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Cannith Elite (10 levels)/Battle Magus(10 levels)
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<blockquote data-quote="ergeheilalt" data-source="post: 2327629" data-attributes="member: 3460"><p>Let’s see – how about a comparison between a wizard and a your Battle Caster as written.</p><p></p><p>Wizard:</p><p>Poor BAB</p><p>d4 hit die</p><p>Good Will</p><p>+10 spellcaster levels</p><p>2 metamagic or item creation feats</p><p>+10 levels of familiar advancement</p><p></p><p>Battlecaster:</p><p>Medium BAB</p><p>d6 hit die</p><p>Good Fort</p><p>Good Will</p><p>+10 spellcaster levels.</p><p>7 Feats (light armor proficiency, weapon focus , craft magic arms and armor, sudden metamagic* (x2), Legendary Artisan** (x2))</p><p>Int to AC (ala Duelist, but better – they can still wear armor)</p><p>Scaling DR</p><p>Int to weapon damage</p><p>Int based ability to overcome DR.</p><p></p><p>Obviously this class is overpowered. There is no way you can look at it and think otherwise. This class suffers from trying to do too much. Let’s look at classes that do similar things…</p><p></p><p>The Spellsword (3.5e Complete Warrior) gives an arcane spellcaster the ability to wear armor, full BAB, some special sword abilities, a bonus fighter feat, and only five levels of spellcasting.</p><p></p><p>The Eldritch Knight (3.5 DMG) gives a wizard with a level of fighter a full BAB, one bonus fighter feat and 9 levels of spellcasting.</p><p></p><p>Looking at the comparative powers, the battlecaster is not only better than staying wizard (or sorcerer), but it soundly wallops the spellsword and the eldritch knight (which is pretty powerful. Looking at the class requirements, there is no real reason that any wizard couldn’t just drop everything and take this class.</p><p></p><p>Suggestions:</p><p>Drop the craft magic arms and armor, Ingenuitive Response, and Arcane Infusion. Given the name “battlecaster”, I don’t think this guy is going to spend his spare time puttering around in a forge, nor does battle magic really induce the ability to suddenly empower spells. If your character concept calls for this sort of thing, these feats can easily be taken and don’t need to be given as special abilities.</p><p></p><p>Drop Arcane Armor and Arcane Resilience. Instead, roll them into one ability, such that:</p><p> Level 1: Ignore Arcane Spell Failure 10 %</p><p> Level 5: Ignore Arcane Spell Failure 20%, DR 5/Magic</p><p> Level 10: DR 5/- or DR10/Magic (don’t give the player the choice, make the choice for the class as a whole) </p><p>Damage reduction for all “energy” based magic puts these guys way above your typical outsider with 2 or 3 resistances.</p><p></p><p>Drop the “intelligence equivalent magic bonus”. In 3.5e, DR is DR/magic, not DR/+X. Plus, by level 14, chances are your spellcaster will have access to a magic weapon of at least +3.</p><p></p><p>To compensate for loosing their Intelligence Bonus to their AC, feel free to give them Combat Expertise as a bonus feat regardless of whether they meet the prerequisite and use the flavor text to represent gaining an arcane insight via ley lines.</p><p></p><p><u><strong>How to fix it… </strong></u></p><p></p><p>I'd say we're approaching a much finer point of balance here. Note that I took out two levels of spellcasting. I felt that with all the was being give, this is the least that could be done to balance it out power-wise. Notice that towards the end, after refining things a bit, there is a dearth between level 6 and level 10. To fill in the void, without engendering the approach towards balance I suggest removing the "good fort" and placing an ability at level six:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Ley Manipulation</strong> Upon reaching level six, a Battlecaster has familiarized himself not only with leyline protective weaves, but also the damaging ones. A Battlecaster who wields a magic weapon can intensify the bound leylines, increasing its potency as if it had an enchantment +1 higher. The process of manipulating a weapon's leylines requires 24 hours of exposure to the weapon.</p><p>and placing an ability at level 8:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Arcane Infusion:</strong> After gaining finesse, a Battlecaster can suffuse himself with raw magic potential. By altering the flow of leylines, the Battlecaster improves his natural fortitude as if he had the feat <em>Great Fortitude</em>.</p><p></p><p>Still looking at this class, I feel there are some issues with power. In an effort to say within the realms of the general idea behind the class, I propose a weakness that would cause the battlecaster too loose the bonuses provided by combat expertise, the DR, the ley-manipulation and the Arcane Infusion.</p><p></p><p style="margin-left: 20px"><strong>Leyline Dependence</strong>: A Battlecaster's abilities rely on leylines and the ability to manipulate them to better provide protection. Should a Battlecaster be subject to a targeted dispel, like <em>dispel magic</em>, his ability to manifest any of his leyline dependant protections is dampened for 1d4 rounds. A battlecaster's abilities also cease to function in areas of dead magic and the unfortunate battlecaster who his hit with <em>mage's disjunction</em> is unable to manifest his leyline abilities for 1d4 days. </p><p>Here is the final table for the abilities I think make a good, balanced class:</p><p></p><p>[CODE] Level BAB F/R/W Special Spellcasting</p><p> 1 +0 +0/+0/+2 Ignore ASF 10%, Weapon Focus -</p><p> Ley Dependence</p><p> 2 +1 +0/+0/+3 - +1 class level</p><p> 3 +2 +1/+1/+3 Combat Expertise +1 class level</p><p> 4 +3 +1/+1/+4 - +1 class level</p><p> 5 +3 +1/+1/+4 Ignore ASF 20%, DR 5/magic +1 class level</p><p> 6 +4 +2/+2/+5 Ley Manipulation -</p><p> 7 +5 +2/+2/+5 - +1 class level</p><p> 8 +6 +2/+2/+6 Arcane Infusion +1 class level</p><p> 9 +6 +3/+3/+6 - +1 class level</p><p> 10 +7 +3/+3/+7 DR 10/magic +1 class level</p><p>[/CODE]</p><p></p><p>Hope that helps,</p><p>Erge</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ergeheilalt, post: 2327629, member: 3460"] Let’s see – how about a comparison between a wizard and a your Battle Caster as written. Wizard: Poor BAB d4 hit die Good Will +10 spellcaster levels 2 metamagic or item creation feats +10 levels of familiar advancement Battlecaster: Medium BAB d6 hit die Good Fort Good Will +10 spellcaster levels. 