Please crazy check this brainstorm for a REAL Warmage Arcane Tradition

[Gr7mm Bobb]

A little bit ago WotC released a UA with 2 new arcane traditions, the "Warmage" and the Theurgy-its-tic-ly one (neat and I love its way of becoming similar to the 3.5 archivist, not what we're here for though). As you can probably guess, I am not the only one who was severely disappointed with the failpile that they slapped the name of Warmage onto. It was disappointingly narrow in scope + power as well as being outclassed by the evocation wizard in just about every way. Rather than make an Evoker adjacent, I've done and bit of brainstorming and have compiled this shambling mound of sentences to create a REAL Warmage. As in something designed to fight in a battlefield in a war. Typically being assigned as 1 or 2 to a 5 to 10 man unit and providing magical protection + artillery styled support.


2nd Level Feature - Arcane Aegis
Proficiency with simple weapons, light armor, and shields.
Aegis:
•# of creatures = Intelligence Mod +1 (min 2), you are automatically a part of your aegis and do not count against your max # of creatures
•10 minute ritual to add creatures to aegis, adding more creatures beyond your max will drop creatures of your choice from aegis
•May use reaction to grant a creature you can see within 30 feet a +2 bonus to AC and saving throws until the start of your next turn. When you do, you can only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn
•You may cast reaction spells for other creatures in your aegis within 30 ft that you can see

6th Level Feature - War Magic
Bond to Arcane Focus (like EK bond weapon), while you are wielding your arcane focus, damage from spells you cast is increased by +1 damage/dice (+2 @ 12th level, +3 @ 18th)
You may add your Int modifier to concentration rolls

10th Level Feature - Improved Aegis
•Allies bonded to aegis may use reaction spells for other creatures in the aegis (must still be within 30ft and sight)
•When you use reaction to give a creature +2 bonus, all creatures in aegis within 30 ft (maybe upgrade to 60 ft) gain the +2 bonus
•You may add your Int mod to initiative rolls, may use reaction to grant other creatures in aegis w/in 30 ft this bonus

14th Level Feature - Dampening Aegis
W/e 1 or more creatures in Aegis would take damage, may use reaction to reduce all damage received by creatures in aegis to its minimum value. Must complete a short or long rest before you can use this feature again.

[Gr7mm Bobb]

My bad if the rough edges of the presented material are really glaring, I just want to make sure I have the right rock before I continue on to true it out and polish the mechanics, Please, if possible, let me know if this is something you think people would be interested in and appreciate.

[Composer99]

2nd Level Feature - Arcane Aegis
Proficiency with simple weapons, light armor, and shields.
Aegis:
•# of creatures = Intelligence Mod +1 (min 2), you are automatically a part of your aegis and do not count against your max # of creatures
•10 minute ritual to add creatures to aegis, adding more creatures beyond your max will drop creatures of your choice from aegis
•May use reaction to grant a creature you can see within 30 feet a +2 bonus to AC and saving throws until the start of your next turn. When you do, you can only cast cantrips until the end of your next turn
•You may cast reaction spells for other creatures in your aegis within 30 ft that you can see

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you get this feature, you get:
- proficiencies as listed
- you have an always-on feature that binds to 1 + Int creatures (minimum 2) plus yourself
- you can freely add creatures to the aegis, but if you add too many you drop some
- as a reaction, you can grant a creature within 30 feet a boost to AC and saves, at the cost of some spellcasting
- as a reaction, you can freely target creatures bound to your aegis with spells that have reaction casting times as long as you can see them and they are within 30 feet of you (for instance, shield or feather fall)

Questions/comments related to this:
- Do you start with anyone other than yourself covered under your aegis feature?
- I assume the 1+Int number of creatures is the maximum limit? It's not quite clear.
- There are only a few spells with casting times of 1 reaction: searching the SRD I found counterspell, feather fall, hellish rebuke, and shield; of which the only one that benefits from this feature is shield - maybe the PHB has a few more wizard spell options?
- Are the creatures who can benefit from the AC/saves boost meant to be covered under the aegis?

This ability seems all right, although +2 to AC and all saves is pretty hefty at 2nd level. The using reaction spells thing is underwhelming, although getting to cast shield on your allies is nice.

6th Level Feature - War Magic
Bond to Arcane Focus (like EK bond weapon), while you are wielding your arcane focus, damage from spells you cast is increased by +1 damage/dice (+2 @ 12th level, +3 @ 18th)
You may add your Int modifier to concentration rolls

This feature strikes me as a very warmage-style feature. Maybe you could move it to the 2nd-level feature, and allow the wizard to bond with a weapon (if there's a wizard who's likely to wield a weapon, it's a warmage)?

10th Level Feature - Improved Aegis
•Allies bonded to aegis may use reaction spells for other creatures in the aegis (must still be within 30ft and sight)
•When you use reaction to give a creature +2 bonus, all creatures in aegis within 30 ft (maybe upgrade to 60 ft) gain the +2 bonus
•You may add your Int mod to initiative rolls, may use reaction to grant other creatures in aegis w/in 30 ft this bonus

So, say, if your warlock ally knows hellish rebuke, said warlock could cast it when an eligible ally (within 30 feet that the warlock can see, presumably) takes damage, instead of when the warlock does?

