doctorbadwolf
Heretic of The Seventh Circle
I'm actually fine with compound word names for the concept, because it compliments the compound nature of the concept. You're more than a fighter, more than a wizard. You're a Duskblade/Swordmage/Spellsword/whatever. But the best non-compound name I've seen was Pathfinder's Magus, which is a perfectly fine name.
And I would also love to see the concept get a truly dedicated class. It's an amazing concept, and one that I almost always try to build in some manner whenever I play DnD. Heck, I've got a Final Fantasy Red Mage tattoo on my back (2nd highest Black Magic, 2nd highest White Magic, can use most weapons and armor). I've always adored the jack of all trades character.
As far as building one, I actually came reasonably close with Hexblade 1/Sorcerer X with the SCAG cantrips for melee damage, and blasty spells for, well, blasting. I went Divine Soul Sorcerer which also got me a 1/short rest bump to any saving through, and having access to the shield spell made me deceptively tanky. Even tankier thanks to my Divine Soul Sorcerer healing spells. You could play an Eladrin Elf for a 1/short rest teleport, take misty step, and really pump out some mobile damage, or if you manifest Spring Eladrin you can teleport allies to safety. It's a pretty versatile build and it's the best thing in 5e I've found that scratches that Red Mage itch.
That’s a pretty good build for it!
I don’t like Magus, tbh. It’s a generic feeling name that brings to mind a primary spellcaster. Like a title for a wizard.
All the [word]blades all imply swords as the primary weapon, as well, which isn’t ideal.
Still, my favorite is Spellblade.
Duskblade feels like a more specific concept, rather than a broad one. Same with Hexblade, and even Swordmage is what I’d use for the more scholarly subclass.
The more I think about a low-workload solution, the more I think a Monk subclass could do it really well. Hand pick the spells and effects, just like other monk subs, and learn from the mistakes of the 4 elements monk.
What spells would folks expect to see as part of such a subclass? Especially, what at-will abilities could we give, and would we want to see abilities that compete with flurry of blows, or instead try to keep the monk using it?
Probably stick to stuff like Absorb Elements; Armor of Agythis, etc. maybe give an ability to use lightning pure as an attack action, so you can lightning lure and then flurry?
To get the old Swordmage feel, Ritual Casting?