I feel strongly the Swordmage must be a full-caster "mage".
At the same time, an arcane part-caster is a viable concept. I prefer the more magical 2/3-caster Paladin do it, rather than the 1/2-caster Fighter.
Here is an Arcane Paladin. I call the subclass Oath of Fate. There is much about it that I appreciate and enjoy. It is a work in progress. The main point here is to get the ideas down in words. Some of the Fate features are beefy. In the context of 5e combat lengths I have concerns about the Reaction interrupting the flow of combat, and perhaps complexifying the game. The features are updatable. It needs playtesting, of course. Here is the idea.
PALADIN
| PALADIN CLASS FEATURE | OATH OF FATE SUBCLASS FEATURE |
| |
| 1 Lay Hands, Weapon Mastery | |
| 2 Fighting Style, Smite | Fighting Style: Elven |
| 3 Channel Divinity | Fate Spells, Arcane Harm, Aegis |
| 4 Feat | |
| |
| 5 Extra Attack, Steed | |
| 6 Aura of Protection | |
| 7 | Luck Unluck, Aura of Harm |
| 8 Feat | |
| |
| 9 Abjure Foes | |
| 10 Aura of Courage | |
| 11 Strikes | |
| 12 Feat | |
| |
| 13 (slot 4 spell) | |
| 14 Restoring Touch | |
| 15 | Spirit Journey |
| 16 Feat | |
| |
| 17 (slot 5 spell) | |
| 18 Aura Expansion | |
| 19 Feat | |
| 20 | Wish |
FIGHTING STYLE: ELVEN
Prerequisite: Fighting Style Feature
You gain one choice of any cantrip that deals damage, such as
Booming Blade,
Firebolt,
Frostbite, or
Vicious Mockery. After a Long Rest, you can replace this cantrip with an other damage-dealing one.
You can cast
Mage Armor at-will. It can appear as any armor of your choice or as an invisible force. Elves of the High culture traditionally cast it in a form called "Elven Chain", resembling a supple fine-link chain armor of mithril, worn over or under any choice of high quality clothing. You can appear clean and wellgroomed, such as shaven, with makeup, or with any hair style. At level 5, your
Mage Armor improves to AC 14, at level 11 to AC 15, and at level 17 to AC 16.
Note. Any character with a Fighting Style can choose the Elven Fighting Style. It is available to ensure a magical theme at a low level for the Fate Paladin here and the Eldritch Knight elsewhere. You can also choose an other Fighting Style instead.
OATH OF FATE
The Oath of Fate is to embrace truth and impartiality. You are a Fate. You speak the primordial law of space and time. You navigate the temporal threads to steer the flow of cause and effect and weave a distant possibility. Fate Paladins are sometimes known as Feyknights.
LEVEL 3: FATE SPELLS
Your understanding of the nature of reality can twine, measure, or cut new realities into existence. All your Paladin features use the arcane power source, instead of divine. For Paladin features that use Charisma, you can use Intelligence instead.
Your Channel Divinity feature becomes Channel Arcanum. You can expend a Channel Arcanum to cast the
Augury spell without a spell component.
You speak fate. Whenever you cast a spell, you can do it by using only a Verbal spell component. But you can only cast one spell with a costly GP component, and cant cast a GP spell this way again until after a Long Rest.
At level 3, you gain two slot 1 spells of your choice from the Wizard spell list, then at level 5 two slot 2 spells, at level 9 two slot 3 spells, at level 13 two slot 4 spells, and at level 17 two slot 5 spells. These Wizard spells are prepared, and count as Paladin spells. After a Long Rest, you can change one of your prepared Wizard spells to an other one of the same slot.
LEVEL 3: ARCANE HARM
Your connections across the timelines often rely on your own affinity. Choose one of the following damage type pairs for your Arcane Harm:
•
Cold-Necrotic
•
Lightning-Thunder
•
Psychic-Force
•
Radiant-Fire
Whenever you make a Weapon Attack or an Unarmed Strike, you can apply this pair of damage types in addition to the damage type of your attack. If the target lacks resistance and immunity to any of these damage types, all of the damage applies. Additionally, if a Paladin feature or spell involves the Radiant damage type, you can instead apply the damage types of your Arcane Harm. Your choice of Arcane Harm affects other features of your Oath of Fate.
LEVEL 3: AEGIS
You sift thru realities to shield your friends and end your foes. Your choice of Arcane Harm determines your Aegis.
AEGIS OF COLD-NECROTIC
Necromancy at-will feature
Casting: Bonus Action
Components: V
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Until dispelled, recast, or the target has zero Hit Points
You inflict bitter gangreneous cold, incasing your foe in numbing frost. You mark a target. Your target Slows to half its speed if moving any direction except the shortest route toward you. Whenever your target makes an Attack or Unarmed Strike against anyone but you, it is at a Disadvantage. Then you can as your Reaction, grant your attacked friend Resistance against the damage that your target manages, and the target incurs the same amount of damage as Cold and Necrotic.
