D&D General why do we not have an arcane half caster?

[jmartkdr2]

The Binder and the Witcher are two ideas that have been bandied about, both which deal with going after monsters. They both are ostensibly "monster hunters". Which to be honest is probably the best thematic idea for an arcane warrior... because they need to be really strong and healthy and combat savvy to deal with the attacks from these creatures... while also have the magical ability to bind, charm, find, and/or frighten them. Locate creature... Hold monster... Charm monster... Protection from evil... all these types of "arcane" magics would lend themselves to this archetype.

But there's only one problem. WotC keeps giving this archetype to the Ranger.

Well, you get nearly as many people clamoring for "a good ranger" as you get clamoring for an AHC.

Story might be needed (as much as anything is needed), but good story married to bad/unsatisfying mechanics doesn't seem to make people stop complaining.

 

[Aldarc]

The Binder and the Witcher are two ideas that have been bandied about, both which deal with going after monsters. They both are ostensibly "monster hunters". Which to be honest is probably the best thematic idea for an arcane warrior... because they need to be really strong and healthy and combat savvy to deal with the attacks from these creatures... while also have the magical ability to find, charm, bind, and/or frighten them. Locate creature... Hold monster... Charm monster... Protection from evil... all these types of "arcane" magics would lend themselves to this archetype.

But there's only one problem. WotC keeps giving this archetype to the Ranger.

See, I think it's unfortunate that WotC gave the ability to burn spell slots for bonus damage to the paladin, because it's an ability that screams Arcane Warrior.

so magic enforcers?

Martial Champions and Guardians of Magic

 

[Mind of tempest]

See, I think it's unfortunate that WotC gave the ability to burn spell slots for bonus damage to the paladin, because it's an ability that screams Arcane Warrior.


Martial Champions and Guardians of Magic

so we need a unique mechanic for the class that shall be added to the list.

 

[DEFCON 1]

so magic enforcers?

I mean that's kind of what the Swordmage was in 4E, and why the Eldritch Knight has Evocation and Abjuration as their two schools. The "magical defender" idea.

The only problem is that there hasn't been a job in your prototypical D&D setting that needed this archetype. Now you could certainly invent one-- the same way the Paladin was a wandering holy knight and the Ranger was a wilderness protector, the Swordmage could be the defender of... something. But what?

A defender of the nobility? They are the magical bodyguards of kings and counts?

A defender of the peasants? They are hedge mages that become the folk heroes of small villages?

A protector of reality? They are the guardians of the portals to other worlds?

A bulwark against magic? They are the breakers of spellcasters gone amok?

What else is there? What other concepts can we come up with? If we try and think in these terms... figure out what these arcane warriors do with their abilities, what people pay them to protect (or what they volunteer to protect)... maybe we will find an identity that everyone will go "Yes! That's it! That's what we want our arcane half-caster to be!" And maybe it'll enter the collective gaming unconsciousness and it become an inevitability that it DOES get added to D&D as a permanent fixture.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Well, you get nearly as many people clamoring for "a good ranger" as you get clamoring for an AHC.

Story might be needed (as much as anything is needed), but good story married to bad/unsatisfying mechanics doesn't seem to make people stop complaining.

Yes, but at least the Ranger already has its seat at the table. It will survive having mechanics people don't like. The AHC still needs to get into the restaurant.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I think the Artificer class could have been better designed to include more tropes and archetypes.

If you took the idea proposed earlier of a Witcher-style character, using magic to enhance its capacity to hunt monsters in a world where magic is a fact, the Artificer should have been that class: prepare potions, traps and use low-level spells to plan your assault on creatures born of magic.
Yet, the designers focused on the caster side of the class and its magi-steam-punkish flavor, with a good dose of pet-class on the side! So we do have a class that is an arcane half-caster, but its flavor is pretty niche, when you compare to the paladin and ranger.

 

[Aldarc]

What else is there?

Dragons? I hear that they show up in this game. They could obviously fight dragons, but they may also be sworn to preserve dragons, and dragons may value arcane skills in their champions.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Dragons? I hear that they show up in this game. They could obviously fight dragons, but they may also be sworn to preserve dragons, and dragons may value arcane skills in their champions.

If 'Race as Class' was still a thing... I think this is exactly what Dragonborn would be. They would be the quintessential arcane warriors, even moreso than Elves are.

 

[TwoSix]

I think the Artificer class could have been better designed to include more tropes and archetypes.

If you took the idea proposed earlier of a Witcher-style character, using magic to enhance its capacity to hunt monsters in a world where magic is a fact, the Artificer should have been that class: prepare potions, traps and use low-level spells to plan your assault on creatures born of magic.
Yet, the designers focused on the caster side of the class and its magi-steam-punkish flavor, with a good dose of pet-class on the side! So we do have a class that is an arcane half-caster, but its flavor is pretty niche, when you compare to the paladin and ranger.

Ehh...I'll be honest, the Witcher is what I think the ranger should be striving to be. It's the guy who survives because he's worldly; he's seen some s**t and knows how to prepare for it. Almost every ranger subclass comes with a bit of backstory that implies they've seen some weird stuff, and know how to handle it.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

The only problem is that there hasn't been a job in your prototypical D&D setting that needed this archetype. Now you could certainly invent one-- the same way the Paladin was a wandering holy knight and the Ranger was a wilderness protector, the Swordmage could be the defender of... something. But what?

They could be the protector of Magic:
Adept warriors protecting libraries, places of power, portals, tower of mages, procuring artifacts or preventing their acquisitions for nefarious ends? Gathering rare reagents or slaying summons gone wild?

I mean, in a world where magic is as much a fact as nature itself, if there's place for rangers there's place for Adept (my reference name for AHC).