D&D (2024) How should the Swordmage be implemented in 1DnD?

[Vaalingrade]

The issue with halfcasters is that D&D is so blind to the worth of spellcasting that rarely does the halfcaster actually get equal weight in their non-caster half to balance out the loss of... literally being the thing the game cares about.

 

[FrogReaver]

Disagree.

It was formatted differently. And the numbers where inflated. But it's not exactly hard to translate.


4e
Flame Cyclone
Swordmage Attack 1
Arcane power swirls around your blade and outward toward your enemies, engulfing them in an inferno.
Encounter ✦ arcane, fire, implement
Standard Action
Close blast 3
Target: Each creature in blast
Attack: Intelligence vs. Reflex
Hit: 1d8 + Intelligence modifier + Strength modifier fire damage.

5e
Flame Cyclone
As an action, Arcane power swirls around your blade and outward toward your enemies, engulfing them in an inferno. Each creature, excluding you, with in 15' must make a Reflex saving throw.
If they fail they take fire damage equal to 3d8+ your Swordmage level, or half as much on a successful save.
Once you use this ability you can not use it again until you take a short or long rest.

The concepts you typically butt up against are - bounded accuracy (lots of powers/abilities give fiddly buffs-debuffs). This is completely against the 5e ethos.

Extra attack granting - because 4e has 1 attack per action and limited most damage bonuses to your turn, whereas 5e has multiple attacks and most damage bonuses apply to attacks not on your turn as well. At least as far as I recall.

I’ll give you - the direct damage abilities aren’t that hard to recreate. It’s everything else.

 

[mellored]

The concepts you typically butt up against are - bounded accuracy (lots of powers/abilities give fiddly buffs-debuffs). This is completely against the 5e ethos.

4e had proficiency bonus equal to half your level, and numerous ability score increases.

5e's slower proficiency bonus and increases are already built in.

But yes. Numbers and Terminology will need to be adjusted. Not too hard.

Extra attack granting - because 4e has 1 attack per action and limited most damage bonuses to your turn, whereas 5e has multiple attacks and most damage bonuses apply to attacks not on your turn as well. At least as far as I recall.

That will require a little more finesse, but hardly something shown stopping. Booming Blade, Sword Burst, and Green Flame Blade already made the jump.

Or just have the Swordmage stay at 1 attack per turn. Perhaps gaining 1d4 elemental "sneak attack".

I’ll give you - the direct damage abilities aren’t that hard to recreate. It’s everything else.

The effects will translate. Which is what we really want.

Aegis of ensnarement
As a bonus action, choose a creature within 10'. That creature has disadvantage when they attack anyone except you.
Immediately after they perform a hostile action towards a creature that isn't you, you can use your reaction to teleport them to an adjacent space.
This effect last until the creature dies, they get further than 100' away from you, or you use this feature again.

 

[FrogReaver]

4e had proficiency bonus equal to half your level, and numerous ability score increases.

5e's slower proficiency bonus and increases are already built in.

But yes. Numbers and Terminology will need to be adjusted. Not too hard.

Then you aren’t understanding the issue around bounded accuracy.

That will require a little more finesse, but hardly something shown stopping. Booming Blade, Sword Burst, and Green Flame Blade already made the jump.

Or just have the Swordmage stay at 1 attack per turn. Perhaps gaining 1d4 elemental "sneak attack".

The effects will translate. Which is what we really want.

Damage has already been acknowledged as translatable. Its everything else.

Aegis of ensnarement
As a bonus action, choose a creature within 10'. That creature has disadvantage when they attack anyone except you.
Immediately after they perform a hostile action towards a creature that isn't you, you can use your reaction to teleport them to an adjacent space.
This effect last until the creature dies, they get further than 100' away from you, or you use this feature again.

You realize how stupidly OP that ability is for 5e, right? Any zone based effect you can continually put an enemy back in as long as they can’t move more than 100ft in a round. As written there’s no stopping it. No concentration, no line of sight requirements, no outs. Then as written it’s an at will ability….

 

[TwoSix]

You realize how stupidly OP that ability is for 5e, right? Any zone based effect you can continually put an enemy back in as long as they can’t move more than 100ft in a round. As written there’s no stopping it. No concentration, no line of sight requirements, no outs. Then as written it’s an at will ability….

It seems relatively easy to get around; the target simply has to attack the swordmage.

I would probably make the range 60', such that a normal humanoid can waste an action to Dash+Move out of the area. Other than that, seems fine to me. I mean, cleverly using class features to drop enemies into a damage zone is what I WANT my players to do, rather than "I attack, I attack, I attack".

 

[Frozen_Heart]

You mean something like 4e's Warden class?

Yep exactly

Still sad that even the 'Warden' subclass for ranger failed to make it through UA in 5e.

 

[Corinnguard]

Yep exactly

Still sad that even the 'Warden' subclass for ranger failed to make it through UA in 5e.

Level Up has a Warden archetype for the Ranger. https://a5e.tools/rules/warden Kind of so-so IMO. Was the UA Warden for 5e any better looking?

 

[Digdude]

The only thing the Swordmage should be in is a Birthright remake,

Because it's a iconic bad guy of that realm. Now it's just a subclass sadly.

 

[cbwjm]

Because it's a iconic bad guy of that realm. Now it's just a subclass sadly.

I don't know birthright well enough to know who you're talking about but the swordmage predates the setting in that it was the classic elf fighter/mage (or just elf) class combo. I believe it evolved into the 4e class from those early beginnings, and from the various 3e classes and prestige classes. Those early beginnings are why I don't think it should be specific to a setting.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

I'd like to see a 5e Swordmage that fills the same role as it had in 4e; a defender that has actual class features to discourage monsters from targeting the party squishies.