Abjurant Champion

[Mistwell]

I don't think this means zero playtesting. You can make a mistake even with a LOT of playtesting.

Anyway, isn't there a different PRC that lets you change a spell to be an abjuration spell?

 

[orcmonk220]

@ Mistwell: Quite possibly, probably in Complete Arcane.

@ The Thread: Mage Armour always seemed to me to be a Adjuration Spell anyway, that or Transmution. The same way I think Flase Life should be a first-level spell (It's pretty useful then).

 

[KarinsDad]

I don't think this means zero playtesting. You can make a mistake even with a LOT of playtesting.

While I do not disagree with this, there are some errors that immediately jump out at practically everyone who designs a character with the given class, PrC, feat, or whatever. When that happens, it really looks like no playtesting of that particular feature was done.

 

[Mouseferatu]

The class was clearly designed with the idea that this ability applies to Mage Armor. Unfortunately, the rules for the class were written in such a way that it doesn't.

Actually, it wasn't--exactly.

Allow me to share with you the odd history of the abjurant champion and this class ability.

I wrote the abjurant champion prestige class, as part of my design work on Complete Mage. As with all new mechanics, it went through some changes in development after I turned my work in. I'm not complaining about this fact; in fact, I prefer having other people check my mechanics after I'm done.

Now, one of the changes development made was the creation of the "abjurant armor" ability. When I wrote the class, that ability didn't exist. Rather, the champion could simply cast in light armor, the way bards and warmages can.

I'm glad they changed it. I think abjurant armor is a more flavorful ability than simple armored casting. But I could wish, as many others do, that they'd been a bit clearer in what they intend.

And the down side is that there's really no answer to the question "Was the class designed to allow this ablity to work with mage armor?" because when the class was first designed, that ability didn't exist.

Me, personally? I'm inclined to allow the ability to work with any spell that grants an armor or shield bonus to AC, be it abjuration or not. But that's personal opinion, and the weight of customer service is indeed behind the "abjuration only, mage armor was an error" interpretation.

 

[mikebr99]

The sample encounter with an AC is a ftr4/sorc2/AC5 (CR11)
...with the 5th Martial Arcanist ability AND practiced spellcasting feat... why both?!?... and they still have the caster level for his sorcerer spells at 10th!

Mike

 

[Rystil Arden]

Actually, it wasn't--exactly.

Allow me to share with you the odd history of the abjurant champion and this class ability.

I wrote the abjurant champion prestige class, as part of my design work on Complete Mage. As with all new mechanics, it went through some changes in development after I turned my work in. I'm not complaining about this fact; in fact, I prefer having other people check my mechanics after I'm done.

Now, one of the changes development made was the creation of the "abjurant armor" ability. When I wrote the class, that ability didn't exist. Rather, the champion could simply cast in light armor, the way bards and warmages can.

I'm glad they changed it. I think abjurant armor is a more flavorful ability than simple armored casting. But I could wish, as many others do, that they'd been a bit clearer in what they intend.

And the down side is that there's really no answer to the question "Was the class designed to allow this ablity to work with mage armor?" because when the class was first designed, that ability didn't exist.

Me, personally? I'm inclined to allow the ability to work with any spell that grants an armor or shield bonus to AC, be it abjuration or not. But that's personal opinion, and the weight of customer service is indeed behind the "abjuration only, mage armor was an error" interpretation.

Oops--looks like I should say development team, then, and not designer.

 

[bestone]

The Abjurant Champion (Complete Mage) has an ability called Abjurant Armor, which allows him to add his class level to the shield or armor bonus to AC provided by abjuration spells. As far as I can tell, there is exactly one abjuration spell that provides such a bonus: shield. Am I missing something here, or is this just a really verbose way of saying "add your class level to the bonus provided by shield"?

m...ake....your....own.... spells?

I find one thing dissapointing about most mages i see, they simply resign to whats in the books or not in the books, and give up when they cant find something. I think one of the great/essential things for a mage is to, as your campaigning, spend some time creating spells! when i dm i encourage it, as i see it, mages should with enough time and resources, be able to make a spell to get them around just about any encounter (harder encounters of course requiring oodles of time/xp/gold)

either way, if your upset about the lack of abjurant ac spells? make some!

 

[TheEvil]

m...ake....your....own.... spells?

I find one thing dissapointing about most mages i see, they simply resign to whats in the books or not in the books, and give up when they cant find something. I think one of the great/essential things for a mage is to, as your campaigning, spend some time creating spells! when i dm i encourage it, as i see it, mages should with enough time and resources, be able to make a spell to get them around just about any encounter (harder encounters of course requiring oodles of time/xp/gold)

either way, if your upset about the lack of abjurant ac spells? make some!

The problem is that a lot of GMs do not share your attitude. "If it ain't in the books, it don't exist!" (It is a known fact GMs who do not allow spell creation do not use good english.)
For the record, my GM made abjuration versions of mage armor spells available to PCs who took the class. His english is excellent.

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

m...ake....your....own.... spells?

I find one thing dissapointing about most mages i see, they simply resign to whats in the books or not in the books, and give up when they cant find something. I think one of the great/essential things for a mage is to, as your campaigning, spend some time creating spells! when i dm i encourage it, as i see it, mages should with enough time and resources, be able to make a spell to get them around just about any encounter (harder encounters of course requiring oodles of time/xp/gold)

either way, if your upset about the lack of abjurant ac spells? make some!

You know, this isn't always possible. Not every DM is you. If I come into a game and say, "well, here's the Abjurant Champion I want to play, but it depends on my being able to use these spells I made up," it's going to turn a lot of DMs off. What if I want to play in Living Greyhawk? A prestige class that depends on homebrewed material to function as intended is one that needs errata, not homebrewed material.

 

[Artoomis]

You know, this isn't always possible. Not every DM is you. If I come into a game and say, "well, here's the Abjurant Champion I want to play, but it depends on my being able to use these spells I made up," it's going to turn a lot of DMs off. What if I want to play in Living Greyhawk? A prestige class that depends on homebrewed material to function as intended is one that needs errata, not homebrewed material.

A prestige class, in my opinion, should be designed/tweaked for each particular campaign, which neatly solves this problem, right?