Arcana Unearthed - Mage Blade question

[Monte At Home]

You're essentially trading spellcasting (as a Magister with access to Complex spells) for +5 BAB.

And the ability to cast spells in armor, as well as some decent class abilities and a built-in, potent magic weapon.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Canny Effort applies to skill checks, not attack rolls.

Sorry, you´re right. I must have mistaken it with Bash. (Which is also a 0 level spell )

Note that Quicken Spell is a bit different in AU: Requires level 10 and Int 15 (and a truename), can only be used three times per day, but the cost is that the spell is laden, rather than the +4 levels used in D&D. This means that casting Quickened True Strikes is a lot easier at high levels in AU than in D&D.

I didn´t think of that. Though this would force him to spend at least 2 feats to effectively use it, I am not certain that it´s worth that.
In case of his character description, probably not, but a more melee orientated mage blade might think otherwise.

 

[fuindordm]

I think True Strike is well worth the round it takes to cast it in many situations.

If you're fighting a Big Bad and need a roll of 18+ to hit.

If you have the Power Attack feat, you can really boost your damage the following round.

If you can Smite, you can make sure it doesn't go to waste.

If your opponent has full concealment, you can hit them anyway.

Also note that many of the better attack spells in AU are ranged touch attacks, not automatic hits as in D&D.

Need one last hit on the badly wounded, escaping monster?

Ben

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I'd suggest picking up an amulet of spell knowledge; only 2,000 gp IIRC, and a great way to get a single low-level exotic spell.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

I'd suggest picking up an amulet of spell knowledge; only 2,000 gp IIRC, and a great way to get a single low-level exotic spell.

Hmm.. where is that statted? I can't find it in the DMG.

@fuindordm: I agree on the value of True Strike. I might consider giving up Defensive Stance for it (I probably won't, but it's worth thinking about).

 

[drnuncheon]

Hmm.. where is that statted? I can't find it in the DMG.

You'd find it in the Diamond Throne book.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

You'd find it in the Diamond Throne book.

OK, thanks. Don't own the book.

 

[Siobharek]

Specific character comments

Ka-SNIP!

Skills

• Knowledge (Magic) - 4
• Concentration - 4
• Spellcraft - 4

Feat Progression

• level 3 --> Complex spell, level 1
• level 5 (bonus Mageblade) --> Weapon Focus
• level 6 --> Complex spell, level 2
• level 9 --> Weapon Specialization
• level 10 (bonus Mageblade) --> Complex spell, level 3
• level 12 --> Complex spell, level 4
• level 15 --> Complex spell, level 5
• level 15 (bonus Mageblade) --> Improved Critical
• level 18 --> Complex spell, level 6
• level 20 (bonus Mageblade) --> Complex spell, level 7

As a human, he gets another 4 skill points. Based on his stats, you should have a +1 bonus to all the skills you've chosen (Conc is Constitution-based, and the other 2 are Intelligence-based) as well as another skill to max out. And then I might suggest taking Rapid Strike instead of Complex Spell, lvl 2, but that's just as much a preference as anything else.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

Oops, forgot to include the bonus skills for Human; I'll add:

Alchemy - 4

Not horribly useful, but fits the character concept.

I purposely only included the ranks in the skills (leaving out the ability score bonuses).

As to Rapid Strike, I originally considered taking it, but I don't know which feat I'd give up for it. I'm set on taking all 7 levels of Complex spell. It is a great feat though.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

The amulet of spell knowledge would cost 1500 gp. The base amulet is (level of spell implanted) squared * 1000 gp. True strike is 1st level in AU. So that's 1 squared * 1000 gp = 1000 gp. Now, a few months ago Monte posted some errata, that exotic spells turned into items should have an item creation cost of 1.5. So multiply 1000 gp*1.5 and there ya go!