D&D General Gish Thoughts

[LuisCarlos17f]

A gish class can't be a spellcaster with ranged attacks and light armour because then that would be an update of warmage class.

There is a serious risk gish/duskblade class to become obsolete if later there is an update of the martial adepts, and the swordsage would allow a faster reload of the martial maneuvers.

If the gish was a class... how should be the subclasses?

Gish PCs have to save spells for later encounters, but enemy gish bosses can spend all the spells in one encounter.

 

[Steampunkette]

What I was going for with this thread was the idea that Gish, conceptually, could be more than Fighter + Mage.

Whether that's the core of a whole gishy class, the use of prestige classes or subclass, the insertion of gish feats, or using a bladelock to be a Fightymage.

It was an attempt to explore thoughts about how different martial and magical styles might blend into new character identities that could be explored through different mechanical structures, up to and including class design.

I'll probably start working on it for some product or another. Though, if I'm honest, I'll probably just do it as A5e Motif classes.

 

[jmartkdr2]

What I was going for with this thread was the idea that Gish, conceptually, could be more than Fighter + Mage.

Whether that's the core of a whole gishy class, the use of prestige classes or subclass, the insertion of gish feats, or using a bladelock to be a Fightymage.

It was an attempt to explore thoughts about how different martial and magical styles might blend into new character identities that could be explored through different mechanical structures, up to and including class design.

I'll probably start working on it for some product or another. Though, if I'm honest, I'll probably just do it as A5e Motif classes.

A good gish is more than just fighter + magic-user; there's always some special extra thing that brings the two ideas together and blends them. It doesn't need to be much; you can do it with a subclass feature in theory. But then you really want a half-caster which limits you.

The Hexblade does it pretty well; the blending comes from the innately magical connection to the weapon and the ability to boost it with magic. The paladin is the best gish in practice; Divine Smites are an ideal blending mechanic for a divine caster with a weapon. The lack of a good official gish artificer is a shame; just take a battlesmith and let them swap out the puppy for an extra weapon or armor invocation. (and give the armored artificer a way to use weapons other than gauntlets.) Druids have rangers, which mostly works.

Now sorcerers aren't covered well here, and perhaps that's a whole class or some sort of class archetype to make them half-casters with more weapon skills?

 

[ECMO3]

I think 5E changed this with Bladesingers, Valor and Swords Bards, Hexblades and Arcane Tricksters. Not to mention a multitude of multiclass combos you can do to achieve it (which is what the first Gish characters were).

 

[Baron Opal II]

A gish class can't be a spellcaster with ranged attacks and light armour because then that would be an update of warmage class.

There is a serious risk gish/duskblade class to become obsolete if later there is an update of the martial adepts, and the swordsage would allow a faster reload of the martial maneuvers.

If the gish was a class... how should be the subclasses?

1) Path of the Anvil- The gish is selective about the foes that a specific weapon is used against. They may carry two or three weapons as the main weapon is saved for special foes that grant the most power to the blade. More of their power is focused on improving their weapon of choice. Narratively, the greatest of those who walk this path leave a named blade of power in the world as their legacy. (c.f. Sword-Dancer, by Jennifer Robinson)

2) Path of the Robe- The gish learns to wield a sword who's complementary theme grows with level. The character's skill in magic and melee complement each other. (c.f. Oathbound, by Mercedes Lackey)

3) Path of the Lever- This gish uses their sword as an implement to more easily use and cast magic with a strong martial theme. Rather than a wand or staff, the blade is this character's means of "leveraging" magic. You might expect magic missile to manifest as thrown knives or a wall of swords to appear after a slash in the air. This might be the more heavily curated of spell lists, with several that are unique to this sub-class. (c.f. Can't think of a reference beyond half-remembered anime.)