Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
Blinking/tactical teleportation in combat was a major feature of Swordmages
D&D 5E Giving the arcane gish an identity.
Shadow Blade is for EKs, ATs and bladesingers and it is designed for melee. As an EK you can get it at 7th level by trading in your 1st level non-evocation/abjuration.
The rules are specifically designed to give fighters more ASIs and Feats. If you take Fey Touched/Hex at 6th level then I would argue it is a fighter-specific ability and "part of the fighter" since no other class is getting an ASI at that level. You have a lot of different options there, and bringing more magic to your weapon strikes with a feat is one of them. It is an option any fighter can take at 6th level, but the EK can benefit a lot more because he can use it more than one hour a day.
The point is this, the EK can do a ton of weapon magic damage in combat and spells like booming blade, green flame blade and shadowblade are put in there specifically for this purpose and other options can add to this while staying within the EK RAW. If those don't suit you thematically then develop other similar cantrips or spells that do. Make a poision or frost version of Green Flame Blade. If you don't think Shadowblade is thematically viable for your EK allow him to pull Flame Blade off the sorcerer list (which is an evocation), or make up an entire new spell crafted off one of these as a guide. This will be a lot easier and a lot more balanced then designing a new class.
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Undrave
Legend
So Subclasses would come online at 1st?
Mind of tempest
(he/him)advocate for 5e psionics
got to be with the first 3 levels so why not 1?
I think the bladesinger does several of those already since it gets you light armor and lets you choose a weapon.
Elf race - take a longsword or shortsword
Jedi - bladesong+mage armor is effectively improved mage armor. Retool shadowblade spell for a lightsaber
Sheilding swordmage - choose any 1-handed weapon and shield spell
Tales and Chronicles
Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix
A year or so back @doctorbadwolf and I worked on a full Assassin class for 5e. The mechanics here are not pertinent for a Gish, but the themes of the sublcass might be cool idea for a Swordmage:
Imagine guilds of swordmage basing their arcane-fighting-style on a specific monster from D&D tradition:
So they dont hunt the creatures, they become scholars and protectors of those magical creatures. Most of the time D&d classes are about how you kill magic creatures; I think it could be fun to have a class that is more about protecting the inherent magic of the many settings of D&D.
Imagine guilds of swordmage basing their arcane-fighting-style on a specific monster from D&D tradition:
- The Swordmage of the Displacer Beast Guild are all about teleporting, stealth and movement
- The Swordmage of the Gorgon Guild use the resiliences of stone magic and acid to burn the foes that hit them or their ally.
- The Phoenix guild use fire or radiant magic and can absorb those element to heal themselves.
- The Troll Guild use mighty regeneration spells to be the last on standing in any battles.
So they dont hunt the creatures, they become scholars and protectors of those magical creatures. Most of the time D&d classes are about how you kill magic creatures; I think it could be fun to have a class that is more about protecting the inherent magic of the many settings of D&D.
Vaalingrade
Legend
God yes.
The way I'd do it is with cantrips
"Gishblade"
Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon that deals slashing damage)
Duration: 1 round
You brandish the weapon used in the spell’s casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack’s normal effects plus an additional 1d4 fire damage. The weapon is also magical.
then you'd take "gishvocations" to boost the cantrip.
Arcane Channeling: You can cast flaming hands or thunderwave as a bonus action if you cast gishblade.
Aegis of Ensnaring: A target hit by gishblade is restrained.
Brightblade: You learn the light cantrip. When you cast gishblade, the additional damage deal is radiant.
Deathknight: When you cast gishblade, the weapon's damage becomes necrotic and on a hit, the target cannot heal until the start of your next turn.
Elfblade: When you cast gishblade, you may use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of melee attacks
Roaring flame.: You deal additional damage with gishblade equal to your Intelligence modifier
Spellstab: You can cast gishblade with melee weapons that dead piercing damage.
"Gishblade"
Evocation cantrip
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Self (5-foot radius)
Components: S, M (a melee weapon that deals slashing damage)
Duration: 1 round
You brandish the weapon used in the spell’s casting and make a melee attack with it against one creature within 5 feet of you. On a hit, the target suffers the weapon attack’s normal effects plus an additional 1d4 fire damage. The weapon is also magical.
then you'd take "gishvocations" to boost the cantrip.
Arcane Channeling: You can cast flaming hands or thunderwave as a bonus action if you cast gishblade.
Aegis of Ensnaring: A target hit by gishblade is restrained.
Brightblade: You learn the light cantrip. When you cast gishblade, the additional damage deal is radiant.
Deathknight: When you cast gishblade, the weapon's damage becomes necrotic and on a hit, the target cannot heal until the start of your next turn.
Elfblade: When you cast gishblade, you may use Dexterity instead of Strength for the attack and damage rolls of melee attacks
Roaring flame.: You deal additional damage with gishblade equal to your Intelligence modifier
Spellstab: You can cast gishblade with melee weapons that dead piercing damage.
Vaalingrade
Legend
Let's do Force damage instead of fire. Let's not pigeonhole them into being pyromaniacs. Then later Invocations can change the damage type.
Garthanos
Arcadian Knight
- I slice through the air before me and a cut breaks open on my enemy ignoring their armor.
- I suspend my blade in the passageway and it becomes a wall of blades blocking passage to all but the most insanely persevering. (returning to me when I will it or after a time)
- I slash my blade through an incoming attack spell or one enchanting someone and its energy disperses.
- I spin my blade and it hypnotizes and confuses an enemy who attacks there own ally or lurches where I want them to.
- I conjure ghostly images of myself from a parallel time which can actually slice and dice or at least their weapons are solid enough to.
- I hurl the sword and it bounds from enemy to enemy its deadly dance guided by my mind,
- I race across the battlefield and where my blade slices the ground heaves up in a wall of spikes and crystals.... or a less permanent wall of fire springs in the blades path through the air.
- I blink in the way of an attack which would surely kill my ally taking it on myself in a less deadly form.
- My hurled sword it bursts into shards which attack each in a cloud then re-coalesces in my hand
- I cut a hole in reality and dive through it appearing next to my enemy and an ally quickly joins my traversal.
- I drag an enemy painfully to me through a dimensional rift I create
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