7 Feats (light armor proficiency, weapon focus , craft magic arms and armor, sudden metamagic* (x2), Legendary Artisan** (x2)) Int to AC (ala Duelist, but better – they can still wear armor) Scaling DR Int to weapon damage Int based ability to overcome DR. Obviously this class is overpowered. There is no way you can look at it and think otherwise. This class suffers from trying to do too much. Let’s look at classes that do similar things… The Spellsword (3.5e Complete Warrior) gives an arcane spellcaster the ability to wear armor, full BAB, some special sword abilities, a bonus fighter feat, and only five levels of spellcasting. The Eldritch Knight (3.5 DMG) gives a wizard with a level of fighter a full BAB, one bonus fighter feat and 9 levels of spellcasting. Looking at the comparative powers, the battlecaster is not only better than staying wizard (or sorcerer), but it soundly wallops the spellsword and the eldritch knight (which is pretty powerful. Looking at the class requirements, there is no real reason that any wizard couldn’t just drop everything and take this class. Suggestions: Drop the craft magic arms and armor, Ingenuitive Response, and Arcane Infusion. Given the name “battlecaster”, I don’t think this guy is going to spend his spare time puttering around in a forge, nor does battle magic really induce the ability to suddenly empower spells. If your character concept calls for this sort of thing, these feats can easily be taken and don’t need to be given as special abilities. Drop Arcane Armor and Arcane Resilience. Instead, roll them into one ability, such that: Level 1: Ignore Arcane Spell Failure 10 % Level 5: Ignore Arcane Spell Failure 20%, DR 5/Magic Level 10: DR 5/- or DR10/Magic (don’t give the player the choice, make the choice for the class as a whole) Damage reduction for all “energy” based magic puts these guys way above your typical outsider with 2 or 3 resistances. Drop the “intelligence equivalent magic bonus”. In 3.5e, DR is DR/magic, not DR/+X. Plus, by level 14, chances are your spellcaster will have access to a magic weapon of at least +3. To compensate for loosing their Intelligence Bonus to their AC, feel free to give them Combat Expertise as a bonus feat regardless of whether they meet the prerequisite and use the flavor text to represent gaining an arcane insight via ley lines. [U][B]How to fix it… [/B][/U] I'd say we're approaching a much finer point of balance here. Note that I took out two levels of spellcasting. I felt that with all the was being give, this is the least that could be done to balance it out power-wise. Notice that towards the end, after refining things a bit, there is a dearth between level 6 and level 10. To fill in the void, without engendering the approach towards balance I suggest removing the "good fort" and placing an ability at level six: [INDENT][B]Ley Manipulation[/B] Upon reaching level six, a Battlecaster has familiarized himself not only with leyline protective weaves, but also the damaging ones. A Battlecaster who wields a magic weapon can intensify the bound leylines, increasing its potency as if it had an enchantment +1 higher. The process of manipulating a weapon's leylines requires 24 hours of exposure to the weapon.[/INDENT] and placing an ability at level 8: [INDENT][B]Arcane Infusion:[/B] After gaining finesse, a Battlecaster can suffuse himself with raw magic potential. By altering the flow of leylines, the Battlecaster improves his natural fortitude as if he had the feat [I]Great Fortitude[/I].[/INDENT] Still looking at this class, I feel there are some issues with power. In an effort to say within the realms of the general idea behind the class, I propose a weakness that would cause the battlecaster too loose the bonuses provided by combat expertise, the DR, the ley-manipulation and the Arcane Infusion. [INDENT][B]Leyline Dependence[/B]: A Battlecaster's abilities rely on leylines and the ability to manipulate them to better provide protection. Should a Battlecaster be subject to a targeted dispel, like [I]dispel magic[/I], his ability to manifest any of his leyline dependant protections is dampened for 1d4 rounds. A battlecaster's abilities also cease to function in areas of dead magic and the unfortunate battlecaster who his hit with [I]mage's disjunction[/I] is unable to manifest his leyline abilities for 1d4 days. [/INDENT] Here is the final table for the abilities I think make a good, balanced class: [CODE] Level BAB F/R/W Special Spellcasting 1 +0 +0/+0/+2 Ignore ASF 10%, Weapon Focus - Ley Dependence 2 +1 +0/+0/+3 - +1 class level 3 +2 +1/+1/+3 Combat Expertise +1 class level 4 +3 +1/+1/+4 - +1 class level 5 +3 +1/+1/+4 Ignore ASF 20%, DR 5/magic +1 class level 6 +4 +2/+2/+5 Ley Manipulation - 7 +5 +2/+2/+5 - +1 class level 8 +6 +2/+2/+6 Arcane Infusion +1 class level 9 +6 +3/+3/+6 - +1 class level 10 +7 +3/+3/+7 DR 10/magic +1 class level [/CODE] Hope that helps, Erge [/QUOTE]
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Cannith Elite (10 levels)/Battle Magus(10 levels)
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