D&D (2024) Hopes For The Fighter (esp Eldritch Knight)

[doctorbadwolf]

So my favorite kind of Fighter is one with a spellbook, and we almost got that in 2014.

So, while all the “no magic!” folks talk about the purely martial fighter elsewhere, here we are gonna talk fighter as swordmage, which means the Eldritch Knight.

The way I see it, EK needs the following:

• A fighting Style that is magic and doesn’t replace the attack action
  • This means no “you learn two cantrips”. No. Your attacks have magic in them. Maybe they add 1d4 elemental damage of your choice once per turn, or maybe it lets you use a bonus action to magic your sword more impressively
• A choice at level 3 between a spellbook, whatever that looks like in 2024, and something else. Maybe 3 things, maybe to make it play like a mini wizard, sorcerer, or warlock?
  • So maybe spellbook (with more spells prepared or a slice of whatever makes wizards cool in 2024), metamagic, or a warlock invocation?
• Better spells, or a slot=damage feature
• The ability to cast a cantrip as a bonus action or as a reaction if soemthing lets them make an attack as a reaction, around level 5
• More significance on thier bonded weapon. Maybe it upgrades as a magic item as you level? The EK’s weapon should be the sort of thing gets a Name

What’s your list? Is there anything else the base class can do to support magical subclasses without ticking off no-magic fighter fans?

 

[Clint_L]

These seem like good ideas. I don't think you want to work magic into the basic fighter chassis, for exactly the reason you acknowledge. One thing they could consider adding is the ability to empower spells by giving up attacks, hit points, or exhaustion levels. Maybe you could have the spell hit a level harder or raise the DC etc. by sacrificing another resource, the idea being that you are converting your other energies into magic.

I dunno - spitballing, but I like the idea of the Eldritch Knight having greater synergy between their fighting attributes and their casting attributes, so they are less like a fighter+a few spells and more like a fighter who is infused with magic.

 

[Corinnguard]

A fighting Style that is magic and doesn’t replace the attack action

• This means no “you learn two cantrips”. No. Your attacks have magic in them. Maybe they add 1d4 elemental damage of your choice once per turn, or maybe it lets you use a bonus action to magic your sword more impressively

Well there is the Arcane Knight combat tradition from Level Up: A5e. Combat Maneuvers | Level Up The maneuvers in this combat tradition do appear to involve some magic in how they are used.

 

[Mirrorrorrim]

I have been tooling around with an Aegismage concept which is essentially a retooled 4E Swordmage defender but removing reference to the "sword" specifically. They can bond a 1hd weapon and a shield, and can block, or teleport or strike as part of defending someone.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Well there is the Arcane Knight combat tradition from Level Up: A5e. Combat Maneuvers | Level Up The maneuvers in this combat tradition do appear to involve some magic in how they are used.

I mean that’s cool for inspiration for sure, but I’m more wondering what the 2024 Eldritch knight will look like.

I’ve got my Aethernaut class for my home game, which is a sort of swordmage but more alchemical and hermetic and weird.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I have been tooling around with an Aegismage concept which is essentially a retooled 4E Swordmage defender but removing reference to the "sword" specifically. They can bond a 1hd weapon and a shield, and can block, or teleport or strike as part of defending someone.

That sounds pretty cool.

I’d love to see some spells in the 2024 phb that let you be a defender, like protective auras that slow down enemies or punish them for attacking your allies, reaction spells where you teleport and attack, etc.

Along with a generalized marking ability or even a feat that leverages that idea (sentinel is great but you can do more with a mark mechanic than just a reaction attack).

 

[Horwath]

my hope for EK is to be deleted for 1D&D and dedicated half-arcane caster class to be added to PHB.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

These seem like good ideas. I don't think you want to work magic into the basic fighter chassis, for exactly the reason you acknowledge. One thing they could consider adding is the ability to empower spells by giving up attacks, hit points, or exhaustion levels. Maybe you could have the spell hit a level harder or raise the DC etc. by sacrificing another resource, the idea being that you are converting your other energies into magic.

I dunno - spitballing, but I like the idea of the Eldritch Knight having greater synergy between their fighting attributes and their casting attributes, so they are less like a fighter+a few spells and more like a fighter who is infused with magic.

Yeah the main design goal, if it were me, would be that the magic enhances the core chassis, rather than competing against it. So ways to do magic with an attack action or as a bonus action, for instance.

I do think that you damn near have to put a magic fighting style in if you’re gonna have magic subclasses. Like i know there are level 1 feats that grant magic, but it’s all gonna compete with the attack action until at least level 6.

If they split up action surge into a larger number per day of Heroic Surges, you could burn surges to boost spells. IMO the number 1 fix for the core fighter is to ditch action surge and give a feature similar to legendary actions with a per day limit. For balance at all levels, doing an action other than attack would have to cost 2 surges, but you’d have enough surges to basically have the same number of bonus attacks per day as using action surge to take the attack action, assuming 2 short rests.

That is, at level 5, with action surge, you’ve got 3 action surges per day assuming 2 short rests. That’s 6 attacks. So Heroic Surge you’d have 6 surges per day, each of which can be a single attack, and 2 of which can be any other action.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

my hope for EK is to be deleted for 1D&D and dedicated half-arcane caster class to be added to PHB.u

I’d want bothh to hbe in the game, for that.

 

[Clint_L]

Yeah the main design goal, if it were me, would be that the magic enhances the core chassis, rather than competing against it. So ways to do magic with an attack action or as a bonus action, for instance.

I do think that you damn near have to put a magic fighting style in if you’re gonna have magic subclasses. Like i know there are level 1 feats that grant magic, but it’s all gonna compete with the attack action until at least level 6.

If they split up action surge into a larger number per day of Heroic Surges, you could burn surges to boost spells. IMO the number 1 fix for the core fighter is to ditch action surge and give a feature similar to legendary actions with a per day limit. For balance at all levels, doing an action other than attack would have to cost 2 surges, but you’d have enough surges to basically have the same number of bonus attacks per day as using action surge to take the attack action, assuming 2 short rests.

That is, at level 5, with action surge, you’ve got 3 action surges per day assuming 2 short rests. That’s 6 attacks. So Heroic Surge you’d have 6 surges per day, each of which can be a single attack, and 2 of which can be any other action.

I think I misunderstood you - I thought you were questioning maybe working magic into the baseline fighter chassis, for all fighters, which I don't think would or should happen. But yeah, absolutely the Eldritch Knight should have more ways to use those core fighter abilities to enhance their magic.

Action surge is extremely powerful - is your heroic surge simply more action surges, or a variation where it is less powerful but you get more of them?