5e Magus Class Conversion

[Gruzjmal]

This is a homebrew conversion of the magus class from Pathfinder to 5e. The original goal of this was to make a class that has the feel of the magus class from Pathfinder, is balanced in 5e, and also stays true to the feel of the 5e class structure. I'm currently play testing this class with one of the NPCs in a campaign I am running.

Constructive feedback, suggestions, and comments are always welcome. I'd like to hear what people think.

Enjoy...

 

[Gruzjmal]

Updates

v3.0 (major update)
- removed 'spellbreaker' and 'necroblade' subclasses; made Swordmage and Arcane Archer the only two subclasses; completely re-did Swordmage subclass
- made Dispelling Strike and Spell Reflection abilities part of the primary class
- removed Spell Recall; changed 'Spell Recovery' to 'Spell Recall' and it is now attained at 7th level
- removed Capstone Spell
- changed the levels at which Magus Archetype Features are acquired
- made Spellstrike and Spell Combat part of the Swordmage subclass
- updated and tweaked most of the Arcane Archer abilities and added Arrow of Death (acquired at 20th level)
- added Greater Spell Access at 18th level

I probably made some other minor changes that I forgot to mention. The main idea with this update was to simplify some things and make the subclasses more unique. I may add a 3rd (probably defensive) subclass at some point. I liked the idea of the Necroblade, but feel that it might make more sense as a Paladin subclass. I also liked the Spellbreaker subclass, but I think their most interesting abilities were Dispelling Strike and Spell Reflection which I think fit easily enough into the primary class.

v3.1
- reworked Dispelling Strike
- made Spell Reflection limited use per rest
- re-worked Spell Recall so that
- re-worked both Swordmage and Arcane Archer classes - replaced several Arcane Archer abilities, and made Bound Weapon a Swordmage feature.
- changed the levels at which Magus Archetype Features are acquired
- added Arcane Strike (basically a limited use spellstrike for cantrips only - part of main class)
- re-worded Spellstrike so it only works with non-cantrip spells and it is obtained at 6th level now as a Swordmage
- updated and tweaked most of the Arcane Archer abilities and added Arrow of Death (acquired at 20th level)
- removed Greater Spell Access feature
- added Combat Concentration feature
- added Melf's Acid Arrow to Magus Spell List

v3.2 ... v3.4
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[Gruzjmal]

Hi shintashi, and thanks for the response. To answer your question about the spellstrike feature, I actually originally designed the class to work that way (melee spellstrikes deliver melee spells and spellshot delivers ranged spells), but then realized that the only melee attack spells that would work with spellstrike are shocking grasp, and vampiric touch (yup only those two). So I decided to include the ranged attack spell ones as well to add some versatility and flavor to the melee version of the class. It also fit with the flavor of the original magus class (from Pathfinder), as there was an ability they could get that allowed them to use ranged spells as well as melee spell attacks. So far I haven't discovered any spells that make it overpowered.

 

[Gruzjmal]

I've pretty much completely redesigned some of the main class abilities and the Swordmage archetype since the original post. My version update notes are listed above. Hope some of you enjoy this post and get to play around with this class in your games.

Still welcoming any feedback or comments people might have.

 

[Ainulindalion]

I like this. It's very similar to the Arcane Warrior (for lack of a better name) class that I developed nearly a year ago for personal use. Slightly less complicated mechanics than mine, which is probably a good thing.

 

[Gruzjmal]

Ainulindalion,
Thanks for sharing that. You've got some cool ideas there. Some of the abilities are quite similar to things I had included in my first version of the class - like Arcane Sense.

I like that you included a lot of the classic gish classes as your archetypes - I had considered including bladesinger as one of mine, but I felt like the Valor Bard was probably close enough ... I've been considering adding it though at some point. I may steal some of your ideas if I do.

It can be tricky to keep things simple but also balanced. I made it a point to make things as simple as possible with the mechanics when I created the class and I've continued to simplify things with each revision I've made. In some cases it has made the class more or less powerful in one way or another. I had a few more checks and balances when I first created the class, but I don't feel that it is overpowered in its current state.

Anyway, thanks for sharing.

 

[Ainulindalion]

Yeah, the project started as an attempt to produce simply a Swordmage, starting from the Paladin as a base class. Pretty quickly realized that the other gish-classes could be built on the same framework. It started with quite a bit more power in the first iteration as well, which isn't a surprise, since the Paladin is already such a powerful class.

I had also considered hexblade, but decided that would work better as a modified EK fighter subclass (replacing the wizard progression with warlock-style progression). That never got finished, though - I got stuck on what to do about Eldritch Blast (because why would you hit things with a sword if you have EB?) and whether or not Invocations were part of the Warlock's spell progression.

 

[Gruzjmal]

Yeah, I started out using the Paladin as a base class also. Seems like a natural starting place. Hexblade sounds like fun.

I have been meaning to do a witch conversion. We converted from Pathfinder to 5e in one of the campaigns I'm running and the player who is playing a witch never has quite felt that any of the classes in 5e really fit. It would be an easy conversion to do ... might have to make that my next project.

 

[transcendantviewer]

The problem that I have with this class is that it gains access to too many spells. It's meant to be a half-caster, I understand that, but it gains access to every wizard spell, even if it has to prepare its spells. You gave it a reasonable spell list, but the fact that it can exchange one spell it learns each level for a wizard spell is just crazy. A class like this would put Warlocks down something fierce. Especially because they have the same hit die. I'd recommend removing the ability to gain wizard spells. The level 18 ability is fine, that's okay and balanced, because it's not a spell slot and can't have their other spells pumped into it, but letting them ignore their spell list half the time is too much. They've got a spell list for a reason, I think it should serve as a solid limitation. Aside from that, they feel like a more magically inclined Fighter with fewer attacks, which I'm perfectly fine with. They exchange the fighter's combat prowess for a mage's versatility.

 

[Gruzjmal]

The problem that I have with this class is that it gains access to too many spells. It's meant to be a half-caster, I understand that, but it gains access to every wizard spell, even if it has to prepare its spells. You gave it a reasonable spell list, but the fact that it can exchange one spell it learns each level for a wizard spell is just crazy. A class like this would put Warlocks down something fierce ...

You have a good point about it stepping on warlocks (and also somewhat bards) ability to gain extra spells from other classes. I have tried to avoid abilities that would encroach on other classes as much as possible. I have removed that ability from the latest version of the class. Thanks for the feedback.

I was actually in the middle of another big overhaul of the class and some of the archetypes. I have gotten rid of the Arcane Knight / Knight Mage archetype and returned to the original archetype that I had, which was 'Spellbreaker'. I think it fits better with what I was really going for.

Ainulindalion, I really liked your 'Spell Channel Overload' ability, and thought it fit nicely with the Swordmage archetype, so I have made it their new capstone ability.

Any feedback on the latest update would be much appreciated.