AEGIS OF LIGHTNING-THUNDER
Evocation at-will feature
Casting: Bonus Action
Components: V
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Until dispelled, recast, or the target has zero Hit Points
Great winds bear you aloft while storming against your foe. You mark a target. Whenever your target makes an Attack or Unarmed Strike against anyone but you, it is at a Disadvantage. Additionally as a Reaction, you can Fly to a space within 30 feet of your target then Pull the target to a space adjacent to you. Until the end of your next turn, your target grants Advantage to all Attacks against it, and any damage it incurs applies the Lightning and Thunder damage types as well. Afterward both you and your target can drift safely down at Speed 30 without falling.
AEGIS OF PSYCHIC-FORCE
Illusion at-will feature
Casting: Bonus Action
Components: V
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Until dispelled, recast, or the target has zero Hit Points
You blur the boundaries between subjective visualization and objective fact, while twisting possible future timelines to set one where your friends remain safe against the magic of your foe. You mark a target. Whenever your target makes a Magic Action against any of your friends, they gain an Advantage to the saves against it, or whenever your target makes a Spell Attack against any of your friends, it is at a Disadvantage. When the target does so, you can as a Reaction, deal 1d8 Psychic and Force damage against the casting or concentrating target, and reduce by the same amount any damage that the Magic Action or Spell Attack manages to deal against your friends. At level 5, the Psychic and Force damage improves to 2d8, at level 11 to 3d8, and at level 17 to 4d8.
AEGIS OF RADIANT-FIRE
Evocation at-will feature
Casting: Bonus Action
Components: V
Range: 30 feet
Duration: Until dispelled, recast, or the target has zero Hit Points
You move at the speed of light to blaze against your foe and any foes nearby. You mark a target. Whenever your target makes an Attack or Unarmed Strike against anyone but you, it is at a Disadvantage. Additionally, you can use your Reaction to teleport to a space adjacent to the target and make an Opportunity Attack, and any of your foes within 10 feet of your target take the same amount of damage as Radiant and Fire.
LEVEL 7: LUCK UNLUCK
Your friends are lucky that you make your foe unlucky. Or your foes are unlucky that you make your friend lucky. Your choice of Arcane Harm determines whether you bless Luck or curse Unluck. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Proficiency. At the end of a Long Rest you refresh the number of times you can use it.
Luck. If your Arcane Harm is Psychic-Force or Radiant-Fire, you can grant Luck. When you or a friend fails a d20 Test, it can be rerolled instead.
Unluck. If your Arcane Harm is Cold-Necrotic or Lightning-Thunder, you can inflict Unluck. When your foe succeeds on a d20 Test, it can be rerolled instead.
LEVEL 7: AURA OF HARM
Your aura sifts thru the fates with most affinity to you to embroider harm against your foes. Once per round, when each foe is in your Aura of Protection during its turn, it takes 1d8 damage according to the damage types of your Arcane Harm.
LEVEL 15: SPIRIT JOURNEY
You move thru manifestations and vanishings of threads of fate. Your choice of Arcane Harm determines your mode of travel.
Cold-Necrotic. While all foes are within 90 feet of you, they incur Vulnerability to Cold and Necrotic, but those Immune to Cold and Necrotic instead lose the Immunity. These foes Slow to half their Speed. As a Bonus Action you can shift yourself or a willing friend withing 90 feet into the Ethereal, Shadowfell, or Material Plane. Regardless of visibility, you see clearly into all of these planes simultaneously, out to 90 feet.
Lightning-Thunder. You gain Fly Speed 90 and can Hover even while Prone or Incapacitated.
Radiant-Fire. You gain Teleport Speed 30. For example, as a Move during your turn, you can teleport at-will a number of times to any location in line of sight, upto a total distance of 30 feet.
Psychic-Force. You can become Incorporeal with Resistance to all damage and able to Move thru solid objects. As a Bonus Action you can shift yourself or a willing friend within 90 feet into the Ethereal, Feywild, or Material Plane. Regardless of visibility, you see clearly into all of these planes simultaneously, out to 90 feet.
LEVEL 20: WISH
You decree the primordial law of space and time. You can cast the
Wish spell without a spell slot. You cant do so again this way until after a Long Rest.
If paladins were clerics in that they paid homage to a particular deity, these paladins would be beholden to a deity of magic. Mystra and the Azuth being the likely two. These Paladins would swear an oath to protect the Weave. They would gain a selection of arcane spells at key levels and have smites that use the other damage types.