Granting the initiative bonus to creatures bound to the aegis by using a reaction seems a bit "closing barn door after horses leave" - by the time you're using reactions, you've all rolled for initiative
- maybe change it so to something like one of the following:
(1) You have +Int to initiative rolls; you can spend 10 minutes to grant this same bonus to other aegis-bound creatures for 1 hour; once you have used this feature you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again
(2) You have +Int to initiative rolls; you can spend a spell slot to grant this same bonus to other aegis-bound creatures for 10 minutes per spell level of the expended slot

Finally, giving all your aegis-bound allies within 30 feet a +2 to AC and saves is pretty powerful, given how slowly AC and saving throws scale in this edition. Might be a little powerful for 10th level, although not necessarily later on.

14th Level Feature - Dampening Aegis
W/e 1 or more creatures in Aegis would take damage, may use reaction to reduce all damage received by creatures in aegis to its minimum value. Must complete a short or long rest before you can use this feature again.

Feels kind of meh. Maybe give creatures in the aegis resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for 1 minute as an action instead?

[JNAProductions]

The damage boost is too high.

[Gr7mm Bobb]

Thank you for your responses. Been a minute because of life, you patience in appreciated. My answers and such are in bold.

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but when you get this feature, you get:
- proficiencies as listed Yes
- you have an always-on feature that binds to 1 + Int creatures (minimum 2) plus yourself Yes
- you can freely add creatures to the aegis, but if you add too many you drop someYes, i designed the aegis this way to behave like an attuned aura. However an aura might be cleaner... However, prestaging creatures allows for more specific boosts to be permitted by the aegis.
- as a reaction, you can grant a creature within 30 feet a boost to AC and saves, at the cost of some spellcastingYes, it mimics the AC boost of the UA warmage with the added bonus of you being able to save allies from spells. Intent is to allow you to react to a "failed" save and add 2 to potentially turn it into a passed save.
- as a reaction, you can freely target creatures bound to your aegis with spells that have reaction casting times as long as you can see them and they are within 30 feet of you (for instance, shield or feather fall)
Also includes the EE resist elemental damage spell. Wanting to design wording to specify that the person your reacted for gains the benefits of the spell when applicable.
Questions/comments related to this:
- Do you start with anyone other than yourself covered under your aegis feature? No, people need to be added. Can be done in bulk with one ritual
- I assume the 1+Int number of creatures is the maximum limit? It's not quite clear.Yes, that is the intent
- There are only a few spells with casting times of 1 reaction: searching the SRD I found counterspell, feather fall, hellish rebuke, and shield; of which the only one that benefits from this feature is shield - maybe the PHB has a few more wizard spell options?
- Are the creatures who can benefit from the AC/saves boost meant to be covered under the aegis?Yes, the whole functionality of the aegis is provide preplanned protection.

This ability seems all right, although +2 to AC and all saves is pretty hefty at 2nd level. The using reaction spells thing is underwhelming, although getting to cast shield on your allies is nice.The ability to protect allies was to be the meat of the first set of features. Being able to weave magic through the open conduit that is the aegis seemed natural.


This feature strikes me as a very warmage-style feature. Maybe you could move it to the 2nd-level feature, and allow the wizard to bond with a weapon (if there's a wizard who's likely to wield a weapon, it's a warmage)?I wanted to stay a bit away from that territory, but perhaps being able to fuse a focus to a weapon in addition to having one on call at all times could be worth considering. For its power, the focus bond could be a part of the 2nd level feature, but because the damage boost is tied to weilding your focus, i feel it is more appropriate to stay with 6th level. The point of the focus bond was to allow the warmage to always have access to his arcane focus, like the EK being able to be always armed.


So, say, if your warlock ally knows hellish rebuke, said warlock could cast it when an eligible ally (within 30 feet that the warlock can see, presumably) takes damage, instead of when the warlock does?That was the intent, yes.

Granting the initiative bonus to creatures bound to the aegis by using a reaction seems a bit "closing barn door after horses leave" - by the time you're using reactions, you've all rolled for initiative
- maybe change it so to something like one of the following:
(1) You have +Int to initiative rolls; you can spend 10 minutes to grant this same bonus to other aegis-bound creatures for 1 hour; once you have used this feature you must finish a short or long rest before you can use it again
(2) You have +Int to initiative rolls; you can spend a spell slot to grant this same bonus to other aegis-bound creatures for 10 minutes per spell level of the expended slot.

Solid point, and those are excellent suggestions that I will strongly consider.

Finally, giving all your aegis-bound allies within 30 feet a +2 to AC and saves is pretty powerful, given how slowly AC and saving throws scale in this edition. Might be a little powerful for 10th level, although not necessarily later on.Yeah...hmm



Feels kind of meh. Maybe give creatures in the aegis resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage for 1 minute as an action instead?I dont like the idea of resistance because it doesnt do the barbarian any favors mechanically. I was figuring that since the Evoker can maximize spells, maybe the warmage can minimize them. That being said, I am strongly considering switching this with its lower level feature.
Because this one is meh for its level and the other is REALLY potent. That is also the reason why i went with a blanket boost vs increaing the value of the boost.

I appreciate the breakdown analysis, hopefully this'll get it moving in a healthier direction now that i have provided a bit more insight. More to come probably, but my phone can only managed so much.

@JNAProductions, you may be right... I'll tweak and test the numbers smidge, but it may have to get dropped to +2 max or I may have to scrap that and go over to a X bonus damage base on spell level and then give them potent spellcasting for their cantrip damage (similar to the cleric).

[Gr7mm Bobb]

Did anyone have other thoughts on the UA version of the Warmage or any opinions on my suggestion for what a Warmage should be?