and survivability for their sacrifice.
Arcane Warrior: This ability will be pointless in the majority of conflicts. Vulnerabilities are few and far between in 5e, and resistance to physical damage generally only applies to nonmagical physical damage, so the type chosen is as much cosmetic as anything else. I suppose you wouldn't want to choose fire, from an optimization vs MM standpoint, but... Basically, this is a bit dull. At 3rd level, the Horizon Walker Ranger gets a similar ability that also adds 1d8 damage off the bat, and adding the extra damage would make this more interesting.
Fighting Styles: While many styles get mentioned here, many of them are essentially unviable with the Magus playstyle. Two-Weapon Fighting in particular isn't compatible with Arcane Warrior and should probably get left off the list. Archery and Protection run into the somatic spell issue I mentioned before.
Mettle: Not only is this generic, it doesn't apply to the one Constitution roll a Magus actually needs to be good at: concentration saves. Would replace this with something to help concentration, if you want to boost up the Con save at this level.
Channel Spell: Letting the weapon attack replace a spell attack is only sensible, but letting people bypass saves with attack rolls like this seems irresponsible. There are some nasty save-or-sucks on the Magus spell list (standouts include Blindness/Deafness, Hold Person, Fear, Hypnotic Pattern, Slow, Polymorph, and eventually Hold Monster). Using AC instead of saves for all those is worrisome enough, but the spell only goes off on a hit, so you basically get unlimited rerolls on all these horribly nasty spells! Definitely force the target to make the saving throw.
Daggercast: Two questions: Why is this a different ability than Channel Spell?, and why are you overwriting the range on the throw attack (so, e.g., a hypothetical light thrown weapon with 30/90 range is arbitrarily reduced to 20/60 for the purposes of this feature)?
Imbue Arrow: Again, why is this different from Channel Spell? All three of these could be the same ability, just not specifying what kind of weapon attack you have to make.
Shield Bond: Steps on Defensive Duellist. Would cut this and leave only one option at this level, a generic Channel Spell that works on all weapons.
Improved Arcane Warrior: Not tremendously exciting, and still worse than the comparable Horizon Walker feature.
Battle Magic: Fair enough; it makes channelling spells viable.
Bonded Concentration: No, let's not break the concentration rules, please :( This feature tends to crop up on a lot of homebrew casting classes, and it shouldn't be on any of them IMO. Concentration is absolutely critical to how spellcasters function, so messing with it is a recipe for disaster.

There's nothing on here that particularly excites me; thus far, the Eldritch Knight and Bladesinger are both simpler and more fun. EK is a fighter that casts spells occasionally; Bladesinger is a wizard that can fence when necessary. This class, if I had to guess, seems to want to throw a concentration-based spell at the foe, then wade into battle. That is, until it gets 3rd-level spells, at which point it starts spamming haste before unloading with Arcane Warrior. But even when it comes to spamming haste, the Bladesinger does it better and with a lot more panache.

Channel Spell, a class-defining feature coming in quite late, is a 3e import as I recall. It certainly qualifies for a class gimmick, but as I mentioned before, I think it's direly overpowered by letting save-or-suck spells bypass saves. I'd dispense with this altogether if possible, but I'd certainly at least remove the saving throw bypass.

Let's see if the subclasses turn it around:

Subclasses
All the subclasses tend to give out proficiencies at 7th level. This is Not Good. No one wants new proficiencies by 7th level; by then, they've already adapted their playstyle to the tools they have. In all official subclasses, proficiencies get doled out at the same time as the subclass itself. It's a good design rule to follow.

Aegis Warden: I did a full write-up on this, since it's interesting enough to merit that. The short version is that it's very cool, but its coolest feature conflicts with Arcane Warrior by eating a bonus action, and its other features are largely irrelevant.

Warding Strike: Should probably specify nonmagical b/p/s. That said, doesn't this conflict with Aegis?

Aegis: An interesting tanking ability. I do have some issues with it, though. First of all, as written, there's no reason an Aegis Warden couldn't slap Aegises on all of their companions before battle even starts. A limitation of one Aegis at a time might make sense (either that, or make it apply Aegis to the whole party, though I wouldn't do that since it's less interesting than choosing who to guard).
My big issue with Aegis is that there are three choices for which Aegis to use. Not only is that extra bookkeeping - you have to remember which Aegis you used - but I only like one of these options. The Ensnaring Aegis slaps forced movement with unlimited range on the target, and the Shielding Aegis is functional but boring.
My instinct here is to cut Warding Strike and instead grant an "Aegis Assault" or similar class feature that gave a limited-range version of the Assault Aegis as a reaction. You'd choose to activate it when an enemy attacked your target, not when you apply the Aegis, so it's less bookkeeping and more action. The other option, of course, is to only grant the Shielding Aegis and have the Warden focus on protecting themselves with Warding Strike.

Arcane Step: Does the teleport occur before or after casting the spell? Also, this doesn't have anything to do with the Aegises; this seems like something any Magus would want. Why is it stuck on the Aegis when it doesn't help them tank or interact with their subclass feature?

Improved Aegis: See above. Maybe say Arcane Warrior can activate on Aegis Assault? Integrate the class feature to work with Aegis instead of against it.

Capstone: Can't help here, I've never touched epic levels so I can't comment on balance past lv17 or so


Blade Conjurer: This should really be its own class. It conflicts with both of the base class's core features (the bonded weapon and Arcane Warrior). Improved Conjure Weapon is effectively a new proficiency at 11th level.

Felblade: Broken. Hex alone would be worrisome, but Felblade's Curse is more powerful than, e.g., the 3rd level spell Fear.

Juggernaut: Probably my favourite subclass as written. Warpath as a Rage variant is a cool idea, like a wizard in a mech suit. I'd like to see more emphasis on that rather than getting strung along on heavy armour until 7th level. Armour Restraint competes for actions with both attacks and spells, so it should probably get discarded; more focus on Warpath would be a welcome replacement.

Warmage: On the one hand, if I wanted more spells, I'd play a Bladesinger. On the other hand, if the core class were more compelling, this would be a much-needed subclass. Keep it on tap as you continue work on this subclass.

Overall
I'm sceptical of any attempt to provide another arcane gish for 5e, since we already have two. At present, if a player came to me asking to play a Magus, I'd direct them to the Eldritch Knight or Bladesinger instead. That said, the Aegis and Juggernaut both have excellent core mechanics that merit further exploration. As you move forward with this class, I'd recommend focusing on those subclasses.